NSFontDescriptor Class Reference

Constants

Font Attributes

These font attributes are defined by NSFontDescriptor.

NSString *NSFontFamilyAttribute;
NSString *NSFontNameAttribute;
NSString *NSFontFaceAttribute;
NSString *NSFontSizeAttribute;
NSString *NSFontVisibleNameAttribute;
NSString *NSFontColorAttribute;
NSString *NSFontMatrixAttribute;
NSString *NSFontVariationAttribute;
NSString *NSFontCharacterSetAttribute;
NSString *NSFontCascadeListAttribute;
NSString *NSFontTraitsAttribute;
NSString *NSFontFixedAdvanceAttribute;
NSString *NSFontFeatureSettingsAttribute

Constants

NSFontFamilyAttribute

An optional NSString object that specifies the font family.

Available in Mac OS X v10.3 and later.

Declared in NSFontDescriptor.h.

NSFontNameAttribute

An optional NSString object that specifies the font name.

Available in Mac OS X v10.3 and later.

Declared in NSFontDescriptor.h.

NSFontFaceAttribute

An optional NSString object that specifies the font face.

Available in Mac OS X v10.3 and later.

Declared in NSFontDescriptor.h.

NSFontSizeAttribute

An optional NSString object, containing a float value, that specifies the font size.

Available in Mac OS X v10.3 and later.

Declared in NSFontDescriptor.h.

NSFontVisibleNameAttribute

An optional NSString object that specifies the font’s visible name.

Available in Mac OS X v10.3 and later.

Declared in NSFontDescriptor.h.

NSFontColorAttribute

An optional NSData object that specifies the font color. (Deprecated. Use NSForegroundColorAttributeName instead.)

Available in Mac OS X v10.3 and later.

Deprecated in Mac OS X v10.4.

Declared in NSFontDescriptor.h.

NSFontMatrixAttribute

An NSAffineTransform instance that specifies the font’s transformation matrix.

The default value is the identity matrix.

Available in Mac OS X v10.4 and later.

Declared in NSFontDescriptor.h.

NSFontVariationAttribute

An NSDictionary instance that describes the font’s variation axis.

The default value is supplied by the font. See “Font variation axis dictionary keys” for dictionary keys.

Available in Mac OS X v10.4 and later.

Declared in NSFontDescriptor.h.

NSFontCharacterSetAttribute

An NSCharacterSet instance that represents the set of Unicode characters covered by the font.

The default value is supplied by the font.

Available in Mac OS X v10.4 and later.

Declared in NSFontDescriptor.h.

NSFontCascadeListAttribute

An NSArray instance—each member of the array is a sub-descriptor.

The default value is the system default cascading list for user's locale.

Available in Mac OS X v10.4 and later.

Declared in NSFontDescriptor.h.

NSFontTraitsAttribute

An NSDictionary instance instance fully describing font traits.

The default value is supplied by the font. See “Font traits dictionary keys” for dictionary keys.

Available in Mac OS X v10.4 and later.

Declared in NSFontDescriptor.h.

NSFontFixedAdvanceAttribute

An NSNumber instance containing a float value that overrides the glyph advancement specified by the font.

The default value is 0.0.

Available in Mac OS X v10.4 and later.

Declared in NSFontDescriptor.h.

NSFontFeatureSettingsAttribute

An array of dictionaries representing non-default font feature settings.

Each dictionary contains NSFontFeatureTypeIdentifierKey and NSFontFeatureSelectorIdentifierKey.

Available in Mac OS X v10.5 and later.

Declared in NSFontDescriptor.h.

Discussion

You can retrieve the values for these attributes using objectForKey:.

Font Traits Dictionary Keys

The following constants can be used as keys to retrieve information about a font descriptor from its trait dictionary.

NSString *NSFontSymbolicTrait;
NSString *NSFontWeightTrait;
NSString *NSFontWidthTrait;
NSString *NSFontSlantTrait;

Constants

NSFontSymbolicTrait

The symbolic traits value as an NSNumber object.

Available in Mac OS X v10.4 and later.

Declared in NSFontDescriptor.h.

NSFontWeightTrait

The normalized weight value as an NSNumber object.

The valid value range is from -1.0 to 1.0. The value of 0.0 corresponds to the regular or medium font weight.

Available in Mac OS X v10.4 and later.

Declared in NSFontDescriptor.h.

NSFontWidthTrait

The relative inter-glyph spacing value as an NSNumber object.

The valid value range is from -1.0 to 1.0. The value of 0.0 corresponds to the regular glyph spacing.

Available in Mac OS X v10.4 and later.

Declared in NSFontDescriptor.h.

NSFontSlantTrait

The relative slant angle value as an NSNumber object.

The valid value range is from -1.0 to 1.0. The value of 0.0 corresponds to 0 degree clockwise rotation from the vertical and 1.0 corresponds to 30 degrees clockwise rotation.

Available in Mac OS X v10.4 and later.

Declared in NSFontDescriptor.h.

Discussion

These keys are used with NSFontTraitsAttribute.

Font Variation Axis Dictionary Keys

The following constants can be used as keys to retrieve information about a font descriptor from its variation axis dictionary.

NSString *NSFontVariationAxisIdentifierKey;
NSString *NSFontVariationAxisMinimumValueKey;
NSString *NSFontVariationAxisMaximumValueKey;
NSString *NSFontVariationAxisDefaultValueKey;
NSString *NSFontVariationAxisNameKey;

Constants

NSFontVariationAxisIdentifierKey

The axis identifier value as an NSNumber object.

Available in Mac OS X v10.4 and later.

Declared in NSFontDescriptor.h.

NSFontVariationAxisMinimumValueKey

The minimum axis value as an NSNumber object.

Available in Mac OS X v10.4 and later.

Declared in NSFontDescriptor.h.

NSFontVariationAxisMaximumValueKey

The maximum axis value as an NSNumber object.

Available in Mac OS X v10.4 and later.

Declared in NSFontDescriptor.h.

NSFontVariationAxisDefaultValueKey

The default axis value as an NSNumber object.

Available in Mac OS X v10.4 and later.

Declared in NSFontDescriptor.h.

NSFontVariationAxisNameKey

The localized variation axis name.

Available in Mac OS X v10.4 and later.

Declared in NSFontDescriptor.h.

Discussion

These keys are used with NSFontVariationAttribute.

Font Feature Keys

The following constants can be used as keys to retrieve information about a font descriptor from its feature dictionary.

NSString *NSFontFeatureTypeIdentifierKey;
NSString *NSFontFeatureSelectorIdentifierKey;

Constants

NSFontFeatureTypeIdentifierKey

An NSNumber object specifying a font feature type such as ligature, character shape, and so on. See “Font Features“ in ATSUI Programming Guide for predefined feature types.

Available in Mac OS X v10.5 and later.

Declared in NSFontDescriptor.h.

NSFontFeatureSelectorIdentifierKey

An NSNumber object specifying a font feature selector such as common ligature off, traditional character shape, and so on. See “Font Features“ in ATSUI Programming Guide for predefined feature selectors.

Available in Mac OS X v10.5 and later.

Declared in NSFontDescriptor.h.

Discussion

These keys are used with NSFontFeatureSettingsAttribute.

NSFontSymbolicTraits

NSFontSymbolicTraits symbolically describes stylistic aspects of a font.

typedef uint32_t NSFontSymbolicTraits;

Discussion

The upper 16 bits is used to describe appearance of the font (see NSFontFamilyClass) whereas the lower 16 bits is used for typeface information (see Typeface information). The font appearance information represented by the upper 16 bits can be used for stylistic font matching. The symbolic traits supersede the existing NSFontTraitMask type used by NSFontManager. The corresponding values are kept compatible between NSFontTraitMask and NSFontSymbolicTraits.

NSFontFamilyClass

These constants classify certain stylistic qualities of the font. These values correspond closely to the font class values in the OpenType OS/2 table. The class values are bundled in the upper four bits of the NSFontSymbolicTraits and can be accessed via NSFontFamilyClassMask. For more information about the specific meaning of each identifier, refer to the OpenType specification.

enum {
   NSFontUnknownClass = 0 << 28,
   NSFontOldStyleSerifsClass = 1 << 28,
   NSFontTransitionalSerifsClass = 2 << 28,
   NSFontModernSerifsClass = 3 << 28,
   NSFontClarendonSerifsClass = 4 << 28,
   NSFontSlabSerifsClass = 5 << 28,
   NSFontFreeformSerifsClass = 7 << 28,
   NSFontSansSerifClass = 8 << 28,
   NSFontOrnamentalsClass = 9 << 28,
   NSFontScriptsClass = 10 << 28,
   NSFontSymbolicClass = 12 << 28
};
typedef uint32_t NSFontFamilyClass;

Constants

NSFontUnknownClass

The font has no design classification.

Available in Mac OS X v10.4 and later.

Declared in NSFontDescriptor.h.

NSFontOldStyleSerifsClass

The font’s style is based on the Latin printing style of the 15th to 17th century.

Available in Mac OS X v10.4 and later.

Declared in NSFontDescriptor.h.

NSFontTransitionalSerifsClass

The font’s style is based on the Latin printing style of the 18th to 19th century.

Available in Mac OS X v10.4 and later.

Declared in NSFontDescriptor.h.

NSFontModernSerifsClass

The font’s style is based on the Latin printing style of the 20th century.

Available in Mac OS X v10.4 and later.

Declared in NSFontDescriptor.h.

NSFontClarendonSerifsClass

The font’s style is a variation of the Oldstyle Serifs and the Transitional Serifs.

Available in Mac OS X v10.4 and later.

Declared in NSFontDescriptor.h.

NSFontSlabSerifsClass

The font’s style is characterized by serifs with a square transition between the strokes and the serifs (no brackets).

Available in Mac OS X v10.4 and later.

Declared in NSFontDescriptor.h.

NSFontFreeformSerifsClass

The font’s style includes serifs, but it expresses a design freedom that does not generally fit within the other serif design classifications.

Available in Mac OS X v10.4 and later.

Declared in NSFontDescriptor.h.

NSFontSansSerifClass

The font’s style includes most basic letter forms (excluding Scripts and Ornamentals) that do not have serifs on the strokes.

Available in Mac OS X v10.4 and later.

Declared in NSFontDescriptor.h.

NSFontOrnamentalsClass

The font’s style includes highly decorated or stylized character shapes such as those typically used in headlines.

Available in Mac OS X v10.4 and later.

Declared in NSFontDescriptor.h.

NSFontScriptsClass

The font’s style is among those typefaces designed to simulate handwriting.

Available in Mac OS X v10.4 and later.

Declared in NSFontDescriptor.h.

NSFontSymbolicClass

The font’s style is generally design independent, making it suitable for special characters (icons, dingbats, technical symbols, and so on) that may be used equally well with any font.

Available in Mac OS X v10.4 and later.

Declared in NSFontDescriptor.h.

NSFontFamilyClassMask

This constant is used to access NSFontFamilyClass values in the upper four bits of NSFontSymbolicTraits.

enum {
   NSFontFamilyClassMask = 0xF0000000
};

Constants

NSFontFamilyClassMask

The font family class mask used to access NSFontFamilyClass values.

Available in Mac OS X v10.4 and later.

Declared in NSFontDescriptor.h.

Typeface Information

Typeface information is specified by the lower 16 bits of NSFontSymbolicTraits using the following constants.

enum {
   NSFontItalicTrait = (1 << 0),
   NSFontBoldTrait = (1 << 1),
   NSFontExpandedTrait = (1 << 5),
   NSFontCondensedTrait = (1 << 6),
   NSFontMonoSpaceTrait = (1 << 10),
   NSFontVerticalTrait = (1 << 11),
   NSFontUIOptimizedTrait = (1 << 12)
};

Constants

NSFontItalicTrait

The font’s typestyle is italic.

Available in Mac OS X v10.4 and later.

Declared in NSFontDescriptor.h.

NSFontBoldTrait

The font’s typestyle is boldface.

Available in Mac OS X v10.4 and later.

Declared in NSFontDescriptor.h.

NSFontExpandedTrait

The font’s typestyle is expanded. Expanded and condensed traits are mutually exclusive.

Available in Mac OS X v10.4 and later.

Declared in NSFontDescriptor.h.

NSFontCondensedTrait

The font’s typestyle is condensed. Expanded and condensed traits are mutually exclusive.

Available in Mac OS X v10.4 and later.

Declared in NSFontDescriptor.h.

NSFontMonoSpaceTrait

The font uses fixed-pitch glyphs if available. The font may have multiple glyph advances (many CJK glyphs contain two spaces).

Available in Mac OS X v10.4 and later.

Declared in NSFontDescriptor.h.

NSFontVerticalTrait

The font uses vertical glyph variants and metrics.

Available in Mac OS X v10.4 and later.

Declared in NSFontDescriptor.h.

NSFontUIOptimizedTrait

The font synthesizes appropriate attributes for user interface rendering, such as control titles, if necessary.

Available in Mac OS X v10.4 and later.

Declared in NSFontDescriptor.h.