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List:       xfree-fonts
Subject:    Re: [Fonts]Fonts & Resolutions
From:       james () unlambda ! com (James A !  Crippen)
Date:       2002-06-20 17:32:03
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Andy Ball <ball@cyberspace.org> writes:

> I remember an old Linux installer giving me the choice
> between 75 DPI and 100 DPI bitmapped fonts.  These days I
> use NetBSD, and I don't remember that ever giving me the
> option or telling me what it had installed.

Probably both sets.  Having both 75dpi and 100dpi fonts installed is
usually what you want.  This gives you maximum flexibility, and with
disk space as cheap as it is nowadays, you can afford the few extra
bytes.

> I have a few questions then...
> 
>    1. How do I tell which version of XFree86 has been
>       installed?

What do you mean by version?  Which version of XFree86?

  $ XFree86 -version
  XFree86 Version 4.2.99.1 / X Window System
  (protocol Version 11, revision 0, vendor release 6600)
  Release Date: 7 June 2002
          If the server is older than 6-12 months, or if your card is
          newer than the above date, look for a newer version before
          reporting problems.  (See http://www.XFree86.Org/)
  Build Operating System: Linux 2.4.16-xfs i686 [ELF] 
  Module Loader present

My version is a CVS checkout from the head.  Yours will undoubtedly be
different.

If you mean which version of the fonts, see my comment above.  XFree86
can use both, and it isn't designed to *only* be able to use one set.

>    2. How do I tell what fonts were installed?

All the font files:

  $ ls -lR /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/*

If you want to see what fonts your X server knows about while it's
running (ie, what fonts are available in the fontpath):

  $ xlsfonts

Note that this will produce multiple names for the same font, if such
are defined (and they probably are).

If you want to browse your available fonts, try

  $ xfontsel

And fiddle away.  The representation xfontsel uses is the X Logical
Font Description (XLFD).  Documentation on this is in
/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/doc/xlfd.TXT or similar.

>    3. Is there some way of telling X the resolution
>       of the screen that it's running on? (so that it
>       correctly scale vector fonts and things)

man Xserver ->

[...]
       -dpi resolution
               sets the resolution of the  screen,  in  dots  per
               inch.  To be used when the server cannot determine
               the screen size from the hardware.

You can use this to force it to whatever you want.

If you want to know what your current dpi is, in a running X server
incant:

  $ xdpyinfo | grep "dots per inch"
    resolution:    101x101 dots per inch

Keep in mind that your X server usually guesses it, and does a pretty
good job of guessing.  If you want to force the issue you certainly
can though.

HTH.

'james

-- 
James A. Crippen <james@unlambda.com> ,-./-.  Anchorage, Alaska,
Lambda Unlimited: Recursion 'R' Us   |  |/  | USA, 61.20939N, -149.767W
Y = \f.(\x.f(xx)) (\x.f(xx))         |  |\  | Earth, Sol System,
Y(F) = F(Y(F))                        \_,-_/  Milky Way.
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