Cross-platform fonts...what is everyone else doing?

[Frank Leahy]

Thanks Richard,

I just tested it again, and I can confirm it doesn't work that way -- 
when it can't find the specified font, it does not apply the fontStyle 
or fontSize settings.

The Test: I created a test stack with five fields on OSX that had the 
following font, style and size properties:

1. Nothing set (all default)
2. Set bold attribute only
3. Set to 14 pt
4. Set font = "0"
5 Set font = "0" and bold

I added a button that when clicked outputs the textFont, textStyle and 
textSize of each field.  Here are the results:

On Mac OS X:
1. blank, blank, blank
2. Lucida Grande, bold, 11 (text is bold)
3. Lucida Grande, plain, 14 (text is 14pt)
4. 0, plain, 12
5. 0, bold, 12 (text is bold)

I moved the stack to Windows XP, and it showed:
1. blank, blank, blank
2. Lucida Grande, bold, 11 (text is NOT bold)
3. Lucida Grande, plain, 14 (text is NOT 14pt)
4. 0, plain, 12
5. 0, bold, 12 (text is NOT bold)

And on Windows 2000:
1. blank, blank, blank
2. Lucida Grande, bold, 11 (text is NOT bold)
3. Lucida Grande, plain, 14 (text is NOT 14pt)
4. 0, plain, 12
5. 0, bold, 12 (text is NOT bold)

Even worse, I found that even calling "set the textStyle of field 
"Field 2" to bold" on XP and 2000 didn't do anything.  Apparently, when 
it has an unknown textFont (e.g. Lucida Grande or "0"), RunRev won't 
apply either the size or style of the control (field, label, checkbox, 
etc.).  The only way I could get the size and style information to be 
displayed in fields 2-5 of this test were by calling:

    set the textFont of field "Field 2" to ""
    set the textStyle of field "Field 2" to ""
    set the textSize of field "Field 2" to ""
    set the textStyle of field "Field 2" to "bold"

then, finally, the field turned bold.

Bottomline, it looks like the only way to get cross-platform bold 
controls (fields, labels, checkboxes, etc.) is by doing a runtime hack 
to unset all font info, then setting it again.  And if they have their 
system font set to something other than 12 point, watch out, 'cause all 
your carefully sized labels and fields will surely overflow!

Hmmmm, maybe using Arial wasn't such a bad idea after all :-)

-- Frank

p.s. And the baseline problem shows up in this test stack as well -- 
the 14pt fields move up 4 pixels on XP and 2000, and the button text 
moves down 1 pixel.

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On Jul 27, 2004, at 11:12 AM, use-revolution-request at lists.runrev.com 
wrote:

> From: Richard Gaskin <ambassador at fourthworld.com>
> Subject: Re: Cross-platform fonts...what is everyone else doing?
> To: How to use Revolution <use-revolution at lists.runrev.com>
> Message-ID: <41062AE1.2020409 at fourthworld.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
>
> Frank Leahy wrote:
>> 1) Is there a hack to determine the system font at runtime on Windows?
>> Or should I just assume "MS Sans Serif"?
>
> In XP I believe it's Verdana.   And it can be changed by the user, as 
> on
> Mac OS and most Linux window managers.
>
>> 2) Is using a "preOpenStack" handler that runs through every control
>> and sets the textFont attribute -- at *runtime* -- the only way to do
>> what I want to do?
>
> Not at all:  font attributes, along with color and patterns, are
> inherited.  You can set things once for the stack and all objects which
> don't have their own settings will be rendered with the inherited 
> settings.
>
>> 3) Can anyone suggest a better alternative (and no, having the user
>> install a good looking cross-platform font isn't an option :-)
>
> I set the font for the mainStack to "0" (zero), and then set textSize
> appropriate for the target platform.  Whenever the engine can't find a
> specified font it will render in the systemFont.
>
> Scott Raney advises me not to rely on that, but in the absence of a
> systemFont function I can't think of another way to avoid hard-wiring
> the font name.  Besides, any font vendor that names a font "0" should
> expect trouble. ;)