Setting application default font

Question

I have tried to search the Sun Java site for detailed info on this but haven't got anywhere.
I have an application (Java 1.3) which will be hosted on a UNIX JVM, but displayed on a Windows2000 m/c. The only LookAndFeel available is the Metal one, and the default font is a rather chunky Dialog font.
I want a font more like the W2000 font (arial or helvetica I think).
Is it possible to change this in the UIManager/LookAndFeel?
I have seen some talk in similar threads about discovering font property keys, thne using these to ally a Font object to a certain class of component (e.g labels, panels etc).
Has anyone done anything similar, and if so can you please spell it out for me!
Kind regards,
Dave

Answer 1

I took a little bit from both of the examples and I put together a new class that allows the user to choose what font to apply to all or, individual components. I thought that it might be helpful to other people.
enjoy :)
* <p>Title: </p>
* <p>Description: </p>
* <p>Copyright: Copyright (c) 2002</p>
* <p>Company: NeoCore Inc</p>
* <p>Based on code by: Andrew Malcolm</p>
* @author Sandor Dornbush
* @version 1.0
package com.neocore.xmsApp;
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import java.io.*;
import java.util.*;
import javax.swing.plaf.*;
public class PLAFTest extends JFrame {
JPanel main = new JPanel();
JLabel jLabel1 = new JLabel();
JTextField jTextField1 = new JTextField();
JButton exampleButton = new JButton();
JPanel jPanel2 = new JPanel();
JScrollPane m_jScrollPaneFonts = new JScrollPane();
JList fontsList = new JList();
JButton applyButton = new JButton("Apply");
ButtonGroup buttonGroup1 = new ButtonGroup();
JRadioButton m_jRadioButtonPlain = new JRadioButton();
JRadioButton m_jRadioButtonBold = new JRadioButton();
JRadioButton m_jRadioButtonItalic = new JRadioButton();
JTextField m_jTextFieldSize = new JTextField();
JLabel jLabel2 = new JLabel();
private String[] components;
JList componentList = new JList();
public PLAFTest() {
try {
layoutComponents();
addActionListeners();
catch(Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
pack();
GraphicsEnvironment graphicsEnvironment=GraphicsEnvironment.getLocalGraphicsEnvironment();
String[] fontNames=graphicsEnvironment.getAvailableFontFamilyNames();
fontsList.setListData(fontNames);
UIDefaults defaults = UIManager.getDefaults();
// Build of Map of attributes for each component
Enumeration enum = defaults.keys();
Vector v = new Vector();
v.add("All");
for(int i=1; enum.hasMoreElements(); i++) {
Object key = enum.nextElement();
String key_s = key.toString();
if(key_s.endsWith(".font") &&
!key_s.startsWith("class") &&
!key_s.startsWith("javax")) {
int index = key_s.indexOf(".font");
String s = key_s.substring(0,index);
v.add(s);
components = (String[]) v.toArray(new String[0]);
componentList.setListData(components);
m_jTextFieldSize.setText("12");
m_jRadioButtonPlain.setSelected(true);
void this_windowClosing(WindowEvent e) {
close();
void close() {
System.exit(0);
public static void main(String[] args) {
try {
UIManager.setLookAndFeel(UIManager.getSystemLookAndFeelClassName());
FontUIResource font=(FontUIResource)UIManager.get("TextField.font");
PLAFTest plafTest=new PLAFTest();
if( font.isPlain()) plafTest.setTitle("PLAF "+font.getFontName()+" "+font.getSize()+" PLAIN");
if( font.isBold()) plafTest.setTitle("PLAF "+font.getFontName()+" "+font.getSize()+" BOLD");
if( font.isItalic()) plafTest.setTitle("PLAF "+font.getFontName()+" "+font.getSize()+" ITALIC");
plafTest.show();
catch(Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
private void layoutComponents() {
JPanel content = (JPanel)getContentPane();
content.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
JPanel top = new JPanel(new GridLayout(1,3));
// pick the font
m_jScrollPaneFonts.setVerticalScrollBarPolicy(JScrollPane.VERTICAL_SCROLLBAR_ALWAYS);
m_jScrollPaneFonts.setBorder(BorderFactory.createTitledBorder("Choose Font:"));
top.add(m_jScrollPaneFonts);
m_jRadioButtonPlain.setText("Plain");
m_jRadioButtonBold.setText("Bold");
m_jRadioButtonItalic.setText("Italic");
// pick the component to apply it to
JScrollPane scrolls = new JScrollPane(componentList);
scrolls.setBorder(BorderFactory.createTitledBorder("Choose Component to Apply to:"));
top.add(scrolls);
// all of the example components
JPanel examples = new JPanel(new GridLayout(0,1));
jLabel1.setText("Label");
examples.add(jLabel1);
jTextField1.setText("TextField");
examples.add(jTextField1);
examples.add(exampleButton);
exampleButton.setText("Button");
examples.setBorder(BorderFactory.createEtchedBorder());
top.add(examples);
content.add(top,"Center");
// all the stuff on the bottom
JPanel bottom = new JPanel(new FlowLayout(FlowLayout.LEFT));
bottom.add(m_jRadioButtonItalic);
bottom.add(m_jRadioButtonBold);
bottom.add(m_jRadioButtonPlain);
bottom.add(applyButton);
bottom.add(jLabel2);
bottom.add(m_jTextFieldSize);
content.add(bottom,"South");
m_jScrollPaneFonts.getViewport().add(fontsList, null);
buttonGroup1.add(m_jRadioButtonItalic);
buttonGroup1.add(m_jRadioButtonBold);
buttonGroup1.add(m_jRadioButtonPlain);
private void addActionListeners() {
this.addWindowListener(new java.awt.event.WindowAdapter() {
public void windowClosing(WindowEvent e) {
this_windowClosing(e);
applyButton.addActionListener(new java.awt.event.ActionListener() {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
applyButtonActionPerformed(e);
void applyButtonActionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
try {
Object o =fontsList.getSelectedValue();
if(o==null)
return;
String fontname=(String)o;
o = componentList.getSelectedValue();
if(o==null){
return;
String componentName = (String)o;
int fontsize=12;
try {
fontsize=Integer.parseInt(m_jTextFieldSize.getText());
} catch(Exception ex) {
ex.printStackTrace();
return;
int fontstyle=Font.PLAIN;
if(m_jRadioButtonPlain.isSelected()) {
fontstyle=Font.PLAIN;
else if(m_jRadioButtonBold.isSelected()) {
fontstyle=Font.BOLD;
else if(m_jRadioButtonItalic.isSelected()) {
fontstyle=Font.ITALIC;
FontUIResource font=new FontUIResource(fontname,fontstyle,fontsize);
if(componentName.equals("All")) {
for(int i=1; i<components.length; i++)
UIManager.put( components[i] + ".font",font);
} else {
UIManager.put( componentName + ".font",font);
switch(fontstyle) {
case Font.PLAIN: setTitle("PLAF "+fontname+" "+fontsize+" PLAIN"); break;
case Font.BOLD: setTitle("PLAF "+fontname+" "+fontsize+" BOLD"); break;
case Font.ITALIC: setTitle("PLAF "+fontname+" "+fontsize+" ITALIC"); break;
SwingUtilities.updateComponentTreeUI(this);
catch(Exception ex) {
ex.printStackTrace();
}