NAME xfs - X font server SYNOPSIS - xfs [ -config configuration_file ] [ -ls listen-socket ] [ - -port tcp_port ] + xfs [ -config configuration_file ] [ -daemon ] [ -droppriv ] + [ -ls listen_socket ] [ -nodaemon ] [ -port tcp_port ] [ + -user username ] DESCRIPTION - Xfs is the X Window System font server. It supplies fonts + xfs is the X Window System font server. It supplies fonts to X Window System display servers. -STARTING THE SERVER The server is usually run by inetd, as described in the NOTES section below. Automatic starting can be enabled or disabled through the fsadmin(1) or inetadm(1) commands. Users may also wish to start private font servers for specific sets of fonts. + To connect to a font server, see the documentation for your + X server; it likely supports the syntax documented in the + FONT SERVER NAMES section of X(5). + OPTIONS -config configuration_file - Specifies the configuration file the font server - will use. The default configuration file is - /usr/openwin/lib/X11/fontserver.cfg + specifies the configuration file xfs will use. If this + parameter is not specified, the first file found in the + list /etc/X11/fontserver.cfg, + /usr/X11/lib/X11/fs/config, + /etc/openwin/fs/fontserver.cfg, + /usr/openwin/lib/X11/fontserver.cfg, will be used. + + -daemon + instructs xfs to fork and go into the background + automatically at startup. If this option is not speci- + fied, xfs will run as a regular process (unless it was + built to daemonize by default). When running as a dae- + mon, xfs will attempt to create a file in which it + stores its process ID, and will delete that file upon + exit; + + -droppriv + instructs xfs to attempt to run as user and group xfs + (unless the -user option is used). This has been + implemented for security reasons, as xfs may have + undiscovered buffer overflows or other paths for possi- + ble exploit, both local and remote. When using this + option, you may also wish to specify no-listen = tcp in + the config file, which ensures that xfs will not to use + a TCP port at all. By default, xfs runs with the user + and group IDs of the user who invoked it. -ls listen-socket - Specifies a file descriptor which is already set up - to be used as the listen socket. This option is - only intended to be used by the font server itself - when automatically spawning another copy of itself - to handle additional connections. + specifies a file descriptor which is already set up to + be used as the listen socket. This option is only + intended to be used by the font server itself when + automatically spawning another copy of itself to handle + additional connections. + + -nodaemon + instructs xfs not to daemonize (fork and detach from + its controlling terminal). This option only has an + effect if xfs is built to daemonize by default, which + is not the stock configuration. -port tcp_port - Specifies the TCP port number on which the server - will listen for connections. The default port - number is 7100. + specifies the TCP port number on which the server will + listen for connections. The default port number is + 7100. This option is ignored if xfs is configured to + not listen to TCP transports at all (see Configuration + File Format below). + + -user username + instructs xfs to run as the user username. See -drop- + priv for why this may be desired. By default, xfs runs + with the user and group IDs of the user who invoked it. + -SIGNALS - SIGTERM This causes the font server to exit cleanly. - - SIGUSR1 This signal is used to cause the server to re-read - its configuration file. - - SIGUSR2 This signal is used to cause the server to flush any - cached data it may have. - - SIGHUP This signal is used to cause the server to reset, - closing all active connections and re-reading the - configuration file. +INPUT FILES + xfs reads and serves any font file format recognized by the + X server itself. It locates font files through the specifi- + cation of a catalogue, which is declared in xfs's configura- + tion file. -CONFIGURATION - The configuration language is a list of keyword and value - pairs. Each keyword is followed by an '=' and then the - desired value. + Configuration File Format + xfs reads its configuration from /usr/X11/lib/X11/fs/config + by default (see the -config option in the OPTIONS section + above). The configuration language is a list of keyword and + value pairs. Each keyword is followed by an equals sign (=) + and then the desired value. Recognized keywords include: - alternate-servers (list of string) - List of alternate servers for this font server. + alternate-servers (list of strings) + lists alternate servers for this font server. See the + FONT SERVER NAMES section of X(5) for the syntax of the + string. - catalogue (list of string) - Ordered list of font path element names. Use of the - keyword "catalogue" is very misleading at present, the - current implementation only supports a single catalogue - ("all"), containing all of the specified fonts. + catalogue (list of strings) + declares as ordered list of font path element names + from which fonts will be served. The current implemen- + tation only supports a single catalogue ("all") con- + taining all of the specified fonts. client-limit (cardinal) - Number of clients this font server will support before - refusing service. This is useful for tuning the load - on each individual font server. + determines the number of clients this font server will + support before refusing service. This is useful for + tuning the load on each individual font server. clone-self (boolean) - Whether this font server should attempt to clone itself - when it reachs the client-limit. + indicates whether this font server should attempt to + clone itself when the number of connected clients + reaches the client-limit. default-point-size (cardinal) - The default pointsize (in decipoints) for fonts that - don't specify. The default is 120. + The default pointsize (in decipoints) for font requests + that don't specify a point size. The default is 120. default-resolutions (list of resolutions) - Resolutions the server supports by default. This - information may be used as a hint for pre-rendering, - and substituted for scaled fonts which do not specify a - resolution. A resolution is a comma-separated pair of - x and y resolutions in pixels per inch. Multiple reso- - lutions are separated by commas. + indicates the resolutions the server supports by + default. This information may be used as a hint for + pre-rendering, and substituted into requests for scaled + fonts which do not specify a resolution. A resolution + is a comma-separated pair of horizontal and vertical + resolutions in pixels per inch. Multiple resolutions + are separated by commas. + + deferglyphs (string) + sets the mode for delayed fetching and caching of + glyphs. string should be one of none, meaning glyphs + deferment is disabled, all, meaning it is enabled for + all fonts, and 16, meaning it is enabled only for 16- + bit fonts. error-file (string) - Filename of the error file. All warnings and errors - will be logged here. + indicates the filename of the error file. All warnings + and errors will be logged here, unless use-syslog is + set to a true value (see below). + + no-listen (trans-type) + disables the specified transport type. For example, + TCP/IP connections can be disabled with no-listen = + tcp. port (cardinal) - TCP port on which the server will listen for connec- - tions. + indicates the TCP port on which the server will listen + for connections. use-syslog (boolean) - Whether syslog(3) (on supported systems) is to be used - for errors. + determines whether errors and diagnostics should be + reported via syslog(3) (on supported systems) instead + of being written to the error-file (see above). - deferglyphs (string) - Set the mode for delayed fetching and caching of - glyphs. Value is "none", meaning deferred glyphs is - disabled, "all", meaning it is enabled for all fonts, - and "16", meaning it is enabled only for 16-bits fonts. -EXAMPLE - # - # sample font server configuration file - # + Example Configuration File + # + # sample font server configuration file + # - # allow a max of 128 clients to connect to this font server - client-limit = 128 + # allow a max of 10 clients to connect to this font server. + client-limit = 10 - # when a font server reaches its limit, start up a new one + # When a font server reaches the above limit, start up a new one. clone-self = on - # alternate font servers for clients to use + # Identify alternate font servers for clients to use. alternate-servers = hansen:7101,hansen:7102 - # where to look for fonts - catalogue = /usr/openwin/lib/X11/fonts/F3bitmaps, - /usr/openwin/lib/X11/fonts/Type1, - /usr/openwin/lib/X11/fonts/Speedo, - /usr/openwin/lib/X11/fonts/misc, - /usr/openwin/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi, - /usr/openwin/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi + # Look for fonts in the following directories. The first is a set of + # TrueType outlines, the second is a set of misc bitmaps (such as terminal + # and cursor fonts), and the last is a set of 100dpi bitmaps. + # + catalogue = /usr/X11/lib/X11/fonts/TTF, + /usr/X11/lib/X11/fonts/misc, + /usr/X11/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/ # in 12 points, decipoints default-point-size = 120 # 100 x 100 and 75 x 75 default-resolutions = 100,100,75,75 - use-syslog = off + # Specify our log filename. + error-file = /var/log/xfs.log + # Direct diagnostics to our own log file instead of using syslog. + use-syslog = off - -FONT SERVER NAMES - One of the following forms can be used to name a font server - that accepts TCP connections: - - tcp/hostname:port - tcp/hostname:port/cataloguelist - - The hostname specifies the name (or decimal numeric address) - of the machine on which the font server is running. The - port is the decimal TCP port on which the font server is - listening for connections. The cataloguelist specifies a - list of catalogue names, with '+' as a separator. - - Examples: tcp/fs.x.org:7100, tcp/18.30.0.212:7101/all. - - One of the following forms can be used to name a font server - that accepts DECnet connections: - - decnet/nodename::font$objname - decnet/nodename::font$objname/cataloguelist - - The nodename specifies the name (or decimal numeric address) - of the machine on which the font server is running. The - objname is a normal, case-insensitive DECnet object name. - The cataloguelist specifies a list of catalogue names, with - '+' as a separator. - Examples: DECnet/SRVNOD::FONT$DEFAULT, - decnet/44.70::font$special/symbols. +OUTPUT FILES + When operating in daemon mode, xfs sends diagnostic messages + (errors and warnings) to the system log via the syslog C + library function by default. However, these messages can be + sent to an alternate location via the error-file and + use-syslog configuration variables; see Configuration File + Format, above. + +ASYNCHRONOUS EVENTS + xfs handles the following signals specially: + + SIGTERM + causes the font server to exit cleanly. + + SIGUSR1 + causes xfs to re-read its configuration file. + + SIGUSR2 + causes xfs to flush any cached data it may have. + + SIGHUP + causes xfs to reset, closing all active connections and + re-reading the configuration file. NOTES The xfs service is managed by the service management facil- ity, smf(5), under the service identifier: svc:/application/x11/xfs:default Administrative actions on this service, such as enabling, disabling, or requesting restart, can be performed using svcadm(1M). Responsibility for initiating and restarting this service is delegated to inetd(1M). Use inetadm(1M) to make configuration changes and to view configuration infor- mation for this service. The service's status can be queried using the svcs(1) command. ATTRIBUTES See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attri- butes: ____________________________________________________________ | ATTRIBUTE TYPE | ATTRIBUTE VALUE | |_____________________________|_____________________________| | Availability | SUNWxwfs | |_____________________________|_____________________________| SEE ALSO fsadmin(1), fsinfo(1), fslsfonts(1), fstobdf(1), - showfont(1), inetadm(1M), inetd(1M), smf(5), X11(5), Font - server implementation overview + showfont(1), inetadm(1M), inetd(1M), smf(5), X(5), sys- + log(3), The X Font Service Protocol, Font Server Implementa- + tion Overview BUGS Multiple catalogues should be supported. AUTHORS Dave Lemke, Network Computing Devices, Inc Keith Packard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology +FUTURE DIRECTIONS + Significant further development of xfs is unlikely. One of + the original motivations behind it was the single-threaded + nature of the X server - a user's X session could seem to + freeze up while the X server took a moment to rasterize a + font. This problem with the X server, which remains + single-threaded in all popular implementations to this day, + has been mitigated on two fronts: machines have gotten much + faster, and client-side font rendering (particularly via the + Xft library) is the norm in contemporary software.