Re: x11: slow drawing after set xtics font

[Ben A. <bpa...@ma...>]

On Jun 19, 2009, at 10:56 PM, Ethan Merritt wrote:

> On Friday 19 June 2009, Allin Cottrell wrote:
>> 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.
>
> Yeah, that's fine for gd/png/pdf but it won't work for x11.
> In order to use an x11 font you have to teach the font server where  
> to find it,
> or what it can substitute, which is exactly what I was suggesting as  
> the right
> approach.  X11 programs request fonts by passing a name template in a
> request to the font server.  Knowing a filename doesn't actually  
> help much,
> because the lookup process is not based on files or file names.

Ethan, if I were to add freesans.ttf to my system and "teach the font  
server where to find it", would the font then be available to be used  
by gnuplot's x11 terminal?

Ben