Re: setting default font name

[Haines Brown <haines@histomat.net>]

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