Re: [h-e-w] Small / Large fonts

[Jason Rumney]

Paul Whitfield <address@hidden> writes:

> I had a problem the other day when I had to
> switch Windoze from Large fonts to small font to
> test some software. (Due to problems with
> control dialogue layout)
> 
> I have set my font/face and geometry extra
> in the registry. I was using a lucida font
> 
> But when I changed to small fonts the font
> I requested was not available and emacs would
> not start.
> 
> Is there some way to avoid using registry / resource
> values, i.e. an equivilent of the -q option
> for the .emacs.el file?

There is no such option (although it has been discussed on the
developers mailing list, so there may be one in future).  But this
specific problem can be avoided by using more wildcards in your font
specification; specifically for the resolution and either the pixel
size or point size (depending on whether you want the fonts in Emacs
to become larger when you choose Large Fonts, or stay the same size).

For instance, the font

-outline-Lucida Console-normal-r-normal-normal-13-98-96-96-c-80-iso8859-1

specifies a font 13 pixels (9.8 points) high at a resolution of 96dpi
(vertical and horizontal), and a width of 8.0 points.

But if the screen resolution changes from 96dpi (which is how Windows
implements large fonts), then that font will no longer exist as far as
Emacs is concerned.


If your intention is to always have a 13 pixel high font no matter
what the resolution, change the font specification to:

-outline-Lucida Console-normal-r-normal-normal-13-*-*-*-c-*-iso8859-1

I also dropped the width specifier (80), since that is measured in
points, and may cause the font to look squashed or stretched if it is
left in and the resolution changes.

If the intention is to always use a 10 point font (ie what you get if
you select Lucida Console 10 in other applications), then use

-outline-Lucida Console-normal-r-normal-normal-*-100-*-*-c-*-iso8859-1

The actual font may end up 9.8 points, or 10.4 points depending on the
nearest whole pixel size that is available, but Emacs has been smart
enough to allow for that since 21.1.

-- 
Jason Rumney