PSF for z/OS: User's Guide
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Overview of AFP fonts

PSF for z/OS: User's Guide
S550-0435-04

Overview of AFP fonts

IBM® AFP printers can use FOCA raster and outline fonts, which are single-byte or double-byte, or TrueType and OpenType outline fonts.

FOCA fonts

Raster and outline fonts defined by the Font Object Content Architecture (FOCA) are called FOCA fonts. A FOCA font is a paired character set and code page that can be used together to print a string of text characters. FOCA fonts are stored in partitioned data sets (PDS or PDSE) in font resource libraries.

The different types of FOCA fonts that PSF supports are:

Raster fonts
A raster font is a font created by a series of pels arranged to form an image. Raster fonts are created in a specific point size, so if you want to use different sizes of the same raster font, you must store multiple versions of the same font. Raster fonts can have 240-pel or 300-pel formats:
240-pel fonts
240-pel raster fonts can be bounded-box or unbounded-box. All IBM AFP printers except the 3800-3 use bounded-box fonts.
300-pel fonts
Many IBM AFP printers print documents at 300-pel resolution. 300-pel fonts are provided in the optional Compatibility Fonts feature of PSF, in the AFP Font Collection, Program Number 5648-B33, or in the z/OS® Font Collection, a base feature of z/OS V2R1, Program Number 5650-ZOS. Your system programmer can also convert any single-byte 240-pel font in the bounded-box format to a 300-pel font by using the font-conversion program distributed with PSF. This program, APSRCF30, is described in PSF for z/OS: Customization.
Outline fonts
PSF supports single- and double-byte outline font technology, in which the character shapes are represented by mathematical expressions. Because the font shape is defined without regard to size, outline fonts are scalable; therefore, you only need to store one version of an outline font, which increases your system storage space and enhances printing performance. Figure 10 illustrates how one outline font can be used with many different widths and scale factors.
Figure 10. Example of text that uses outline fonts
This figure shows text that uses outline fonts. It uses the same font with different widths and scale factors. Each font is different. The same font can be small or big, wide or narrow.
When you use an outline font you must specify a font size and a horizontal scale factor, which can be specified either in the MO:DCA-P data stream or in a coded font.
Single-byte and double-byte fonts
Some page printers can print with both single-byte and double-byte fonts. A single-byte font can access up to 256 graphic characters from a character set. A double-byte font is used for printing languages whose base alphabets contain more than 256 graphic characters. To represent all the characters, more than 256 code points are needed. Therefore, two bytes are used: one byte to identify the section, and one byte to identify the code point in that section. An example of a writing system that requires double-byte fonts is kanji, in which the graphic characters are symbols in Japanese ideographic alphabets.
DBCS simulation fonts
Double-byte character set (DBCS) simulation fonts are outline fonts that are positioned like the old DBCS raster fonts, which let you use outline fonts to print applications that use the old DBCS fonts without changing the application or changing its appearance. The DBCS simulation fonts are only used for an old application. Never mix the old DBCS raster fonts with the DBCS core raster or outline fonts because they are positioned differently.

FOCA fonts are stored in partitioned data sets (PDS or PDSE) in font resource libraries. A font resource library is composed of three library-member types:

  • A coded font member associates a code page and a font character set as a pair. A single-byte coded font contains one code page and font character-set pair. A double-byte raster coded font, which requires two bytes to identify each graphic character, contains two or more code page and font character-set pairs; each pair is called a font section. A double-byte outline font contains one code page and font character-set pair. IBM requires a prefix of X0-XG and XZ for coded font resource objects.
  • A code page member associates a code point and a graphic character identifier for each graphic character supported by the code page and specifies how code points that are not valid are to be processed. IBM recommends a prefix of T1 for code pages.

    Extended code pages are code pages that can contain Unicode values, which a printer that supports extended code pages uses to print TrueType and OpenType fonts. Extended code pages can be stored in a partitioned data set (PDS or PDSE) in a font resource library or in a UNIX file in a font path library. When stored in UNIX files, extended code pages must have a .ECP file extension in uppercase format. For more information, see Using extended code pages.

  • A font character set member contains a graphic character identifier and a raster pattern or outline for each graphic character in the font or font section, as well as information about how the characters are to be printed. IBM recommends a prefix of C0-CG and CZ for font character sets.

PSF searches for FOCA fonts in any of these repositories:

Resident in the printer
If a font is resident or captured in a printer, PSF attempts to activate the font in the printer. See Using printer-resident fonts and Using captured fonts for more information.
Inline in the print data set
PSF looks for the specified font inline after first trying to activate the printer resident version of the font.
User path library
Extended code pages that are installed in a user path library can be accessed by PSF. PSF uses z/OS UNIX System Services to access the code pages in path libraries specified in the USERPATH parameter on the OUTPUT JCL statement. For more information, see USERPATH.
User library
A font that is installed in a user library can be accessed by PSF. PSF accesses the fonts in PDS or PDSE libraries specified in the USERLIB parameter on the OUTPUT JCL statement. For more information, see USERLIB.

PSF attempts to locate all fonts referenced in the user library after it looks for the printer resident version first and then the specified font inline. PSF looks for extended code pages referenced in the user library after it looks in the user path library.

System font path library
Extended code pages that are installed in a system font path library can be accessed by PSF. PSF uses z/OS UNIX System Services to access the code pages in path libraries specified in the FONTPATH parameter on the PRINTDEV statement of the PSF startup procedure. For more information, see PSF for z/OS: Customization.

PSF attempts to locate referenced extended code pages in the system font path library after it first looks in the user path library and then the user PDS or PDSE library.

System library
A font that is installed in a system font library can be accessed by PSF. PSF accesses the fonts in PDS or PDSE libraries specified in the FONTDD, FONT240, or FONT300 parameters on the PRINTDEV statement of the PSF startup procedure. For more information about specifying the parameters on the PRINTDEV statement, see PSF for z/OS: Customization.

PSF attempts to locate all fonts identified in the system font library after it looks for the printer resident version, the specified font inline, and in the user library. PSF looks for extended code pages referenced in the system library after it looks in the user path library, the user library, and the system font path library.

TrueType and OpenType fonts

TrueType and OpenType fonts are outline fonts. They consist of tables that identify the formatting information used to support Unicode encoding. PSF has these limitations when supporting TrueType and OpenType fonts:

  • PSF does not manage TrueType and OpenType fonts with installation Exit 7.
  • PSF only supports TrueType and OpenType fonts on printers that support Unicode.

TrueType and OpenType fonts are stored in UNIX files (HFS or zFS files) in font path libraries. A font path library contains these TrueType and OpenType objects:

Font
The basic TrueType and OpenType font element, which is a grouping of characters with the same typeface and style. A font object is stored as a single object or file.
Collection
A group of TrueType and OpenType fonts collected together and stored as a single object or file. Font collections are created by the font vendor.
Linked font
A group of TrueType and OpenType fonts that are associated by linking. One base font object is linked to other TrueType and OpenType font objects, which are known as linked fonts. When you are using PSF with z/OS V1R13 or earlier, the Font Installer for AFP Systems or the InfoPrint AFP Resource Installer performs font linking during font installation. When you are using PSF with z/OS V2R1, the resource access table for WorldType fonts in the z/OS Font Collection contains linked fonts.

For PSF to use TrueType and OpenType fonts, the fonts must be in one of these repositories:

Resident in the printer
If a TrueType and OpenType font is resident or captured in a printer, PSF attempts to activate the font from the printer. See Using printer-resident fonts and Using captured fonts for more information.
Inline in the print data set
A TrueType and OpenType font can be contained inline in the print data set if it is wrapped in a MO:DCA-P object container construct. A wrapped TrueType and OpenType font is used to place the font inline in the MO:DCA-P data stream. PSF cannot interpret a TrueType and OpenType font data stream, unless it is contained in MO:DCA-P. PSF looks for the specified font inline after first trying to activate the printer resident version of the font.
User path library
TrueType and OpenType fonts that are installed in a user path library can be accessed by PSF. These fonts do not contain any MO:DCA-P structured fields and, therefore, can be used by other print servers on multiple operating systems. PSF uses z/OS UNIX System Services to access the fonts in path libraries specified in the USERPATH parameter on the OUTPUT JCL statement. For more information, see USERPATH.

PSF attempts to locate referenced TrueType and OpenType fonts in the user path library after it looks for the printer resident version first and then the specified font inline.

System font path library
A TrueType and OpenType font that is installed in a system font path library can be accessed by PSF. These fonts do not contain any MO:DCA-P structured fields and, therefore, can be used by other print servers on multiple operating systems. PSF uses z/OS UNIX System Services to access the fonts in path libraries specified in the FONTPATH parameter on the PRINTDEV statement of the PSF startup procedure. For more information about specifying the FONTPATH parameter on the PRINTDEV statement, see PSF for z/OS: Customization.

PSF attempts to locate referenced TrueType and OpenType fonts in the system font path library after it looks for the printer resident version, the specified font inline, and in the user path library.

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