4.1 CEF Character files

These files define monochrome raster glyphs for character sets. The default extension is "c". These files are text files with optional header lines. Each glyph definition is on its own line and each line is terminated with a CRLF (new line). The first glyph encountered is assigned to index 0, the next to index 1, and so forth. There is no limit as to the number of glyphs defined in the file, but some character set classes may have limits as to the number of glyphs that can be defined.

If present, the header file consists of two lines. The first is

RASTER

and the second is a number indicating the maximum width of glyphs, in pixels. In the absence of a header, the glyphs are assumed to be 8 pixels wide.

All lines following the header define glyphs. A blank line will define a blank glyph, otherwise the lines contain information defining the pixels that make up the glyph. A line may end with a comment. Comments begin with a semicolon (;). Everything from the semicolon to the end of the line are ignored by the software. Each scan line of the glyph is delimited by a comma in the file line. The scan line is a number whose 2's-complement bit layout defines the pixels that are set on that scan line of the glyph. The number is interpreted depending upon the prefix for the number, as follows:

Any other value is interpreted as a decimal numeric value.

Note that the scan lines must include vertical and horizontal spacing (the space between lines and the space between each character cell).

Example lines defining glyphs with 11 scan lines:

0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00 ; Space

0x00, 0x10, 0x10, 0x10, 0x10, 0x10, 0x00, 0x00, 0x10, 0x10, 0x00 ; ! (exclamation)