[MiKTeX] Use of METAFONT

[Alain D. <esp...@sw...>]

Hello,

I would like to use METAFONT to create (well, at the beginning, learn to 
create) fonts.

Whenever I compile I can get the .gf file, the .pk file (the .dvi image 
of the characters to view from .gf).
I did create the gray and black files.

But I can not create the .tfm file.
I use: mf \mode=ljfour; input font
In fact I should use lexmarku mode, but I am sure that almost everything 
is ready for ljfour, to start with.

Looking to books about METAFONT, I am surprised that there is no 
MFINPUTS nor MFBASES environment variables.
In fact on my system (Windows XP, MiKTeX 2.7 full from early March 2008) 
there is no mf.base or plain.base.

In MiKTeX settings, I see:
- in FORMATS: mf METAFONT default base file (is this the plain.base?)
- in Packages: / MiKTeX / METAFONT both base and misc

Linked question: where and when is the printer defined for LaTeX?

Thanks for your help!

Alain Delmotte