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Re: Java claims WORA

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In article <js90cn$m5o$1@news.albasani.net>, Lew <noone@lewscanon.com> 
wrote:

> John B. Matthews wrote:
> > Roedy Green wrote:
> >> John B. Matthews wrote, quoted or indirectly quoted someone who said :
> >>> I'll second the need for testing, but I've found that using 
> >>> layouts properly and respecting a component's preferred size 
> >>> greatly reduces the number of cross-platform problems. There's a 
> >>> recent example here:
> >>
> >> one of the big problems is when you substitute a font, the 
> >> characters are not the same size.  I would like to normalize fonts 
> >> to their true size so that when you substitute fonts, the actual 
> >> real estate consumed varies only a little.
> >
> > I must demur: a typical JComponent, such as JLabel, goes to 
> > considerable lengths to calculate its preferred size using the 
> > metrics of the selected Font. As long as you
> >
> > - don't veto the calculation,
> > - don't preclude resizing,
> > - do use a LayoutManager, and
> > - do pack() the enclosing Container
> >
> > the chosen Font is irrelevant. If the Font must be changed dynamically,
> > revalidate() and repaint() should suffice.
> >
> >> Another would be a guaranteed to render all glyphs, even if it 
> >> means substituting from some other font.  Failing that at telling 
> >> the truth. Java claims to render a glyph when all it does in 
> >> render some generic glyph.
> >
> > Font substitution shouldn't cause a problem. Missing glyphs and 
> > mendacious canDisplay() are annoying, but the metrics are typically 
> > reliable.
> 
> Depends on what problem you care about, and what constitutes relevance.
> 
> You might not be happy with a screen that doubles its width to 
> accommodate a font, for design reasons.
> 
> Sure, Swing handles the technical details of resizing, and layouts do 
> wonders to work around variances in fonts and so forth, but that's 
> all technical problems and solutions and relevance.
> 
> Design problems and solutions and relevance revolve around what looks 
> right and works for the program's purpose, i.e., the user's purpose. 
> Roedy's wish for fonts that squish instead of windows that widen is 
> not uncommon nor unreasonable, from a design perspective. You might 
> prefer the data entry box not get smaller to make room for a longer 
> prompt.
> 
> So technical dimension, no problem, design dimension, eh, depends on 
> the design and what changes it can withstand.

This is a valuable distinction. The physical font selected for a given 
family may not _double_ the width, but localization might come close. As 
a practical matter, I sometimes relegate the full text to a tool tip, 
leaving a digest in the label. Size variants can be handy, too:

<http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/uiswing/lookandfeel/size.html>

-- 
John B. Matthews
trashgod at gmail dot com
<http://sites.google.com/site/drjohnbmatthews>

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Java claims WORA owais <awais4you@gmail.com> - 2012-06-20 08:33 -0700
  Re: Java claims WORA Robert Klemme <shortcutter@googlemail.com> - 2012-06-20 09:21 -0700
  Re: Java claims WORA Gene Wirchenko <genew@ocis.net> - 2012-06-20 09:46 -0700
  Re: Java claims WORA Lew <lewbloch@gmail.com> - 2012-06-20 10:47 -0700
    Re: Java claims WORA "Mike Schilling" <mscottschilling@hotmail.com> - 2012-06-24 16:56 -0700
  Re: Java claims WORA Arne Vajhøj <arne@vajhoej.dk> - 2012-06-20 17:02 -0400
    Re: Java claims WORA glen herrmannsfeldt <gah@ugcs.caltech.edu> - 2012-06-20 21:45 +0000
      Re: Java claims WORA Martin Gregorie <martin@address-in-sig.invalid> - 2012-06-20 22:25 +0000
        Re: Java claims WORA Robert Klemme <shortcutter@googlemail.com> - 2012-06-21 00:57 +0200
          Re: Java claims WORA Roedy Green <see_website@mindprod.com.invalid> - 2012-06-20 16:46 -0700
            Re: Java claims WORA David Lamb <dalamb@cs.queensu.ca> - 2012-06-20 19:56 -0400
      Re: Java claims WORA Arne Vajhøj <arne@vajhoej.dk> - 2012-06-20 19:16 -0400
        Re: Java claims WORA "Mike Schilling" <mscottschilling@hotmail.com> - 2012-06-24 16:58 -0700
  Re: Java claims WORA Roedy Green <see_website@mindprod.com.invalid> - 2012-06-20 16:43 -0700
    Re: Java claims WORA Arne Vajhøj <arne@vajhoej.dk> - 2012-06-20 20:30 -0400
    Re: Java claims WORA Roedy Green <see_website@mindprod.com.invalid> - 2012-06-20 18:37 -0700
      Re: Java claims WORA Arne Vajhøj <arne@vajhoej.dk> - 2012-06-20 21:47 -0400
  Re: Java claims WORA Thomas Richter <thor@math.tu-berlin.de> - 2012-06-22 19:18 +0200
    Re: Java claims WORA "John B. Matthews" <nospam@nospam.invalid> - 2012-06-22 15:59 -0400
      Re: Java claims WORA Roedy Green <see_website@mindprod.com.invalid> - 2012-06-24 04:43 -0700
        Re: Java claims WORA "John B. Matthews" <nospam@nospam.invalid> - 2012-06-24 18:51 -0400
          Re: Java claims WORA Lew <noone@lewscanon.com> - 2012-06-24 23:27 -0700
            Re: Java claims WORA "John B. Matthews" <nospam@nospam.invalid> - 2012-06-26 15:43 -0400
    Re: Java claims WORA Jim Janney <jjanney@shell.xmission.com> - 2012-06-22 18:23 -0600
  Re: Java claims WORA Jan Burse <janburse@fastmail.fm> - 2012-06-22 21:40 +0200
    Re: Java claims WORA David Lamb <dalamb@cs.queensu.ca> - 2012-06-25 09:57 -0400
      Re: Java claims WORA Jan Burse <janburse@fastmail.fm> - 2012-06-25 20:34 +0200
        Re: Java claims WORA Jan Burse <janburse@fastmail.fm> - 2012-06-25 20:44 +0200

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