Fonts

In the OpenWindows environment, the default font type is Lucida. The same is true for the CDE desktop, so the CDE user will see no font style differences from the OpenWindows desktop.

Fonts in the OpenWindows environment have proprietary font names, whereas CDE is open. All CDE font names start with -dt- and are common across all CDE platforms. Both CDE and OpenWindows fonts follow the X11 XLFD font specifications.

In both the OpenWindows and CDE environments, your application should not override the system font defaults. This enables the user to customize his desktop. In the OpenWindows environment, the user can choose font type and style through the Workspace Properties desktop application. In CDE, the user can choose font size through the Style Manager.

In the OpenWindows environment, you have to specify fonts for any locale in which you want your application to run. By using the CDE Interface fonts, your application will run the same across all locales and desktops. If you use Application fonts, you must still specify fonts for Asian locales.

The CDE font aliases are in /usr/dt/config/xfonts/<locale>, where <locale> is the directory corresponding to the locale in which you are interested. The default font resources that the Style Manager uses are in /usr/dt/config/<locale>/sys.fonts.

See Common Desktop Environment: Programmer's Overview and Solaris Common Desktop Environment: Programmer's Guide for more information on CDE fonts.