Font

Key Characteristics

• • Printer-Resident or Host-Defined: Fonts can be pre-loaded onto intelligent printers (e.g., AFP printers) or defined and managed by the z/OS system in font libraries (e.g., SYS1.FONTLIB).
  • Character Sets and Code Pages: A font is intrinsically linked to a character set (which defines the graphic characters) and a code page (which maps character codes to specific graphic characters).
  • Fixed-Pitch vs. Proportional: Traditional mainframe output often uses fixed-pitch (monospaced) fonts where all characters occupy the same width, crucial for columnar alignment in reports. Modern AFP printing also supports proportional fonts.
  • Styles and Sizes: Fonts can include variations in style (e.g., bold, *italic*, condensed) and size (e.g., 10-point, 12-point), which can be selected programmatically or via JCL.
  • Managed by AFP/IPDS: For advanced printing, fonts are a core component of Advanced Function Presentation (AFP) architecture and are transmitted to printers via the Intelligent Printer Data Stream (IPDS).

Use Cases

• • Report Generation: Specifying a particular font for financial statements, invoices, or system logs to ensure consistent branding, readability, and precise column alignment.
  • Form Printing: Using specific fonts for pre-printed forms (e.g., checks, tax forms) where character placement must align perfectly with pre-defined fields.
  • Document Composition: Creating complex documents with varying text styles and sizes using AFP utilities like ACIF (AFP Conversion and Indexing Facility) to compose output from multiple sources.
  • Terminal Emulation: While 3270 terminals have fixed hardware fonts, modern terminal emulators allow users to select fonts for their display, affecting the clarity and aesthetic of the green-screen interface.

Related Concepts