Provided by: libpdf-builder-perl_3.026-1_all 
NAME
PDF::Builder::FontManager - Managing the font library for PDF::Builder
SYNOPSIS
These routines are called from the PDF::Builder class (see "get_font(), add_font()"
methods).
# core fonts come pre-loaded
# Add new a new font face and variants
my $rc = $pdf->add_font(
'face' => $unique_face_name, # font family, e.g., Times
'type' => 'core', # note that core fonts preloaded
'style' => 'serif', # also sans-serif, script (cursive),
# and symbol
'width' => 'proportional', # also constant
'settings' => { 'encode' => $encoding },
# note that these are actual core font names rather than file paths
'file' => { 'roman' => 'Times-Roman',
'italic' => 'Times-Italic',
'bold' => 'Times-Bold',
'bold-italic' => 'Times-BoldItalic' },
# for non-core these would be the actual file paths
# prefixed with font search paths
);
$rc = $pdf->add_font(
'face' => 'DejaVuSans', # Deja Vu sans serif family
'type' => 'ttf', # otf uses 'ttf'
'style' => 'sans-serif',
'width' => 'proportional',
'settings' => { 'encode' => 'utf8' },
# the defined font paths will be prepended to find the actual path
'file' => { 'roman' => 'DejaVuSans.ttf',
'italic' => 'DejaVuSans-Oblique.ttf',
'bold' => 'DejaVuSans-Bold.ttf',
'bold-italic' => 'DejaVuSans-BoldOblique.ttf' }
);
Some of the global data, which can be reset via the "font_settings()" method:
* default-face: initialized to Times-Roman (core), used if you start
formatting text without explicitly setting a face
* default-serif: initialized to Times-Roman (core), used if you want
a "generic" serif typeface
* default-sansserif: initialized to Helvetica (core), used if you want
a "generic" sans-serif typeface
* default-constant: initialized to Courier (core), used if you want
a "generic" constant-width typeface
* default-script: NOT initialized (no default), used if you want
a "generic" script (cursive) typeface
* default-symbol initialized to Symbol (core), used if you want
a "generic" symbol typeface
* font-paths: C:/Windows/Fonts for Windows systems for TTF, other types
are in non-standard paths, and for non-Windows, anything goes
Usage of "get_font()" is to specify the face and variants, and then each time, specify
italic and bold to be on or off. If the desired file is not yet opened, it will be, and
the $font returned. If the font was already created earlier, the saved $font will be
returned.
my $font = $pdf->get_font(
'face' => 'Times',
'italic' => 0, # desire Roman (upright)
'bold' => 0, # desire medium weight
);
# if $font is undef, we have a problem...
$text->font($font, $font_size);
$text->... # use this font (medium weight Times-Roman core font)
$font = $pdf->get_font('italic' => 1);
$text->... # switched to italic
$font = $pdf->get_font('italic' => 0);
$text->... # back to Roman (upright) text
METHODS
new
PDF::Builder::FontManager->new(%opts)
This is called from Builder.pm's "new()". Currently there are no options selectable.
It will set up the font manager system and preload it with the core fonts. Various
defaults will be set for the face (core Times-Roman), serif face (core Times-Roman),
sans-serif face (core Helvetica), constant width (fixed pitch) face (core Courier),
and a symbol font (core Symbol). There is no default for a script (cursive) font
unless you set one using the "font_settings()" method.
font_settings
@list = $pdf->font_settings() # Get
$pdf->font_settings(%info) # Set
Get or set some information about fonts, particularly the fonts to be used for
"generic" purposes.
"Get" returns a list (array) of the default font face name, the default generic serif
face, the default generic sans-serif face, the default generic constant width face,
the default generic symbol face, and the default generic script (cursive) face. It is
possible for an element to be undefined (e.g., the generic script face is "undef").
"Set" changes one or more default settings:
'font' => face to use for the default font face (initialized to Times)
'serif' => face to use for the generic serif face (initialized to Times)
'sans-serif' => face to use for the generic sans serif face
(initialized to Helvetica)
'constant' => face to use for the generic constant width face
(initialized to Courier)
'script' => face to use for the generic script face (uninitialized)
'symbol' => face to use for the generic symbol face
(initialized to Symbol)
add_font_path
$rc = $pdf->add_font_path("a directory path", %opts)
This method adds one search path to the list of paths to search. In the "get_font()"
method, each defined search path will be prepended to the "file" entry (except for
core fonts) in turn, until the font file is found. However, if the "file" entry starts
with / or ./ or ../, it will be used alone. A "file" entry starting with .../ is a
special case, which is turned into ../ before the search path is prepended. This
permits you to give a search path that you expect to move up one or more directories.
The font path search list always includes the current directory (.), and is
initialized in "Builder.pm" as @font_path. For the Windows operating system,
"/Windows/Fonts" usually contains a number of TTF fonts that come standard with
Windows, so it is added by default. Anything else, including all Linux (and other non-
Windows operating systems), will have to be added depending on your particular system.
Some common places are:
Windows (NOTE: use / and not \\ in Windows paths!). Linux systems may or may not
handle spaces in directory names gracefully!
/Windows/Fonts
/WinNT/Fonts
/Program Files/MikTex 2.9/fonts/type1/urw/bookman (URW Bookman for MikTex)
/Program Files (x86)/MikTex 2.9/fonts/type1/urw/bookman (older versions)
/Program Files/Adobe/Acrobat DC/Resource/CIDFont (Adobe Reader fonts)
GhostScript may have its own directories
Note that directory names with spaces (e.g., "/Program Files") may not play nice with
some Linux systems, so they are not included by default.
Linux, etc.
/usr/share/fonts (common base)
/usr/local/share/fonts (common base)
/usr/share/fonts/dejavu-sans-fonts (Deja Vu Sans TTF specifically)
/usr/share/fonts/truetype/ttf-dejavu
/usr/share/fonts/truetype/dejavu
/usr/lib/defoma/gs.d/devs/fonts (GhostScript?)
/usr/share/fonts/type1/gsfonts (GhostScript PS)
/usr/share/X11/fonts/urw-fonts (URW PS)
Third-party application installations, such as Adobe's Acrobat Reader, may be a source
of installed fonts, too.
A return code of 0 means the path was successfully added, while 1 means there was a
problem encountered (and a message was issued).
No options are currently defined.
add_font
$rc = add_font(%info)
Add a new font entry (by face and variants) to the Font Manager's list of known fonts.
%info items to be defined:
face => 'face name'
This should be a unique string to identify just one entry in the Font Manager
fonts table. I.e., you should not have two "Times" (one a core font and the other
a TTF font). Give them different names (face names are case sensitive, so 'Times'
is different from 'times'). The "face" name is used to retrieve the desired font.
type => 'type string'
This tells which Builder font routine to use to load the font. The allowed entries
are:
core
This is a core font, and is loaded via the "CoreFont()" routine. Note that the
core fonts are automatically pre-loaded (including additional ones on Windows
systems), so you should not need to explicitly load any core fonts (at least,
the 14 basic ones). All PDF installation are supposed to include these 14
basic core fonts, but the precise actual file type may vary among
installations, and substitutions may be made (so long as the metrics match).
Currently, core fonts are limited to single byte encodings.
On Windows systems, there are an additional 14 core fonts which are normally
loaded. These are Georgia, Verdana, Trebuchet, Wingdings, and Webdings faces.
Use caution if making use of these additional core fonts, as non-Windows
systems may not include them without explicit manual installation of these
fonts. These fonts may be safe to use if you know that all your PDF readers
will be running on Windows systems.
ttf This is a TrueType (.ttf) or OpenType (.otf) font, loaded with "ttfont()".
Currently this is the only type which can be used with multibyte (e.g., utf8)
encodings, as well as with single byte encodings such as Latin-1. It is also
the only font type that can be used with HarfBuzz::Shaper. Many systems
include a number of TTF fonts, but unlike core fonts, none are automatically
loaded by the PDF::Builder Font Manager, and must be explicitly loaded via
"add_font()".
type1
This is a PostScript (Type1) font, loaded with "psfont()", which used to be
quite commonly used, but is fairly rarely used today, having mostly been
supplanted by the more capable TTF format. Some systems may include some Type1
fonts, but Windows, for example, does not normally come with any. No Type1
fonts are automatically loaded by the PDF::Builder Font Manager, and must be
explicitly loaded via "add_font()".
It is assumed that the font metrics file (.afm or .pfm) has the same base file
name as the glyph file (.pfa or .pfb), is found in the same directory, and
either can work with either. If you have need for a different directory, a
different base name, or a specific metrics file to go with a specific glyph
file, let us know, so we can add such functionality. Otherwise, you will need
to directly use the "psfont()" method in order to specify such different
paths.
cjk This is an East Asian (Chinese-Japanese-Korean) type font, loaded with the
"cjkfont()" method. Note that CJK fonts have never been well supported by
PDF::Builder, and depend on some fairly old (obsolete) features and external
files (.cmap and .data). We suggest that, rather than going directly to CJK
files, you first try directly using the (usually) TTF files, in the TTF
format. Few systems come with CJK fonts installed. No CJK fonts are
automatically loaded by the PDF::Builder Font Manager, and must be explicitly
loaded via "add_font()".
bdf This is an Adobe Bitmap Distribution Format font, loaded with the "bdfont()"
method, a very old bitmapped format dating back to the early days of the X11
system. Unlike the filled smooth outlines used in most modern fonts, BDF's are
a coarse grid of on/off pixels. Please be kind to your readers and use this
format sparingly, such as only for chapter titles or headings! Few systems
come with BDF fonts installed any more. No BDF fonts are automatically loaded
by the PDF::Builder Font Manager, and must be explicitly loaded via
"add_font()".
settings => { 'encode' => string, ... }
This is a collection of any other settings, flags, etc. accepted by this
particular font type. See the POD for "corefont", "ttfont", etc. (per type for the
allowable entries. An important one will be the encoding, which you will need to
specify, if you use any characters beyond basic ASCII.
Currently, all fonts may use any single byte encoding you desire (the default is
CP-1252). Only TTF type fonts (which includes OTF and CJK fonts) may currently
specify a multibyte encoding such as utf8. Needless to say, the text data that you
pass to text routines must conform to the given encoding. You are not forced to
use the same encoding for all defined fonts, but if you wish to mix-and-match
encodings, it is up to you to define your text that uses the encoding specified
for the particular font used!
Note in particular when you use entities that (if numeric) they are given in the
Unicode number. When out of the single byte range (x00-xFF), results are
unpredictable if you give an entity that does not fall within the encoding's
range! Also check results for Unicode points within the range x80-xFF if you are
using utf8 encoding.
style => 'styling'
This specifies the styling of the font: serif, sans-serif, constant (constant
width, or fixed pitch), script (cursive), or symbol (non-alphabetic). It has no
effect on how a font is loaded or used, but may be useful to you for defining a
generic style font.
width => 'relative widths'
Currently, proportional (variable width) and constant (constant width) may be
specified. It has no effect on how a font is loaded or used, but may be useful to
you for defining a generic style font.
file => {anonymous hash of source files}
This tells the Font Manager where to find the actual font file. For core fonts, it
is the standard name, rather than a file (and remember, they are pre-loaded). For
all other types, it lists from one to four of the following variants:
roman => 'path to Roman'
This specifies the "Roman" or "regular" posture variant of the font. Almost
all available fonts include a Roman (normal, upright posture) variant at
normal (medium) weight.
italic => 'path to Italic'
This specifies the "Italic", "slanted", or "oblique" posture variant of the
font. Most available fonts include an italic variant at normal (medium)
weight.
bold => 'path to Bold'
This specifies the "Bold" or "heavy" variant of the font. Most available fonts
include a bold (heavy weight) variant with normal (Roman) posture.
bold-italic => 'path to BoldItalic'
This specifies the "Bold" and "Italic" variant of the font. Many available
fonts include a bold (heavy weight) variant with italic posture.
symbol => 'path to Symbol'
For symbol type fonts (non-alphabetic), rather than risk confusion by reusing
the "roman" term, the "symbol" term is used to specify what is usually the
only variant of a symbol font. It is possible that there are bold, italic, and
even bold-italic variants of a symbol file, but if so, they are not currently
supported.
You can give the entire path of the font's source file, in an absolute path, if
you wish. However, it's usually less typing to use "add_font_path()" to specify a
list of font directories to search, and only give the name (and perhaps a
subdirectory) for the path here in "add_font()".
get_font
@current = $pdf->get_font() # Get
$font = $pdf->get_font(%info) # Set
If no parameters are given ("@current = $pdf->get_font()"), a list (array) is returned
giving the current font setting: face name, italic flag 0/1, bold flag 0/1, type
('core', 'ttf', etc.), a hash reference of settings, such as the encoding ('utf8',
etc.), style value, width value, and an array reference (list) of variants (roman,
bold, etc.). If no font has yet been explicitly set, the current font will be the
default font.
If at least one parameter is given (%info hash), the font manager will attempt to
discover the appropriate font (from within the font list), load it if not already
done, and return the $font value. If undef is returned, there was an error.
%info fields:
face => face name string
This is the font family (face) name loaded up with the core fonts (e.g., Times),
or by "$pdf->add_font()" calls. In addition, the current font face or the default
face can be requested, the serif generic serif face, the sans-serif generic sans-
serif face, the constant generic constant width face, or the script generic script
(cursive) face (if defined) may be requested.
If you give the "face" entry, the other settings ("italic", "bold", etc.) are not
reset, unless it is impossible to use the existing setting. If you do not give
the "face" entry, the current entry will be updated (bold, italic switched on/off,
etc.). You may always explicitly give current to make it clear in your code that
you don't want to change the face.
italic => flag
This requests use of the italic (slanted, oblique) variant of the font, in either
the current face ("face" not given in this call) or the new face. The value is 0
or 1 for "off" (Roman/upright posture) and "on" (italic posture).
bold => flag
This requests use of the bold (heavy weight) variant of the font, in either the
current face ("face" not given in this call) or the new face. The value is 0 or 1
for "off" (medium weight) and "on" (heavy weight).
dump_font_tables
$pdf->dump_font_tables()
Print (to STDOUT) all the Font Manager font information on hand.