Tip #632: Setting the font in the GUI

created:		January 7, 2004 11:53		complexity:		basic
author:		Tony Mechelynck		as of Vim:		6.0

This tip concerns the setting of the 'guifont' option. It is assumed that 'guifontset" and 'guifontwide' will, if available, be left empty or set to a non-conflicting value. Of course, this apples only to the GUI, since the font for 'console' vim is determined by the particular terminal or terminal emulator being used.

Background
----------

1. As of this writing (January 2004) there are 3 different possible formats for the 'guifont' option, namely GTK+2, other-X11 and other. Each version of the GUI accepts only one of them.

2. Some versions allow selecting the font by means of a menu, using

    :set guifont=*

However, the result is usually too restrictive.

3. Most versions allow setting an option by editing the current value, using

    :set guifont=<Tab>        (if 'nocompatible'), or
    :set guifont=<Ctrl-E>     (if 'compatible')

The current value appears, with escaping backslashes if and where needed. Change what you want to change, write it down so you can later enter it in your vimrc if you find out that you like it, then press <Enter> to accept the new result.

How to proceed
--------------

The default value for 'guifont' is the null string. However, a default or system vimrc may already have set some value. If what you see is "almost" what you want, use method 3 above. If the current value is empty, you will have to proceed in some other way. In that case, press <Esc> to leave command-line mode.

If the current value is empty, or if the current font has neither the shape nor the size that you want, try method 2 above. If it doesn't work, copy the code snippet found at the end of this tip into your vimrc and start from there, changing one thing at a time until you're satisfied.

If your version of vim allows selecting fonts via a menu, I recommend (for X11 without GTK+2) keeping only what is required to have a working font and replacing the rest (including, most especially, the last parameter, which is the encoding) by dash-separated asterisks; or (for other systems) keeping the font name and size and removing the rest (or, for non-X11, setting the encoding to cDEFAULT). See the examples below.

Now here is a snippet of code, applicable (I hope) to all versions of gvim. The only reason I haven't tested them all is I don't have them all. Start with that, change the "set" statements as needed, and put it in your vimrc.

    if has("gui_running")
        if has("gui_gtk2")
            set guifont=Courier\ New\ 11
        elseif has("x11")
            set guifont=-*-courier-medium-r-normal-*-*-180-*-*-m-*-*
        else
            set guifont=Courier_New:h11:cDEFAULT
        endif
    endif

Happy Vimming!
Tony.

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