Date: 22 May 86 08:30 EDT From: Harry Bovik (C410HB00) To: Harry.Bovik@A.CS.CMU.EDU Subject: What is a line's height? Message-Id: <22May86.083056.HB00@A.CS.CMU.EDU> [scribe] 06-May-86 14:18 Robert.Sansom Vertical Spacing From: Robert.Sansom@SPICE.CS.CMU.EDU What is the absolute value of the veritical spacing default unit: 'line'? I know that it is 'the baseline-to-baseline distance in single spacing in the current font and size' but, for instance, just how many points is it when I'm using a 10 point font. 06-May-86 15:12 Michael E. Fryd Definition of "line" From: Michael E. Fryd In Scribe, the vertical distance unit is equal to the current font height plus leading (usually 2 points). If the current font is 10 points high, then "1 line" will equal 12 points. "2 lines" will get you (2*font height)+ leading, which is 22 points. "3 lines" will get you 32 points. etc.. There are a number of variables. Leading is usually set in the .DEV file with @declare(leading = xxx). Where xxx is how many RASTERS of leading to use. All of the standard .DEV files have leading set to 2 points, this may vary in non-standard .DEV files. The actual height of a 10 point font may not be exactly 10 points. Saying that a font is a 10 point font merely means that 10 points is the tightest spacing that should ever be used for that font. Scribe considers the height of a font to be the vertical distance between the tops of ascender to the bottom of descenders. (for most fonts this is the distance between the top of an "A" to the bottom of "j"). For most Scribe devices font height information is stored in .RAW files and can be examined by anyone. For the Dover, font information is stored in the binary file fonts.width. When you ask for a spacing of "1 line" you will normally get single spaced text. If you are using a 10 point font (which is really 10 points tall) and the standard Scribe database, you will get a baseline to baseline spacing of 12 points. There are exceptions. If your text contains any characters from a bigger font, or any super- or sub-scripts, Scribe will add extra space so that lines don't hit each other. You can disable the extra space by saying @STYLE(SCRIPTPUSH=FALSE). If you actually need a particular spacing (say 11.5 points) your best bet is to just say SPACING=11.5 POINTS. The notions of "single" and "double" spacing are well defined for a typewriter that has exactly one font and 6 lines per inch. For a laser printer that allows variable font sizes and positioning the nearest 1/300th inch, the meaning is not so clear. If you want Scribe to pick an appropiate value that looks "single spaced" you should say SPACING=1 LINE. If you want "double spaced" use SPACING= 2 LINE.