Question

I,m using a font dialog to select a font and create a font from the selected font using

font = new Font(fontDialog1.Font.Name, fontDialog1.Font.Size, FontStyle.Regular, GraphicsUnit.Pixel);

When i Select a Non True type font I’m getting an ‘This is not a TrueType font’ Exception,I know GDI+ has support only for TTF.I’ve worked around this by using a try catch block.But how can i configure the font dialog to show only TTF’s.

Answer 1

I don’t think there is a solution to this issue (as stated by numerous others articles on the web), but you can rewrite the FontDialog somehow to fit your need.

To get you started, here is the implementation of a FontListBox that displays an owner draw listbox with fonts rendered in it:

Sample dialog that hosts it:

public partial class MyFontDialog : Form
{
    private FontListBox _fontListBox;

    public MyFontDialog()
    {
        InitializeComponent();

        _fontListBox = new FontListBox();
        _fontListBox.Dock = DockStyle.Fill;
        Controls.Add(_fontListBox);
    }
}

The list box:

public class FontListBox : ListBox
{
    private List<Font> _fonts = new List<Font>();
    private Brush _foreBrush;

    public FontListBox()
    {
        DrawMode = DrawMode.OwnerDrawFixed;
        ItemHeight = 20;
        foreach (FontFamily ff in FontFamily.Families)
        {
            // determine the first available style, as all fonts don't support all styles
            FontStyle? availableStyle = null;
            foreach (FontStyle style in Enum.GetValues(typeof(FontStyle)))
            {
                if (ff.IsStyleAvailable(style))
                {
                    availableStyle = style;
                    break;
                }
            }

            if (availableStyle.HasValue)
            {
                Font font = null;
                try
                {
                    // do your own Font initialization here
                    // discard the one you don't like :-)
                    font = new Font(ff, 12, availableStyle.Value);
                }
                catch
                {
                }
                if (font != null)
                {
                    _fonts.Add(font);
                    Items.Add(font);
                }
            }
        }
    }

    protected override void Dispose(bool disposing)
    {
        base.Dispose(disposing);
        if (_fonts != null)
        {
            foreach (Font font in _fonts)
            {
                font.Dispose();
            }
            _fonts = null;
        }
        if (_foreBrush != null)
        {
            _foreBrush.Dispose();
            _foreBrush = null;
        }
    }

    public override Color ForeColor
    {
        get
        {
            return base.ForeColor;
        }
        set
        {
            base.ForeColor = value;
            if (_foreBrush != null)
            {
                _foreBrush.Dispose();
            }
            _foreBrush = null;
        }
    }

    private Brush ForeBrush
    {
        get
        {
            if (_foreBrush == null)
            {
                _foreBrush = new SolidBrush(ForeColor);
            }
            return _foreBrush;
        }
    }

    protected override void OnDrawItem(DrawItemEventArgs e)
    {
        base.OnDrawItem(e);
        if (e.Index < 0)
            return;

        e.DrawBackground();
        e.DrawFocusRectangle();
        Rectangle bounds = e.Bounds;
        Font font = (Font)Items[e.Index];
        e.Graphics.DrawString(font.Name, font, ForeBrush, bounds.Left, bounds.Top);
    }
}