apache / apache/netbeans

Add an option to set the interface font size

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#5,064 0 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub
kind:feature UI
Dominant language
Java
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Description

### Description

Currently, if we need to modify the font size of the IDE texts, we need to do it through netbeans.conf.

It would be easier to have that parameter somewhere in the menu `Tools > Options` like we have `Tools > Options > Fonts & Colors > Font... > Size`.

### Use case/motivation

When using Netbeans on a HighDPI screen (most of the cases today), we need to increase the font size of the source which is easy to do. However the IDE texts are separately set in `netbeans.conf` or in a start option of the exe (`"C:\Program Files\NetBeans-15\netbeans\bin\netbeans64.exe" --fontsize 16`).

I see 4 main reasons to add a parameter in the `Options` menu:
- Remove a friction point when new users want to try and evaluate the IDE.
- The procedure to setup this important parameter is hard to find (I found it on SO).
- If we modify the file `netbeans.conf`, we need to manually modify it again after each NB version update.
- The parameter could be included in the export file (`Tools > Options > Export...`).

This setup is not understood by many new users:
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3181544/how-to-increase-font-size-in-neatbeans-ide
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/43866292/increase-the-font-size-of-output-and-menus-in-netbeans

### Related issues

_No response_

### Are you willing to submit a pull request?

No

### Code of Conduct

Yes

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Research direction

Start by reviewing the existing netbeans.conf --fontsize setting and the Tools > Options > Fonts & Colors > Font... > Size entry described in the issue. Determine how an interface font-size option should be exposed and included in Tools > Options > Export; done means users can configure the IDE text size there without editing netbeans.conf after updates.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
java
Domain
desktop
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
30/100

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