mirror of
https://github.com/Swordfish90/cool-retro-term.git
synced 2024-10-16 23:53:36 +01:00
101 lines
4.1 KiB
Markdown
101 lines
4.1 KiB
Markdown
3270font: A font for the nostalgic
|
|
==================================
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
A little bit of history
|
|
-----------------------
|
|
|
|
This font is derived from the x3270 font, which, in turn, was translated
|
|
from the one in Georgia Tech's 3270tool, which was itself hand-copied
|
|
from a 3270 terminal. I built it because I felt terminals deserve to be
|
|
pretty. The .sfd font file contains a x3270 bitmap font that was used
|
|
for guidance.
|
|
|
|
![Using with the cool-old-tern (now cool-retro-term) terminal program]
|
|
(https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wiki/rbanffy/3270font/cool-retro-term.png)
|
|
|
|
Getting it
|
|
----------
|
|
|
|
If you are running Debian or Ubuntu and you don't want to mess with
|
|
building your font files, you can simply `apt-get install
|
|
fonts-3270`. It'll most likely not the latest version, with all new
|
|
glyphs I add from time to time, but it's good enough for most
|
|
purposes. For those who don't have the luxury of a proper system-managed
|
|
package, Adobe Type 1, TTF, OTF and WOFF versions are available for
|
|
download on http://s3.amazonaws.com/rbanffy/3270_fonts_14e43fc.zip
|
|
(although this URL may not always reflect the latest version).
|
|
|
|
The format
|
|
----------
|
|
|
|
The "source" file is edited using FontForge. You'll need it if you want
|
|
to generate fonts for your platform. On most civilized operating
|
|
systems, you can simply `apt-get install fontforge`, `yum install
|
|
fontforge` or even `port install fontforge`. On others, you may need to
|
|
grab your copy from http://fontforge.org/. I encourage you to drop by
|
|
and read the tutorials.
|
|
|
|
![Powerline-shell compatible!]
|
|
(https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wiki/rbanffy/3270font/powerline.png)
|
|
|
|
![Using it on OSX (don't forget to turn antialiasing on)]
|
|
(https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wiki/rbanffy/3270font/osx_terminal.png)
|
|
|
|
If you are running Windows, you'll probably need something like
|
|
Cygwin, but, in the end, the font works correctly (with some very
|
|
minor hinting issues).
|
|
|
|
![Works on Windows]
|
|
(https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wiki/rbanffy/3270font/windows_7.png)
|
|
|
|
Generating usable font files
|
|
----------------------------
|
|
|
|
The easiest way to generate the font files your computer can use is to
|
|
run `make all` (if you are running Ubuntu or Debian, `make install` will
|
|
install them too). Using `make help` will offer a handy list of options.
|
|
|
|
The script `generate_derived.pe` calls FontForge and generates
|
|
PostScript, OTF, TTF and WOFF versions of the base font, as well as a
|
|
slightly more condensed .sfd file with the base font narrowed to 488
|
|
units, with no glyph rescaling (or cropping - we need to fix that) and
|
|
its corresponding PostScript, TTF, OTF and WOFF versions.
|
|
|
|
Contributing
|
|
------------
|
|
|
|
I fear GitHub's pull-request mechanism may not be very
|
|
FontForge-friendly. If you want to contribute (there are a lot of
|
|
missing glyphs, such as the APL set and most non-latin alphabets which
|
|
most likely were never built into 3270 terminals), the best workflow
|
|
would be to make add the encoding slots (if needed), add/make the
|
|
changes, reencode it in "Unicode, Full", compact it and validate
|
|
it. Check if the `git diff` command gives out something sensible (does
|
|
not change things you didn't intend to) and make a pull request. If, in
|
|
doubt, get in touch and we will figure out how to do it right.
|
|
|
|
Preserving history
|
|
------------------
|
|
|
|
I regard the evolution of electronic computing a very important part of
|
|
our civilization's history. Consider donating to entities that help
|
|
preserve it, such as the Computer History Museum
|
|
(http://www.computerhistory.org/), the IT History Society
|
|
(http://ithistory.org/) and many others around the world. If you have a
|
|
historically significant piece of technology in your closet or garage,
|
|
consider contacting a local technology or industrial-design-oriented
|
|
museum for advice.
|
|
|
|
Known problems
|
|
--------------
|
|
|
|
Not all symbols in the 3270 charset have Unicode counterparts. When
|
|
possible, they are duplicated in the Unicode space. The 3270-only
|
|
symbols are at the end of the font.
|
|
|
|
Please refer to http://x3270.bgp.nu/Charset.html for a complete map.
|