micropython-font-to-py/FONT_TO_PY.md

# font_to_py.py

Convert a font file to Python source code. The principal reason for doing this
is to save RAM on resource-limited targets: the font file may be incorporated
into a firmware build such that it occupies flash memory rather than scarce
RAM. Python code built into firmware is known as frozen bytecode.

###### [Main README](./README.md)

# Dependencies

The utility requires Python 3.2 or greater, also `freetype` which may be
installed using `pip3`. On Linux at a root prompt:

```shell
# apt-get install python3-pip
# pip3 install freetype-py
```

# Usage

`font_to_py.py` is a command line utility written in Python 3. It is run on a
PC. It takes as input a font file with a `ttf` or `otf` extension and a
required height in pixels and outputs a Python 3 source file. The pixel layout
is determined by command arguments. By default fonts are stored in variable
pitch form. This may be overidden by a command line argument.

By default the ASCII character set (ordinal values 32 to 126 inclusive) is
supported. Command line arguments can modify this range as required, if
necessary to include extended ASCII characters up to 255. Alternatively non
English or non-contiguous character sets may be defined.

Further arguments ensure that the byte contents and layout are correct for the
target display hardware. Their usage should be specified in the documentation
for the device driver.

Example usage to produce a file `myfont.py` with height of 23 pixels:  
`font_to_py.py FreeSans.ttf 23 myfont.py`

## Arguments

### Mandatory positional arguments:

 1. Font file path. Must be a ttf or otf file.
 2. Height in pixels.
 3. Output file path. Filename must have a .py extension.

### Optional arguments:

 * -f or --fixed If specified, all characters will have the same width. By
 default fonts are assumed to be variable pitch.
 * -x or --xmap Specifies horizontal mapping (default is vertical).
 * -r or --reverse Specifies bit reversal in each font byte.
 * -s or --smallest Ordinal value of smallest character to be stored. Default
 32 (ASCII space).
 * -l or --largest Ordinal value of largest character to be stored. Default 126.
 * -e or --errchar Ordinal value of character to be rendered if an attempt is
 made to display an out-of-range character. Default 63 (ASCII "?").
 * -i or --iterate Specialist use. See below.
 * -c or --charset Option to restrict the characters in the font to a specific
 set. See below.
 * -k or --charset_file Obtain the character set from a file. Typical use is
 for alternative character sets such as Cyrillic: the file must contain the
 character set to be included. An example file is `cyrillic`.

The -c option may be used to reduce the size of the font file by limiting the
character set. If the font file is frozen as bytecode this will not reduce RAM
usage but it will conserve flash. Example usage for a digital clock font:

```shell
$ font_to_py.py Arial.ttf 20 arial_clock.py -c 1234567890:
```
Example usage with the -k option:  
```shell
font_to_py.py FreeSans.ttf 20 freesans_cyr_20.py -k cyrillic
```

If a character set is specified, `--smallest` and `--largest` should not be
specified: these values are computed from the character set.

Any requirement for arguments -xr will be specified in the device driver
documentation. Bit reversal is required by some display hardware.

There have been reports that producing extended ASCII characters (ordinal
value > 127) from ttf files is unreliable. If the expected results are not
achieved, use an otf font. However I have successfully created the Cyrillic
font from a `ttf`. Perhaps not all fonts are created equal...

The `-i` or `--iterate` argument. For specialist applications. Specifying this
causes a generator function `glyphs` to be included in the Python font file. A
generator instantiated with this will yield `bitmap`, `height`, and `width` for
every glyph in the font.

### Output

The specified height is a target. The algorithm gets as close to the target
height as possible (usually within one pixel). The actual height achieved is
displayed on completion, along with the width of the widest character.

A warning is output if the output filename does not have a .py extension as the
creation of a binary font file may not be intended.

## The font file

Assume that the you have employed the utility to create a file `myfont.py`. In
your code you will issue

```python
import myfont
```

The `myfont` module name will then be used to instantiate a `Writer` object
to render strings on demand. A practical example may be studied
[here](./writer/writer_demo.py).
The detailed layout of the Python file may be seen [here](./writer/DRIVERS.md).

### Binary font files

There is an option to create a binary font file, specified with a `-b` or
`--binary` command line argument. In this instance the output filename must
not have a `.py` extension. This is primarily intended for the e-paper driver
in applications where the file is to be stored on the display's internal flash
memory rather than using frozen Python modules.

The technique of accessing character data from a random access file is slow
and thus probably only applicable to devices such as e-paper where the update
time is slow.

Binary files currently support only the standard ASCII character set. There is
no error character: the device driver must ensure that seeks are within range.
Consequently the following arguments are invalid:

 * -s or --smallest
 * -l or --largest
 * -e or --errchar

# Dependencies, links and licence

The code is released under the MIT licence. The `font_to_py.py` utility
requires Python 3.2 or later.

The module relies on [Freetype](https://www.freetype.org/) which is included in most Linux distributions.  
It uses the [Freetype Python bindings](http://freetype-py.readthedocs.io/en/latest/index.html)
which will need to be installed.  
My solution draws on the excellent example code written by Daniel Bader. This
may be viewed [here](https://dbader.org/blog/monochrome-font-rendering-with-freetype-and-python)
and [here](https://gist.github.com/dbader/5488053).

# Appendix: RAM utilisation Test Results

The supplied `freesans20.py` and `courier20.py` files were frozen as bytecode
on a Pyboard V1.0. The following code was pasted at the REPL:

```python
import gc, micropython
gc.collect()
micropython.mem_info()

import freesans20

gc.collect()
micropython.mem_info()

import courier20

gc.collect()
micropython.mem_info()

def foo():
    addr, height, width = freesans20.get_ch('a')

foo()

gc.collect()
micropython.mem_info()
print(len(freesans20._font) + len(freesans20._index))
```

The memory used was 1712, 2032, 2384 and 2416 bytes. As increments over the
prior state this corresponds to 320, 352 and 32 bytes. The `print` statement
shows the RAM which would be consumed by the data arrays: this was 3956 bytes
for `freesans20`.

The `foo()` function emulates the behaviour of a device driver in rendering a
character to a display. The local variables constitute memory which is
reclaimed on exit from the function. Its additional RAM use was 16 bytes.

## Conclusion

With a font of height 20 pixels RAM saving was an order of magnitude. The
saving will be greater if larger fonts are used as RAM usage is independent of
the array sizes.