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updated documentation, split user and developer doco

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<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>TTX/FontTools</TITLE>
<TITLE>TTX Documentation</TITLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
<H1>TTX/FontTools</H1>
<H3>TTX -- From OpenType and TrueType to XML and Back</H3>
<A HREF="http://fonttools.sourceforge.net/">TTX/FontTools</A> is a
suite of tools and libraries for manipulating fonts. It is written in
Python and has a BSD-style, open-source licence -- see LICENSE.txt.
It's hosted at <A HREF="http://sourceforge.net/">sourceforge.net</A>.
<A HREF="http://fonttools.sourceforge.net/">TTX</A> is a tool for manipulating TrueType and OpenType fonts. It is written in Python and has a BSD-style, open-source licence -- see LICENSE.txt. Among other things this means you can use it free of charge. It's hosted at <A HREF="http://sourceforge.net/">sourceforge.net</A>.
<P>
It currently reads and writes TrueType font files, reads PostScript Type 1 fonts
and more. It contains two command line programs to convert TrueType fonts to an
XML based format (called TTX) and back.
TTX can dump TrueType and OpenType fonts to an XML-based text format, which is also called TTX. TTX files have a .ttx file extension.
<H3>Scope</H3>
<H3>How to use TTX</H3>
TTX/FontTools' functionality is aimed towards font developers and font tool
developers. It can of course be used to just access fonts (outlines,
metrics, etc.) but it is not optimized for that. It will be further
developed so it can be the core of any font editor. And that's exactly
what it will be for our upcoming major rewrite of <A
HREF="http://www.robofog.com/">RoboFog</A>, our (commercial)
PythonPowered font editor for MacOS.
The TTX application works can be used in two ways, depending on what platform you run it on:
<H3>Installation</H3>
<!-- begin table list -->
<!-- end table list -->
You need the following software to use FontTools:
<ul>
<li>As a command line tool (Windows/DOS, Unix, MacOSX)</li>
<li>By dropping files onto the application (Windows, MacOS)</li>
</ul>
<UL>
<LI>
<B>Python</B>. The fresh versions as well as older versions (You need 2.0 or higher) can be obtained here:
<A HREF="http://www.python.org/download/">http://www.python.org/download/</A>
or here:
<A HREF="http://sourceforge.net/projects/python/">http://sourceforge.net/projects/python/</A>
<P>Windows: grab the Windows installer, run the full install.
<BR>Un*x: follow the build instructions.
<BR>MacOS: grab the installer, run "Easy Install"
<P>
<LI>
The <B>Numeric Python</B> extension (you don't need this under MacOS, since it's
included in the MacPython installer). Get a fresh version from the download page,
linked from here:
<A HREF="http://sourceforge.net/projects/numpy/">http://sourceforge.net/projects/numpy/</A>
<P>Windows: grab the "Numeric-*.exe" archive, it's an installer. Make sure the
Python version in the archive name (eg. "2.1") matches the Python version you have.
<BR>Linux/Un*x: get a source archive and run this command from the unpacked directory:
<BR><TT>python setup.py install</TT>
TTX detects what kind of files it is fed: it will output a .ttx file when it sees a .ttf or .otf, and it will compile a .ttf or .otf when the input file is a .ttx file. By default, the output file is created in the same folder as the input file, and will have the same name as the input file but with a different extension. TTX will <I>never</I> overwrite existing files, but if neccesary will append a unique number to the output filename (before the extension), eg.: "Arial#1.ttf".
<P>
<LI>
<B>PyXML</B>, a set of XML tools:
<A HREF="http://sourceforge.net/projects/pyxml/">http://sourceforge.net/projects/pyxml/</A>
<BR>Installation should be very similar to installing Numeric Python, see above.
<BR><I>Note:</I> some Python distributions already contain the neccesary XML support.
If "import xml.parsers.expat" works at the Python interactive prompt, you don't need to
install PyXML.
</UL>
When using TTX from the command line there are a bunch of extra options, these are explained in the help text, as displayed when typing "ttx -h" at the command prompt. These additional options include:
<ul>
<li>specifying the folder where the output files are created</li>
<li>specifying which tables to dump or which tables to exclude</li>
<li>merging partial .ttx files with existing .ttf or .otf files</li>
<li>listing brief table info isntead of dumping to .ttx</li>
<li>splitting tables to separate .ttx files</li>
<li>disabling TT instruction disassembly</li>
</ul>
<H3>The TTX file format</H3>
Now run the "setup.py" script from the FontTools archive. This will install
all the modules in the right places, as well as tries to compile the one (optional)
C extension contained in FontTools. (XXX: need precompiled Mac and Windows binaries,
*or* a way to skip compilation when there's no compiler available.)
The following tables are currently supported:
<P>Additional Mac instructions:
De-binhex "TTX.rsrc.hqx" by dropping it onto StuffIt expander. (Or use your
own preferred method)
The "TTX.py" script included in this archive is the Mac-only main program:
Drop it onto the "BuildApplet" app inside the Python folder; this will
produce the TTX applet.
<H3>User documentation</H3>
<P>For Unix and DOS there are three command line programs:
<UL>
<LI>ttdump -- dumps a TrueType (or OpenType) font file to TTX format.
<LI>ttcompile -- compiles a TTX file back into a TTF (or OTF) file.
<LI>ttlist -- lists minimal info about each table in a font.
</UL>
They can all work with multiple input files. There are some extra
options which are explained by the 'usage' text; use the -h option to
display it. The setup.py script installs them as global tools, the
source is in the Tools directory.
<P>For MacOS there's a application called TTX. If you drop a TrueType
file onto it, it will convert it to XML. If you drop an XML file onto
it, it will convert it back to TrueType. Please read the additional
README file in the Mac subdirectory, since it behaves quite differently
than the command line programs described below.
<P>Adam Twardoch contributed a Windows registry script (ttx_shellext_win32.py) which
makes the two above tools available under the Right Mouse Button. I haven't tested
these myself, but I'm very interested in hearing about the results!
<H3>A note about glyph names and TrueType GlyphID's</H3>
<P>
Other tables are dumped as hexadecimal data.
<P>
TrueType fonts use glyph indices (GlyphID's) to refer to glyphs in most places.
While this is fine in binary form, it is really hard to work with for
humans. Therefore we use names instead.
@ -120,50 +65,13 @@ on a "round tripped" font.
<P>Because the order in which glyphs are stored inside the TT font is
important, we maintain an ordered list of glyph names in the font.
<H3>Feedback</H3>
Please join the fonttools-discussion mailing list at SourceForge. Subscription
info can be found if you follow the "Mailing Lists" link at the
<A HREF="http://sourceforge.net/projects/fonttools/">SourceForge project page</A>.
You can also email me directly at <A HREF="mailto:just@letterror.com">just@letterror.com</A>.
<H3>Development and feedback</H3>
TTX/FontTools development is ongoing, but often goes in spurts. Feature requests and bug reports are always welcome. The best place for these is currently the fonttools-discussion mailing list at SourceForge. This list is both for discussion TTX from an end-user perspective as well as TTX/FontTools development. Subscription info can be found if you follow the "Mailing Lists" link at the <A HREF="http://sourceforge.net/projects/fonttools/">SourceForge project page</A>. You can also email me directly at <A HREF="mailto:just@letterror.com">just@letterror.com</A>.
<P>
If you want to follow the development of FontTools closely, or would like to
contribute, you can also subscribe to the fonttools-checkins mailing list.
<H3>Anonymous CVS-access</H3>
The FontTools sources are also accessible through CVS, see the
the <A HREF="http://sourceforge.net/projects/fonttools/">SourceForge project
page</A>. Let me know if you'd like to become a co-developer.
<H3>Developer documentation</H3>
Sorry, documentation beyond doc strings in the source code is still on my to-do list...
Below follows a brief overview of what's there.
<P>
<H3>The library</H3>
Cross-platform
<UL>
<LI>fontTools.t1Lib -- Provides a Type 1 font reader. Writing is a planned feature.
<LI>fontTools.ttLib -- Extensive TrueType tools. Reads and writes. This is the flagship
of FontTools, it's by far the most mature component. Contains a completely modular
TTF table converter architecture. See ttLib/tables/table_API_readme.txt.
<LI>fontTools.afmLib -- And AFM file reader/writer.
<LI>fontTools.cffLib -- Reads CFF fonts. Writing is a planned feature.
<LI>fontTools.unicode -- A simple (but large) module that translates
Unicode values to their descriptive names. Still Unicode 2.0.
<LI>fontTools.agl -- Interface to the Adobe Glyph List: maps unicode values
to glyph names and back.
</UL>
Mac-specific
<UL>
<LI>fontTools.fondLib -- A reader/writer class for Mac FOND resources.
<LI>fontTools.nfntLib -- Reads Mac NFNT bitmap font resources.
</UL>
Let me take this opportunity to mention that if you have special needs (eg. custom font monipulators, dufferent table formats, etc.): I am available for contracting.
<H3>Thank-you's</H3>

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TTX/FontTools 2.0b1
TTX/FontTools is a suite of tools for manipulating fonts. It is written in
Python and has a BSD-style, open-source licence -- see LICENSE.txt.
It's hosted at http://sourceforge.net/.
The flagship is TTX, a tool to convert OpenType and TrueType font files to
an XML-based format (also called TTX), and back. This lets you edit TTF or
OTF files with any text editor.
The FontTools library currently reads and writes TrueType font files, reads
PostScript Type 1 fonts and more.
Scope
TTX/FontTools' functionality is aimed towards font developers and font tool
developers. It can of course be used to just access fonts (outlines,
metrics, etc.) but it is not optimized for that. It will be further
developed so it can be the core of any font editor. And that's exactly
what it will be for our upcoming major rewrite of RoboFog, our (commercial)
PythonPowered font editor for MacOS.
Installation
For Windows and MacOS there are easy-to-use TTX installers. The rest if this
document is meant for people who want to use TTX/FontTools from the source.
You need the following software:
Python
The fresh versions as well as older versions (You need 2.0 or higher)
can be downloaded from
http://www.python.org/download/
or here
http://sourceforge.net/projects/python/
Windows: grab the Windows installer, run the full install.
Un*x: follow the build instructions.
MacOS: grab the installer, run "Easy Install"
The Numeric Python extension
Get a fresh version from the download page, linked from here:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/numpy/
Windows: grab the "Numeric-*.exe" archive, it's an installer. Make sure
the Python version in the archive name (eg. "2.2") matches the Python
version you have.
Linux, other Unices including MacOSX: get a source archive and run this
command from the unpacked directory:
python setup.py install
PyXML
Similar to the Numeric Python instructions, get the appropriate archive
or installer from
http://sourceforge.net/projects/pyxml/
Installation is also similar to installing Numeric Python, see above.
Note: some Python distributions already contain the neccesary XML support.
If "import xml.parsers.expat" works at the Python interactive prompt, you
don't need to install PyXML.
Now run the "setup.py" script from the FontTools archive. This will install
all the modules in the right places, as well as tries to compile the one
(optional) C extension contained in FontTools. On Unix it also installs the
"ttx" command line tool. This tool can also be used on Windows, but might
need some fiddling.
For instructions how to build a standalone Windows installer, see
Windows/README.TXT. Thanks a LOT to Adam Twardoch for this essential
contribution.
For TTX usage instructions, see the file "documentation.html".
Feedback
Please join the fonttools-discussion mailing list at SourceForge. Subscription
info can be found if you follow the "Mailing Lists" link at the SourceForge
project page:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/fonttools/
You can also email me directly at just@letterror.com.
If you want to follow the development of FontTools closely, or would like to
contribute, you can also subscribe to the fonttools-checkins mailing list.
Anonymous CVS-access
The FontTools sources are also accessible through CVS, see:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/fonttools/
Let me know if you'd like to become a co-developer.
Developer documentation
Sorry, documentation beyond doc strings in the source code is still on my to-do list...
Below follows a brief overview of what's there.
The library
Cross-platform
fontTools.t1Lib -- Provides a Type 1 font reader. Writing is a planned feature.
fontTools.ttLib -- Extensive TrueType tools. Reads and writes. This is the flagship
of FontTools, it's by far the most mature component. Contains a completely modular
TTF table converter architecture. See ttLib/tables/table_API_readme.txt.
fontTools.afmLib -- And AFM file reader/writer.
fontTools.cffLib -- Reads CFF fonts. Writing is a planned feature.
fontTools.unicode -- A simple (but large) module that translates
Unicode values to their descriptive names. Still Unicode 2.0.
fontTools.agl -- Interface to the Adobe Glyph List: maps unicode values
to glyph names and back.
Mac-specific
fontTools.fondLib -- A reader/writer class for Mac FOND resources.
fontTools.nfntLib -- Reads Mac NFNT bitmap font resources.
Thank-you's
(in alphabetical order)
Erik van Blokland, Petr van Blokland, Jelle Bosma, Vincent Connare,
Simon Daniels, Hannes Famira, Greg Hitchcock, John Hudson, Jack Jansen,
Antoine Leca, Werner Lemberg, Peter Lofting, Dave Opstad, Laurence Penney,
Guido van Rossum, Adam Twardoch.
Copyrights
FontTools/TTX -- 1999-2002 Just van Rossum; Letterror (just@letterror.com)
See LICENCE.txt for the full license.

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See the file "index.html" in the "Doc" subdirectory for installation,
usage and developer instructions.
See the file "documentation.html" in the "Doc" subdirectory for TTX
usage instructions and information about the TTX file format.
Quick start: run
python setup.py install
from the command line.
See the file "install.txt" in the "Doc" subdirectory for instructions
how to build and install TTX/FontTools from the sources.
Quick start: run python setup.py install from the command line.
See the file "LICENSE.txt" for licensing info.
Good luck!
Have fun!
Just van Rossum <just@letterror.com>