Java Fonts - Sun JRE
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Instructions are given to improve the display of fonts in Java applications when using Sun Microsystem's Java Runtime Environment. |
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Font Configuration |
Fonts |
Some users may find the default Java fonts or the display mode of fonts in Java applications to be unpleasant. Several methods to improve the font display in the Sun Java Runtime Environment (JRE) are available. These methods may be used separately, but many users will find they achieve better results by combining them.
TrueType fonts appear to be the best supported format for use with Java.
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Anti-aliasing
Anti-aliasing of fonts is available with Sun Java 1.6 on Linux. To do this on a per user basis, add the following line to the user's ~/.bashrc.
export _JAVA_OPTIONS='-Dawt.useSystemAAFontSettings=setting'Replace setting with one of the following seven values:
- off or false or default – No anti-aliasing
- on – Full anti-aliasing
- gasp – Use the font's built-in hinting instructions
- lcd or lcd_hrgb – Anti-aliasing tuned for many popular LCD monitors
- lcd_hbgr – Alternative LCD monitor setting
- lcd_vrgb – Alternative LCD monitor setting
- lcd_vbgr – Alternative LCD monitor setting
The gasp and lcd settings work well in many instances.
For the above change to take effect, ~/.bashrc must be sourced as the normal user.
$ source ~/.bashrc
Open a new instance of a Java application to test the changes made.
Font selection
TrueType fonts
Some Java applications may specify use of a particular TrueType font; these applications must be made aware of the directory path to the desired font. TrueType fonts are installed in the directory /usr/share/fonts/TTF. Add the following line to ~/.bashrc to enable these fonts.
export JAVA_FONTS=/usr/share/fonts/TTF
Source ~/.bashrc as the normal user for the change to take effect.
$ source ~/.bashrc
Default fonts
The Lucida fonts distributed with the Sun JRE are the default for Java applications that do not specify a different font's use. The Lucida fonts were designed for low resolution displays and printers; many users will wish to use other fonts. The default Java fonts can be changed on a system-wide basis by the creation or editing of a file named fontconfig.properties.
As root, change directory to /opt/java/jre/lib. Copy fontconfig.properties.src to fontconfig.properties. Then, as root, open the new fontconfig.properties in an editor.
# cd /opt/java/jre/lib # cp fontconfig.properties.src fontconfig.properties # nano fontconfig.properties
The Java font names in the configuration file are in the form of genericFontName.style.subset, for example, serif.plain.latin-1. These generic fonts are mapped to the installed fonts using X logical font description (XLFD) names. The %d, in the example below, is used as a placeholder in the XLFD name for the point size. The Java application replaces %d at runtime.
serif.plain.latin-1=-b&h-lucidabright-medium-r-normal--*-%d-*-*-p-*-iso8859-1
Change the Lucida fonts named in the fontconfig.properties file to your selected fonts using the XLFD names. Below is an excerpt of a fontconfig.properties file after modifications have been made. The Lucida fonts have been replaced by DejaVu fonts.
# Version -- a version number is required. # IMPORTANT -- Do not delete the next line. Ever. version=1 # Component Font Mappings # gen_name.style.subset= # -fndry-fmly-wght-slant-sWdth-adstyle-pxlsz-ptSz-resx-resy-spc-avgWdth-rgstry-encdng serif.plain.latin-1=-misc-dejavu serif-medium-r-normal-*-*-%d-*-*-p-*-iso8859-1 serif.bold.latin-1=-misc-dejavu serif-bold-r-normal-*-*-%d-*-*-p-*-iso8859-1 serif.italic.latin-1=-misc-dejavu serif-medium-o-normal-*-*-%d-*-*-p-*-iso8859-1
After the changes have been saved to fontconfig.properties, the editor may be closed and the user should drop root privileges. Open a new instance of a Java application to test the changes.