Exception raised when a font name used as value for the
fontName attribute in the report template,
is not found in any of the runtime available JasperReports font extensions, nor among the font names available
to the Java Virtual Machine.
The missing font check that raises this exception can be turned off by using the
net.sf.jasperreports.awt.ignore.missing.font boolean configuration property,
which is available globally or at report level.
However, we advise you to leave this font check in place and rather make sure that inside your report template
you are using a font that will certainly be available at runtime, when the report will be filled or displayed/rendered
using the JRGraphics2DExporter (or the JasperViewer).
This ensures that all font metrics and layout calculations performed while the report was designed/previewed,
remain consistent with those performed while the report is fill and then rendered on screen.
By turning off the missing font check using the above mentioned configuration property, the engine will no longer
raise an exception when the font used inside the report template is not available at runtime. It will use a platform
dependent font instead of the missing font. It is highly likely that this default font that replaces the one specified
in the report template, comes with totally different font metrics and, as a consequence, all the layout calculations
made using this in-lieu font will be different then the ones used when the report was designed/previewed.
The most common side effect of this is that text content will no longer fit the specified text element height
and the text content will get cut off, not appearing in the generated document.
With the font check in place (as it is by default in JasperReports), all you need to do is to make sure you
are using only fonts that you ship with your reports, packaged as JasperReports font extensions (recommended),
or that you use fonts that you are sure will be available to the JVM where you deploy the reports
(Java logical fonts or system fonts).
Note that the use of Java logical fonts such as: Serif, SansSerif, Monospaced, Dialog, and DialogInput is not encouraged
with JasperReports. This is because while these fonts are always available to JVM, they are not physical fonts, but rather
virtual/logical fonts that are mapped to different physical fonts, depending on the local JVM configuration.
When using such a logical font in a report template, we are never sure which physical font will be used by the JVM,
and thus we are never sure about its font metrics either. The worse case happens when the report is designed/previewed on a machine
that maps the logical font on some small glyph font, but when the report is filled, on some other machine, the same logical
font is mapped to some other font, with bigger glyphs, and the text fill no longer fit the specified text element height,
resulting in the text being cut.
This is why we encourage our users to package up TTF files as font extensions, using built JasperReports font extension
support, and thus make sure the report template is deployed together with the fonts it needs to render properly.
Fonts used inside a report template should be considered as indispensable resources, just like image files and resource bundles.
Just as a report would not display properly if some required logo image is missing, the same way the report would not
display properly if some required font is missing as well. And just as the logo image is shipped with the report template,
the same way font files should be shipped as well.
For more details about working with JasperReports font extensions, check the JasperReports documentation and the samples
provided with the JasperReports project distribution package.