Page:NBS Technical Note 11176 (1983) (IAutilityprogramsf1176dick).djvu/10

 Utility Programs for Generating the Hershey Character Fonts on Microcomputers and Laboratory Plotters

INTRODUCTION

With the advent of microcomputers able to drive inexpensive x-y plotters, it is now possible for scientists to produce camera ready illustrations in their own laboratory. Such drawings have, in the past, required costly and time consuming drafting and hand lettering by graphics artists.

The ingredients of such an in-house facility, in addition to the microcomputer and plotter, are:

a) a collection of mechanical drafting routines

b) a repertory of graphic arts fonts in digitized form

c) computer programs to store, retrieve, edit, and display them on video terminals, printers, and plotters.

Mechanical drafting and data handling routines have been under development for some time and are the subject of a forthcoming report. For the character digitization, we have been able to draw on the pioneering and definitive work of Dr. Allen V. Hershey as subsequently presented by Wolcott and Hilsenrath. The third item on the above list, the software required to digitize and display the characters, is the subject of this report. This report describes two programs for the Apple II computer operating under the disk operating system (DOS 3.3). The first program, which is treated in detail, contains routines for reading files of Hershey coordinates and storing them in a more compact format as text files, displaying individual characters or complete fonts on the hires (high resolution) screen, and two methods for editing or

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