Grammer2/docs/fonts.md

Fonts

Grammer has two built-in fonts, and currently supports three kinds of font.

Default 4x6

The default font is a 4x6 fixed-width font. Each character is packed into 3 bytes, making the entire font set (256 chars) 768 bytes. If you would like to create your own font in this format, you can use DrDnar's Monochrome Font Editor.

I recommend loading Grammer's fixed font file as a template.

If you are making a font from scratch, I recommend using these settings in MFE:

• Windows>Chart to display the chart
• Windows>Font Properties to open font properties
  • Set Height to 6
  • Deselect the Data Width Multiple of 8 option
  • Deselect the Variable Width option
  • Set Data Width to 4
  • Set Width to 4

When you are ready to export the font data, Go to Windows>Export and select Xeda's Format #1. Then save it and MFE generates a .asm file with the right format for the font data. You can then compiled it with something like spasm to an appvar:

  spasm myfont.asm myfont.8xv

Send myfont.8xv to your calc, and now you can use it in Grammer :)

Variable Font

Grammer also has a built-in variable-width font that is 7 pixels tall. It is basically a large font that looks better than the OS large font. This format is set up so that the first byte is the height for the entire font, followed by all of the char data. Each char is prefixed with a width byte (width in pixels) followed by data. Each row of pixels is padded to a multiple of 8 bits. So say a char is 5 pixels wide. Then each row is 8 bits (1 byte), with the bottom 3 bits being 0.

(Yes, you can have very large fonts.)

As with the fixed-width font, you can use DrDnar's Monochrome Font Editor.

I recommend loading Grammer's variable font file as a template.

If you are making a font from scratch, I recommend using these settings in MFE:

• Windows>Chart to display the chart
• Windows>Font Properties to open font properties
  • Set Height to your font height (you choose)
  • Select the Variable Width option

When you are ready to export the font data, Go to Windows>Export and select Xeda's Format #2. Then save it and MFE generates a .asm file with the right format for the font data. You can then compiled it with something like spasm to an appvar:

  spasm myfont.asm myfont.8xv

Send myfont.8xv to your calc, and now you can use it in Grammer :)

Omnicalc and Batlib Fonts

Omnicalc fonts are used by Omnicalc and (Batlib) to replace the OS large font. These are 5x7 fonts, so each char takes 7 bytes. Omnicalc fonts have a special header, which is why the Grammer docs say they need an offset of 11 bytes. Batlib fonts don't have a header, so you don't need to offset. You can use DrDnar's font editor to create your font, or download from a multitude of available fonts from TICalc.org. If you use DrDnar's MFE, I think it exports directly to an appvar or program file.