3.3 SYMBOL SETS
Let summarize briefly, to put the subjectof symbol sets in context.
The attributes of afont determine what that font will look like when it is
printed. We covered all but orientation at the start of this chapter, and
orientation in the lastchapter. Afont’s attributes include:
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orientation (portraitor landscape)
symbolset (which we’ll look at next)
spacing (monospaced or proportional)
pitch (10 or 16.66characters per inch, for example)
font height (measured inpoints)
style (uprightor italics)
strokeweight (light, medium or bold)
typeface (Line Printer, Courier and so on)
Though they are not font attributes, such printing features as subscripts,
superscripts and underlining are treated along with fonts in the following
chapters.
Incidentally, the best way to underline is to use the underline command,
insteadof backspacing and overprinting with the separate underline charac-
ter(–). If youdo thelatter withproportionally spacedtext, you’llusually find
the underlining istoo long for the text.
3.3.1 What are symbol sets?
Keyboardsdiffer from country to country. The British need their fsymbol,
theFrench need their gand 5, the Spanish need their ~and fi etc. Scientists
need particularmathematical signs too. There easily could be four hundred
or more possible symbolsfor any given font.
However, the number of symbolsprinters store for afont is limited to 256
slots,as inASCII. So some symbols, ortheorder of some symbols,can differ
in any font. Each unique selectionand arrangement of symbols is asymbol
set (sometimes called a“graphic set” or “character set”).
.The symbol at position 91 for example is an open bracket, [, in the usual
ASCII symbolset. But thesame position holds A(capital Awith an umlaut)
in the German symbol set.
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