Bitmap distribution format files in File conversion utilities reference

fnttran supports BDF V2.2. Note however the following limitations:

multiple writing directions are not supported
characters must be listed in order of Unicode encoding
the name of the font, following FONT, is the label used to identify the individual font bitmap when the typefaces are constructed
some keywords must be supplied in the PROPERTIES section of the BDF file, as detailed below

See http://partners.adobe.com/ for further details of the bdf format.

Properties section

The Properties section starts with the keyword STARTPROPERTIES, followed by a number that matches the number of lines between it and the ENDPROPERTIES keyword (not including either). This section of a BDF file is designed to allow software vendors to store additional information: any line that is not recognized when reading it is ignored.

You may well find that a BDF file contains several lines of information stored in this area that are not part of the list that Symbian OS understands: these are often from the font foundry that produced the font. In general, it is a good idea to leave them in there, as:

they are ignored by fnttran and therefore have no effect on the resultant GDR file
if, at some later date, fnttran is upgraded and needs more font information, then these entries may contain the information you will need
if you remove the information and later get an updated version of the file from the supplier, it will be harder to identify the differences

There are a number of keywords that you should ensure are present in this area if Symbian OS is to understand it:

`Uid` uid	A UID for the font, expressed in decimal. This enables the font bitmap to be requested by UID (although selection by name and font specification is preferred).
`MaxNormalCharWidth` width	The maximum normal width of characters in pixels. Unless the font contains some unusually wide character that you will not normally use for text entry, this value can often be set to the same number as the first of the four parameters following the `FONTBOUNDINGBOX` near the start of the BDF.
`MaxConsecutiveFillChars` max	This keyword is optional. It controls whether breaks are made between code sections when there are breaks between continuous runs of characters in the input BDF file. It is used purely for optimisation and can usually be safely set to 5.
`Bold` [`1`/`0`]	If this font is bold, then this keyword should appear followed by 1. If it is not bold, then either follow it with 0 or don't use it at all.
`Italic` [`1`/`0`]	If this font is italic, then this keyword should appear followed by 1. If it is not italic, then either follow it with 0 or don't use it at all.
`FONTASCENT` ascent	This keyword is optional. If you know the ascent for this font (perhaps from the font foundry information also in this section), then use this keyword to specify the ascent value. This keyword will be ignored by versions of `fnttran` prior to 40.
`FONTDESCENT` descent	This keyword is optional. If you know the descent for this font (perhaps from the font foundry information also in this section), then use this keyword to specify the descent value. This keyword will be ignored by versions of `fnttran` prior to 40.