9.2 CMI files

Character metric information (CMI) files are free-format text files which (primarily) describe the side bearings for characters in a font. Side bearings are the blank spaces to the left and right of a character which makeprinted type easier to read, as well as more pleasing visually.

In addition to side bearing definitions, CMI files can also contain kerns, which insert or remove space between particular letter pairs; and font dimensions, global information about the font which is stored in the TFM file (see section 9.2.7.1 TFM fontdimens).

If your font is named `foo.300gf' (or `... pk'), it is customary to name the corresponding CMI file `foo.300cmi'. That is what Charspace looks for by default. If you name it something else, you must use the `-cmi-files' option to tell Charspace its name. It is reasonable to use the resolution as part of the CMI filename, since the values written in it are (for the most part) in pixels.

See section 5.2 Common file syntax, for a precise description of syntax elements common to all data files processed by these programs, including comments.

In the following sections, we describe the individual commands, the tokens that comprise them, and the way Charspace processes them.

9.2.1 CMI tokens		The building blocks of CMI files.
9.2.2 char command		Defining a character's side bearings.
9.2.3 char-width command		Defining side bearings via the set width.
9.2.4 define command		Introducing a new identifier.
9.2.5 kern command		Defining a kerning pair.
9.2.6 codingscheme command		Specifying the font encoding.
9.2.7 fontdimen command		Defining additional font parameters.
9.2.8 CMI processing		How Charspace reads CMI files.