Editing the RomanS font from out of the box ACAD 2005

Many years ago (in R14 days) I had edited the out of the box RomanS.shx font
to enlarge the degree symbol. Since then we have used this romanS.shx font
for each new release. In the 2005 release the romanS.shx font has alot of
new characters (centerline, etc.) that we would like to have available, but
the stinking degree sybbol is still the same. (why is it so small????, we
use 1/8" high text with a color mapped to .35mm pen weight which then plots
as a dot).

Finally my question, since I have no recolection of how I edited the file
back then, can anyone give me some direction on how to accolmpish this.

Many thanks,
Bob

 

If you still have a copy of your modified .shp file, you should be able to
modify the newer file pretty much the same way - just find the degree symbol
coding. Run DUMPSHX OS command (from a WINDOWS Command Prompt - see Express
Tools help) to create a .shp file from the newer romans.shx - then copy and
paste the old degree symbol vector data lines into the new romans.shp and
use the COMPILE command in AutoCAD to re-create the new .shx

Caveats...
Keep in mind that if you modify an OOTB font and keep it named the same
(i.e. romanS.shx), nobody else is going to have *that* *modified* font,
which can potentially cause problems with anyone who later receives/works
with your drawings - IOW, *their* degree symbol will still be tiny.
Potentially even worse, if you send your modified font along with the
drawings, as any kind CAD person SHOULD, the unwitting recipient risks
*overwriting* their own romanS.shx font with yours - and if they used their
own special custom modified romanS.shx font (which they also didn't rename)
they are going to be mighty cheesed at *you*. (Even though it's their own
fault for not paying attention.)

Therefore I would simply recommend that you rename your modified romanS.shx
font to something atypical, such as _BMromanS.shx - the _ prefix placing it
at the top of the list where it should be...
--- Unless an egotistical Bob Marley works at the recipient's office, you
should then have no worries with the above scenario.

hth,
David Kozina

 

I also found the degree symbol too small so I changed it years ago. I pasted it
in at the bottom - the problem is that one of these is correct, but I don't
remember which. Is it the top? or the bottom?

*000B0,10,kdeg
2,0E4,3,2,7,036,4,2,0EC,0

*127,21,kdeg
2,8,(0,19),14,8,(-2,-21),1,10,(2,64),2,8,(8,-19),14,8,(-6,7),0

 

Unfortunatly I don,t have the original romans.shp file from back then. I did
decompile the old romans.shx but when I open the .shp i don't know how to
tell what lines are for the degree symbol.
Any hints on deciphering this file?

 

~500 lines into the shp you decompiled you should find some lines similar to
(as Walt showed):


*000B0,25,kdeg
2,14,8,(-3,-21),14,5,8,(1,19),1,10,(2,040),2,8,(8,-19),14,6,14,
8,(3,-9),0

Brief explanation:
*000B0,25,kdeg
----
^- mnemonic ID 'Keyboard DEGree' (I assume)
(optional ID for visual recognition)
(this would probably be the easiest
way to 'see' it)
--
^- # of definition specification bytes to follow
(in next 2 lines) (be sure to keep this number
synched with any modifications you make to the
following lines, or the file will not re-compile)
-----
^- 000B0 Hex = 176 Decimal (old style .shp i.e. pre-UNICODE)
(Character ASCII location)
-
^- New character definition start marker

2,14,8,(-3,-21),14,5,8,(1,19),1,10,(2,040),2,8,(8,-19),14,6,14,
8,(3,-9),0
_
^- Definition end marker (with line feed)

Spec bytes (careful not to exceed, what? 80? 127? characters per line - I
can't remember)
See help files in Customization Guide->Shapes and Shape Fonts for specific
byte meaning.

Anyways, replace the spec byte lines in the new file with those in the older
(decompiled file), synch the Definition Byte # in the character header as
explained above, then recompile.

hth,
David Kozina

 

Thanks David,

My problem was I used the old utility "shx2shp.exe" to decompile the font
and in doing so the format looked nothing like what yourself and Walt were
showing. Using dumpshx solved that issue.
Thanks again for the assistance