You are here: Available Utilities > A > AFP2PCL > AFP Terminology

AFP Terminology

An AFP font is composed of these component files: coded font, code page and character set files. The coded font file contains the names of character set and code page files to use when printing.

Note You can use the AFPDUMP utility to find out the names of character set and code page files contained in a coded font file.

The code page maps text to the characters in a character set file. Each character, like a capital ‘A’, has a particular name and a particular numeric value known as a code point. The character capital ‘A’ has an AFP name of LA020000. On a PC, a capital ‘A’ usually has a code point of 65. However, on a mainframe, a capital ‘A’ usually has a code point of 193.

For both the PC and the mainframe to print the letter ‘A’, a different code page may be used. The code page used to print text from the PC would associate a code point of 65 with the letter ‘A’ (LA020000). The code page used to print text from the mainframe would associate a code point of 193 with the letter ‘A’ (LA020000). The code page is merely a list of the character names and their associated code points.

The character set file contains the characters which can be printed. Like PCL fonts, each character set file can only represent a single font typeface, style, and point size. A character set file also specifies the list of AFP character names, like LA020000, it can print.

So, when you try to print the letter ‘A’ (code point 65 on a PC) using an AFP coded font file, the system examines the coded font file to determine the names of the code page and character set files. It then looks up code point 65 in the code page file to find the AFP character name associated with it. If the code page is set up for PC printing, it finds the character named LA020000 associated with code point 65. The character set file is then used to print the bitmap information associated with the character name LA020000. An AFP character name, like LA020000, must be present in both the AFP code page and character set files.