Publishing Reports to the Web - Downloads - Oracle

5.4.5 uifont.ali
Printer-Related Files
To install the AFM file, just copy it to the AFM file location, which is listed in Verifying
the Printer Setup for Oracle Reports. The name of the file must match name of the font
without the .afm extension. For example, if the font name is CodedreineunBold,
the file name must be CodedreineunBold.
To verify the font name, you can look for the fontname string in the AFM file. Please
note that the AFM files are not font files, they are metrics files, which give information
on how to properly format the characters for the printer. If you have an AFM file for a
font, but the font is not present on the printer, Oracle Reports cannot generate the
correct output on the printer because of the font metrics mismatch. You must ensure
that the font used to design the report is also available on the printer.
5.4.4.2 TFM files
PCL5 uses HPD and TFM files. The HPD file contains the list of available fonts for the
printer and each font refers to a TFM file. TFM files serve the same purpose as Adobe's
AFM files, with each file listing information about a single font. The HPD file is an
ASCII file, which can be edited, but the TFM file is a binary file, which cannot be
edited.
To use a new font in Oracle Reports and have it appear correctly in PCL output, you
need the HPD and TFM files for the printer. You can copy an HPD file from an existing
one, provided that you ensure it is suitable for your printer. The fonts specified in the
HPD file must be available on the printer.
Oracle Reports includes a common set of TFM files. If you need other font metrics files
for your printer, you should obtain them from your font or printer vendor. To install
the TFM file, just copy it to the TFM file location, which is listed in Verifying the
Printer Setup for Oracle Reports.
The uifont.ali file defines the font aliases used by Oracle Reports. It is an
extremely useful tool for cross-platform development because it enables you to define
which fonts to substitute when a particular font is unavailable. uifont.ali is located
in:
ORACLE_HOME/guicommon9/tk90/admin
To alias a font, use the following syntax:
source_font = destination_font
For each font, you may also specify the following attributes:
face.size.style.weight.width.character_set
Styles may also be combined using a plus sign + to delimit the styles. For example:
Arial.Italic+Overstrike = Helvetica.12.Italic.Bold
This entry maps any Arial font that has both Italic and Overstrike styles to a 12-point,
bold, and italic Helvetica font. Font faces can be case sensitive depending on the
platform and the surface, i.e., printer or system.
See Also: Chapter 4, "Managing Fonts in Oracle Reports"
For more font-related information.
Printing on UNIX with Oracle Reports 5-11