MKFONTDIR(1)		    General Commands Manual		  MKFONTDIR(1)



NAME
       mkfontdir - create an index of X font files in a directory

SYNOPSIS
       mkfontdir  [-n]	[-x  suffix]  [-r] [-p prefix] [-e encoding-directory-
       name] ...  [--] [directory-name ... ]

DESCRIPTION
       For each directory argument, mkfontdir reads all of the font  files  in
       the  directory searching for properties named "FONT", or (failing that)
       the name of the file stripped of its suffix.  These  are	 converted  to
       lower case and used as font names, and, along with the name of the font
       file, are written out to the file "fonts.dir" in the directory.	The  X
       server and font server use "fonts.dir" to find font files.

       The  kinds  of  font  files  read  by mkfontdir depend on configuration
       parameters, but typically include  PCF  (suffix	".pcf"),  SNF  (suffix
       ".snf") and BDF (suffix ".bdf").	 If a font exists in multiple formats,
       mkfontdir will first choose PCF, then SNF and finally BDF.

       The first line of fonts.dir gives the number of fonts in the file.  The
       remaining lines list the fonts themselves, one per line, in two fields.
       First is the name of the font file, followed by a space and the name of
       the font.

SCALABLE FONTS
       Because scalable font files do not usually include the X font name, the
       file "fonts.scale" can be used to name the scalable fonts in the direc-
       tory.   The  fonts  listed  in it are copied to fonts.dir by mkfontdir.
       "fonts.scale" has the same format as the "fonts.dir" file, and  can  be
       created with the mkfontscale(1) program.

FONT NAME ALIASES
       The  file "fonts.alias", which can be put in any directory of the font-
       path, is used to map new names to existing fonts, and should be	edited
       by  hand.   The	format is two white-space separated columns, the first
       containing aliases and the second containing font-name patterns.	 Lines
       beginning with "!" are comment lines and are ignored.

       If  neither  the	 alias	nor the value specifies the size fields of the
       font name, this is a scalable alias.  A font  name  of  any  size  that
       matches this alias will be mapped to the same size of the font that the
       alias resolves to.

       When a font alias is used, the name it references is  searched  for  in
       the  normal  manner, looking through each font directory in turn.  This
       means that the aliases need not mention fonts in the same directory  as
       the alias file.

       To  embed white space in either name, simply enclose it in double-quote
       marks; to embed double-quote marks (or any  other  character),  precede
       them with back-slash:

       "magic-alias with spaces"     "\"font name\" with quotes"
       regular-alias		fixed

       If  the	string "FILE_NAMES_ALIASES" stands alone on a line, each file-
       name in the directory (stripped of its suffix) will be used as an alias
       for that font.

ENCODING FILES
       The  option  -e can be used to specify a directory with encoding files.
       Every such directory is scanned for encoding files, the list  of	 which
       is  then	 written  to  an "encodings.dir" file in every font directory.
       The "encodings.dir" file is used by the server to find encoding	infor-
       mation.

       The  "encodings.dir"  file has the same format as "fonts.dir".  It maps
       encoding names (strings of the form CHARSET_REGISTRY-CHARSET_ENCODING )
       to encoding file names.

OPTIONS
       The following options are supported:

       -e     Specify  a  directory  containing encoding files.	 The -e option
	      may be specified multiple times, and all the specified  directo-
	      ries  will be read.  The order of the entries is significant, as
	      encodings found in earlier directories override those  in	 later
	      ones;  encoding files in the same directory are discriminated by
	      preferring compressed versions.

       -n     do not scan for fonts, do not write font directory files.	  This
	      option is useful when generating encoding directories only.

       -p     Specify  a  prefix  that	is prepended to the encoding file path
	      names when they are written to the  "encodings.dir"  file.   The
	      prefix  is  prepended  as-is.   If a `/' is required between the
	      prefix and the path names, it must  be  supplied	explicitly  as
	      part of the prefix.

       -r     Keep  non-absolute  encoding  directories in their relative form
	      when writing the "encodings.dir" file.  The default is  to  con-
	      vert  relative  encoding	directories to absolute directories by
	      prepending the  current  directory.   The	 positioning  of  this
	      options  is  significant,	 as this option only applies to subse-
	      quent -e options.

       -x suffix
	      Ignore fonts files of type suffix.

       --     End options.

FILES
       fonts.dir      List of fonts in the directory and the  files  they  are
		      stored  in.  Created by mkfontdir.  Read by the X server
		      and font server each time the  font  path	 is  set  (see
		      xset(1)).

       fonts.scale    List  of	scalable fonts in the directory.  Contents are
		      copied to fonts.dir by mkfontdir.	  Can be created  with
		      mkfontscale(1).

       fonts.alias    List  of	font  name  aliases.  Read by the X server and
		      font  server  each  time	the  font  path	 is  set  (see
		      xset(1)).

       encodings.dir  List  of	known  encodings and the files they are stored
		      in.  Created by mkfontdir.  Read by  the	X  server  and
		      font  server each time a font with an unknown charset is
		      opened.

SEE ALSO
       X(7), Xserver(1), mkfontscale(1), xfs(1), xset(1)



X Version 11			mkfontdir 1.0.5			  MKFONTDIR(1)