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Bug 43165 - Unable to change the font properties of the Output / VCS Output window
Summary: Unable to change the font properties of the Output / VCS Output window
Status: RESOLVED FIXED
Alias: None
Product: platform
Classification: Unclassified
Component: Output Window (show other bugs)
Version: 3.x
Hardware: PC All
: P3 blocker with 1 vote (vote)
Assignee: _ tboudreau
URL:
Keywords: UI
: 29604 40033 45174 55455 87536 149707 (view as bug list)
Depends on:
Blocks: 70469
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Reported: 2004-05-12 16:01 UTC by ericsean
Modified: 2009-02-27 10:30 UTC (History)
6 users (show)

See Also:
Issue Type: ENHANCEMENT
Exception Reporter:


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Description ericsean 2004-05-12 16:01:03 UTC
I'm sorry if this is not a bug, but I couldn't
find anything on the internet to help me, and I
spent about 30 minutes trying to sort it in the
options dialogs!

I am trying to change the font size in the Output
window - it seems to be on "Monospaced 11 Plain"
at the moment (I'm guessing... because that's what
the Java Editor window was on before I changed it
in the Options dialog, and it looked the same).

I have been through every setting I can see, yet I
can not find a way to change this Output window font!
Comment 1 _ tboudreau 2004-05-12 17:47:05 UTC
You're not finding it because I deleted that setting before 3.6 was released.  It takes its 
value from the look and feel.  If you find the size is too low, try running with -fontsize 12 
or higher - this will increase font size globally.

Understand that one of the major problems in NetBeans is *too many options* - that is, in 
terms of UI design, every time you offer a setting you're asking the user to make a 
decision; asking users to make decisions about things that should just be done right in the 
first place is how you create an unfriendly UI (which the options dialog surely is).  So this 
was one place where we could eliminate something that really almost nobody used (except 
you, unfortunately).

Anyway, I'm in the process of rewriting the output window from scratch right now.  It 
could be set up to track the editor font size, or something such - but if you're having 
problems with the font size being too small in the editor, probably -fontsize to adjust it 
globally is the best solution;  is the font size in Explorer, etc, okay?

Actually, I don't think it's clear - do you want the font bigger or smaller?
Comment 2 ericsean 2004-05-13 09:31:30 UTC
Ok, I tried starting up with "-fontsize 12" and that successfully
change the output window font to size 12, which is what I wanted.
However, it also changed the menu font size to 12, and also the
explorer window font to size 12.

I partially agree with you about the Options dialog. I hated it in
every version of NetBeans up until 3.6. Now I find it more usable. But
look you say, there are a million and one things to configure. Luckily
I find the install-time defaults are usually adequate for me.

The only thing I could suggest to improve it is to have key
combinations that increase or decrease the text size in the current
NetBeans window.  I find this incredibly useful in Mozilla. I only
ever use NetBeans in SDI mode because I have two heads, so perhaps I
appreciate differences between the individual components differently.
Comment 3 _ tboudreau 2004-05-13 11:42:45 UTC
Well, if you have two heads, I imagine that presents a host of issues (difficulty buying 
shirts, etc.)...

Seriously, I'll see about putting some shortcut in to increase/decrease font size, probably 
ctrl+/ctrl- - seems like a reasonable idea, while making somebody fish around in the 
options window isn't.

Comment 4 Marian Mirilovic 2005-07-15 14:30:57 UTC
closed
Comment 5 dave_clark 2005-12-10 12:03:37 UTC
please, please, please, let me configure the output window fonts - I want to use
*proportional* fonts of my own choosing.  Monospaced fonts (Courier New) are *UGLY*.
see also issues - 45174, 55455, 63751, 29604.
Comment 6 _ tboudreau 2005-12-10 21:56:58 UTC
Dave, I think we can do something about issue 29604 - making the font size 
changeable - see my comments there.

But it sounds like you reopened this issue specifically to request 
proportional fonts in the output window.  That is, I regret to say, is likely 
to be impossible.  There are a huge number of optimizations in the painting 
logic for the output window, to make it able to scale to hundreds of megabytes 
of output, which are simply impossible with proportional fonts.

One could allow it to use a proportional font, but treat that font as 
monospaced in terms of text layout - that could work.  But someone should go 
carefully over the code and make sure all code that calculates the base 
character width is using a good choice for characters.  And I don't have any 
idea what the implications are for charcter sets for japanese or hebrew, but 
I'd expect problems.

Try Bitstream Vera Sans as a fixed width font - you might find it more 
appealing than courier (just google it).  It's pretty straightforward to 
configure the font.properties in your JDK to use it everywhere 
for "Monospaced" if you like it, and that could be a temporary workaround.
Comment 7 Milos Kleint 2006-01-12 10:48:06 UTC
*** Issue 45174 has been marked as a duplicate of this issue. ***
Comment 8 Marian Mirilovic 2006-01-12 10:56:40 UTC
*** Issue 55455 has been marked as a duplicate of this issue. ***
Comment 9 Milos Kleint 2006-01-12 14:10:25 UTC
possible solution:
1. allow to set any monospaced or proportional fonts in the output window.
should work fine for non-wrapping output window.
2. when someone uses OW wraps, then he/she's out of luck. We either fallback to
monospaced fonts or use proportional and force it to have equal spacing.. IMHO
will look ugly and we can expect another handful of bug reports
3. alternatively we can completely remove the line wrapping mode. We probably
get a bunch of complaints as well.. ;(

Comment 10 Milos Kleint 2006-01-12 14:25:04 UTC
#29604 is most probably a duplicate of this one
Comment 11 Antonin Nebuzelsky 2008-02-07 15:52:58 UTC
Reassigning to new module owner Tomas Holy.
Comment 12 t_h 2008-04-23 13:47:45 UTC
*** Issue 29604 has been marked as a duplicate of this issue. ***
Comment 13 t_h 2008-04-23 13:58:58 UTC
*** Issue 87536 has been marked as a duplicate of this issue. ***
Comment 14 matthies 2008-04-23 14:29:04 UTC
Personally, I think this is a defect. It's unfortunate that after all these years this is still unresolved.
Comment 15 Petr Dvorak 2008-10-14 14:03:52 UTC
*** Issue 149707 has been marked as a duplicate of this issue. ***
Comment 16 Petr Dvorak 2008-11-24 10:05:06 UTC
*** Issue 40033 has been marked as a duplicate of this issue. ***
Comment 17 ajconover 2008-12-08 21:26:35 UTC
Just another comment as to why this is a feature that should be included/addressed:  I use Netbeans in a classroom
setting for teaching Java programming.  The default point-size makes the output rather difficult to see on a projection
screen.  Yes, changing the global font-size does work, but then (of course) menus are affected as well, reducing
valuable screen real-estate on lower resolution projectors.
Comment 18 ksilz 2009-01-18 21:47:57 UTC
I find this a big annoyance.  I'm a heavy Eclipse user and use Netbeans only for Grails development (both on Windows). 
Now in Eclipse, you can really change all fonts and colors to your heart's content.  For instance, I have the console
output set to a proportional, rather narrow font (Franklin Gothic Medium Cond, 10 points).  This allows me to have the
console permanently open in a rather narrow window and still see enough of the output of Tomcat or CVS for most parts. 
Only if there is an exception in Tomcat, for instance, I maximize the console window.

Now in Netbeans I cannot customize the output window font and thereby have to hide it all the time.  When I need it, I
need to manually open and close the output window  to see what's going on.  Decreasing the font size isn't an option
because it also gets smaller in the explorer window.  But the font type is the main issue for me which I can't change.

I would also argue that for an IDE that runs from small Linux Netbooks with 10 inch screen to massive Vista workstations
with two 30 inch screens, change all fonts and colors must be possible for users and is not something that the IDE can
always do for the user.  It's ok to pick up system default, but let me change the fonts.  Put it in the advanced section
so it doesn't clutter the UI, but give users the option.
Comment 19 dietervdw 2009-02-05 16:46:40 UTC
I must agree with the previous comment. I just checked out NetBeans and at a first glance I like it.
However the output font is just tiny, and my eyesight is OK.

I can't believe all text in NetBeans uses only 1 fontsize parameter.
I can't believe I have to choose between tiny output and normal menu's, or normal output and huge menu's.
That's pretty ridiculous.
Comment 20 _ tboudreau 2009-02-06 04:00:38 UTC
Taking this issue
Comment 21 _ tboudreau 2009-02-06 04:03:04 UTC
Fixed in changeset fe620fe3b3c1

There are now Larger Font and Smaller Font actions on the output window popup menu, and you can also ctrl-mousewheel to
rapidly increase/decrease font size.
Comment 22 Jesse Glick 2009-02-26 16:04:01 UTC
Seems to be some miscommunication here! Tim's

http://hg.netbeans.org/main/rev/fe620fe3b3c1

is in main. Meanwhile, Tomas'

http://hg.netbeans.org/core-main/rev/0459eadcc451

is in core-main (and it seems to be causing core.output2 tests to fail).
Comment 23 t_h 2009-02-26 16:22:07 UTC
I noticed Tim's fix (fe620fe3b3c1) and I properly reimplemented it in c5da6502df4d (after integration of issue 157911
 there is no OutputWindow/AbstOW). Now I have added also possibility to choose font in unwrapped mode (0459eadcc451). I
fixed problem with test in bd15e3e88580.
Comment 24 Quality Engineering 2009-02-27 10:30:46 UTC
Integrated into 'main-golden', will be available in build *200902270313* on http://bits.netbeans.org/dev/nightly/ (upload may still be in progress)
Changeset: http://hg.netbeans.org/main/rev/0459eadcc451
User: Tomas Holy <t_h@netbeans.org>
Log: #43165: Adding possibility to choose font type in unwrapped mode in OW