Java Notes
FontMetrics
The java.awt.FontMetrics class is used to determine the measurements of
characters and strings. These measurements can be used to precisely
position text.
Some font terminology
| baseline | The position at the bottom of characters,
but above their descenders. The y coordinate
of drawString specifies the baseline position. |
| advance width | The horizontal width of a character or string. |
| ascent | The distance above the baseline of a character or string. |
| descent | The distance below the baseline of a character or string. |
| leading | The vertical spacing between baselines of a font. |
Getting a FontMetrics object
Font metrics are determined by the font and the graphics context.
To create a FontMetrics object, where g is a Graphics object
and f is a Font object:
FontMetrics fm = g.getFontMetrics(f);
FontMetrics methods
The following variables stand for something of a given type:
i (int),
c (char),
s (String),
g (Graphics).
| Method | Description |
|---|---|
i = fm.getAscent(); | Returns ascent for font |
i = fm.getDescent(); | Returns descent for font |
i = fm.getLeading(); | Returns leading for font |
i = fm.charWidth(c); | Advance of char c. |
i = fm.stringWidth(s); | Advance width for String s. |
Rectangle2D r = fm.getStringBounds(s, g); |
Returns bounding box for the string. |