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WordPerfect and the Euro


Overview of the problem | A WPDOS 6.x graphic font with the euro | Printers with built-in and plug-in euro support | A LaserJet driver that draws the euro | Print the euro with soft fonts | WPDOS text screens | WPDOS text screens with IBM PC DOS 2000 | Default currency in WPDOS 6.x tables | A WPDOS 5.1 graphic euro | Access euro symbol in TrueType fonts in WPDOS 6.x | Use the euro symbol in Type 1 soft fonts installed in WPDOS | Exporting files with the euro | Unfinished business | Home page  


This page describes methods of displaying and printing the euro symbol in WordPerfect for DOS. Users who also want to display the euro symbol in other DOS-based software should also consult this site's page on displaying the euro symbol in MS-DOS and full-screen and windowed Windows DOS. The methods on that page are fully compatible with all the methods on this page.

If you use the vDosWP method of running WPDOS, see the section on the euro on the linked page.

Note: Programmers and technically-expert users may also wish to consult this site's page on printing the euro from DOS applications (other than WPDOS).


The problem and its solutions

The European Monetary and Currency Union began using the euro currency symbol euro symbol on 1 January 1999. Because the euro symbol was introduced after Corel stopped development work on WordPerfect for DOS, the DOS versions of the program have no built-in support for it. The files on this site make it possible (with minor limitations) to use the euro symbol with the same flexibility and ease with which other currency and typographic symbols are used in WordPerfect.

All the drivers and other WordPerfect-related files on this site assign the euro symbol to WP character 4,72. This is the same WP character used for the euro in recent versions of WordPerfect for Windows. If the solutions offered on this site are installed in your WordPerfect system, documents that contain the euro symbol will print and display correctly in WPWIN and WPDOS, and can be exchanged freely between operating systems.

Assign a keyboard shortcut for the euro symbol: After - and only after - you perform one or more of the solutions below, you may want to modify your WPDOS keyboard layout in order to assign a keystroke that will type the euro symbol. The easiest way to do this is to record a macro that contains the keystrokes Ctrl-2, 4, comma, 72, Enter; name the macro "euro". Use WPDOS's keyboard layout feature to assign this macro to a key such as Alt-e or any other key that you prefer.

The solutions offered here include the following. Unless noted, all are suitable for both WPDOS 5.1 and 6.x. You probably do not need all of them, but if you use WPDOS 6.x, I strongly recommend that you begin with the first on the list:

  1. A replacement WPDOS 6.x graphic font with the euro symbol
  2. Printing the euro symbol in printers with built-in euro support
  3. A LaserJet printer driver that draws the euro on the page
  4. Euro soft fonts for use with WordPerfect for DOS
  5. Displaying the euro in text screens (and 5a, IBM PC DOS 2000)
  6. Euro as default currency symbol in WPDOS 6.x tables
  7. A WPDOS 5.1 graphic version of the euro symbol
  8. Access the euro symbol in Windows TrueType fonts installed in WPDOS 6.x
  9. Use the euro symbol in Type 1 fonts installed into WPDOS

For WPDOS 5.1, if you want to view the euro symbol in print preview mode, use solution 7 in addition to any solution that you use for printing the euro. For WPDOS 6.x, if you want to view the euro symbol in print preview, graphic, or page mode in WPDOS 6.x, use solution 1 (you may also use 7 or 8) in addition to any solution that you use for printing the euro.

Notes: If a symbol that looks almost like a euro is good enough for your purposes, simply use the Greek lower-case epsilon built into WPDOS as WP character 8,11 (to insert this character into a document, press Ctrl-2, then type 8, then Enter, then 11). Or you can record a macro that turns on italics, then uses the Overstrike feature (in WPDOS 5.1, Shift-F8/Other/Overstrike; in WPDOS 6.x, Shift-F8/Character/Create Overstrike) to combine an upper-case C with an equals sign, then turns off italics. I do not recommend either of these alternatives.

Web pages with information about the euro symbol have been posted by Microsoft Typography and Sysmod.com (notably a detailed set of Notes on the Euro by John Gray).

A few remaining unsolved problems in WPDOS euro support are listed as unfinished business.

Users of WordPerfect for Windows 5.x through 7.0 who need the euro symbol can download Corel's corrected version of the WP symbol fonts, which include the euro as WP character 4,72.


1  A replacement WPDOS 6.x graphic font with the euro symbol

If you have WordPerfect 6.x for DOS, start here. All the other euro support provided on this site will be far easier to implement if you adopt this solution first. For most users, this solution will be sufficient for occasional use of the euro symbol.

The graphics mode and print preview screens in WPDOS 6.x display text using graphics fonts, some of them in a format that is unique to WordPerfect. One of these fonts, in the file WPHV04N_.WA0, contains the WP Typographic Symbols characters. This self-extracting archive (30KB) contains a drop-in replacement for the original font file, with the original circle-U character (WP character 4,72) replaced by the euro symbol. If you replace the original font with this modified file, the euro will display in graphic mode and print preview, and will print on any printer that supports graphics, whether or not the printer includes the euro symbol in hardware.

Note that the circle-U character will continue to appear in graphic-mode menus, because I have not been able to modify the font that WordPerfect uses for its menus. If any WordPerfect expert knows how to modify the menu font, please contact me.

To install the replacement font, follow these instructions carefully:

Note: If no location is listed for Type 1 fonts, you did not choose the option to install graphic fonts when you first installed WordPerfect. Update your WordPerfect installation to include the graphic fonts.

The euro symbol in this file is 500 units wide; the euro symbol used by WordPerfect for Windows is 780 units wide. This may affect formatting if you exchange files between WPDOS and WPWIN. Expert users can use the PTR program to modify the WP Typographic Symbols proportional spacing table in WP.DRS to make the 4,72 symbol 780 units wide if this is a problem, but this change will not alter the actual width of the character and the printed output from WPDOS may not be formatted correctly.

If you want to restore the original version of the graphic font file, and you no longer have your backup copy, you can use the WordPerfect installer to reinstall the graphic fonts. Or you can download a copy of the original version (16KB) of the file here.

Note that if your printer includes euro support, and you use one of the new LaserJet or DeskJet drivers on this site's 6.x printer drivers page, the euro in the graphic font will display in WordPerfect, but the euro symbol used by the printer will print on the page. The same result will occur if you use HP's euro soft fonts (as described below) and one of this site's printer drivers.

Technical note: Here is how the modified font was created. The WordPerfect Font Installer (WPFI) generates a WA0 file when it  installs a Type 1 PFB font file; the WA0 file contains the Type 1 font information in a compressed format that only WPDOS recognizes. Normally, only the WA0 files were distributed with WordPerfect, not the PFB files from which they were created. However, the original WP Typographic Symbols PFB font file was distributed on the CD-ROM version of WPDOS 6.1, so it was possible to modify it. I used Fontographer (the PFB was originally created in Fontographer) to replace the circle-U character with a euro symbol with the same width, and then saved the file. I then renamed the original WA0 file and used WPFI to remove all information about the WA0 file from WP.DRS. I then installed the modified PFB file, and WPDOS automatically created the modified WA0 file that is available for download from this site.


2  Printing the euro symbol in printers with built-in and plug-in euro support

Advantages of this solution: Fastest possible solution; needs only a printer driver (also use solution 1 to use the euro in print preview and graphic fonts). Disadvantages: Works only with built-in LaserJet fonts, not WPDOS 6.x graphics fonts.

If you bought a new HP-compatible laser or HP inkjet printer in 2002 or later, from the current stock of an authorized dealer, it almost certainly includes built-in support for the euro (if, of course, it includes built-in fonts).  Among laser printers that were first issued from 1999 to 2001, most but not all include built-in support for the euro symbol. Examples of printers from this transitional period that have euro support are the Hewlett Packard LaserJet 1100 (except for most models with serial numbers beginning FRT), 1200, 1220, 2100 (with firmware code 19990105), 2200, 3200, 4050, 4100, 4550, 8150, 8550, and 9000 series (see the list of euro-enabled LaserJets on HP's web site). The Lexmark Optra E310, M410, T610, and W810 and all later models that were current in 2002 or later are also euro-enabled (confirmation or corrections on this point will be received gratefully). Euro support was first built into Hewlett Packard DeskJet printers with DeskJet 350, 610, 640, 960, 970, 980, 990, and 1120 series; any HP DeskJet or other inkjet printer bought new, from current stock, in 2002 or later includes euro support, if, of course, the printer is one that includes hardware fonts and does not rely on Windows for its fonts.

The updated 5.1 printer drivers and 6.x printer drivers on this site support euro-enabled HP printers, and should also work with euro-enabled Lexmark printers. Access the euro symbol as WP character 4,72.

If you are not certain whether your Hewlett Packard or HP-compatible laser or inkjet printer has built-in support for the euro symbol, download this eurotest.prn file (right-click on the link and select "Save target as..." or "Save link as..."), open a DOS prompt (Help! How do I open a DOS prompt?), go to the directory in which you saved the file, and enter the command

copy /b eurotest.prn prn

If the euro symbol is printed, then the symbol is present in your printer's hardware. (The codes in parentheses on the page will help me to solve any problems that may arise in printing the euro with this site's drivers.)

HP and Lexmark both created euro-enabling firmware upgrades for many earlier models; details may be found on their web sites (search for "euro"). For HP LaserJets, the part numbers for the firmware upgrades are as follows:


3  A LaserJet printer driver that draws the euro on the page

Advantages of this solution: Requires only a printer driver, no graphics files or font replacements; use only with old LaserJets that have no built-in euro support. Disadvantage: Produces a crude-looking, inauthentic version of the euro symbol.

If you can accept an adequate but not-quite-perfect representation of the euro symbol instead of a perfectly drawn symbol, and if you have any HP LaserJet or compatible printer that does not include built-in support for the euro, you may want to use this simple solution. This site provides special drivers that use HP graphic commands to "draw" a euro symbol on the page by combining the capital "C" in the current font with two horizontal lines drawn in approximately the correct position, with the location and thickness of the lines adjusted for the point size of the font. The symbol looks best in monospaced fonts like Courier, but is adequate in other fonts. If you install the drivers, they are listed in WordPerfect as:

To use these drivers download the self-extracting files that contain the drivers, as follows:

For WPDOS 5.1, download WP51HPDR.EXE (88 KB) to a temporary directory and run the program to extract the contents. Copy WP51HPDR.ALL to the directory that contains your printer files. (To locate this directory in WordPerfect, use Shift-F1/Location of Files/Printer Files) In WordPerfect, use Shift-F7/Select Printer/Additional Printers, and, from the drivers listed above, select the one most compatible with your printer.

For WPDOS 6.x, download WP60HPDR.EXE (83 KB) to a temporary directory and run the program to extract the contents. Copy WP60HPDR.ALL to the directory that contains your printer files. (To locate this directory in WordPerfect, use Shift-F1/Location of Files/Printer Files...) In WordPerfect, use Shift-F7/Select/Add Printer... and, from the drivers listed above, select the one most compatible with your printer.

Access the euro symbol as WP character 4,72. In WPDOS 5.1 print preview, the circle-U symbol will appear, but the euro symbol will print. In WPDOS 6.x graphics modes, the circle-U symbol will appear unless you have also adopted solution 1, which installs a graphic font that displays the euro symbol instead. 


4  Euro soft fonts for use with WordPerfect for DOS

Advantages of this solution: For older LaserJets without euro support HP solution transparently inserts correctly-drawn euro symbol without requiring separate graphics or any change in WordPerfect; Adobe and Lexmark solutions provide euro symbols that match the surrounding text typeface. Disadvantages: The fonts from Adobe and Lexmark require some experimentation in order to find the design you prefer.

Soft fonts that contain the euro symbol are available at no charge from Hewlett Packard, Adobe, and Lexmark. WPDOS users may find the Hewlett Packard fonts easiest to work with; they are supported by the drivers elsewhere on this site.

Hewlett Packard provides "EuroSign" bitmap and scalable fonts that contain only the euro symbol. The DOS section of HP's euro page offers a set of LaserJet and DeskJet PCL4 bitmap fonts. The Windows section of the page offers a file with scalable fonts in three formats: TrueType, PostScript Type 1, and LaserJet PCL5 scalable (SFS). The scalable fonts may be used with all LaserJet models starting with the LaserJet III; the bitmap fonts may be used with all LaserJet models starting with the LaserJet Plus and with the following DeskJet models: DeskJet 350, 600 through 695, 850, 855, and 1100.

HP's PCL bitmap and scalable fonts are supported by generic WPDOS 5.1 and 6.x drivers available from this site's 5.1 printer drivers and 6.x printer drivers pages; if you use these drivers, you can access the euro character by selecting WP character 4,72. Detailed instructions for installing and using the HP EuroSign fonts may be found on a separate page.

In WPDOS 6.x, HP's TrueType and PostScript fonts may be installed as graphic fonts using the WP Font Installer. Identical copies of the euro are installed in a wide range of the User Defined symbol set (WP character set 12). Unless you manually use PTR.EXE to edit the WP.DRS file, or create a macro to access one of the euro symbols, this solution may be less convenient to use than the combination of the HP PCL euro fonts and the drivers found on this site.

HP has also posted details of hardware-based euro support in HP printers. These hardware solutions are supported in the new drivers on this site's 5.1 printer drivers and 6.x printer drivers pages.

Adobe provides twelve separate Type 1 soft fonts: regular, italic, bold, and bold italic versions of Monospaced, Serif, and Sans-Serif typefaces in which every letter is the euro symbol. These fonts can easily be installed in WPDOS 6.x as graphic fonts, but all the characters are in the user-defined WP character set (set 12), and are inconvenient to use.

Lexmark provides a TrueType and Type 1 version of a font that contains different versions of the euro symbol in place of the alphanumeric keyboard characters. These fonts can be installed as graphic fonts in WPDOS 6.x. Each of the different versions of the euro symbol is designed to coordinate with one of the standard typefaces found in PCL and PostScript printers, and you can record one or macros that will automatically select one of the different euro symbols. If visual design is important, this may be the best software-based solution, but the font is less convenient for use in WordPerfect than is the HP PCL font solution when used in combination with the drivers found on this site. Lexmark's hardware-based euro support can be used with the HP euro-enabled drivers found on the 5.1 printer drivers and 6.x printer drivers pages of this site. (This file is no longer posted on Lexmark's website; the link above will download a self-extracting archive version of the original file.)

(If any of the remote links are inaccessible, this site has copies of the Adobe, Hewlett Packard scalable, Hewlett Packard bitmap, and Lexmark fonts, but the vendors' web sites provide important information and may have later and better versions of the fonts than the ones here. Except for the Hewlett Packard bitmap archive, which can be extracted under DOS, these files are self-extracting archives that run only under Windows. The HP scalable archive is the same as lj426.exe on HP's web site; the HP bitmap archive is the same as lj433.exe on HP's site.)


5  Displaying the euro in full-screen text screens (Windows XP and earlier only!)

A separate page on this site offers ways to display the euro symbol in MS-DOS and Windows DOS screens. The method described here does not require those solutions. However, in some situations, it may be easier to use those other solutions instead of the one described here.

Note: If you use IBM PC DOS 2000, which has built-in support for the euro symbol, see the separate IBM PC DOS 2000 section, below.

WordPerfect 5.1 and 6.x for DOS include an option to use custom screen fonts in ordinary text mode. This option is based on the ability of VGA and other graphics cards to load custom fonts for use instead of the screen fonts built in to the cards' hardware. Using the WordPerfect Screen Font Editor (an almost-forgotten program dating from 1990), it was possible to modify the WordPerfect 512-character VGA screen font to include the euro symbol.

Important note: After installing the VGA screen font, you can display the euro symbol in WordPerfect's text screen. In order to print the euro (or view it in graphics mode in WPDOS 6.x) you must also adopt solution 1 or 8 (in WPDOS 6.x) or any or all of solutions 2, 3, or 4 (in WPDOS 5.1 and 6.x).

To use this screen font, first go to your WordPerfect (5.1 or 6.x) directory and back up your VGA512.FRS file (and VGA512.CHM file if found). Then download this self-extracting SCRNFONT.EXE archive (19KB), and copy the enclosed VGA512.FRS and VGA512.CHM file to your WordPerfect directory.

Then, in WordPerfect 5.1, use Shift-F1/Display. Under Text Screen Type, select IBM VGA (& Compatibles), then 80 x 25 16 Color. Then, under Colors-Fonts-Attributes, select option 5, 512 characters. Your text mode screen will now display 512 characters, including the euro (as WP character 4,72). The print preview screen, however, will display a circle-U character. (See also the important notes immediately below) 

Or, in WordPerfect 6.x, use Shift-F1/Display/Text Mode Screen Type-Colors. Select IBM VGA (& Compatibles), then 80 x 25 16 Color. Then, under Color Schemes, select 512chars. Your text mode screen will now display 512 characters, including the euro (as WP character 4,72). The print preview and graphics mode screen will display the euro only if you have also installed the replacement WP Typographic Symbols font available elsewhere on this page. (See also the important notes in the following paragraph.) 

Important notes: The VGA screen font (and the euro) will not display when your system in monochrome mode, and will only display when WordPerfect is first launched in full-screen DOS (not from a Window), and only when WP is run in full-screen DOS. (Under Windows, press Alt-Enter to toggle between full-screen DOS and a DOS window.) If the euro disappears from your screen, you should be able to get it back by performing a Print Preview; WP will refresh its screen when it returns to text mode from Preview mode. See also this site's advice on forcing WPDOS to start in full-screen mode. If you want to view the euro in a monochrome mode text screen, use the instructions on a separate page for displaying the euro symbol in MS-DOS and Windows DOS screens.

5a  Displaying the euro in text screens: IBM PC DOS 2000

Full support for the euro symbol in DOS text screens is available in IBM PC DOS 2000 and IBM PC DOS 7.0 with the Year 2000 FixPak (you may be able to find these through a web search). If, like most European users, you set up your IBM PC DOS system to use the modified European code page 850, with any of the European or International English keyboard layouts, you can type the euro symbol by typing your keyboard layout's "euro key," which is the AltGr key and either e, 4, or 5, depending on the keyboard layout.

Because the modified codepage 850 places the euro symbol in the position where the dotless-i character existed in older versions of DOS, if you type the "euro key," the euro symbol will appear in a WPDOS text screen, but WPDOS will interpret the keystroke as the dotless-i (WP character 1,24), and the dotless-i will be printed and will appear in graphics and print preview screens. But, for compatibility reasons, we want the "euro key" to produce WP character 4,72, which is the euro symbol in all the solutions on this site and in WordPerfect for Windows. If the euro key generates character 4,72, then the character can be printed with other solutions on this page and with many of the drivers elsewhere on this site.

You can make the "euro key" cause WordPerfect to enter WP character 4,72 by installing a custom WPDOS codepage file (WP0858.WCP). A WPDOS 5.1 version is contained in this self-extracting WP5CP858.EXE file; a WPDOS 6.x version is contained in this self-extracting WP6CP858.EXE file. Download the file suitable to your WPDOS version, extract it in a temporary directory, and copy WP0858.WCP into your WPDOS directory. Then start WP with this command-line switch (which can be added to any other command-line switches):

/cp=858

This switch can be added to a batch file that runs WPDOS, or to the environment settings that you use to specfiy WPDOS startup switches (for details of using environment settings, see the WP manual).

Remember that this change will not help you print the euro symbol unless you also use one of the other solutions on this page. In order to print the euro (or view it in graphics mode in WPDOS 6.x) you must also adopt solution 1 or 8 (in WPDOS 6.x) or any or all of solutions  2, 3, or 4 (in WPDOS 5.1 and 6.x).


6  Euro as default currency symbol in WPDOS 6.x tables

WPDOS 6.x tables, like standalone spreadsheet programs, let you format numbers as "currency" and can automatically apply a currency symbol (like the dollar sign or pound sterling) when you enter a number in a cell. This option is in the Table Format menu, under Number Type. As shipped, WPDOS 6.x supports most major currency symbols, but not the euro. A separate euro table page on this site contains a macro that enables the euro as a currency symbol in tables. You only need this macro if you intend to use the euro as a currency symbol in tables!


7  A WPDOS 5.1 graphic version of the euro symbol

Advantage of this solution: Works with WPDOS 5.1 and printers (such as older inkjets) that do not support soft fonts. Disadvantage: Requires graphic file and some manual setup. (Do not use this method with WPDOS 6.x; other solutions above are simpler and faster.)

If you use WPDOS 5.1, and your printer does not support the LaserJet bitmap soft fonts in solution 4 (but is able to print graphics), you can print and preview the euro symbol by using this WPG1.0-format graphic file (downloadable as a 17KB self-extracting archive, EURO-WPG.EXE). The EURO.WPG file can be used in any version of WordPerfect, but other solutions are easier to use in 6.0 or later.

To use the euro graphic in WPDOS 5.1, place the cursor where you want to print the euro symbol. Press Alt-F9/Figure (or any other choice; the names are arbitrary)/Options, and specify all Border Style settings as None, and all Outside Border Space settings as zero. Exit this menu, then press Alt-F9/Figure (or the same choice you made in the first step)/Create. The Filename should be the filename of the euro graphic, as in c:\filepath\EURO.WPG, with "c:\filepath" replaced by the actual drive and directory name; Anchor Type should be Character; Vertical Position should be Bottom; Size should be approximately 0.12 inches to match 12-point type (experiment for best results); Wrap Text Around Box should be set as Yes. The entire series of steps can be saved as a macro and perhaps assigned to a key like Alt-e.

With this solution, unlike all the other solutions on this page, the euro will not be mapped to WP Character 4,72, or to any other character, but must be inserted as a graphic each time it is used. However, if you save the procedure as a macro, you can use a single keystroke like Alt-e to insert the symbol.


8  Access the euro symbol in Windows TrueType fonts installed in WPDOS 6.x

Advantages of this method: Requires no separate fonts, euro symbol will exactly match surrounding fonts. Disadvantage: Works only with WPDOS "graphic fonts", not with a printer's built-in text fonts. (Works with WPDOS 6.x only.)

WordPerfect for DOS 6.x can import TrueType soft fonts and use them as "graphics fonts," but it does not automatically recognize the euro symbol built into many TrueType fonts released since 1999. Fonts that include the euro include all the text fonts installed by Windows 98 and later Windows versions. For further information on installing and using TrueType fonts in WPDOS 6.x, see this site's TrueType page.

Additional fonts may be obtained from Microsoft's page with euro-enabled fonts for Publisher 98

To use the euro symbol in a TrueType font in WPDOS 6.x, you will need a copy of the WPDOS 6.x Printer Definition Program (PTR.EXE). This program was not shipped with diskette-based copies of WPDOS 6.x, but was available as an supplementary disk. CD-ROM copies did include it. If you do not have the WPDOS 6.x PTR.EXE, download this self-extracting 60PTR.EXE file from Corel's FTP site (the 6.0 version  works with later versions of WPDOS). Download the self-extracting file, but do not run it yet.

Now make certain that your font contains the euro symbol. Open any Windows word processor (WordPad is good enough), select the font you want to use, and type Alt-0128 on the number pad; do not use the euro key that may be on your keyboard. If the euro appears, proceed with the following instructions.

Note: If the euro does not appear with Alt-0128, try Alt-128 (without the zero); if the euro appears, you will need to follow slightly different instructions, as noted below.

Install the font in WPDOS 6.x according to the installation instructions elsewhere on this site. Test the font to make certain that it prints ordinary text correctly.  In WordPerfect, use Shift-F1, Location of Files, and note the directory listed for "WP.DRS File and *.WFW Files". Exit WPDOS.

Go the directory that contains your WP.DRS file and make a backup copy of your WP.DRS file, with a name like WPDRS.OK, so that no utility or other program is likely to delete it. If you do not have PTR.EXE on your system, run the self-extracting 60PTR.EXE file (which you downloaded earlier) in the same directory in order to install PTR.EXE in the same directory as WP.DRS.

In the instructions that follow, Microsoft's Impact TrueType font is used as an example only! Do not continue with these instructions unless you thoroughly understand the concept of an "example"!

In the directory with your WP.DRS file, run the command  PTR WP.DRS  (if you already had a copy of PTR.EXE on your system, and it is in a different directory, use the full path of PTR.EXE in the command.) (Help! What does a "full path" mean?) Follow this sequence of menu items: Edit/Fonts/Non-Shared/Built-In, and find and highlight the name of the font you installed. The name will be followed by "TT"  in parentheses to indicate a TrueType font.

With the font name highlighted, choose Edit/Character Map. The name of the font's character map (probably the same name as the font itself) should be highlighted. Choose Edit, then Current Character Set to Edit, and select Typographic Symbols from the drop-down list. Scroll down to character 72 Circle-U (or use Search to go directly to 72). Press Enter, use the Tab key to go to the Expression window and enter:

GMAP(8364)

Do not include any spaces; the number should be surrounded by parentheses.

Note: If the euro did not appear in a Windows word-processor until you typed Alt-128 (without the zero) in an earlier step, enter GMAP(128) instead of GMAP(8364) in the Expression window.

Press F7 until you are back at the Edit Font menu. Choose Size and Spacing Information/Spacing/Proportionally Spaced/Proportional Spacing Table..., and press Enter to bring up the list of tables. Your font's proportional spacing table (probably with the same name as the font itself) will be highlighted. Choose Edit. If the Character Set is not Typographic Symbols, choose Character Set and select Typographic Symbols.

In the list of symbols, scroll down to character 11 Pound/Sterling. Note the number in the right-hand column that indicates the width of the character; in almost all fonts, the width of the euro will be the same as the width of the Pound/Sterling character, and also the same width as the dollar sign and other currency symbols. (In the Impact font that we are using as an example, the width is 27; it will almost certainly be different in your font!) Scroll down to, or search for, character 72 Circle-U. Press Enter and type in the same number that you noted as the width of the Pound/Sterling character. Press F7 until the program prompts you, "Save File?" Answer Yes, save the file, and exit PTR.EXE.

Explanation: In order to print any character in a proportional font, the character must have an entry in both the Character Map and the Proportional Spacing Table for the font. If either of these two entries is missing, the character will not print.

Start WordPerfect, select the font that you installed, and type WP character 4,72. In graphics or page mode, or in print preview, you should see the euro character, and the character should print correctly. If the euro character does not appear or print, but you are certain that the symbol is included in the font, please feel free to contact me for help.


9  Use the euro symbol in Type 1 fonts installed in WPDOS

Another page on this site explains how to install PostScript Type 1 soft fonts in WPDOS. Some recent Type 1 soft fonts (not all) include the euro symbol. Instructions for printing the euro symbol for such fonts may be found on the same page.


Exporting WPDOS files with the euro symbol

If you use Microsoft Word to open a WPDOS file that contains the euro symbol, the euro symbol will almost certainly not display correctly (or, if you have WordPerfect for Windows on your system, the euro symbol may display correctly on your system, but will not appear on systems that do not have WordPerfect for Windows). To convert a WPDOS file that contains the euro symbol into a file that will display correctly in Word with the euro symbol, open the WPDOS file in a recent version of WordPerfect for Windows and then, from within WPWin, save the file in Word 97-2003 format. The resulting file will open in Word with the euro symbol correctly displayed. (Tested with WPWin X3.)

See a separate page for more information on opening WPDOS files in Word.


Unfinished business

Full support for the euro in WPDOS would require the following changes to be made in the WP program code, in order of importance:

If anyone can supply me with copies of WP.EXE or WP.FIL that contain any of these changes, I will prepare patch software that will update existing copies without distributing Corel's copyrighted program files.


Edward Mendelson  Home Page  Site Map