| SAS/GRAPH Software: Reference |
There are several advantages
to using hardware fonts instead of software fonts. Hardware fonts often are
produced faster than software fonts and produce smaller output files. Also,
some devices, such as laser printers with resident hardware fonts, may produce
better quality output with hardware fonts than with software fonts. You can
use either your device's default hardware font (FONT=NONE) or you can specify
an alternative font.
SAS/GRAPH software
uses a device's default hardware font to draw characters when both of the
following conditions are true:
Every available hardware font
for a particular device has a number associated with it. This number and
the corresponding font name are listed in the Chartype window of the device
entry for your device. The default hardware font is the font whose number
is entered in the Chartype field in the Parameters window of the device entry.
When FONT=NONE or no font is specified, SAS/GRAPH
software uses the font assigned to this field.
If your device has only one hardware font (this is often
the case), the Chartype field has a value of 0. If your device has more than
one hardware font, you can assign a different default hardware font either
by specifying it with the CHARTYPE= option in a GOPTIONS statement (see the
next section) or by using the GDEVICE procedure to modify the value of the
Chartype field in the Parameters window of your device entry.
To
assign the default
hardware font for your current SAS session, use the CHARTYPE= option in a
GOPTIONS statement. Assign it the actual number of the hardware font as listed
in the Chartype field in the Chartype window of the device entry for your
device.
Using the CHARTYPE= option only changes the default
font for the duration of your SAS session; using the CHARTYPE= option does
not change the value of the field in the device entry. (See CHARTYPE for a complete
description of the CHARTYPE= option.)
When you specify a hardware font by using the graphics option
CHARTYPE=n and the font specification NONE, the size of the character
cells is determined by the current values for the HPOS= and VPOS= options.
This means that the font is drawn using the current cell size. As a result,
the aspect ratio of the displayed font may be different and the height of
the characters, if displayed in cells, may be affected.
- CAUTION:
- Specifying a nonscalable hardware font with the CHARTYPE= option may cause
the SIMULATE font to be used.
![[cautend]](../common/images/cautend.gif)
In addition, if the font selected with CHARTYPE= is not scalable
and if the values of HPOS= and VPOS= do not match the values of the Rows and
Cols fields in the Chartype window, then the SIMULATE font is substituted.
To change
the default hardware font with the GDEVICE procedure,
change the Chartype field in the Parameters window for the device:
-
Invoke the GDEVICE procedure and select the entry
for your device.
-
Go to the Chartype window and review the available
fonts.
-
Note the number of the font that you want to use
as the default font and go to the Parameters window.
-
Enter the number of the font in the Chartype field.
-
Close the
window and exit the procedure.
Note:
If you change the number in the
Chartype field in the Parameters window of the device entry, the change is
permanent and remains in effect from one SAS session to another until you
change the entry again.
(See The GDEVICE Procedure
for information on viewing device entries and changing device parameters.)
An alternative hardware font
can be specified in any SAS statement
where a font specification is valid. You can use more than one hardware font
in a single graph (or even in a single statement), as long as all of the fonts
that you specify exist on your device. If you specify a hardware font, make
sure that the font is available on the device and that there is a corresponding
Chartype value for the font. If you request a hardware font that does not
have a Chartype defined, SAS/GRAPH
software substitutes the SIMULATE font.
These are the three ways to specify alternative hardware
fonts:
When you specify FONT=HWxxxnnn or hardware-font-name, the size of the character cells is determined by the values in the
Rows and Cols fields in the Chartype window of the device entry, and the values
of the HPOS= and VPOS= options are ignored for the font. Consequently, the
font retains its original proportions. In addition, with this method the font
catalog is checked for proportional spacing information. This information
is used by the software to determine how much space to reserve for proportional
text. See Graphics Options and Device Parameters Dictionary
for additional information.
Copyright © 1999 by SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA. All rights reserved.
