Re: Mac fonts -> GS?

[dempson@atlantis.actrix.gen.nz (David Empson)]

In article <3fktm1$3na@lastactionhero.rs.itd.umich.edu>,
Sean Michael McAfee <mcafee@umich.edu> wrote:
> I think this question was dealt with in this newsgroup recently, so I'll
> keep it short.  How does one transfer a Mac font to the IIGS?  I tried
> transferring one font directly from a Mac hard disk to a ProDOS floppy,
> but it wound up with an unknown file type, and when I manually changed
> it to "font", I got errors when trying to use it.

It isn't that simple.  Assuming you are talking about a bitmapped
font, a utility program is required to translate it into the format
expected by the IIgs.  The font family name and an extra IIgs header
is required at the start of the file, and several bytes have to be
swapped in the Macintosh part of the header.

I believe the shareware program "Resource Spy" can do this.  It
requires a standard Macintosh resource fork stored as a binary data
file on a IIgs disk.  It can then extract resources from the file, and
will add the required IIgs information.

There are other programs that perform a similar function.

In all cases, you have one problem: you need to know the correct
family name and number for the font.  The family number must be unique
for all font families in your system, or the Font Manager will get
confused and you are likely to end up with the wrong font when you
select a font with a conflicting family number.

The GEnie A2Pro roundtable is responsible for assigning family
numbers, and they should have a database listing all existing family
number assignments.  I got an older copy of this from A2-Central a
while ago.

> Come to think of it, that brings to mind another thing that's been
> bugging me lately.  The Macintoshes here at the University of Michigan
> are able to recognize ProDOS disks, and display them with an icon of
> a disk with a "][" on top.  Is this the result of some kind of ProDOS
> FST installed in the System folder, or something else?

It sounds like the "ProDOS File System Extension", which was
originally supplies with the Apple IIe card for the Macintosh LC.

System 7.5's "PC Exchange" includes an improved version of this, I've
heard.

> In any case, if Apple Computer is as hell-bent on forgetting about
> the Apple ][ line as I've gathered by reading this newsgroup and
> other sources, why would they bother with something like this?

They are still providing a limited upgrade path for Apple II users.
You should at least be able to move your data files over to your new
Macintosh.
-- 
David Empson
dempson@actrix.gen.nz
Snail mail: P.O. Box 27-103, Wellington, New Zealand