[Workaround] Incorrectly displays some symbols of font

[PovilasPanavas]

In the FAQ I found these:

Does OpenOffice.org 2 have full support of TrueType fonts?
Partially.

and

I see "square boxes" instead of regular characters
The text contains characters that are not supported by the selected font. OOo also didn't find a suitable alternative font for these characters.

and

Does OpenOffice.org 2 support OpenType fonts named with ".TTF" (having TrueType outlines?)
Yes, to the extent that they resemble TrueType fonts (see below). This may be enough for many users.
Part of the value the OpenType format adds is that it allows fonts with better typographic controls, which can support some languages (like Indic languages or Arabic) that other formats don't support. OpenOffice 2 doesn't go very far in this direction. See Bug #16032 "OOo should support optional OpenType features" and Bug #78749 "some Latin text needs CTL processing" for more information.

The last quote from the FAQ isn't understandable for me.

So, I have TrueType font (code128.ttf), which displays barcodes. You can get it here: http://grandzebu.net/informatique/codbar/code128.ttf

Some symbols are displayed as a sqare boxes. Meantime the word hasn't any problems displaying it correctly.

Is it possible to make open office display font correctly? If MS Office can, why Open Office can't?

Here is example:

Open_Offce_Problem_BarCode.jpg (18.56 KiB) Viewed 8891 times

My system:
Windows XP pro (32bit)
OO 3.0.1, but also tried on 3.2.0

[Robert Tucker]

The result I get:

[PovilasPanavas]

Have you used the font from the link I provided?

Try to open this file: http://povilas.panavas.lt/kita/essai_code_128.sxc

Maybe it depends on the system configuration. I will try to use this font on my home laptop.

[Robert Tucker]

Have you used the font from the link I provided?

Yes.

Try to open this file: http://povilas.panavas.lt/kita/essai_code_128.sxc

I get this:

I followed these instructions:

http://www.idautomation.com/openoffice/

[PovilasPanavas]

Well, I have tried it on my personal laptop (Windows 7, Oppen Ofifce 3.2.1) and still the same result.

Also, I've just tried to follow these instructions http://www.idautomation.com/openoffice/, before that I' deleted old macros. But it hasn't change anything, some symbols is displayed incorrectly.

Robert, as I can see, you aren't using windows operating system. Maybe the problem exists only in windows based platforms?

[PovilasPanavas]

I have tried printing barcodes and found out that printed versions looks the same, despite different look in print preview. Both word and writer leaves the same empty spaces, where open office display square boxes. Strange...

[PovilasPanavas]

Well, I have tried on one of the servers (Windows Server Standard 2008 SP2, OO 3.1.1). It displays bar code correctly (http://povilas.panavas.lt/kita/essai_code_128.sxc), when I open the same file, which on my computer is wrongly displayed.

So, it's definitely depends on the system configuration. Now, I would like to know, how to make all the client computers display it the right way?

[PovilasPanavas]

The problem remains, but I have accomplished my mission - adding bar codes support to open office documents.

So, I generate barcode.bmp and programically add it to the end of the printed document. The picture is picture and no fonts are required.

[Hagar Delest]

Note that .bmp is the worst format there can be for a pic. Better save it as .png.

[mstraszak]

Hi,

I've found another workaround.
In Control Panel / Regional Settings, 3rd tab - Advanced, select "English (USA)" from combo box (sets language for applications not supporting unicode), OK, restart.
I don't know how it's connected. May have some side effects.