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* README FILE FOR FontFolder V1.1 * 
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GENERAL 

This README file gives basic information for installing and 
starting FontFolder for the first time. For more detailed 
instructions on starting and using FontFolder, consult the
on-line Help.

INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS:  

Copy the FONTFOLD.EXE and FONTFOLD.HLP files to any 
directory, but do not put them in the same directory as your 
FontFolder 1.01A files unless you intend to overwrite the 
previous version, as the filenames are the same.  If you 
install version 1.1 in a different directory and already 
have created a Master Library and customized settings with 
FontFolder 1.01A, copy over the FONTFOLD.INI and MASTLIB.DAT 
files from your FontFolder 1.01A directory.  

If you stored the FONTFOLD.INI file in a directory different 
from the one containing FONTFOLD.EXE for version 1.01A, you 
can do a similar thing for version 1.1.  If you want to 
maintain a working copy of version 1.01A while testing 
version 1.1, use a different directory to keep the 
FONTFOLD.INI files separate.  The two versions use different 
entries in OS2.INI, so they will not conflict.  

After starting FontFolder for the first time, bring up the 
Help and read the sections on FontFolder Overview, 
Installing FontFolder and Using FontFolder for basic 
familiarization with the program.  Help is also available 
for all menu items; hit F1 when the menu item is selected.  


PROBLEMS ON FONTFOLDER STARTUP:  

When you start FontFolder the first time you may find that 
it complains about a number of fonts that you have already 
"installed" in OS/2 through the OS/2 Font Pallete.  This can 
be for a number of reasons outlined below, all of which 
represent legitimate problems that FontFolder is attempting 
to deal with.  (Of course it may also be true that 
FontFolder is incorrectly objecting to a legitimately 
installed font.  If that appears to be the case, please 
bring the situation to my attention via one of the routes 
described at the end of this ReadMe file.)  

Situations where FontFolder will object to an already 
"installed" font:  

1. The OS/2 Font Pallete is unfortunately not too 
discriminating in what it will "install" in OS/2.  There are 
examples of font AFM files that are totally unreadable 
because of garbage in the file.  The Font Pallete will 
"install" these files, although they are unusable and show 
up in the Font Pallete list as blank lines.  FontFolder will 
reject a file if the OS/2 api that is used to query font 
information can't at least return a name for the font (the 
blank line in the Font Pallete occurs because no font name 
was returned for the file).  

2. Users have been known to install a font in OS/2 and then 
later move the OFM and PFB files for this font to a 
different directory or even erase them, without first 
un-installing the font from OS/2.  However, OS/2 keeps a 
record in OS2.INI of where it thinks the files are for 
installed fonts, and when it can't find them there on 
bootup, things get quite confusing.  The user finds that a 
previously installed font "no longer works", but when they 
try to re-install it they find they can't because OS/2 
insists it is already installed.  FontFolder checks the 
listings in OS2.INI and verifies that both a PFB file and an 
OFM file exist where OS2.INI claims they are located.  

In both of the above cases, FontFolder a) does not show the 
font in the installed fonts list, and b) puts up a message 
box alerting the user to the problem and offering to remove 
the entry for this font from OS2.INI.  You should note what 
font files FontFolder can't find, and then accept the offer 
to clean up OS2.INI.  If the problem is simply that the font 
files have been moved, you can then go and find out where 
the font files are currently located (if they still exist) 
and register the fonts with the Master Library from the 
correct location.  


KNOWN PROBLEMS/LIMITATIONS:  

1. There are "bad fonts" out there.  A "bad font" is defined 
here as any font that either won't install in OS/2, or when 
installed won't display or even worse sends the system in to 
some sort of never-never land.  My experience with the 400+ 
fonts I have is about 1-2% fall in to this "bad font"
category.  This does not necessarily mean that something is 
wrong with the font, just that the font and OS/2 do not get 
along.  In my experience, "bad fonts" are almost always 
caused by a bug in OS/2's PMATM.DLL that occurs with certain 
"complex" fonts, rather than as a result of anything being 
wrong with the font files themselves.  FontFolder screens 
out some but not all "bad fonts" that the OS/2 Font Pallete 
lets pass.  

Viewing these "bad fonts" in the Font Information window can 
cause a variety of things to happen, from the harmless case 
of nothing appearing in the sample window, to a SYS 3175 
error, to a total lockup of the machine that requires a 
reboot.  I so far have found no way to protect against the 
total lockup.  Needless to say, if a font causes this to 
happen, remove it from the Master Library.  

2. OS/2 does not allow FontFolder to remove any font from 
memory that was not installed by FontFolder in the current 
session.  FontFolder always updates the OS2.INI file and 
shows the font as removed, but if you check the Font Palette 
or look in the font list presented by your application, you 
will see that the font is still there.  It will be gone the 
next time you reboot.  

This is not a problem if you don't change fonts frequently 
since any font removed by FontFolder will be gone the next 
time you reboot.  However, if you work with large numbers of 
fonts during a single session, you may end of with very 
large numbers of fonts installed in OS/2, with performance 
and even perhaps error problems.  The way to avoid this is 
to only keep a minimum number of fonts, the ones you use 
all the time, loaded in OS/2 at startup.  Then start 
FontFolder and keep it open during the entire session if 
you are going to work with large numbers (100's) of fonts 
during the session.  FontFolder can be minimized when you 
are not using it, but don't close it.  This way, FontFolder 
can completely remove any font it installed (as long as you 
aren't currently using the font in an open application).  
Before closing FontFolder, clean up your installed font list 
by removing all the fonts other than your basic font set.  
(HINT:  Define a FontPack to be your basic set of fonts.  
Then just before closing FontFolder, remove everything extra 
and install this FontPack.  That will guarantee that you 
always have the correct base set installed on bootup).  

3. It is easy to browse large numbers of fonts in the Font 
Information window with version 1.1 of FontFolder.  This can 
quickly consume large amounts of memory, causing problems if 
you are short of swap file space.  Look in the online Help 
Index for "browsing fonts" and read this section to 
understand what the memory requirements are when browsing 
fonts.  

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FONTFOLDER SUPPORT:  

Support for FontFolder is provided on Compuserve in OS2BVEN, 
Section 1 (GO OS2SHARE).  Latest versions of FontFolder will 
also be posted to the library there.  Or send e-mail to to 
me at [75013,1701] on Compuserve.  

Cliff Cullum 
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