2D Text Tutorial

Print-friendly Version

September 1998

[ Tutorial Contents | Download ]

The Java 2D Text APIs are part of the Java Foundation Classes (JFC), and come in the Java Development Kit (JDK) 1.2 download. Java 2D Text is fun and easy to use, and you will find a wide range of 2D Text capabilities in the enhanced java.awt.Font class and the new java.awt.font package.

Because the Java 2D Text APIs provide a wealth of functionality, this tutorial focuses on what you need to know to use the java.awt.font.TextLayout class to create exciting, interesting, and interactive styled text in any language supported by the Unicode character set. This is the bulk of the functionality provided by this API, and after going through this tutorial, you should have enough information to explore the remaining functionality on your own.

Course Outline

• Lesson 1: Using Fonts
  • What is a Font?
  • Find Available Fonts
  • Creating and Deriving Fonts
  • Exercises

• Lesson 2: Drawing Styled Text
  • Draw a Line of Text
  • Draw Multiple Lines of Text
  • A New Slant on Text
  • Filling a Clipping Area with an Image
  • Filing a Clipping Area with Lines
  • Filling a Clipping Area with Characters
  • Text Attributes and Replacement Graphics
  • Exercises

• Lesson 3: Interacting with Styled Text
  • Hit Testing
  • Selection Highlighting
  • Moving the Caret
  • Exercises

• Lesson 4: Foreign Language Support
  • About the Examples
  • Inserting Text
  • Selection Highlighting
  • Moving the Caret
  • Multiline Text
  • Exercises

• Lesson 5: Other Methods
  • Baseline and Baseline Offsets
  • Ascent, Descent, and Leading
  • Advance and Visual Advance
  • Bounds and Black Box Bounds
  • Justified Text
  • Character Level
  • Exercises
• In Closing