"John Tempest" <John_Tempest@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
news:eP6UPPgRDHA.3192@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
> I'm looking for some advice here. I was thinking of using a raster font
> (*.fon) with a subset of dedicated block graphics characters, and then
> producing an animated graphics display on a form using the DrawString
method
> with appropriate pen colours and background colours. Most of the screen
> would be fixed display with the rest being elements that display changes
of
> states by repainting those elements with DrawString and changes of
> foreground or background colour. This seemed to me to be a very simple way
> of dealing with the graphical display which could be updated at intervals
of
> a second without much processing overhead.
>
> Unfortunately, it seems, as far as I can tell, that the appropriate
methods
> for loading a raster font are not implemented in dotNet 1.1 in that you
can
> only use TrueType or OpenType fonts in font families! I only need a raster
> font of fixed width and fixed point size and then I can position the
> DrawString in relation to the virtual row and column of a text page.
>
> So I'm looking for alternatives:
> 1. If there is a way of using an existing raster font and loading it so
that
> I can associate it with the form and use the DrawString method, I'd like
> someone to tell me how to do that -- I can't find anything in the MSDN
> library about this, nor in the WROX books on GDIplus.
> 2. I could, if there was an easy and inexpensive set of tools available,
> modify one of the TrueType fixed width fonts and add a set of block
graphics
> to it. Nothing fancy is required: mostly recti-linear shapes and lines
(some
> diagonal) which have to fit (align) together; only two curved shapes: one
a
> circle (outline and filled), the other a quadrant of a circle (outline and
> filled). Font editors for TrueType and OpenType font families seem to
rather
> expensive, and I don't need any of the complexities of ensuring that the
> graphics look equally good over a range of font sizes (nor do they need to
> be displayed on a web page). The kind of help that would be useful here is
> where to get suitable freeware utilities and access to articles that would
> help me.
> 3. The third alternative, which to me is the least favourable, is to
> construct a set of bit maps, either as 1-bit maps which could be drawn in
> one of 3 or 4 colours according to the state they are representing, or
> duplicating the bit maps (ie one for each colour state).
> 4. Finally, write to an ANSI graphics screen from the dotNet program, if
> that is still possible, and use the old ANSI graphics control characters
for
> setting foreground and background colours (including the flashing
attribute)
> and an appropriate raster graphics font. Again, it would be helpful to be
> pointed to any useful articles available anywhere on the net or in book
> form.
>
> I would prefer to use the dotNet package and C# as the development system,
> particularly for the benefits gaint in using classes, properties and
> methods, in modelling the system that I want to represent and also for
> handling the user interface: mouse-clicks, hot-spots, etc.
>
> Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance.
>
> John Tempest
>
>
>

"John Tempest" <John_Tempest@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
news:eP6UPPgRDHA.3192@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
> I'm looking for some advice here. I was thinking of using a raster font
> (*.fon) with a subset of dedicated block graphics characters, and then
> producing an animated graphics display on a form using the DrawString
method
> with appropriate pen colours and background colours. Most of the screen
> would be fixed display with the rest being elements that display changes
of
> states by repainting those elements with DrawString and changes of
> foreground or background colour. This seemed to me to be a very simple way
> of dealing with the graphical display which could be updated at intervals
of
> a second without much processing overhead.
>
> Unfortunately, it seems, as far as I can tell, that the appropriate
methods
> for loading a raster font are not implemented in dotNet 1.1 in that you
can
> only use TrueType or OpenType fonts in font families! I only need a raster
> font of fixed width and fixed point size and then I can position the
> DrawString in relation to the virtual row and column of a text page.
>
> So I'm looking for alternatives:
> 1. If there is a way of using an existing raster font and loading it so
that
> I can associate it with the form and use the DrawString method, I'd like
> someone to tell me how to do that -- I can't find anything in the MSDN
> library about this, nor in the WROX books on GDIplus.
> 2. I could, if there was an easy and inexpensive set of tools available,
> modify one of the TrueType fixed width fonts and add a set of block
graphics
> to it. Nothing fancy is required: mostly recti-linear shapes and lines
(some
> diagonal) which have to fit (align) together; only two curved shapes: one
a
> circle (outline and filled), the other a quadrant of a circle (outline and
> filled). Font editors for TrueType and OpenType font families seem to
rather
> expensive, and I don't need any of the complexities of ensuring that the
> graphics look equally good over a range of font sizes (nor do they need to
> be displayed on a web page). The kind of help that would be useful here is
> where to get suitable freeware utilities and access to articles that would
> help me.
> 3. The third alternative, which to me is the least favourable, is to
> construct a set of bit maps, either as 1-bit maps which could be drawn in
> one of 3 or 4 colours according to the state they are representing, or
> duplicating the bit maps (ie one for each colour state).
> 4. Finally, write to an ANSI graphics screen from the dotNet program, if
> that is still possible, and use the old ANSI graphics control characters
for
> setting foreground and background colours (including the flashing
attribute)
> and an appropriate raster graphics font. Again, it would be helpful to be
> pointed to any useful articles available anywhere on the net or in book
> form.
>
> I would prefer to use the dotNet package and C# as the development system,
> particularly for the benefits gaint in using classes, properties and
> methods, in modelling the system that I want to represent and also for
> handling the user interface: mouse-clicks, hot-spots, etc.
>
> Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance.
>
> John Tempest
>
>
>

"Bob Powell [MVP]" <bob@_spamkiller_bobpowell.net> wrote in message
news:elLu4WhRDHA.940@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...
> I found this which may be of interest to you...
>
> http://users.iclway.co.uk/l.emmett/
>
> --
> Bob Powell [MVP]
> C#, System.Drawing
>

"John Tempest" <John_Tempest@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
news:O6CnCHuRDHA.1868@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...
> Bob, Thanks for the responses. I found your GDI+ FAQ very useful, and I am
> experimenting with some of the examples. I now have some practical
> alternatives to look at which I feel I can cope with.
>
> It's a shame, none-the-less, that Microsoft has abandoned the support for
> raster based fonts (and thereby, support for raster graphics solutions for
> animated control systems - which are still the main means of providing
> graphically oriented control systems for most industrial organisations, eg
> Railway signalling, industrial chemical productions, steel mills, and
> electrical generation and distribution systems, etc, etc, where the main
> display devices have built-in block-character type font characters which
can
> have foreground and background colour, brightness, and flashing
attributes,
> and which can accurately and simply positioned on the display by simple
> escape sequences!). Microsoft has put in tremendous resources for the
> development of sophisticated, artistic, and cleanly designed fontography
and
> print/display layout with the TrueType and OpenType systems. But the
skills
> needed to alter or edit fonts are now beyond the average programmer!
> Likewise, the concentration on development facilities for commerce,
business
> management, and finance, has left huge gaps in the development facilities
> for applications outside this area.
>
> John Tempest
>
> "Bob Powell [MVP]" <bob@_spamkiller_bobpowell.net> wrote in message
> news:elLu4WhRDHA.940@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...
> > I found this which may be of interest to you...
> >
> > http://users.iclway.co.uk/l.emmett/
> >
> > --
> > Bob Powell [MVP]
> > C#, System.Drawing
> >
>
>

Bob Powell [MVP] wrote:
> I've recently written code in .NET that decodes and extracts information
> from true-type fonts, such as the character advance values and so-on.

"Bob Powell [MVP]" <bob@_spamkiller_bobpowell.net> wrote in message
news:eUiia$vRDHA.1868@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...
> I suppose really that fonts used in a graphics role were simply an answer
to
> character based displays and a font these days needs to be a little more
> sophisticated than a bitmap stored in an indexed file somewhere.
>
> I've recently written code in .NET that decodes and extracts information
> from true-type fonts, such as the character advance values and so-on.
>
> If I could find the FON file format spec somewhere I have no doubt that I
> could do a raster font reader. I've looked all over for it though and I
> can't find it. Maybe I can't see the wood for the trees...
>
> --
> Bob Powell [MVP]
> C#, System.Drawing
>
> Check out the GDI+ FAQ
> http://www.bobpowell.net/gdiplus_faq.htm
>
> Buy quality Windows Forms tools
> http://www.bobpowell.net/xray_tools.htm
>
> New GDI+ articles include how to use the LinearGradientBrush and
> how to draw text on a reversed Y axis for graphs and charts.
>