nanogui: Thread: nanogui widget set

On Wednesday, June 16, 1999 11:59 AM, Alex Holden ####@####.#### wrote:
: On Wed, 16 Jun 1999, Greg Haerr wrote:
: > 	What are the linux console fonts?  Aren't they rom fonts?
: 
: No, take a look in /usr/lib/kbd/consolefonts and you should find about 118
: font files, some with multiple fonts in them, which the Linux kernel can
: load at runtime with some-utility-I-forget-the-name-of (I thought it was
: loadfonts, but this machine doesn't have anything called that on it).
: rpm -qf tells me the fonts came from the console-tools RPM.
: 

I think the console fonts will be too large, as nano needs some single-line
fonts for dialog use.  

	Do you want support for these font files as well?

Greg

On Wednesday, June 16, 1999 5:37 AM, Darran D. Rimron ####@####.#### wrote:
: 
: [where do we get nano-gui/nano-windows fonts from]
: 
: It's been a long time since I played with it, but, WINE? That's GPL'ed
: isn't it, and they seem to run Windose Applications with relative
: sucsess.  

	Wine's default dialog font looks like hell.  You basically
need to find a copy of old win 3.x and use the .fnt files from it.  Wine
will use .fnt files directly, with no conversion.  Wine also requires
some .dlls from the win 3.x distribution to gain maximum compatibility.

Failing that can't we "look close" at the MS font and design
: one based upon it with a just a minor difference, I've done a little
: font design before, it's not that hard :)  If push comes to shove, I'll
: make a GPL'ed look-a-like font based on MS-System but not using a single
: byte of MS code in the process. A single pixel here and there /in
: theory/ should be enough, yesno?

	You're welcome to start.  I'd love a freeware MSSansSerif 11x13 font.

Greg

On Wed, 16 Jun 1999, Greg Haerr wrote:
> I think the console fonts will be too large, as nano needs some
> single-line fonts for dialog use.

Too large in the sense of screen space or memory used? I can't see any
reason they would be either. The only problem is that none of them are
proportional. I remembered the program which loads the fonts is called
"setfont", BTW, though it appears that that is not a seperate program any 
more but a wrapper to "consolechars".

> 	Do you want support for these font files as well?

It was just a suggestion as to where you could find a lot of non
proprietory license encumbered fonts, plus you may even be able to adapt
whatever code it is in the kernel which parses the files to use in your
own code.

--------------- Linux- the choice of a GNU generation. -------------- :
Alex Holden (M1CJD)- Caver, Programmer, Land Rover nut, Radio Ham :
-------------------- http://www.linuxhacker.org/ --------------------

On Wednesday, June 16, 1999 6:51 AM, Alan Cox ####@####.#### wrote:
: 
: If you want it to look like Windows, which for a PDA is questionable in
: some ways. Scaling a free TTF font to the same size and digitizing it isnt
: too hard.
: 
	If you load the free TTF font under windows, my font grabber
will digitize it in approximately 300 milliseconds.

	Do you know where many free TTF fonts are?

Greg

: For some apps, the size of the font is *VERY* important, to the extent
: that a pixel off in either height or width can screw the dialog boxes
: quite heavily.... *shrug* it may be worth finding that free "almost
: identical" font and using that as default.  The closer to the "look and
: feel" of /real/ windows, Nano has, the easier it's going to be to drop
: it into the community of Microsoft Brainwashed folks.
: 

	I agree wholeheartedly, having built too many dialog boxes that
won't run with different system fonts.

	I wrote a font grabber to move development forward, but we
will need a sans serif font to get applications to look good.

Greg

On Wed, 16 Jun 1999, Greg Haerr wrote:
> 	If you load the free TTF font under windows, my font grabber
> will digitize it in approximately 300 milliseconds.

It'd be useful to make a freetype version of the grabber so you don't need
a windoze machine to digitise fonts...
http://www.freetype.org/

> 	Do you know where many free TTF fonts are?

You could try
ftp.cdrom.com/pub/win95/font/

--------------- Linux- the choice of a GNU generation. --------------
: Alex Holden (M1CJD)- Caver, Programmer, Land Rover nut, Radio Ham :
-------------------- http://www.linuxhacker.org/ --------------------

On Wednesday, June 16, 1999 12:17 PM, Alex Holden ####@####.#### wrote:
: On Wed, 16 Jun 1999, Greg Haerr wrote:
: > I think the console fonts will be too large, as nano needs some
: > single-line fonts for dialog use.
: 
: Too large in the sense of screen space or memory used?

	The nano FONT structure is quite small, so that's not the issue.  All
nano fonts have to be converted to this structure, which is close the to bogl
font structure, but uses short rather than long character bitmaps.

	The bdf fonts originally distributed with are too "thick."  We need
at least one "thin" font, prefereably san serif, that uses about one pixel
per stroke in each character.  Try writing some dialog boxes with nano 
and you'll see what I mean.



 I can't see any
: reason they would be either. The only problem is that none of them are
: proportional.
	Proportional is an absolute must, or our nano applications will look
like character-based text apps on a fancy gui.
	
: It was just a suggestion as to where you could find a lot of non
: proprietory license encumbered fonts, plus you may even be able to adapt
: whatever code it is in the kernel which parses the files to use in your
: own code.
: 
	I'll take a look at it.

Greg Haerr ####@####.#### writes:

	   If you load the free TTF font under windows, my font grabber
   will digitize it in approximately 300 milliseconds.

Why bother doing font grabs when ttf2bdf from freetype will do it
without needing the screen for a middleman?  Works for me.
-- 
"It takes a certain amount of shamelessness
 to be a monomaniac billionaire dwarf."
--Jon Katz <URL:http://slashdot.org/articles/99/03/17/1634238.shtml>

On Wed, 16 Jun 1999, Greg Haerr wrote:
> at least one "thin" font, prefereably san serif, that uses about one pixel
> per stroke in each character.  Try writing some dialog boxes with nano 

I see what you mean now.

> 	Proportional is an absolute must, or our nano applications will look
> like character-based text apps on a fancy gui.

Yup, but at least one non proportional one is needed (don't you hate it
when ascii art doesn't work because of the fon't you're using :).

--------------- Linux- the choice of a GNU generation. --------------
: Alex Holden (M1CJD)- Caver, Programmer, Land Rover nut, Radio Ham :
-------------------- http://www.linuxhacker.org/ --------------------

: It'd be useful to make a freetype version of the grabber so you don't need
: a windoze machine to digitise fonts...

	Yeah, that would be really nice.  Unfortunately, I don't have
any more time for fonts.

	I'll check out the freetype stuff and see whether they have an MSSansSerif
font.  If so, I'll grab it, convert it, and use it in the standard distribution.

Greg