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H.3 European characters

Note for users of pageview in Sun OpenWindows: GMT now offers some octal escape sequences to load European alphabet characters in text strings (see Section 4.16). When this feature is enabled, the header on GMT PostScript output includes a section defining special fonts. The definition is added to the header whether or not your plot actually uses the fonts.

Users who view their GMT PostScript output using pageview in OpenWindows on Sun computers or user older laserwriters may have difficulties with the European font definition. If your installation of OpenWindows followed a space-saving suggestion of Sun, you may have excluded the European fonts, in which case pageview will fail to render your plot.

Ask your system administrator about this, or run this simple test: (1) View a GMT PostScript file with pageview. If it comes up OK, you will be fine. If it comes up blank, open the ``Edit PostScript'' button and examine the lower window for error messages. (The European font problem generates lots of error messages in this window). (2) Verify that the PostScript file is OK, by sending it to a laserwriter and making sure it comes out. (3) If the PostScript file is OK but it chokes pageview, then edit the PostScript file, cutting out everything between the lines:

%%%%% START OF EUROPEAN FONT DEFINITION %%%%%
$<$bunch of definitions$>$
%%%%% END OF EUROPEAN FONT DEFINITION %%%%%

Now try pageview on the edited version. If it now comes up, you have a limited subset of OpenWindows installed. If you discover that these fonts cause you trouble, then you can edit your .gmtdefaults4 file to set CHAR_ENCODING = Standard, which will suppress the printing of this definition in the GMT PostScript header. You can make output which will be viewable in pageview without any editing. However, you would have to reset this to TRUE before attempting to use European fonts, and then the output will become un-pageview-able again. If you try to concatenate segments of GMT PostScript made with and without the European fonts enabled, then you may find that you have problems, either with the definition, or because you ask for something not defined.


next up previous contents index
Next: H.4 Hints Up: H. Problems with display Previous: H.2 Resolution and dots   Contents   Index
Paul Wessel 2004-10-01