How to show Unicode characters on MS Windows?

[quique]

I need to show Unicode characters in a QLabel. This code works fine on Debian, but on Windows I just get a square.
FWIW, the browser does show this character when used in a webpage, and I can copy/paste it in Wordpad, so I guess it's not a font issue.
What am I missing?


#include <QtGui/QApplication>
#include <QLabel>

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
QApplication app(argc, argv);

QLabel label(QChar(10269)); // ⠝ (U+281D) is points 1,3,4,5 in Braille
label.show();

return app.exec();
}

[Surendil]

Hi, I think this is font issue, try to install Dejavu Sans and set font using

label.setFont(QFont("Dejavu Sans"));

[quique]

Hi, I think this is font issue, try to install Dejavu Sans and set font using

label.setFont(QFont("Dejavu Sans"));

Oh, that works!! Thanks! :-)

Should I just add that line as is, or should it only apply to the Windows build?
In the latter case, what would be the correct method to do it?

[Surendil]

Hmm I think it would be better to apply this only to Windows build (you said in Linux it works well). You may wrap this code with:

#ifdef Q_OS_WIN32
label.setFont(QFont("Dejavu Sans"));
#endif
Look at QtGlobal for platform preprocessor definitions and don't forget to include Dejavu (or any other font you want use for Braille) into your distribution package for Windows.

[quique]

Thanks for your pointer :)


don't forget to include Dejavu (or any other font you want use for Braille) into your distribution package for Windows.

That must be done in the installer, right?
I just began developing my app, and didn't explore yet the available options (Nullsoft Scriptable Install System, Inno Setup, WiX...).

[ChrisW67]

I believe that Windows 7 includes Braille characters in its Segoe UI Symbol font, but that earlier versions do not. So you have some Windows versions that require a third party font, and others that don't :( There are some free fonts containing just the Braille patterns: http://www.alanwood.net/unicode/fonts_windows.html#braillepatterns

[quique]

I believe that Windows 7 includes Braille characters in its Segoe UI Symbol font, but that earlier versions do not. So you have some Windows versions that require a third party font, and others that don't :(
Thanks for your comment.
DejaVu Sans is actually doing the trick (tested on both Windows 7 and Windows XP).