Method for selecting a font

• US 20040088657A1
• Filed: 11/01/2002
• Published: 05/06/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 11/01/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Brown, David C., Chaoweeraprasit, Worachai, Sayed, Tarek Mahmoud
• Granted Patent: US 7,228,501 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/542
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/109 Font handling; Temporal or kinetic typography

Abstract

The invention is generally directed to a method for selecting a font that uses a mark-up language document to group together multiple pre-existing fonts into a single font family or “virtual font.” The mark-up language document includes rules regarding the conditions under which individual fonts within the family are to be used. This permits, for example, a font developer to create, in an efficient manner, an international font using several preexisting fonts.

Claims

1. A method for selecting a font, the method comprising:

receiving a code indicating what type of character is required by a computer program;

referencing a mark-up language document;

determining, based on the contents of the mark-up language document, which of a plurality of fonts is needed by the computer program to display a character of the type required by the computer program.

2. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions for performing the method of claim 1.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

retrieving a glyph from the font that is determined to be needed, wherein the glyph is displayable to represent the character.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

retrieving a glyph from the font that is determined to be needed; and

providing the glyph to the computer program.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the computer program executing on a computer, the method further comprising:

determining the language of a document in which the selected font is to be displayed, wherein the step of determining which of a plurality of fonts is needed by the computer program comprises determining, based on the determined language, which of the plurality of fonts is needed by the computer.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending information regarding the determined font to a printer.

7. A method for determining which of a plurality of fonts to use in a computer program, the method comprising:

referencing a mark-up language document that defines a logical condition for using at least one font of the plurality of fonts; and

in response to the logical condition being satisfied, retrieving a glyph of the font.

8. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions for performing the method of claim 7.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the program executes on a computer, wherein the logical condition relates to a language in which a document is written, and wherein the glyph retrieved is from a font that is appropriate to the language.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the program interacts with a user who is using a computer, wherein the mark-up language document defines a font that is to be used if it is determined that the user is interacting with the computer in a particular written language, the method further comprising:

determining that the user is using the particular language; and

performing the retrieving step in response to the determining step.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein the computer program interacts with a user who is using a computer, the method further comprising:

determining that a keyboard of the computer is set to a particular language;

determining, based on the referencing step, that the font is to be used for that language; and

providing the glyph to the computer program.

12. A method for obtaining glyphs from a plurality of fonts, the method comprising:

referencing a mark-up language document to determine the identity of a first font of the plurality and the identity of a second font of the plurality;

retrieving one or more glyphs of the first font based on the determined identity of the first font; and

retrieving one or more glyphs of the second font based on the determined identity of the second font.

13. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions for performing the method of claim 12.

14. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

resizing the one or more glyphs of at least one of the first and second fonts based on scaling information contained in the mark-up language document.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the first font comprises glyphs of a first written language and the second font comprises glyphs of a second written language, and wherein the glyphs of the first font and second font are adapted to allow the first written language and the second written language to be displayed alongside one another.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein the step of retrieving one or more glyphs of the first font and step of retrieving one or more glyphs of the second font are performed only if conditions that are predefined in the mark-up language document are fulfilled.

17. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon mark-up language text, the mark-up language text comprising:

a reference to a first font;

data representing a condition under which the first font is to be used;

a reference to a second font; and

data representing a condition under which the second font is to be used.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the mark-up language text further comprises:

a scaling factor that indicates how to resize the first font.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the condition under which the first font is to be used is based, at least in part, on the language that a user of a computer prefers.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the condition under which the first font is to be used is based, at least in part, on the language for which a keyboard of a computer is set.

21. The computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the condition for the use of the first font relates to the range in which the Unicode value of a character typed into a computer falls.

22. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the condition for the use of the first font relates to the range in which the Unicode value of a character typed into a computer falls and the language that a user of the computer prefers.

23. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the condition under which the first font is to be used is based, at least in part, on the language for which a document is set, the document being the medium in which either the first or second font is to be used.