On Sat, Sep 15, 2012 at 8:25 PM, Larry Shaffer <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi, > > On Sat, Sep 15, 2012 at 3:46 PM, Etienne Tourigny > <[email protected]> wrote: >> Hi Larry, >> >> I agree with using a unique font - but it would be best to choose one >> which would minimize the need to add size to qgis. >> >> For example, deja vu font has packages in ubuntu (to name one linux >> distro), so adding it as an external dependency would not add size to >> the qgis package. >> Don't know about windows, osx and other linux distros though. Any case >> we could provide an extra package, to be installed when needed. > > This would be a consideration for the packagers, given their knowledge > of the platforms they support. Linux distros can probably forgo the > install, but even then, there is no guarantee the installed DejaVu > font (as an example) has the same font metrics as the one QGIS is > expecting (not an uncommon problem). Font comparisons would be in > order, first, before a decision to nix including it with a binary > install. > > I don't think the added size of even the complete DejaVu font is too > large (@5MB), considering the advantages. IMHO there should not be any > separate in-app download (more coding to support). I don't think the > user should be bothered to install anything other than the current > packages (e.g. fontconfig, etc). Including a copy of the font along > with the binary is the easiest solution, if there is any chance the > default font may not exist on the target platform. > >> On another note - do you plan to allow user to choose his font of >> choice, or hard-code a specific font - based on all your arguments >> above? > > By 'default' I am suggesting that such a font always be available and > set as the default for the QApplication (QGIS) when the user first > installs, but by no means hard-coded. I see the other user choices for > fonts to be the Qt default or any other font on the user's system, > with the always available option to fallback to QGIS's 'preferred > default' font (i.e. the one in question). While Qt's default fonts > across platforms do reasonably well, it is not the same as using a > standardized, compatible font of known metrics across all > QGIS-supported platforms. > > As it stands now, there is no simple means for a user to switch the > app font, or font sizes for specific parts of the app. Once those > capabilities exist for users to switch fonts (possibly causing > numerous layout problem 'bug' reports from users), it would be > advantageous to always have a default font that the project > definitively knows works and has been tested across platforms, and one > that is not at the mercy of what Qt may select.
Hi, it might be better not offering that choice then, apart from font sizes, to avoid support problems. > > Regards, > > Larry > >> Etienne >> >> On Sat, Sep 15, 2012 at 5:33 PM, Larry Shaffer <[email protected]> >> wrote: >>> Hi, >>> >>> Not sure if this has been discussed before, but how about including a >>> default typeface to package with releases/source? Here are several >>> reasons for doing so: >>> >>> * Standard QFontMetrics allow for developing a GUI overhaul around a >>> known font across all platforms (at least in a pointsize@dpi default >>> sense). >>> * Known font metrics allow for standardizing relative font sizes in >>> app-wide stylesheets, and per platform where needed. >>> * Adding tests for the labeling engine would need a standard font of >>> consistent metrics and available/functional on all platforms. >>> * Currently the only Qt default font on all platforms (Courier, I >>> believe) is not necessarily of similar metrics, since it is from >>> various sources, nor is it IMHO very nice looking (apologies to any >>> Courier fans). >>> * Have a better/consistent monospaced font for the Python Console and >>> anywhere editor instances (e.g. QScintilla2) or code snippets are >>> displayed. >>> * Have a known set of available Unicode glyphs for translators to rely upon. >>> * Have a default font that provides a known set of Unicode glyphs for >>> font markers in symbology. (Could be spread across multiple default >>> symbol fonts.) >>> * Provide workarounds for QtDesigner bug where platform-specific fonts >>> end up embedded in .ui files [0]. >>> >>> There are probably other good reasons. I've looked at several typeface >>> candidates and think the DejaVu project's family of fonts [1] would >>> work well. While DejaVu (based off of Bitstream's Vera Sans) is >>> already available for Ubuntu and other Linux distros, it is relatively >>> unused, though fully compatible, on all supported QGIS platforms [2]. >>> Downside: about 5 MBs extra (compressed) for package. >>> >>> As a TTF DejaVu can readily be loaded into QFontDatabase [3] on >>> platforms that do not have a compatible DejaVu typeface already >>> installed. This would probably entail only loading 4 heavily-used >>> faces, like Sans Book/Bold and Mono Book/Bold, though I think the >>> entire typeface should be included. >>> >>> Any other ideas for embedded fonts? Note: fonts to consider should be >>> in TTF format, offer enough font faces, provide enough language and >>> Unicode character support, and be available under the SIL Open Font >>> [4] or similarly compatible license. >>> >>> >>> [0] Search for 'font-family:' in .ui files >>> [1] http://dejavu-fonts.org/wiki/Main_Page >>> [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DejaVu_fonts >>> [3] >>> http://qt-project.org/doc/qt-4.7/qfontdatabase.html#id-5441ac2b-3b52-411e-b2be-7ee83eef8041 >>> [4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SIL_Open_Font_License >>> >>> Regards, >>> >>> Larry >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Qgis-developer mailing list >>> [email protected] >>> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/qgis-developer _______________________________________________ Qgis-developer mailing list [email protected] http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/qgis-developer
