To reduce the size of composite Kanji characters, you can define an extended Big Font file. Extended big fonts use the subshape code, followed immediately by a 0.
The first line of an extended Big Font file is the same as the regular Big Font file. This is the format for the remaining lines of the file:
*0,5,font-name character-height, 0, modes, character-width,0
.
.
.
*shape-number,defbytes,shape-name
.
code,0,primitive#,basepoint-x,basepoint-y,width,height,
.
.
code,0,primitive#,basepoint-x,basepoint-y,width,height,
.
terminator
The following list describes the fields of a Big Font definition file:
- character height
-
Used along with character width to indicate the number of units that define the font characters.
- character width
-
Used along with character height to indicate the number of units that define the font characters. The character-height and character-width values are used to scale the primitives of the font. In this context, primitives are the points, lines, polygons, or character strings of the font geometrically oriented in 2D space. A Kanji character consists of several primitives used repeatedly in different scales and combinations.
- modes
-
The modes byte should be 0 for a horizontally oriented font and 2 for a dual-orientation (horizontal or vertical) font. The special 00E (14) command code is honored only when modes is set to 2.
- shape-number
-
Character code.
- defbytes
-
Byte size. It is always 2 bytes, consisting of a hexadecimal or a combination of decimal and hexadecimal codes.
- shape-name
-
Character name.
- code
-
Shape description special code. It is always 7 so that it can use the subshape feature.
- primitive#
-
Reference to the subshape number. It is always 2 bytes.
- basepoint-x
-
X origin of the primitive.
- basepoint-y
-
Y origin of the primitive.
- width
-
Scale of the width of the primitive.
- height
-
Scale of the height of the primitive.
- terminator
-
End-of-file indicator for the shape definition. It is always 0.
To arrive at the scale factor, the program scales down the primitive to a square unit and then multiplies it by the height and width to get the shape of the character. Character codes (shape numbers) in the Big Font shape definition file can have values up to 65535. The following table describes the fields of the extended Big Font file.
|
Fields of the extended Big Font file |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Variable |
Value |
Byte size |
Description |
|
shape-number |
xxxx |
2 bytes |
Character code |
|
code |
7,0 |
2 bytes |
Extended font definition |
|
primitive# |
xxxx |
2 bytes |
Refer to subshape number |
|
basepoint-x |
1 byte |
Primitive X origin |
|
|
basepoint-y |
1 byte |
Primitive Y origin |
|
|
width |
1 byte |
Scale of primitive width |
|
|
height |
1 byte |
Scale of primitive height |
|
|
terminator |
0 |
1 byte |
End of shape definition |
The following figure is an example of a 16 x 16 dot matrix that you could use to design an extended Big Font, such as a Kanji character. In the example, the distance between each dot is one unit. The callout points to a square unit.
A square matrix for a Kanji character
The following figure shows examples of Kanji characters. Each character occupies an M×N matrix (matrices don't have to be square), similar to the one shown in the previous figure. The numbers above each figure are the associated shape numbers.
Examples of Kanji characters
The following figure shows Kanji primitives.
Examples of Kanji primitives
Example: Shape Definition File for an Extended Big Font
*BIGFONT 50,1,080,09e *0,5,Extended Font 15,0,2,15,0 *08D91,31,unspecified 2,0e,8,-7,-15, 7,0,08cfb,0,0,16,16,7,0,08bca,2,3,12,9, 2,8,18,0,2,0e,8,-11,-3,0 *08CD8,31,unspecified 2,0e,8,-7,-15, 7,0,08be0,0,0,8,16,7,0,08cc3,8,0,8,16, 2,8,18,0,2,0e,8,-11,-3,0 *08ADF,31,unspecified 2,0e,8,-7,-15, 7,0,089a4,0,0,8,16,7,0,08cb3,8,0,8,16, 2,8,18,0,2,0e,8,-11,-3,0 *08CE8,39,unspecified 2,0e,8,-7,-15, 7,0,089a4,0,1,5,14,7,0,08cc3,5,2,5,14,7,0,08c8e,9,0,7, 16,2,8,18,0,2,0e,8,-11,-3,0 *089A4,39,primitive 2,0e,8,-7,-15,2,8,1,14,1,0c0, 2,8,-11,-6,1,0a0,2,8,-12,-7,1, 0e0,2,8,-7,13,1,0dc,2,8,11,-1, 2,0e,8,-11,-3,0 *08BCA,41,primitive 2,0e,8,-7,-15,2,8,1,14,1,0c0, 2,8,-11,-6,1,0a0,2,8,-12,-8,1, 0e0,2,0e5,1,0ec,2,063,1,8, 2,-3,2,06f,2,0e,8,-11,-3,0 *08BE0,81,primitive 2,0e,8,-7,-15,2,8,3,9,1,080, 2,8,-10,-4,1,0c0,2,8,-13,-5,1, 0e0,2,8,-7,9,1,09c,2,8,-1,14, 1,8,-6,-5,2,8,8,5,1,8,6,-5, 2,8,-11,-6,1,8,1,-3,2,8,7,3, 1,8,-1,-3,2,8,-3,15,1,01a,2, 012,1,01e,2,8,10,-14,2,0e,8, -11,-3,0 *08C8E,44,primitive 2,0e,8,-7,-15,2,8,3,15,1,090,0fc,038, 2,8,-6,11,1,090,2,8,-9,-5,1, 090,2,096,1,0ac,8,-1,-3,01a,01a,2,8, 18,0,2,0e,8,-11,-3,0 *08CB3,61,primitive 2,0e,8,-7,-15,2,042,1,02b,02a,018,2, 0d0,1,012,034,2,069,1,01e,040,2,8, -8,6,1,02b,2,8,4,5,1,08c,2,8, -3,8,1,03c,2,8,-5,3,1,0e0,2,8, -12,5,1,0a0,2,8,6,-14,2,0e,8, -11,-3,0 *08CC3,34,primitive 2,0e,8,-7,-15,2,0c1,1,06c,0a8,064,0a0,2,8, -5,9,1,09c,2,8,-7,5,1,0e0,2,8, 4,-11,2,0e,8,-11,-3,0 *08CFB,22,primitive 2,0e,8,-7,-15,2,0d2,1,0cc,0c8,0c4,0c0,2,8, 5,-13,2,0e,8,-11,-3,0