In Windows CE, a font is a collection of glyphs that share a common design. A font is characterized by its typeface, style, and size.
A font's typeface determines the specific characteristics of the glyphs such as the relative width of the thick and thin strokes used in any specified character. The style determines a font's weight and slant. Font weights can range from thin to black. Slants can be roman (upright) and italic. The size of a font is the distance from the bottom of a lowercase "g" to the top of an adjacent uppercase "M," measured in points. A point is approximately 1/72 of an inch.
In Windows CE, fonts are grouped into families which share common stoke width characteristics. Fonts within a family are distinguished by size and style. The font families are described in the following table.
| Font family name | Description |
|---|---|
| Decorative | Specifies a novelty font, for example, Old English. |
| Dontcare | Specifies a generic family name. This name is used when information about a font does not exist or does not matter. |
| Modern | Specifies a monospace font with or without serifs. Monospace fonts are usually modern; examples include Pica, Elite, and Courier New. |
| Roman | Specifies a proportional font with serifs, for example, Times New Roman. |
| Script | Specifies a font that is designed to look like handwriting; examples include Script and Cursive. |
| Swiss | Specifies a proportional font without serifs, for example, Arial. |
These family names correspond to constants found in the Wingdi.h header file: FF_DECORATIVE, FF_DONTCARE, FF_MODERN, FF_ROMAN, FF_SCRIPT, and FF_SWISS. Use these constants when you create, select, or retreive information about a font.