Weekend Poll: fonts...

[Doug Easterbrook]

hi Alan.


We style sheets and ( #styles) for all our field types.   This lets you set different characteristics for fonts for each platform.


for $fontsize, I’ve mainly chosen 0, which omnis interprets to the default size for the specific platform.   On OSX, if I recall, that starts at 13 and on windows it starts at 11.     Point being, that matches the system font size for the rest of applications.



as for $fontname,  if I want to force the font, I use:
- Mac: Lucida Grande — a nice sans serif font thats pretty clear.
- Windows: Lucida San Unicode

thats because they are native and on the respective platforms without installing them.      They are also web based standard on both platforms
https://www.awayback.com/index.php/2010/02/03/revised-font-stack/

i.e.   If I wanted a font, I picked something that I knew would be on each machine, and also on web so that the fonts would look reasonable (Without serifs) and on all devices.




On the other hand, there are various options like the following for mac that derive from the SYSTEM standards defined by apple.   so your appl will follow whatever the standard is for the OS (version).   

I almost always have the font on mac set to ThemeSystem

options are
- themeSystem
- themeTooltip
- themeViews
- themeUtilityWindowTitle
- themeAlertHeader
- ThemeAPplication
- ThemeEMphasizedSystem
- ThemeFixedWidth
- ThemeLabel
- ThemeMenuItem
- ThemePushButton

further description is found online.
https://www.omnis.net/developers/resources/onlinedocs/Programming/12winprog.html#theme-fonts

and here to set them in an external
https://www.omnis.net/developers/resources/onlinedocs/ExtcompSDK/12gdi.html#gdisetfontname


and for windows there are options
- system
- OmnisWindowsSystem

I cannot find a description of these in the omnis help




for reports, I almost always use Times New Roman — sine its native on most printers and the font doesn’t need substitution or rasterization on lasers and such.    plus, it plretty much a default for print to PDF and reports look much better when the PDF is moved cross platform.



The recap of the reasons for choosing fonts in various places:
- cross platform standard
- web standard
- sans serif
- system font.
- works on reports and therefor in PDF’s to make cross platform distribution of stuff, or printing as PDF on server for email or web distribution easier.


hope that helps.   



Doug Easterbrook
doug at artsman.com
Phone (403) 650-1978

> On Feb 8, 2025, at 10:15 AM, Alan Schmidt <alan at GOCONNECTED.COM> wrote:
> 
> Hi everyone,
> 
> I'm working on the next major release of my Studio app and the debate has come up again over the best font to use on Windows OS.
> 
> Currently we're using Calibri but we all feel there's room for improvement.
> 
> So my question is what font(s) are you using for the windows in your Studio app on Windows OS?
> 
> Thanks for the replies!
> 
> -Alan
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