File: 		ar.txt
Purpose:	Description of the ar font and package bundle
Author:		Claudio Beccari, Politecnico di Torino, Turin, Italy
E-mail:		beccari@polito.it
Date:		21 april 1998 (on the 2751st anniversary of Rome)


Copyright 1998,1999,2000 Claudio Beccari

The programs  contained  in  this  bundle  can  be  redistributed and/or
modified under the terms of the LaTeX Project Public License Distributed
from  CTAN  archives  in  directory  macros/latex/base/lppl.txt;  either
version 1 of the License, or any later version.



The ar font and package bundle  is  used to insert the "aspect ratio" symbol
in any text and formula dealing with (presumably) aeronautics.  The  "aspect
ratio"  symbol  is a ligature among a capital A and a capital R, much as the
\AE  command  produces  a  ligature  among  a capital A and a capital E. The
ligature AR as a means of  indicating  the "aspect ratio" is meaningful only
in mathematics, so that  only  the  inclined  (italic)  form  is  available,
although  the  METAFONT  source  statements were written in such a way as to
produce the symbol in any font family, series and shape.

The .mf files are for the generation of the AR ligature in the same sizes as
the standard math-italic fonts; the  ar.sty  package  (or option in terms of
the old LaTeX209 terminology) is for the necessary definitions.  In practice
as a final user you should start your LaTeXe document with:

\documentclass[...]{book}% or whatever other document class
\usepackage{ar}
...
\begin{document}
...
\end{document}

If you prefer to use LaTeX in its 209 version or in compatibility mode,  you
start with:

\documentstyle[...,ar]{book}% or whatever other document style
...
\begin{document}
...
\end{document}

The "aspect ratio" symbol is simply obtained by using the command 

\AR

indifferently in math mode or in text mode.

Remember, though, that with true LaTeX209 the \AR command produces a  single
sized  symbol  (by  default  10pt), and if you want another size you have to
edit ar.sty and change the string

at 10pt

with, say, 

at 12pt

This is so rudimentary that you'd  better  start using LaTeXe, where all the
size changes are correctly dealt with  by  the  New  Font  Selection  Scheme
(NFSS) without your intervention.


The bundle contains the following files:
	ar5.mf
	ar6.mf
	ar7.mf
	ar8.mf
	ar9.mf
	ar10.mf
	ar12.mf
	ar.sty
	ar.txt

Move the .mf file somewhere  where  METAFONT  can find them; this depends on
the TeX-METAFONT system you are using, but if you  cope  with  the  official
TDS directory scheme, you might place them in 

\texmf\fonts\source\local\ar

(you should probably create/add the "branch" local\ar).

Similarly move ar.sty in a  directory  searched by LaTeX, possibly, with the
official TDS system, in

\texmf\tex\latex\misc

If your system requires it (as with MikTeX, for instance) you  might  choose
to run such an application as

configure -u

in  order  to  let  the executables know about the files you added and where
they are.

Depending on the system  you  are  using, at  this  point  you might need to
generate the font .tfm and .pk files, but if you are using a  modern  system
such  as  MikTeX,  for  example,  you  need  not  worry any more and you can
directly use the ar.sty package.   As  soon  as the latex executable finds a
reference to \AR, it controls the existance of the suitable .tfm file,  and,
should  it  be  missing  (not  yet  generated),  it  shells  out  to another
application, maketfm, that produces the  necessary  file and moves it in the
proper subdirectory.  Similarly when you preview and/or print your document,
the accompanying  drivers  (yap,  dvips,  etc.)  run  the  application  that
produces  the  .pk  files  suited  for  the  screen and/or the printer pixel
density.

If you do not have such modern tools, it is necessary  to  run  METAFONT  by
hand or by  means of a  script or batch or command  file in order to produce
the fundamental .tfm files and the pixel files suited to your printer and/or
screen; your scripts should move the .tfm files where they belong,  and  the
.pk  files  where  your  drivers  can  find  them.  Please read the relevant
documentation that acompanies your software;  it  is difficult to give error
free instructions valid for any  operating system, any system configuration,
and any software.


Happy LaTeXing!



