I'm writing an app that will be localized into various cultures and I'm a
little confused as to the best way to specify what fonts I should use.

The application is trying to follow the XP look and feel style guidelines
which specify some particular fonts - Tahoma / Franklin Gothic etc. but the
guidelines make no reference to whether these are for English only or for all
cultures.

It sees like the default "System" font is different for different OS'es - in
particular for Japanese,Korean,Simplified Chinese,Traditional
Chinese,Arabic,Hebrew it is
MS UI Gothic,Gulim,Simsun,PMinglu, Microsoft Sans Serif respectively.

When I localize my app, should my fonts match these system fonts and how do
the XP style guidelines mutate according to culture?

Andrew

(XP or newer). For non-dialogs, use GetStockObject(DEFAULT_GUI_FONT)
In general, search MSDN for "MS Shell Dlg", "MS Shell Dlg 2" &
DEFAULT_GUI_FONT, and you will find a lot of good articles, with explanation
on how, when and why :-)



--
Mihai Nita [Microsoft MVP, Windows - SDK]
------------------------------------------
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I'm pretty sure that this is not what I want - why should I want different
fonts in my dialgs and non-dialogs?

On my English XP machine, DEFAULT_GUI_FONT is Microsoft Sans Serif and MS
Shell Dlg 2 is Tahoma. To follow the XP style Guildelines my non-dialogs
should use Tahoma font too I believe

Under Korean XP, DEFAULT_GUI_FONT is Gulim and MS Shell Dlg 2 is Tahoma. In
each case I believe I should be using Gulim (although the XP style guidelines
are silent on this matter)

I haven't found a really good article on font selection - most of them are
somewhat incomplete and some even contradict each other.
Andrew

"Mihai N." wrote:

Globalized font selection is a tough problem space, especially if you need
to support down-level platforms (i.e., Win9x). If you can, I recommend
finding a copy of 'Developing International Software, 2nd Edition'
(Microsoft Press). It includes a thorough discussion of international fonts
in Windows and runtime font selection.

Related online articles and resources:

Windows XP/2000 default system font
http://www.microsoft.com/globaldev/D...ault.mspx#EHAA

MLang and Font Linking
http://www.microsoft.com/globaldev/D...ault.mspx#EEAA

World-Ready Software example
http://www.microsoft.com/globaldev/tools/wrapp.mspx

Garrett McGowan [MSFT Developer International]

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
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"=?Utf-8?B?QW5kcmV3RWFtZXM=?=" <AndrewEames (AT) discussions (DOT) microsoft.com> wrote
in news:4A3DEB5E-A67B-4029-8DD3-FB9615C59EE8 (AT) microsoft (DOT) com:



So, correction: see SYSTEM_FONT.
From the doc for GetStockObject:

DEFAULT_GUI_FONT = Default font for user interface objects such as menus and
dialog boxes. This is MS Sans Serif. Compare this with SYSTEM_FONT.

SYSTEM_FONT = System font. By default, the system uses the system font to
draw menus, dialog box controls, and text.
Windows 95/98 and Windows NT: The system font is MS Sans Serif.
Windows 2000/XP: The system font is Tahoma

("some even contradict each other" you where saying :-)

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows
NT\CurrentVersion\FontLink\SystemLink


interesting places.
And not only is it tough, is is also a moving one.
When you think you got it, something new comes out :-)

--
Mihai Nita [Microsoft MVP, Windows - SDK]
------------------------------------------
Replace _year_ with _ to get the real email

I've read these articles and they have some interesting information but
neither these articles nor others I have read seem to answer what seems like
a very basic question - namely what fonts should I use in my .NET application
which is localized and trying to follow the XP style guidelines. (Fortunately
I dont care about Win9x)

My best *guess* so far is that I should build a base class form that is
localized with the fonts below (which I extracted from the Dr. International
article) and derive all my forms from this base class form - does this seem
reasonable? That would seem to address the "default font" issue but I have no
idea how (if at all) the other elements of the XP style guidelines get
localized.

Another related issue is theming - some localized OSes use the classic theme
by default - should my app switch to the classic theme when run in those
languages under English XP?

My local bookstore didnt have the book you recommended but I guess I'll try
and find a copy.

Andrew


"Garrett McGowan[MSFT]" wrote:

SYSTEM_FONT is not right either - You can't use SYSTEM_FONT from a .NET
application - it claims not to be a truetype font
Andrew

"Mihai N." wrote:

If this is a Windows Form application, then the default font setting should
cover all .NET-supported languages. Windows Forms use 'Microsoft Sans
Sarif' by default, which is a logical font that maps to the appropriate
system font at runtime.

Is there a particular reason you are trying to set this programmatically?

Garrett McGowan [MSFT Developer International]

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
Use of included script samples are subject to the terms specified at
http://www.microsoft.com/info/cpyright.htm
--------------------

Microsoft Sans Serif != Tahoma and the XP style guidelines call for the use
of Tahoma under Windows XP
Andrew

"Garrett McGowan[MSFT]" wrote:

If you leave the default font property value set to Microsoft Sans Serif,
the Windows Form will automatically map to the correct system font based on
the Windows language version. This means that an English language Windows
Forms application automatically uses Tahoma on Windows XP.

Garrett McGowan [MSFT Developer International]

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
Use of included script samples are subject to the terms specified at
http://www.microsoft.com/info/cpyright.htm
--------------------