setting default font name

setting default font name

[Haines Brown]

I have several different ways to start emacs 24 according to different
functions. They are started with scripts that point to different init
files. For example, in one script I have:

           emacs -q -l ~/.emacsUtil $1

I want to define the default font for this instance of emacs, and so try
the lines taken from EmacsWiki:

  (add-to-list 'default-frame-alist 'font . '-bitstream-Courier 10 
    Pitch-normal-normal-normal-*-16-*-*-*-m-0-iso10646-1 ))
  (set-face-attribute 'default t :font 
    -bitstream-Courier 10 
    Pitch-normal-normal-normal-*-16-*-*-*-m-0-iso10646-1 ))

  But this produces error: "Invalid read syntax: ". in wrong context"

I try:

  (set default-font "-bitstream-Courier 10 
    Pitch-normal-normal-normal-*-16-*-*-*-m-0-iso10646-1")

and get eror Symbol's value as variable is void: default-font.

Haines Brown

RE: setting default font name

[Drew Adams]

>   (add-to-list 'default-frame-alist 'font . '-bitstream-Courier 10
>     Pitch-normal-normal-normal-*-16-*-*-*-m-0-iso10646-1 ))
>   (set-face-attribute 'default t :font
>     -bitstream-Courier 10
>     Pitch-normal-normal-normal-*-16-*-*-*-m-0-iso10646-1 ))
> 
>   But this produces error: "Invalid read syntax: ". in wrong context"
> 
> I try:
>   (set default-font "-bitstream-Courier 10
>     Pitch-normal-normal-normal-*-16-*-*-*-m-0-iso10646-1")
> 
> and get eror Symbol's value as variable is void: default-font.

* Your parens do not match - in either of the examples you gave.

* The value to add to list `default-frame-alist' is a cons: (font . THE-FONT).

* The `font' frame parameter value (i.e., THE-FONT) must be a string:

(add-to-list
  'default-frame-alist
  '(font . 
    "-bitstream-Courier 10 Pitch-normal-normal-normal-*-16-*-*-*-m-0-iso10646-1"))

(set-face-attribute
  'default t :font
  "-bitstream-Courier 10 Pitch-normal-normal-normal-*-16-*-*-*-m-0-iso10646-1")

The EmacsWiki page you looked at, http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/SetFonts,
is correct.  You just need to read it a bit more carefully.

Re: setting default font name

[Haines Brown]

Drew, copying and pasting your suggested lisp into my init file produced
the same error: 

  "Symbol's value as variable is void: default-font"

Here's what I copied, taken from the init file paste:

(add-to-list
  'default-frame-alist
  '(font .
    "-bitstream-Courier 10 Pitch-normal-normal-normal-*-16-*-*-*-m-0-iso10646-1"))

(set-face-attribute
  'default t :font
  "-bitstream-Courier 10 Pitch-normal-normal-normal-*-16-*-*-*-m-0-iso10646-1")

Haines

Re: setting default font name

[Michael Heerdegen]

Haines Brown <haines@histomat.net> writes:

>   "Symbol's value as variable is void: default-font"

Looks like you are still using what you had posted early:

  (set default-font "-bitstream-Courier 10 
    Pitch-normal-normal-normal-*-16-*-*-*-m-0-iso10646-1")

You should just remove that.

Michael.

RE: setting default font name

[Drew Adams]

> Drew, copying and pasting your suggested lisp into my init file produced
> the same error:
> 
>   "Symbol's value as variable is void: default-font"
> 
> Here's what I copied, taken from the init file paste:
> 
> (add-to-list
>   'default-frame-alist
>   '(font .
>     "-bitstream-Courier 10 Pitch-normal-normal-normal-*-16-*-*-*-m-0-
> iso10646-1"))
> 
> (set-face-attribute
>   'default t :font
>   "-bitstream-Courier 10 Pitch-normal-normal-normal-*-16-*-*-*-m-0-iso10646-
> 1")

Sounds like a copy-paste error.  There is no "default-font" in what
you should have pasted.

My guess is you used "default-font" instead of "default", and you
forgot the quote mark in front of "default": 'default.

And you do not need to copy & paste all of that. Those are two
*alternative* ways to do what you want - two alternative snippets
to copy+paste.

(If I evaluate one of those sexps then I get an error saying that
that particular font is not available on my machine, which is
correct in my case.)

Re: setting default font name

[Haines Brown]

To avoid any "default-font" in the remainder of the init file I created
a little test situation. I run:

  $ emacs -q -l .emacs-test

and in .emacs-test is nothing but:

 (set-face-attribute
  'default t :font
  "-bitstream-Courier 10
   Pitch-normal-normal-normal-*-16-*-*-*-m-0-iso10646-1")        

When emacs opens, I do M-x describe font and am told the current font is
Deju Sans.

Haines

RE: setting default font name

[Drew Adams]

> To avoid any "default-font" in the remainder of the init file I created
> a little test situation. I run:
> 
>   $ emacs -q -l .emacs-test
> 
> and in .emacs-test is nothing but:
> 
>  (set-face-attribute
>   'default t :font
>   "-bitstream-Courier 10
>    Pitch-normal-normal-normal-*-16-*-*-*-m-0-iso10646-1")
> 
> When emacs opens, I do M-x describe font and am told the current font is
> Deju Sans.

(I assume there was no newline char in the middle of that
font name, in your test.)

So you didn't get the error you reported earlier.
Do you have that bitstream font installed?
What do you see in buffer *Messages* about this - anything?

What happens if you use `emacs -Q' and you evaluate the sexp
in *scratch*, instead of putting it in an otherwise empty init
file?

Re: setting default font name

[Haines Brown]

Drew Adams <drew.adams@oracle.com> writes:

>> To avoid any "default-font" in the remainder of the init file I created
>> a little test situation. I run:
>> 
>>   $ emacs -q -l .emacs-test
>> 
>> and in .emacs-test is nothing but:
>> 
>>  (set-face-attribute
>>   'default t :font
>>   "-bitstream-Courier 10
>>    Pitch-normal-normal-normal-*-16-*-*-*-m-0-iso10646-1")
>> 
>> When emacs opens, I do M-x describe font and am told the current font is
>> Deju Sans.
>
> (I assume there was no newline char in the middle of that
> font name, in your test.)

That break was an artifact of a line wrap in the message I sent you. The
font name not broken in the init file. I should have said something.

> So you didn't get the error you reported earlier.

No, that is correct. In the init file I was using, there was burried a
"default-font" variable. That's why I moved to a clean elementary init.

> Do you have that bitstream font installed?

Good question. I assumed I did because in emacs menu, I can go to
Options, Set Default font, and choose the bitstream font for a
document. That document keeps that font when reopened.

> What do you see in buffer *Messages* about this - anything?

No. 

> What happens if you use `emacs -Q' and you evaluate the sexp
> in *scratch*, instead of putting it in an otherwise empty init
> file?

It returns "nil" on next line. I'm not familiar with lisp evaluation and
so don't know what the nil means. No errors? 

If I open emacs -Q the font used for the scratch buffer header is Deju
Sans. I can go to Options, Set Default Font, and change the header to
bitstream Courier 10 pitch. If I then click "Save Options", I get the
warning: "Saving options from 'emacs -q' would overwrite existing
configutations". I don't understand. What existing configurations? Is it
simply saying that henceforth the scratch buffer will use the bitstream
font? But in fact it does not, for next time it is opened it uses the
Sans.


Haines

RE: setting default font name

[Drew Adams]

> > Do you have that bitstream font installed?
> 
> Good question. I assumed I did because in emacs menu, I can go to
> Options, Set Default font, and choose the bitstream font for a
> document. That document keeps that font when reopened.

So you see Emacs change to use that font, as you wanted.  It does
not change to some other font.  Right?

> > What do you see in buffer *Messages* about this - anything?
> 
> No.
> 
> > What happens if you use `emacs -Q' and you evaluate the sexp
> > in *scratch*, instead of putting it in an otherwise empty init
> > file?
> 
> It returns "nil" on next line. I'm not familiar with lisp evaluation and
> so don't know what the nil means. No errors?

nil is the value returned by evaluating the expression - unimportant
in this case. The question is whether your default font actualy changed.

To test that, do `C-x 5 2' to open a new frame showing the same buffer.
If the default font was changed to what you want then that frame should
show the new font.

> If I open emacs -Q the font used for the scratch buffer header is Deju
> Sans. I can go to Options, Set Default Font, and change the header to
> bitstream Courier 10 pitch.

And does that change visibly to the font you want?

> If I then click "Save Options", I get the
> warning: "Saving options from 'emacs -q' would overwrite existing
> configutations". I don't understand. 

When you use `emacs -q' you are not using your init file, which is
where Emacs would normally save any changes.  Ignore this warning,
and do not try to save such changes if you started without your
init file.

If the tests you mention above actually show a change to the font
you want, then, in a window that shows that font is used, do this:

M-: (face-font 'default)

That will show you the string that is the font name for face
`default', which is the same thing as the default font name.

If this string is not the same as the string you were trying earlier,
try this one instead.  IOW, this is a font name that works - perhaps
the name you were trying before is not correct.

If this does not help, perhaps someone else can help.

Re: setting default font name

[Haines Brown]

Drew Adams <drew.adams@oracle.com> writes:

>> > Do you have that bitstream font installed?
>> 
>> Good question. I assumed I did because in emacs menu, I can go to
>> Options, Set Default font, and choose the bitstream font for a
>> document. That document keeps that font when reopened.
>
> So you see Emacs change to use that font, as you wanted.  It does
> not change to some other font.  Right?

Yes and no. I create a test initialization file, named .emacs-test, that is
empty. I start emacs with it ($ emacs -q -l .emacs-test). The session
opens with Welcom pagee. I then create a file (C-x f), and find that
it displays in monospace. In Options, Set Default Font, I choose the
Courier 10 point. I try Save Options, and get "setting savings from
"emacs -q" would overwrite existing customizations, which I assume means
that in this case the default font would overwrite any default font
definitions in .emacs-test. So I can't save the default font option. But
if I save the file (C-x s), and then try to Save the Options, there is
no warning message. But nothing is written to .emacs-test either. And
next time a file is opened with this test init file, it is back to its
old default monospace.

>> If I open emacs -Q the font used for the scratch buffer header is Deju
>> Sans. I can go to Options, Set Default Font, and change the header to
>> bitstream Courier 10 pitch.
>
> And does that change visibly to the font you want? 

Yes, but only temporarily. If I repeat, next time the scratch is back to
default mono.

>> If I then click "Save Options", I get the
>> warning: "Saving options from 'emacs -q' would overwrite existing
>> configutations". I don't understand. 
>
> When you use `emacs -q' you are not using your init file, which is
> where Emacs would normally save any changes.  Ignore this warning,
> and do not try to save such changes if you started without your
> init file.

? I thought to specify an init file you had to use the syntax: emacs -q
-l <initfile>. 

But as I demonstrated above, I get this warning when I am using an init
file (emacs -q -l .emacs-test). I can set the test file to display the
bitstream Courier font. I find I cannot try to Save Options until after
I've saved the file itself. While then I can Save Options without
warning message, nothing is written to the init file.

> If the tests you mention above actually show a change to the font
> you want, then, in a window that shows that font is used, do this:
>
> M-: (face-font 'default)

This shows the courier bitstream font. "-bitstream-Courier 10
Pitch-normal-normal-normal-*-15-*-*-*-m-0-iso10646-1" (line break only
here). I can't Save Options until after I've resaved the test file
itself. 

> That will show you the string that is the font name for face
> `default', which is the same thing as the default font name.
>
> If this string is not the same as the string you were trying earlier,
> try this one instead.  IOW, this is a font name that works - perhaps
> the name you were trying before is not correct.

In .emacs-test I write the two lines:

(set-face-attribute
'(default ((t (:family "Courier 10 Pitch" :foundry "bitstream" :slant
normal :weight normal :height 113 :width normal))))) [line break only in
this message]

The produces an error. A lot of hex/? garbage (204V^@...), but including
"[args frame foundary family spec where purecopy 0 nil (0t) ..)"

> If this does not help, perhaps someone else can help.

Thanks for putting up with my inefficiency ;-(

Haines

RE: setting default font name

[Drew Adams]

> >> If I open emacs -Q the font used for the scratch buffer header is Deju
> >> Sans. I can go to Options, Set Default Font, and change the header to
> >> bitstream Courier 10 pitch.
> >
> > And does that change visibly to the font you want?
> 
> Yes, but only temporarily. If I repeat, next time the scratch is back to
> default mono.

You mean next time you start Emacs?  Yes, of course it is, since that
menu item affects only the current session.

But the question was whether the font you see is in fact bitstream
Courier 10 pitch.  IOW, did it work?

> >> If I then click "Save Options", I get the
> >> warning: "Saving options from 'emacs -q' would overwrite existing
> >> configutations". I don't understand.
> >
> > When you use `emacs -q' you are not using your init file, which is
> > where Emacs would normally save any changes.  Ignore this warning,
> > and do not try to save such changes if you started without your
> > init file.
> 
> ? I thought to specify an init file you had to use the syntax:
> emacs -q -l <initfile>.

emacs -q does not load any init file.  The warning is telling
you that you cannot save changes to your init file.  That's all.

> But as I demonstrated above, I get this warning when I am using an init
> file (emacs -q -l .emacs-test). 

That's not using an init file.  That's just starting without an
init file and then loading a file - any file you specify.  That
file is not considered your init file by Emacs.  As far as Emacs
is concerned, it knows init file to write customizations to.

> > M-: (face-font 'default)
> 
> This shows the courier bitstream font. "-bitstream-Courier 10
> Pitch-normal-normal-normal-*-15-*-*-*-m-0-iso10646-1" (line break only
> here). I can't Save Options until after I've resaved the test file
> itself.

Which seems to be the same as the font you tried before, except it
is 15 instead of 16.  (I assume that you left a space between10 and
pitch.)

> > That will show you the string that is the font name for face
> > `default', which is the same thing as the default font name.
> >
> > If this string is not the same as the string you were trying earlier,
> > try this one instead.

Did you try it, i.e., 15 instead of 16?  If not, try it.  Maybe
that is the only problem.

> > IOW, this is a font name that works - perhaps
> > the name you were trying before is not correct.
> 
> In .emacs-test I write the two lines:
> 
> (set-face-attribute
> '(default ((t (:family "Courier 10 Pitch" :foundry "bitstream" :slant
> normal :weight normal :height 113 :width normal))))) [line break only in
> this message]

Just try it the same way you tried before, but using 15 instead of 16.

You don't seem to be paying much attention to the functions you are
using.  See the doc of `set-face-attribute'.  Just do what you did
previously.

> The produces an error. A lot of hex/? garbage (204V^@...), but including
> "[args frame foundary family spec where purecopy 0 nil (0t) ..)"

See above - you did not use `set-face-attribute' correctly.

Re: setting default font name

[Jacob Gerlach]

At risk of showing my ignorance, I use a simpler syntax from the emacs wiki (http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/SetFonts#toc2) to set my font. In .emacs:

(set-frame-font "DejaVu Sans Mono-12")

I don't have bitstream courier installed, so I couldn't test this for your font, but I would assume the equivalent line for you would be something like

(set-frame-font "Bitstream Courier-10")

Perhaps I missed some detail of your situation that requires another way of setting the font - I'm an emacs amateur, so don't mind me if this is a useless suggestion.

Re: setting default font name

[Haines Brown]

Jacob Gerlach <jacobgerlach@gmail.com> writes:

> At risk of showing my ignorance, I use a simpler syntax from the emacs wiki
> (http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/SetFonts#toc2) to set my font. In .emacs:
>
> (set-frame-font "DejaVu Sans Mono-12")

My impression is that set-frame-font does something different than
set-frame-attribute, set-default-font, or custom-set-faces. I was
unclear about the differences and so stuck with custom-set-faces, for it
turns out to work.

> I don't have bitstream courier installed, so I couldn't test this for your
> font, but I would assume the equivalent line for you would be something
> like
>
> (set-frame-font "Bitstream Courier-10")

This produces font not found error message. 

I finally am able to open an emacs session that relies on a custom init
file using the -q -l options by setting the font in a session that is
started without the -q option, and then save that font to its init
file. Then I can copy that material to the init file used with the -q
option. This is what is not working:

  (custom-set-faces
    '(default ((t (:family "Courier 10 Pitch" \
    :foundry "bitstream" :slant normal :weight normal :height 113 \
    :width normal)))))

I found I could simplify this to:

  (custom-set-faces
    '(default ((t (:family "Courier 10 Pitch")))))

Haines

Re: setting default font name

[Hans BKK]

On Sunday, May 18, 2014 7:36:29 AM UTC-4, Haines Brown wrote:
> I have several different ways to start emacs 24 according to different
> functions. They are started with scripts that point to different init
> files. For example, in one script I have:
> 
>            emacs -q -l ~/.emacsUtil $1

Most likely not germane to your specific font-setting issue, but FYI I've found using a launch batch/script to set a different (could just be an empty "scratch") $HOME - allowing me to use a vanilla .emacs as normal rather than -q to be useful in troubleshooting and experimenting with different setups.

One side benefit is that this approach allows Customize menu settings to be saved.

http::/groups.google.com/forum/#!searchin/gnu.emacs.help/hansbkk/gnu.emacs.help/czMrv9Zquks/K74mJ63iQPcJ

Re: setting default font name

[Hans BKK]

Haines Brown wrote:
> I finally am able to open an emacs session that relies on 

> **a custom init file** using the -q -l options 

>by setting the font in a session that is started without the -q option, and then save that font to its init file. Then I can copy that material to the init file used with the -q option.


There seem to be a lot of issues around the specific font issue, functions used, syntax etc that would be great to get isolated and correct solution posted FFR.


However I want to also point out the more general issue that you appear to not have completely absorbed from my and Drew's posts above - see my emphasis above.

By launching with the -q option you are 

  A) instructing Emacs to launch without ANY init file at all, even if you then also load a script to be eval'd with the -l option - this is NOT the same as loading an init file. 

And

  B) explicitly instructing Emacs to NOT save any configuration changes made through the Customize facility - as you are informed by a warning message at startup.


Launching instances of emacs either via another user's session or by scripting a different $HOME folder before launching emacs as in the thread I pointed out above is IMO a more straightforward way to test most config/init issues with clean slate to troubleshoot interference from other packages/scripts normally loaded in your production setup.