Interface Fonts

Interface fonts are the small set of finely optimized fonts that define the look of the desktop on a particular platform. These fonts cleanly and quickly convey small amounts of information, such as that appearing in window titles, buttons, menus, and text fields.

The desktop and the Motif toolkit widgets use interface fonts. Do not use these fonts directly within your application windows.

The standard interface font names are different from the standard application font names. They, like the application font names, are mapped to different fonts on different Common Desktop Environment platforms. Interface fonts come in three styles:

• System--Read-only text (used for limited amounts of text, for example, on menus, buttons, and labels)

• User--Text the end user enters, or text appearing in objects built from XmText-type and DtTerm-type widgets

• User bold--Like the User font, but in bold

Each style comes in seven sizes. Using the Style Manager, users can choose the size of interface fonts they want on their desktop.