FontType version 1.0 Help

This is the main help file for FontType.  To view it while in the program,
select "See Help" from the Help menu.

CONTENTS:

1. What is FontType?
2. The Interface
3. Making a Font
4. Troubleshooting



WHAT IS FONTTYPE?

FontType is an easy-to-use, mouse-driven program written in QBASIC that
allows developers to create fonts for use in their OWN QBASIC programs.
By simply clicking on a grid, a person can create a "character map" that
becomes their font. A user selects the ASCII "range" of the font, then
selects the height (8 pixels or 16 pixels). Then they simply "point and click"
to create!


THE INTERFACE

FontType was designed to be easy to navigate and run. Upon entering the
program, you will see a window that shows how many days the program has
been run, and then you will see the credits. After that, take a good
look around.

You will see three pulldown menus: File, Edit, and Help.

File menu:
	New...		Create a new font
	Open...		Load a font
	Save...		Save the current font
	-------
	Exit		LEAVE!

Edit menu:
	Cut		MOVES the selected character to clipboard
	Copy		COPIES the selected character to clipboard
	Paste		PASTES the character in clipboard down
	Clear		DELETES the selected character
	---------------
	Clear Clipboard		DELETES the contents of the clipboard

Help menu:
	See Help	View this file
	--------
	License		View the license
	--------
	About		See the credits!

You will also see four boxes, one of these boxes is inside the other.
A fifth box will be created after creating or loading a font.
What do these boxes do?

Standard Font box:

This is where the standard characters of your ASCII "range" are shown
and are used to compare during font-building.  Clicking on a character
turns it orange (to show it's selected) and selects that ASCII value
for you to lay down a character.

Your Font box:

This is where the characters YOU'VE made will appear. Every time you select
a new standard character or hit the right mouse button, the box is updated.
Each location here corresponds to a character in the Standard Font box;
click a character in this box and the corresponding character in the
Standard Font box is also highlighted (made orange).  Clicking in the
Standard Font box does the same for the Your Font box.

Editing Window:

This is where the editing of the font takes place.  When creating or loading
a font, a grid will be drawn to hold the "pixels" of the characters.  If the
font has a 8 pixel height, an 8 by 8 grid is drawn.  If the font has
a 16 pixel height, and 8 by 16 grid is drawn.  When selecting a user font
character, its "pixels" will be drawn in the grid.  Clicking a square
turns a pixel on or off.

Sample Box (inside Editing Window):

This box shows a real-time version of what your font looks like in its
current state.  As you make changes in the editing grid, the Sample Box
is updated instantly.

ASCII Range box:

This box only appears when a font is loaded.  It shows the lowest ASCII
value of the font, the highest ASCII value of the font, and the font
size in pixels.



MAKING A FONT

Alright.  Now that you know what it is and what it has, how do you use it?
Let's run throught the program step by step.

First (after running through the days, credits, and license), select
"New..." from the File menu. A warning will appear, confirming your
choice. Select OK. Now the Size window appears, asking you for an 8 or
16 pixel font height. Type 16 for now, since that's the height of characters
in SCREEN 12 (640x480 w/16 colors).

Next, you will be asked to type the lowest ASCII value for your font. Type
33 for now (that's the lowest you can go!). After that, it asks you for the
highest ASCII value. Type in a 40.

Suddenly, a grid with 8x16 squares are drawn, the standard characters for
your range are shown, and the ASCII Range Box appears at the bottom of the
screen! The ASCII Range box should indicate a font height of 16, a low
ASCII value of 33, and a high ASCII value of 40.

To enter in a character, you must first select a character in the Standard
Font box. Click the first one for now, and it should turn orange. Now begin
clicking in the grid. As you lay down "pixels" the Sample Box shows the
current state of your font. Select a new character or press the right mouse
button to "refresh" the Your Font box.

That's all there is to it!! To save, just select "Save..." from the File
menu and type a filename (no extensions please, the extension is always
".FNT"). The commands in the Edit menu and Help menu should be
self-explanatory. To learn how to display fonts in your OWN programs, load
up the file HOWTO.TXT.


TROUBLESHOOTING

Something may go wrong in the program. Since this is heavily tested, there
shouldn't be too many problems, but here are some answers to the ones I
know:

Q: I get the error "The font is too big!" when I create a new font.
A: QBASIC has a maximum array size of 64K. Because of this, the array
   that holds the font cannot hold the maximum 221 characters allowed in
   FontType. Decrease the size by adjusting the range values and break
   a font into pieces. You CAN load more than one font in the programs you
   will write.

Q: When I try to paste a character, I get the error "Nothing to paste!".
A: This is because FontType has found nothing in the clipboard. Either
   a character was not CUT or COPIED, or the clipboard has been cleared
   with the command "Clear Clipboard."

Q: I can't enter anything in the grid, or use the commands in the Edit menu!
A: Before you do anything, you must create a font. After that, you must
   SELECT a character from the Standard Font box by clicking on it. A
   character turns orange when it is selected.
