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ESL Documentation

Font Reference Definition

Define a font for later use with the font reference.

font FONT_NAME is

facename FACE_NAME {POINT_SIZE point|size XSIZE YSIZE }

[bold] [italic] [under line] [strikeout]

FONT_NAME

The identifier for a font.

facename FACE_NAME

A value representing the face name of a Windows or PM font, or the string value representing an ESL fixed-cell or resolution-dependent font.

POINT_SIZE point

The size, in points, in which you want the font to appear.

size XSIZE YSIZE

Integer values (not variables) indicating the average sizes in pixels of the font.

bold

Make the font bold.

italic

Slant the font.

under line

Put a line on the base line of each character.

strikeout

Put a line through the middle of each character.

Description

Once you have defined a FONT_NAME, you can use it with a text drawing statement for any object.

Non-proportional fonts contain extended ASCII characters for display of National Language characters in a textual region.

Any font can be displayed in a graphical region.

Defining Windows Fonts

The following table lists the fonts provided with Windows. Note that, for a given face name, the display resolution with which you are running Windows will determine which font sizes are available. For proportional-width fonts, the widths listed in the table are average widths.

Face Name

Char

Set

Fixed

Width

EGA

Sizes

VGA

Sizes

8514/A, XGA Sizes

System

ANSI

No

7x12

7x16

9x20

Roman

ANSI

No

16x32

12x32

12x32

Script

ANSI

No

14x37

11x37

11x37

Modern

ANSI

No

14x32

11x32

11x32

Helv

ANSI

No

5x10, 7x12, 8x15, 9x18, 12x22, 16x28

5x13, 7x16, 8x20, 9x24, 12x29, 16x37

7x16, 8x20, 10x25, 12x29, 15x36, 20x46

Courier

ANSI

Yes

8x10, 9x12, 12x15

8x13, 9x16, 12x20

9x16

Tms Rmn

ANSI

No

5x10, 6x12, 8x15, 9x16, 12x20, 16x26

5x13, 6x16, 8x19, 9x21, 12x27, 16x35

6x16, 8x20, 10x23, 12x27, 14x33, 19x43

Face Name

Char

Set

Fixed

Width

EGA

Sizes

VGA

Sizes

8514/A, XGA Sizes

Terminal

OEM

Yes

8x8

8x12

None

8514fix

ANSI

Yes

None

None

10x20

8514oem

OEM

Yes

None

None

10x20

**The Symbol font contains special symbols not found in either the ANSI or OEM character sets.

Using TrueType Fonts

In addition to the fonts listed in the previous section, ESL also supports the use of all TrueType fonts, in any point size. Under Windows, you can see a list of installed TrueType fonts by selecting the "Fonts" icon from the Control Panel. The list box that displays the installed fonts appears as follows:

Arial

Arial Bold

Arial Bold Italic

Arial Italic

...

These are not the actual face names to use when defining a font. The face name for all these fonts is "Arial." When creating a font, Windows will ignore the Bold, Italic, etc., portion of the face name. That is, Windows defines the parts of the font name as follows:

Arial is the facename.

Bold Italic is the style.

Arial Bold Italic is the full name.

Therefore, when defining a TrueType font for use with ESL, be sure to specify the parts of the name in the proper places; for example:

font ArialBold is facename "Arial" 12 point bold

This will create a 12 point bold Arial font.

The following specification will result in the definition of a regular (non-bold) 12 point Arial font because it does not include the bold keyword:

font ArialBold is facename "Arial Bold" 12 point

To use the System Proportional font in a font is statement, specify an XSIZE/YSIZE of 0 0. The appropriate size will be determined at runtime.

For example:

font SystemItalic is

facename "System"

size 0 0 italic

Fonts and Dialog Controls

Note the following points in reference to the use of fonts with dialog controls:

In addition to using fonts defined by XSIZE/YSIZE, multiple- line entry fields and list boxes can now use fonts defined by point size.

You cannot change the font of a control at runtime.

Example

font Newfont is facename "Helv" size 16 28 bold italic

font Newfont is facename "Helv Bold italic" 10 point bold italic

See Also

font Reference

text Drawing Statement

The tables under font Reference for information about ESL Fonts.