NetBeans IDE - Default Font Size

When we set out to search for the tips regarding how to change the default font and default look and feel for NetBeans IDE we get related information in seconds through any decent search engine.

Even then I am adding the same information again here with some fresh screenshots with the intension that,after this the user can find the information even sooner than I got it.

The default font size used by NetBeans IDE 6.1 is small and decent.



Some users may have different needs and want the font size to be bigger. NetBeans IDE has the facility to change the default font size through the configurations settings just like Look and feel setting.

In the netbeans.conf configuration file for NetBeans IDE which can be found in

C:\Program Files\NetBeans 6.1\etc\netbeans.conf

for the default Windows XP NetBeans IDE installation we can add the fontsize option to the netbeans_default_options string value

--fontsize 18

so make the configuration look like

netbeans_default_options="<old-options> --fontsize 18"

where <old-options> are the values already there which we will keep as they are and will add the new settings --fontsize.

This setting will make the default font size bigger and look like:



See how bigger the fonts can be seen now. Even the menus look like:



References:

NetBeans IDE Hacks part 2 font-size
NetBeans IDE Hacks part 2 laf


with regards
Tushar Joshi, Nagpur

NetBeans IDE - Look and Feel

The default look and feel of the recently released NetBeans IDE 6.1 final is set automatically according to the operating system. This make the NetBeans appear as a Windows application with Windows look and feel while running on windows and so forth in other operating systems.

(Default look and feel on windows XP)

I like the cross platform look of java applications which can be set by configuring the java applications with the Metal look and feel. NetBeans also allows us to change the default look and feel by a configuration setting.

Ideally I would have loved to have a look and feel menu or a setting in the preferences dialog in the NetBeans IDE GUI to set the look and feel. The current way to change the default look and feel is either by changing the configuration file or passing a command line argument to the netbeans startup command.

I will use the configuration file setting method to change the default look and feel of NetBeans IDE.

As this setting is a configuration setting I will have to pass the exact fully qualified name of the look and feel class I want.

In our case as we want metal look and feel we will use the name:

javax.swing.plaf.metal.MetalLookAndFeel

When default paths are chosen for the installation of NetBeans IDE it gets installed in

C:\Program Files\NetBeans 6.1

The configuration files are kept in a subdirectory named etc so the exact path for the netbeans.conf file is:

C:\Program Files\NetBeans 6.1\etc\netbeans.conf

When opened in text editor it will look like


Here we will change the netbeans_default_options portion and add one additional switch to the options line.

(netbeans.con snap without look and feel setting)

We will add the look and feel option like

--laf javax.swing.plaf.metal.MetalLookAndFeel

(netbeans.conf with the additional look and feel option)

Now when we start the NetBeans IDE again the look and feel will be seen as Metal.

(Cross platform Metal look and feel)

References:

NetBeans Wiki: FAQ Custome Look and Feel
Java Tutorials: How to set Look and Feel

with regards
Tushar Joshi, Nagpur