Via:         UK.AC.CAM.PHX;  2 JAN 93 14:41:12 GMT
Date:         Sat, 2 Jan 93 14:41:32 GMT
From:         FP103@PHOENIX.CAMBRIDGE.AC.UK
Subject:      Re: [Changing symbol sets]
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.notabene

Some weeks ago I had a comparable problem as you describe but with Scandinavian
screen fonts. There is a way out of the problem but it requires some courage
and a couple of DOS programs that may be difficult to get a hold of. You will
also want to get a copy of Roy Harris' description of how to change the NB.FNT
file which he posted on the list sometime before 14 December last year.

Very briefly, this is what you do: you need a hex editor such as Norton's
DISKEDIT or the equivalent PCTOOLS program _and_ a program from SIMTEL20 called
EVAFONT, which is a font editor for textmode DOS programs (I got my copy from
OAK.OAKLAND.EDU via our mainframe's FTP command).

To log on to a SIMTEL20 via FTP you need to identify yourself as a guest user:r.
when the site asks for your USER NAME type "ANONYMOUS". It will then ask for a
password. Anything will work if you spelled "anonymous" correctly. I did not
the first three times I tried and had to look the spelling up in a dictionary.
Then you will want to go to a subdirectory called PUB\MSDOS\SCREEN (Type CD
PUB, etc). Do a directory listing (type DIR) to verify that the program
EVAFONT.ZIP is there. Type BINARY and wait until the computer has verified that
it has been set for binary file transfer and then type GET EVAFONT.ZIP. EVAFONT
is now on your own mainframe account from whence you can download it to your
own computer and PKUNZIP it.

Now comes the difficult bit. As always when editing important files make sure
that you have a backup copy of the font file: COPY NB.FNT to a file called
NBI.FNT, so that you can always use this if something goes wrong.
NB.FNT must then be broken up into fourteen files each
exactly 4096 bytes long. This is done by editing the file in norton's DISKEDIT.
Define HEX-addresses  0000-0FFF, move it to the clipboard, make the clipboard
the current object and write the clipboard contents to a file called NB00.FNT.
Do the same for all the other ranges:1000-1FFF, 2000-2FFF, 3000-3FFF, ETC. Call
the resulting files NB01.fnt, NB02.fnt. . .NB13.FNT. Each of these files
contain one symbol set (including Hebrew, Greek, Russian, and italics plus
various diacritics). Edit the characters you need to edit with EVAFONT and save
the resulting file(s).

Finally, concatenate the nb00.FNT, NB01.FNT, etc. files into a new NB.FNT.
This is done with the  DOS COPY command. Add a binary switch to it, like this

COPY /b NB00.FNT+NB01.FNT+NB02.FNT. . . NB13.FNT NB.FNT

Make sure that there are no spaces between the names of the small *.FNT files
and the there is a space before NB.FNT. The last thing you need to do is to
copy the new NB.FNT into your NOTABENE subdirectory. Notabene should now
display the new font(s) you made. if your screen fills with garbage it is
probably because you either made one of the NB00-NB13.FNT files the wrong size
or because you switched the fonts around and specified e.g. COPY /b
NB01.FNT+NB00.fnt...NB13.FNT.

This, however, only takes care of the display. To print the new symbols from
NOTABENE you must also modify you printer driver. It is easiest to edit it in
NOTABENE itself. Look for your new characters in the section called
SUBSTITUTION TABLES and edit it with the help of your printer manual. You will
probably have to switch the printer into a foreign type-set, but you will have
to read about how to do that in the printer manual. If you have a NB version 3
manual you may want to consult that, too.

Good luck

Frederik Pedersen, Carlsberg Fellow at the Cambridge Group for the
History of Population, Cambridge cb2 1qa.

Thanks to Roy Harris for first describing how to edit the screen fonts.

Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU