Fonts from specified directory

Fonts from specified directory

[N. Raghavendra]

Is it possible to configure Emacs to use fonts from a specified
directory?  My OS is Linux.  For instance, I have downloaded a version
of DejaVu fonts that is more recent than the one provided by the OS, and
have installed the new fonts as, say, /foo/dejavu/DejaVu*.ttf.  Is it
possible to configure Emacs to use /foo/dejavu/DejaVu*.ttf instead of
/usr/share/fonts/truetype/dejavu/DejaVu*.ttf?

Thanks,
Raghu.

-- 
N. Raghavendra <raghu@hri.res.in>, http://www.retrotexts.net/
Harish-Chandra Research Institute, http://www.hri.res.in/

Re: Fonts from specified directory

[Yuri Khan]

On Sun, Sep 16, 2018 at 3:12 PM N. Raghavendra <nyraghu27132@gmail.com> wrote:

> Is it possible to configure Emacs to use fonts from a specified
> directory?  My OS is Linux.  For instance, I have downloaded a version
> of DejaVu fonts that is more recent than the one provided by the OS, and
> have installed the new fonts as, say, /foo/dejavu/DejaVu*.ttf.  Is it
> possible to configure Emacs to use /foo/dejavu/DejaVu*.ttf instead of
> /usr/share/fonts/truetype/dejavu/DejaVu*.ttf?

On fontconfig/GNU/Linux, font file locations are specified by
/etc/fonts/fonts.conf and configuration files included by it. See “man
fonts-conf” for details.

On my system (Ubuntu 16.04), the list goes like this:

* /usr/share/fonts (system-provided)
* /usr/local/share/fonts (locally administered system-wide)
* $XDG_DATA_HOME/fonts (user-specific)
* ~/.fonts (deprecated user-specific)

I don’t see a description of what happens when different versions of
the same font are available, but I’d expect user-specific to override
local and system, and local to override system.

Re: Fonts from specified directory

[N. Raghavendra]

At 2018-09-16T16:36:02+07:00, Yuri Khan wrote:

> On Sun, Sep 16, 2018 at 3:12 PM N. Raghavendra <nyraghu27132@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Is it possible to configure Emacs to use fonts from a specified
>> directory?  ...
>
> On fontconfig/GNU/Linux, font file locations are specified by
> /etc/fonts/fonts.conf and configuration files included by it. See “man
> fonts-conf” for details.

Thanks for the suggestion.  Yes, I can use fontconfig to do it, but it
will force the settings on other applications too.  I was wondering if
one can specify certain font directories just for Emacs.  (For example,
one can do this with TeX and friends, by setting the environment
variable TEXFONTS.)

Regards,
Raghu.

--
N. Raghavendra <raghu@hri.res.in>, http://www.retrotexts.net/
Harish-Chandra Research Institute, http://www.hri.res.in/

Re: Fonts from specified directory

[Yuri Khan]

On Sun, Sep 16, 2018 at 8:20 PM N. Raghavendra <nyraghu27132@gmail.com> wrote:

> > On fontconfig/GNU/Linux, font file locations are specified by
> > /etc/fonts/fonts.conf and configuration files included by it. See “man
> > fonts-conf” for details.
>
> Thanks for the suggestion.  Yes, I can use fontconfig to do it, but it
> will force the settings on other applications too.  I was wondering if
> one can specify certain font directories just for Emacs.  (For example,
> one can do this with TeX and friends, by setting the environment
> variable TEXFONTS.)

Why would you want to use updated fonts in Emacs but an older version
in other applications?

Anyway, try making a custom font configuration file to the lines of

    <?xml version="1.0"?>
    <!DOCTYPE fontconfig SYSTEM "fonts.dtd">
    <fontconfig>
      <include>/etc/fonts/fonts.conf</include>
      <dir>/foo/dejavu</dir>
    </fontconfig>

and starting Emacs with the FONTCONFIG_FILE environment variable
pointing at that.

Re: Fonts from specified directory

[N. Raghavendra]

At 2018-09-16T20:40:00+07:00, Yuri Khan wrote:

> Why would you want to use updated fonts in Emacs but an older version
> in other applications?

I don't have a good answer for that!

> ... and starting Emacs with the FONTCONFIG_FILE environment variable
> pointing at that.

Thanks for telling me about that environment variable.  I'll try using
it.

Regards,
Raghu.

--
N. Raghavendra <raghu@hri.res.in>, http://www.retrotexts.net/
Harish-Chandra Research Institute, http://www.hri.res.in/

Re: Fonts from specified directory

[Javier]

N. Raghavendra <nyraghu27132@gmail.com> wrote:
> Is it possible to configure Emacs to use fonts from a specified
> directory?  My OS is Linux.  For instance, I have downloaded a version
> of DejaVu fonts that is more recent than the one provided by the OS, and
> have installed the new fonts as, say, /foo/dejavu/DejaVu*.ttf.  Is it
> possible to configure Emacs to use /foo/dejavu/DejaVu*.ttf instead of
> /usr/share/fonts/truetype/dejavu/DejaVu*.ttf?

/foo/dejavu/ should contain files fonts.dir, fonts.scale
Otherwise create them

    mkfontscale  /foo/dejavu/
    mkfontdir /foo/dejavu/

change the font path

    xset -fp /usr/share/fonts/truetype/dejavu/
    xset +fp /foo/dejavu/
    xset fp rehash
        
and try

    emacs -fn fontname

The names are in fonts.dir

Re: Fonts from specified directory

[N. Raghavendra]

At 2018-09-16T09:43:26Z, Javier wrote:

> N. Raghavendra <nyraghu27132@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Is it possible to configure Emacs to use fonts from a specified
>> directory?  ...
>
> /foo/dejavu/ should contain files fonts.dir, fonts.scale
> Otherwise create them
>
>     mkfontscale  /foo/dejavu/
>     mkfontdir /foo/dejavu/

One can avoid these commands, e.g., by using Fontconfig patterns for the
fonts (https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/emacs/Fonts.html#index-fontconfig-1667).

In any case, your method changes the settings for other applications,
and I was looking for something which defines the settings just for
Emacs.

Regards,
Raghu.

-- 
N. Raghavendra <raghu@hri.res.in>, http://www.retrotexts.net/
Harish-Chandra Research Institute, http://www.hri.res.in/