Contents of Creating new bases with IniMF

Creating new bases with IniMF

Although there is a plain.base file in this package, you may want to create additional base files that include other ${\manual META}$ ${\manual FONT}$ commands than the default set described in the ` ${\manual META}$ ${\manual FONT}$ book' [4]. For this purpose there is the Ini ${\mc MF}$ program, capable of creating such binary bases for high-speed inclusion. If you call Ini ${\mc MF}$ from the ${\mc CLI}$ (command line input, the shell) without an argument, it will prompt you with two asterisks, meaning `` ${\manual META}$ ${\manual FONT}$ is all geared up for action, please type a file name to continue.''

   > IniMF
   This is METAFONT, C Version 2.71 (INIMF)
   **

If you follow the concept proposed here, it is very easy to do the next step. Answer the ${\manual META}$ ${\manual FONT}$ prompt with the name of an ``initialization program'' like plain.inimf or cm.inimf and the rest will be done automatically, resulting in a new base file plain.base or cm.base. Or you can type in consecutive input commands to load multiple files for inclusion in the base file. The last command should be dump; this will tell Ini ${\mc MF}$ to create the compressed command file and to terminate.

Alternatively you may type a one-liner like

   > IniMF plain.inimf

and the results will be exactly the same.

If you use plain.inimf or cm.inimf as proposed here, the standard distribution modes.mf (current version 1.2) by ``Karl Berry and the ${\manual META}$ ${\manual FONT}$ community'' is added to your base file. This file contains mode descriptions for a variety of output devices, such as many matrix, laser or jet printers, photo typesetters, and screen previewers at different resolutions. There is a slight disadvantage when you include the complete modes.mf file, the base will heavily increase in its size. Feel free to extract only the modes you need for your personal configuration and to put them into a file local.mf. You should replace the line ``input modes'' by ``input local'' in plain.inimf and recreate the base file with the help of Ini ${\mc MF}$ as described above.

PasTEX users who want to use the Call ${\mc MF}$ package may encounter some problems, because Georg Heßmann chose to create his own modes which are not compatible with modes.mf. These are collected in the file pastex-modes.mf in the MF:rexx/callmf/inputs directory. You can use these modes, but you will have to replace the entries in modes and recreate the base file to work with them. Or you can setup PasTEX to work with modes.mf.