Monospaced vs Fixed Pitch fonts

Monospaced vs Fixed Pitch fonts

112
Power UserPower User
112

    May 31, 2007#1

    Thanks to some input from Troy at IDM, I learned something that may be of interest to other users...

    Previously, I had made the assumption (and some research on the web suggests many others have too) that with regard to fonting, monospaced and fixed pitch meant the same thing...  BUT THEY DON'T - monospaced means each glyph occupies the same space (regardless of its "visual" width), fixed pitch means that regardless of the style (bold, italic, etc.) the glyph occupies the same space (as the normal style glyph). Thus Courier New is BOTH monospaced and fixed pitch, while Lucida Console (the problematic font) is only monospaced.

    Now that I understand the difference, I can proceed with confidence...

    IDM may wish to make the message on the Syntax Highlighting page clearer about the distinction.

    BTW, if you mark the [x] Use OEM fixed pitch font check box, you get the Terminal font which is actually NOT fixed pitch...  I tried it...

    The Dina font is also both monospaced and fixed pitch. Can anybody suggest a proportional fixed pitch font?

    What about other monospaced fixed pitch fonts - they're useful for syntax highlighting...

    The message from Troy...

    Hello Paolo,

    Thank you for your message. This is a known issue with certain fonts. This is indicated in relation to syntax highlighting under Advanced ->
    Configuration -> Editor Display -> Syntax Highlighting. It's not something that UltraEdit is doing incorrectly, but a result of the sizes of characters used for some non-fixed pitch fonts.

    Thanks, Troy

    Paolo Cantoni wrote:
    Related to the previous bolded syntax highlighting is that if you DO have a bolded font, sometimes when you select stuff, the underlying unbolded font has a different pitch and so you aren't actually selecting what you think you are. I would have thought that if you highlight the selection, the bolding and italicization should remain the same, only the background should change, but it appears that this is not the case. Consequently, if you are using a proportional spaced font, you may experience problems.
    There is no such thing as an inconsistently correct system...
    Therefore, aim for consistency; in the expectation of reaching correctness!

    119
    Power UserPower User
    119

      Jun 05, 2007#2

      Thanks, Paolo. I'll file that under "interesting things that I shouldn't need to worry about (but do)." :P

      112
      Power UserPower User
      112

        Jun 05, 2007#3

        mjcarman wrote:Thanks, Paolo. I'll file that under "interesting things that I shouldn't need to worry about (but do)." :P
        I know...

        It's under my "learn something new every day" file - cross referenced: "Whod've thunk it?"

        Paolo

          Jun 08, 2007#4

          Hi ALL,

          UE 13 RC1 appears to have fixed the bug I noted in the Syntax Highlighting section. Now I'm keen to make use of this newly working functionality.

          However to make it work I need a selection of fixed pitch fonts... Can any one suggest any (other than Courier New and Dina)?

          TIA,
          Paolo
          There is no such thing as an inconsistently correct system...
          Therefore, aim for consistency; in the expectation of reaching correctness!

          1029
          Power UserPower User
          1029

            Jun 08, 2007#5

            Hi Paolo,
            there might be some on this page you can make use of for your testing . Programmers fonts

            Cheers...

            Frank

            112
            Power UserPower User
            112

              Jun 08, 2007#6

              Thanx Frank!

              Just what I was after... :D

              Paolo
              There is no such thing as an inconsistently correct system...
              Therefore, aim for consistency; in the expectation of reaching correctness!