Perl/Tk Windows fonts for Linux?

tlhackque has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

I think I have all the pieces, but not how to put them together:

I have a Perl/Tk application that runs on Windows & Linux (Fedora, if it matters). Originally written on Windows.

The Linux default fonts are causing some issues - they make a number of widgets larger, and aren't as readable for some. In any case, the goal is a common look and screen size.

The application users (X display servers) are mostly Windows (VxXsrv), some Linux.

So, I'd like to have the application request (and the clients use) the Windows fonts for the Tk widgets.

What I (think I) know:

Perl Tk has "Tk Default, Text, Fixed, Monospace, Heading, Caption, Small Caption, Icon and Tooltip fonts.
On Windows, the "System" font is Arial, which is used for the widgets without custom fonts
The MS TT fonts (including Arial) can be obtained for use using the process at corefonts.sourceforge.net
There ought to be some mapping in .Xdefaults to connect the dots

That's where I get lost.

A - having followed the process (built and installed the RPM), xlsfonts doesn't report Arial on Linux clients. It does report a bunch of other -microsoft fonts. xlsfonts | grep ^-microsoft | sort | head starts with -microsoft-comic
B - I assume I need to do something to get VcXsrv to recognize the fonts too. I have no clue what.
C - Even if it did - what do I put in .Xdefaults (or elsewhere) to have TK adopt the MS Arial (and Courier) fonts?

I don't want to declare a custom font for every widget - I want the defaults for this application to switch to these as the "system" fonts"

I don't know why I find all this stuff so confusing - OS internals are simple :-)

Thanks in advance

Comment on Perl/Tk Windows fonts for Linux?

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Re: Perl/Tk Windows fonts for Linux? by zentara (Cardinal) on Jul 22, 2018 at 10:56 UTC
Hi, on modern linux systems, Arial fonts will install fine. Just put your arial.ttf file in your ~/.fonts directory and run fc-cache to make sure it's included in your font list. fc-cache is usually run at boot, but you can run it manually. Afterwards, run fc-list to be sure your new font is listed. I think you will run into difficulty trying to declare a default system wide font in .Xdefaults, but you can easily make a default font in a Tk program with a single line. Notice the canvas dosn't pick up on the default font, but other widgets do. I don't run windows, but I would be interested to hear your report on whether the program below looks the same on linux and windows. `# set a default font for all widgets $mw->optionAdd('font', 'Arial 24');` [download] and a full program to demonstrate #!/usr/bin/perl use warnings; use strict; use Tk; my $mw = new MainWindow(-bg =>'black'); # set a default font $mw->optionAdd('font', 'Arial 24'); # a useful way of tagging fonts for special use $mw->fontCreate('big', -family=>'arial', -weight=>'bold', -size=> 38 ); # will use default font my $menubar = $mw->Menu(-type => 'menubar'); $mw->configure(-menu => $menubar); my $menu = $menubar->cascade(-label => '~File'); $menu->command(-label => '~New'); $menu->command(-label => '~Open'); $mw->Button(-text => 'test this font', -bg=>'white')->pack; $mw->Label(-text => 'test this font', -bg=>'lightyellow')->pack; my $text = $mw->Text(-bg=>'white', -height => 4, -width =>20)->pack; $text->insert('0.0','test this font'); my $canvas = $mw->Canvas(-bg=>'lightgreen')->pack; #make a special font my $font = $mw->Font(-family=> 'Arial', -size => 18); # will use default font $canvas->createText( 0, 0, -anchor => 'nw', -text => 'test this font', ); # special font $canvas->createText( 0, 50, -anchor => 'nw', -text => 'test this font', -font => $font, ); # tagged font $canvas->createText( 0, 100, -anchor => 'nw', -text => 'test this font', -font => 'big', ); MainLoop; [download] I'm not really a human, but I play one on earth. ..... an animated JAPH	[reply] [d/l] [select]

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Re: Perl/Tk Windows fonts for Linux?
by zentara (Cardinal) on Jul 22, 2018 at 10:56 UTC

I think you will run into difficulty trying to declare a default system wide font in .Xdefaults, but you can easily make a default font in a Tk program with a single line. Notice the canvas dosn't pick up on the default font, but other widgets do. I don't run windows, but I would be interested to hear your report on whether the program below looks the same on linux and windows.

# set a default font for all widgets
$mw->optionAdd('*font', 'Arial 24');
[download]

#!/usr/bin/perl
use warnings;
use strict;
use Tk;

my $mw = new MainWindow(-bg =>'black');

# set a default font
$mw->optionAdd('*font', 'Arial 24');

# a useful way of tagging fonts for special use
$mw->fontCreate('big',
   -family=>'arial',
   -weight=>'bold',
   -size=> 38
   );

# will use default font
my $menubar = $mw->Menu(-type => 'menubar');
$mw->configure(-menu => $menubar);
my $menu = $menubar->cascade(-label => '~File');
$menu->command(-label => '~New');
$menu->command(-label => '~Open');

$mw->Button(-text => 'test this font', -bg=>'white')->pack;
$mw->Label(-text => 'test this font', -bg=>'lightyellow')->pack;

my $text = $mw->Text(-bg=>'white', -height => 4, -width =>20)->pack;
$text->insert('0.0','test this font');

my $canvas = $mw->Canvas(-bg=>'lightgreen')->pack;

#make a special font
my $font = $mw->Font(-family=> 'Arial', 
                      -size  => 18);

# will use default font           
$canvas->createText( 0, 0, -anchor => 'nw', 
          -text => 'test this font',
           );

# special font
$canvas->createText( 0, 50, -anchor => 'nw', 
          -text => 'test this font',
          -font => $font,
           );

# tagged font
$canvas->createText( 0, 100, -anchor => 'nw', 
          -text => 'test this font',
          -font => 'big',
           );

MainLoop;
[download]

I'm not really a human, but I play one on earth. ..... an animated JAPH

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