Table of Contents
TheDraw Fonts (TDF)
TheDraw fonts or tdf for short, are packages of graphical fonts created for use with TheDraw, an ANSI art program for MSDOS.
Synchronet can natively use these font packages in menus and other files without the need for an external program.
The .tdf files may contain single or multiple fonts. They can be accessed by zero-based index number. If a font with a given index doesn't exist then the first font found will be used. Up to 34 fonts can exist in a single .tdf file but, in reality, that's not usually the case.
tdfiglet.js
There is a utility script included with Synchronet for using TheDraw Font files to generate ornamental text output (so-called “figlets”), e.g. executable using JSexec or the exec sysop command.
usage: tdfiglet [options] input
-f [font] Specify font file used.
-j l|r|c Justify left, right, or center. Default is left.
-w n Set screen width. Default is auto-detect or 80.
-m n Set margin/offset (for left or right justification).
-a Color sequences: ANSI. Default is Synchronet Ctrl-A.
-u Encode charaters as UTF-8. Default is CP437.
-x n Index to font within file. Default is 0.
-i Print font details.
-r Use random font.
-h Print usage.
tdfonts_lib.js
There is a JavaScript library included with Synchronet for using TheDraw Font files.
Example
Please keep in mind the interface may to the library may change since this is a new feature.
// Load the tdf library
var tdf = load({}, "tdfonts_lib.js");
// Set various options (explained below)
tdf.opt = {
justify: tdf.LEFT_JUSTIFY,
width: tdf.DEFAULT_WIDTH,
ansi: false, // Default: Synchronet Ctrl-A attribute codes
utf8: false, // Default: CP437 character set/encoding
random: false,
info: false,
index: 3
};
// Choose the font file
// These are installed in ctrl/tdfonts
var fontfile = "voidx.tdf";
// You can read the font-encoded output into a variable to
// be manipulated or displayed later.
var output = tdf.output("TEST", fontfile);
writeln(output);
Options
You can pass several options to tdfonts using the opt object.
| Property | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
| justify | Determine the position of the text on the screen. You can use LEFT_JUSTIFY RIGHT_JUSTIFY or CENTER_JUSTIFY | LEFT_JUSTIFY |
| margin | Offset (in columns) from edge of terminal. For use with LEFT or RIGHT justification. | 0 |
| width | Specify the screen width. For use with CENTER or RIGHT justification. | auto-detect or 80 |
| ansi | Determines if output should use ANSI terminal escape sequences | false (use Synchronet Ctrl-A attribute sequences) |
| utf8 | Whether output encoding should use UTF-8 | false (use CP437 character set/encoding) |
| info | Print information about the font such as its name and available characters | false |
| random | Use a random font. A fontname need not be specified when using the random option. | false |
| index | 0 based index of the font within the font file | random or 0 |
