TrueType and OpenType fonts
OpenType is an enhanced form of TrueType technology that is designed with Unicode in mind. OpenType is the font technology that IBM® is using to support presentation of Unicode. TrueType fonts contain characters to support language and scripts from around the world.
TrueType fonts are supplied in option 43 ("Additional Fonts") of IBM i. They are provided as stream files in the TrueType (OpenType) format.
TrueType and OpenType fonts are expected to be found in one of two integrated file system directories:
/QIBM/ProdData/OS400/Fonts/TTFontsfor IBM supplied fonts./QIBM/UserData/OS400/Fonts/TTFontsfor user fonts.
You can specify additional directories for user fonts by using environment variable QIBM_FONT_RESOURCES_PATH. One or more directories, separated by a colon, can be specified.
When searching for fonts, the system looks to see whether there are any paths set in the environment variable QIBM_FONT_RESOURCES_PATH. If so, those paths are searched first. Then the UserData path is searched, followed by the ProdData path.
The following fonts are supplied in option 43 ("Additional Fonts"):
| Font name | File name | Region |
|---|---|---|
| WT Sans | wts_w___.ttf | Europe/US/South America (WGL4) |
| WT Sans ME | wts_m___.ttf | Middle East |
| WT Sans IN | wts_i___.ttf | India |
| WT Sans SEA | wts_sea_.ttf | Southeast Asia |
| WT Sans K | wts_k__b.ttf | Korea |
| WT Sans K EA 1 | wts_k_eb.ttf | Korea (East Asia subset) |
| WT Sans J | wts_j__b.ttf | Japan |
| WT Sans J EA 1 | wts_j_eb.ttf | Japan (East Asia subset) |
| WT Sans SC | wts_s__b.ttf | China |
| WT Sans SC EA 1 | wts_s_eb.ttf | China (East Asia subset) |
| WT Sans HK | wts_th_b.ttf | Hong Kong |
| WT Sans HK EA 1 | wts_theb.ttf | Hong Kong (East Asia subset) |
| WT Sans TW | wts_tt_b.ttf | Taiwan |
| WT Sans TW EA 1 | wts_tteb.ttf | Taiwan (East Asia subset) |
| WT SansDuo | wtsdw___.ttf | Europe/US/South America (WGL4) |
| WT SansDuo ME | wtsdm___.ttf | Middle East |
| WT SansDuo IN | wtsdi___.ttf | India |
| WT SansDuo SEA | wtsdsea_.ttf | Southeast Asia |
| WT SansDuo K | wtsdk__b.ttf | Korea |
| WT SansDuo K EA 1 | wtsdk_eb.ttf | Korea (East Asia subset) |
| WT SansDuo J | wtsdj__b.ttf | Japan |
| WT SansDuo J EA 1 | wtsdj_eb.ttf | Japan (East Asia subset) |
| WT SansDuo SC | wtsds__b.ttf | China |
| WT SansDuo SC xB 2 | wtsdsxb_.ttf | China |
| WT SansDuo SC EA 1 | wtsds_eb.ttf | China (East Asia subset) |
| WT SansDuo HK | wtsdth_b.ttf | Hong Kong |
| WT SansDuo HK EA 1 | wtsdtheb.ttf | Hong Kong (East Asia subset) |
| WT SansDuo TW | wtsdtt_b.ttf | Taiwan |
| WT SansDuo TW EA 1 | wtsdtteb.ttf | Taiwan (East Asia subset) |
| WT Serif | wt__w___.ttf | Europe/US/South America (WGL4) |
| WT Serif ME | wt__m___.ttf | Middle East |
| WT Serif IN | wt__i___.ttf | India |
| WT Serif SEA | wt__sea_.ttf | Southeast Asia |
| WT Serif K | wt__k__b.ttf | Korea |
| WT Serif K EA 1 | wt__k_eb.ttf | Korea (East Asia subset) |
| WT Serif J | wt__j__b.ttf | Japan |
| WT Serif J EA 1 | wt__j_eb.ttf | Japan (East Asia subset) |
| WT Serif SC | wt__s__b.ttf | China |
| WT Serif SC EA 1 | wt__s_eb.ttf | China (East Asia subset) |
| WT Serif HK | wt__th_b.ttf | Hong Kong |
| WT Serif HK EA 1 | wt__theb.ttf | Hong Kong (East Asia subset) |
| WT Serif TW | wt__tt_b.ttf | Taiwan |
| WT Serif TW EA 1 | wt__tteb.ttf | Taiwan (East Asia subset) |
| WT SerifDuo | wt_dw___.ttf | Europe/US/South America (WGL4) |
| WT SerifDuo ME | wt_dm___.ttf | Middle East |
| WT SerifDuo IN | wt_di___.ttf | India |
| WT SerifDuo SEA | wt_dsea_.ttf | Southeast Asia |
| WT SerifDuo K | wt_dk__b.ttf | Korea |
| WT SerifDuo K EA 1 | wt_dk_eb.ttf | Korea (East Asia subset) |
| WT SerifDuo J | wt_dj__b.ttf | Japan |
| WT SerifDuo J EA 1 | wt_dj_eb.ttf | Japan (East Asia subset) |
| WT SerifDuo SC | wt_ds__b.ttf | China |
| WT SerifDuo SC EA 1 | wt_ds_eb.ttf | China (East Asia subset) |
| WT SerifDuo HK | wt_dth_b.ttf | Hong Kong |
| WT SerifDuo HK EA 1 | wt_dtheb.ttf | Hong Kong (East Asia subset) |
| WT SerifDuo TW | wt_dtt_b.ttf | Taiwan |
| WT SerifDuo TW EA 1 | wt_dtteb.ttf | Taiwan (East Asia subset) |
- The East Asia subset fonts are recommended for applications that set line spacing based on the font metrics.
- The WT SansDuo SC xB font is an extension of the WT Sans SC, WT SansDuo SC, and WT SansDuo SC EA fonts. The WT SansDuo SC xB font is linked to these fonts by the resource access table that is supplied with IBM i Option 43 - Additional Fonts. This linking makes all of the characters from the extension font available to documents that specify any of the three base fonts.
In order to print with TrueType or OpenType fonts, you must use the FONTNAME DDS keyword to select the font. Unlike the other supported font resources, the TrueType fonts are accessed by their font name, not by the file or object name. TrueType fonts can be used only with printer files that have a device type of *AFPDS.
If you install additional TrueType or OpenType fonts to be used for AFP printing, it is recommended that you use the AFP Resource Installer (or equivalent). Using a resource installer ensures that the fonts are accessed in a consistent manner by all AFP products that support TrueType and OpenType fonts.
When the AFP Resource Installer is used to install fonts, it builds a resource access table in a file called IBM_DataObjectFont.rat. The resource access table contains a mapping of the font name to a system-specific file name. The table stores the font embedding permissions needed by the writer to determine whether the fonts can be captured in the printer so they do not have to be downloaded each time they are used. It also provides a mechanism to link multiple individual font files into a single logical font which is useful for printing languages with large character sets. The resource access table must be stored in the directory which contains the fonts referenced. There can be only one resource access table per directory.
For more information about the AFP Resource Installer,
see AFP Resource Installer 
(http://www.infoprintsolutionscompany.com/internet/ipww.nsf/vwwebpublished/swtp_afp-resource-installer_en).
In IBM i 7.2, the fonts in option 43 were updated and renamed to assist with collating and use on graphical displays. Both the font names and the corresponding font file names were changed. The following table shows the new font name, the previous font name, and the corresponding font file names.
| Previous font name | New font name | Previous font file name | New font file name |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monotype Sans WT | WT Sans | mtsans_w.ttf | wts_w___.ttf |
| Monotype Sans WT J | WT Sans J | mtsans_j.ttf | wts_j__b.ttf |
| Monotype Sans WT K | WT Sans K | mtsans_k.ttf | wts_k__b.ttf |
| Monotype Sans WT ME | WT Sans ME | mtsans_m.ttf | wts_m___.ttf |
| Monotype Sans WT SC | WT Sans SC | mtsans_s.ttf | wts_s__b.ttf |
| Monotype Sans WT TC | WT Sans TW | mtsans_t.ttf | wts_tteb.ttf |
| Monotype Sans Duospace WT | WT SansDuo | mtsansdw.ttf | wtsdw___.ttf |
| Monotype Sans Duospace WT IN | WT SansDuo IN | mtsdi___.ttf | wtsdi___.ttf |
| Monotype Sans Duospace WT J | WT SansDuo J | mtsansdj.ttf | wtsdj__b.ttf |
| Monotype Sans Dupspace WT J EA | WT SansDuo J EA | mtsdj_e_.ttf | wtsdj_eb.ttf |
| Monotype Sans Duospace WT K | WT SansDuo K | mtsansdk.ttf | wtsdk__b.ttf |
| Monotype Sans Duospace WT K EA | WT SansDuo K EA | mtsdk_e_.ttf | wtsdk_eb.ttf |
| Monotype Sans Duospace WT ME | WT SansDuo ME | mtsansdm.ttf | wtsdm___.ttf |
| Monotype Sans Duospace WT SC | WT SansDuo SC | mtsansds.ttf | wts_s__b.ttf |
| Monotype Sans Duospace WT SC EA | WT SansDuo SC EA | mtsds_e_.ttf | wtsds_eb.ttf |
| Monotype Sans Duospace WT TC | WT SansDuo TW | mtsansdt.ttf | wtsdtt_b.ttf |
| Monotype Sans Duospace WT TC EA | WT SansDuo TW EA | mtsdt_e_.ttf | wtsdtteb.ttf |
| Monotype Sans Duospace WT TC TW EA | WT SansDuo TW EA | mtsdtte_.ttf | wtsdtteb.ttf |
| Monotype Sans Duospace Ext B | WT SansDuo SC xB | MTSanXBS.ttf | wtsdsxb_.ttf |
| Times New Roman WT | WT Serif | tnrwt_w.ttf | wt__w___.ttf |
| Times New Roman WT IN | WT Serif IN | tnr_i___.ttf | wt__i___.ttf |
| Times New Roman WT J | WT Serif J | tnrwt_j.ttf | wt__j__b.ttf |
| Times New Roman WT K | WT Serif K | tnrwt_k.ttf | wt__k__b.ttf |
| Times New Roman WT ME | WT Serif ME | tnrwt_m.ttf | wt__m___.ttf |
| Times New Roman WT SC | WT Serif SC | tnrwt_s.ttf | wt__s__b.ttf |
| Times New Roman WT TC | WT Serif TW | tnrwt_t.ttf | wt__tt_b.ttf |
| Thorndale Duospace WT | WT SerifDuo | thrnd_w.ttf | wt_dw___.ttf |
| Thorndale Duospace WT J | WT SerifDuo J | thrnd_j.ttf | wt_dj__b.ttf |
| Thorndale Duospace WT K | WT SerifDuo K | thrnd_k.ttf | wt_dk__b.ttf |
| Thorndale Duospace WT ME | WT SerifDuo ME | thrnd_m.ttf | wt_dm___.ttf |
| Thorndale Duospace WT SC | WT SerifDuo SC | thrnd_s.ttf | wt_ds__b.ttf |
| Thorndale Duospace WT TC | WT SerifDuo TW | thrnd_t.ttf | wt_dtt_b.ttf |
The operating system contains migration support such that changes to existing applications are not required. For applications that reference the fonts by the font names, the operating system maps those names to the new font names. For PASE and Java™ applications that reference fonts by their file names, Option 43, when installed, creates two sets of symbolic links in the /QOpenSys/usr/lib/X11/fonts/TrueType directory. One set contains the new file names referenced previously. The other set maps the previous file names to the new file names.