Initial upload of project

readme.md

@@ -0,0 +1,120 @@
+# Font Glyph Exporter
+
+A Windows Forms application for browsing, selecting, and exporting Font Awesome icons (or other icon fonts) as binary files for use in embedded systems, microcontrollers, or other display applications.
+
+![Application Screenshot](screenshot.png)
+
+## Features
+
+- Browse and preview icons from Font TTF files
+- Support for multiple font formats through configurable regex patterns
+- Easy icon selection with visual preview
+- Export icons in various sizes (4x4, 8x8, 12x12, 24x24)
+- Exports as 1-bit monochrome binary format for efficiency
+- Output indexed JSON for easy integration with your applications
+
+## Requirements
+
+- .NET 6.0 or later
+- Windows OS
+- Font TTF file
+- Corresponding CSS file with icon mappings
+
+## Getting Started
+
+1. Download the latest release or build from source
+2. Run the application
+3. Browse to select your TTF font file
+4. Browse to select your CSS file with icon mappings
+5. Select the appropriate regex pattern for your font or create a custom one
+6. Click "Load Icons" to view all available icons
+7. Select the icons you want to export
+8. Choose desired output sizes using the checkboxes
+9. Click "Export Selected" to generate the binary files
+
+## Building from Source
+
+```bash
+# Clone the repository
+git clone https://github.com/programmingPug/FontGlyphExporter.git
+
+# Navigate to the project directory
+cd FontGlyphExporter
+
+# Build the project
+dotnet build
+
+# Run the application
+dotnet run
+```
+
+## How It Works
+
+The application:
+
+1. Loads the TTF font file into a private font collection
+2. Parses the CSS file using regex to extract icon names and Unicode values
+3. Renders each icon in the UI for preview
+4. When exporting, creates a 1-bit monochrome bitmap for each selected icon at each selected size
+5. Saves these bitmaps as binary files, where each bit represents a pixel (1 = black, 0 = white)
+6. Generates a JSON index file mapping icon names to their file information
+
+## Regex Patterns
+
+The application includes several predefined regex patterns:
+
+- **Font Awesome 5/6**: `.fa-([a-z0-9-]+)\s*{[^}]*--fa:\s*"\\(f[a-f0-9]{3,4})"`
+- **Font Awesome 4**: `.fa-([a-z0-9-]+):before\s*{[^}]*content:\s*"\\(f[a-f0-9]{3,4})"`
+- **Material Icons**: `.material-icons-([a-z0-9-]+):before\s*{[^}]*content:\s*"\\(e[a-f0-9]{3,4})"`
+- **Custom**: Enter your own regex pattern
+
+The regex should capture two groups:
+1. The icon name
+2. The Unicode hex value
+
+## Output Format
+
+### Binary Files
+
+The binary files are stored in the `output/icons` directory. Each bit represents a pixel:
+- 1 = Black pixel (icon)
+- 0 = White pixel (background)
+
+Each row is padded to a byte boundary, with bits ordered from least significant to most significant.
+
+### JSON Index
+
+The program generates a JSON index file (`output/icons_index.json`) with metadata for all exported icons:
+
+```json
+[
+  {
+    "name": "calendar",
+    "file": "icon_calendar_12x12.bin",
+    "width": 12,
+    "height": 12
+  },
+  {
+    "name": "calendar",
+    "file": "icon_calendar_24x24.bin",
+    "width": 24,
+    "height": 24
+  }
+]
+```
+
+## Use Cases
+
+- Embedded systems with monochrome displays
+- Microcontroller applications
+- LCD/OLED screens
+- E-paper displays
+- Any application requiring lightweight icon representation
+
+## License
+
+This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.
+
+## Acknowledgments
+
+- .NET Windows Forms for the UI framework