Oxygen XML Developer provides fonts for most common Unicode ranges. However, if you use special symbols or characters that are not included in the default fonts, they will be rendered as small rectangles. A fallback font is a reserve typeface that contains symbols for as many Unicode characters as possible. When a display system encounters a character that is not part of the range of any of the available fonts, Oxygen XML Developer will try to find that symbol in a fallback font.
Example of a Scenario Where a Fallback Font is Needed
Suppose that you need to insert the Wheelchair symbol (
- U+267F) into your content in a Windows
operating system. By default, Oxygen XML Developer does not render this symbol correctly
since it is not included in any of the default fonts. It is included in Segoe UI
Symbol, but this font is not part of the default fonts that come with Oxygen XML Developer. To allow Oxygen XML Developer to recognize and render the symbol
correctly, you can add Segoe UI Symbol as a fallback font. Add a Fallback Font in Windows (7 or Later)
To add a fallback font to the Oxygen XML Developer installation, use the following procedure:- Start Windows Explorer and browse to the [OXYGEN_INSTALLATION_DIR]/jre/lib/fonts directory.
- Create a directory called fallback (if it is not already there).
- Copy a font file (True Type Font - TTF) that includes the special characters into this
directory.Tip: You could, for example, copy the Segoe UI Symbol Regular font from C:\Windows\Fonts.
- Restart Oxygen XML Developer for the changes to take full effect.
Result: Whenever Oxygen XML Developer finds a character that cannot be rendered using its standard fonts, it will look for the glyph in the fonts stored in the fallback folder.
Alternate Solution for Other Platforms
For Mac OS X or other platforms, you could use the following approach:
- Use a font editor (such as FontForge) to combine multiple true type fonts into a single custom font.
- Install the font file into the dedicated font folder of your operating system.
- In Oxygen XML Developer, open the Preferences dialog box and go to .
- Click the Choose button in the Editor option and select your custom font from the drop down list in the subsequent dialog box.
- Restart Oxygen XML Developer for the font changes to take full effect.
