**CIGAL Reference Manual, Chapter 2 (Commands): font**
===== Font -- Load a character font =====
**usage:**\\
 * **font fontname size flag**\\
 * **font fontnum [windownum]**\\
 * **font**\\
 * **font -9 [defaultfont alertfont fontheight fontwidth]**\\

The FONT command allows you to change or set text fonts.  By default, CIGAL loads all available system hard fonts at start-up and sets the default text fonts to use for textwindows and alert (dialog) windows. The default system font numbers used for text windows (including REALTIME text strings) and for alert and dialog windows are also set at start-up. 

The standard use of the FONT command is to load the current user font, and/or to select which font should be used for a particular display window. Currently CIGAL supports 1 user-specified font, in addition to however many system hard fonts your system provides. Once specified, the user font can be selected as system font 0.

The 3 ways to specify a font are:
  font                       ; this opens an interactive dialog for selecting the font
  font fontname size flag    ; the fontname and size must be valid for your computer
  font fontnum [windownum]   ; select a font by number (0=user font, >0 are system fonts)

With no arguments, the FONT command will open an interactive dialog window to allow you to select from all available software fonts. To specify a font by name, the fontname must be a name that is recognized as a valid font on your system. Using FONT with no arguments can be helpful to view which font names are available.

When you specify the user font by name or via an interactive dialog it is automatically assigned as the current text font.

You can also specify the current text font by font number. Font 0 is the current user-specified font, and font numbers greater than 0 refer to your computer system's hard fonts.  Those system fonts may vary depending on which operating system and hardware you are using. To see a display of all the currently available system fonts you can use the CIGAL macro command:\\
  showfonts

The "FONT -9" command is a special case. With no other arguments it will display the  that can be used to view or current default font parameters.  With arguments you can change those default font parameter values.

**See Also:**\\
[[jvs:cigal|CIGAL Home]], 
[[jvs:cigal:manual|CIGAL Manual]], 
[[jvs:cigal:manual:chapter2|Commands List]], 
[[jvs:cigal:manual:help|Manual Help]]