Re: x11: slow drawing after set xtics font

[Allin C. <cot...@wf...>]

On Fri, 19 Jun 2009, Ben Abbott wrote:

>
> On Friday, June 19, 2009, at 12:47PM, "Ethan Merritt" <merritt@u.washington.edu> wrote:
> >
> >> > Cannot it get the list via xlsfont, GDFONTPATH, etc. and then use
> >> > arial/verdana/helvetica/ (i.e. the usual ttf and postscript fonts)?
> >> >
> >>
> >> I like that idea (provided xlsfonts always accompanies x11).
> >
> >It does not.  In particular it does seem to be provided by default in xorg
> >distributions.
> >
> >> If we wanted to match a scalable font whose metrics are as close to
> >> Helvetica as possible, how would that be done with xlsfonts?
> >
> >I think you are attacking this from the wrong end.
> >If Octave wants to use a "standard" font but are worried that the user's font
> >server may not provide it, you should include a FAQ or trouble-shooting guide
> >explaining how to add that font to the font server.
> >
> >    Ethan
>
> That is a reasonable thing to include in the manual, but we'd
> also like to ensure that the graphics work with the user tries
> his/her first plot command.

As author of another program that calls gnuplot to generate
graphics, I see your point and agree.

The approach taken by gretl ( http://gretl.sourceforge.net ) is to
include in the package, as a failsafe, a "known good" free font
(e.g. FreeSans.ttf) and to make this the default for gnuplot
rendition. This may require some manipulation of environment
variables.

Allin Cottrell