How can I change console font?

Question

I have a problem with output Unicode in Windows XP console. (Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]) First code is that(from http://www.siao2.com/2008/03/18/8306597.aspx)

#include 
#include 
#include 

int main(void) {
    _setmode(_fileno(stdout), _O_U16TEXT);
    wprintf(L"\x043a\x043e\x0448\x043a\x0430 \x65e5\x672c\x56fd\n");
    wprintf(L"èéøÞǽлљΣæča\n");
    wprintf(L"ぐႢ\n");
    wprintf(L"\x3050\x10a0\n");
    return 0;
}

---

My codepage is 65001(CP_UTF8). Excep Ⴂ, every letter look good. But Ⴂ is look like square. Console's default font 'Lucida Console' doesn't have font for that letter. So, I downloaded some other font which can render Ⴂ correcly, but I cannot change (Visual Studio 2005 project) console font.

I changed HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Console\%SystemRoot%_system32_cmd.exe\FontName, but when I check Prompt's properties -> Font, it set as 'Lucida Console'. Is there any way to change console font with API?

The next code is what I tried. But it doesn't work. Help.

#include "stdafx.h"
#include "Windows.h"
#include 

using namespace std;

// Conventional wisdom is retarded, aka What the @#%&* is _O_U16TEXT?
// http://www.siao2.com/2008/03/18/8306597.aspx
int main() {
    locale::global(locale(""));

    // Windows Command Prompt use code page 850,
    // probably for backwards compatibility with old DOS programs. 
    // Unicode at the Windows command prompt (C++; .Net; Java)
    // http://illegalargumentexception.blogspot.com/2009/04/i18n-unicode-at-windows-command-prompt.html

    // INFO: SetConsoleOutputCP Only Effective with Unicode Fonts
    // http://support.microsoft.com/kb/99795

    // Undocumented API : SetConsoleFont 
    // http://cboard.cprogramming.com/windows-programming/102187-console-font-size.html
    typedef BOOL (WINAPI *FN_SETCONSOLEFONT)(HANDLE, DWORD);
    FN_SETCONSOLEFONT SetConsoleFont;
    HMODULE hm = GetModuleHandle(_T("KERNEL32.DLL"));
    SetConsoleFont = (FN_SETCONSOLEFONT) GetProcAddress(hm, "SetConsoleFont");
    int fontIndex = 10; // 10 is known to identify Lucida Console (a Unicode font)
    BOOL bRet = SetConsoleFont(GetStdHandle(STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE), fontIndex);

    // http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1922294/using-unicode-font-in-c-console-app
    //const UINT codePage = CP_UTF8;    //
    const UINT codePage = 1200;     // 1200(utf-16 Unicode) 
    SetConsoleOutputCP(codePage);

    wchar_t s[] = L"èéøÞǽлљΣæča\n";
    int bufferSize = WideCharToMultiByte(codePage, 0, s, -1, NULL, 0, NULL, NULL);
    char* m = new char[bufferSize]; 
    WideCharToMultiByte(codePage, 0, s, -1, m, bufferSize, NULL, NULL);
    // 0x00000459 "No mapping for the Unicode character exists in the target multi-byte code page."
    wprintf(L"%S", m);  // it doesn't work
    wprintf(L"%s", s);  // it work a bit

    // after L'Ⴂ' letter, wcout failed!
    wcout 

PS : BTW, when I put "include < fcntl.h >" in "code tag", the part with in <> (fcntl.h) disappeared. How can I put system include?

Answer 1

Found these instructions through Google here:
http://keznews.com/3308_Adding_fonts_to_cmd_exe

Be default, the properties on a cmd.exe window allow you to select either Raster Fonts or Lucida Console. You can add other monospace fonts to the list via the registry.

In regedit, navigate to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ Console\TrueTypeFont

Notice that Lucida Console is already under this key with a name of "0".

Add a new sting value with the name "00" (yep, that's the required name) and set the data to the name of a monospace font already installed in your C:\Windows\Fonts folder. In this example, I added the Consolas font. It seems that additional entries require names "000", "0000", etc. Names like "1" and "2" don't work. For Pete's sake, why?

Open up a new cmd window, right-click on the system menu, select Properties | Font and there is the newly added font.

I did this because I wanted a more readable font for my PowerShell window, since I've been spending some time staring at it.

source: ferncrk.com

I followed the instructions and made Consolas my default font for cmd. It worked as expected.

Note that it will only accept monospaced fonts.