[Pidgin] #604: Some characters appear as boxes with numbers in them

[Pidgin]

#604: Some characters appear as boxes with numbers in them
----------------------------------+-----------------------------------------
 Reporter:  PSyMastR              |        Owner:  datallah       
     Type:  defect                |       Status:  new            
Milestone:                        |    Component:  winpidgin (gtk)
  Version:  2.0                   |   Resolution:                 
 Keywords:  font text boxes dice  |  
----------------------------------+-----------------------------------------

Comment(by davinns):

 @hueykam: your solution works for me but only for the chat window. In the
 message history window, the chars still display as blocks.

 Finally I have a solution. Here is my story:

 Since only messages from some but not all contacts displayed as blocks, I
 thought they might set their fonts to which my system doesn't know. By
 opening the historical message folder (clicking a button on the message
 history window) I found some HTML files, then I opened one file with a
 text editor (e.g. notepad), in the file I saw the messages were formatted
 like this:

 <font color="#A82F2F"><font size="2">(15:49:18)</font> <b>My
 Friend</b></font> <span style='font-family: Microsoft Sans Serif;'><span
 style='color: #000080;'>some text</span></span><br/>

 From above line I knew my friend was using the 'Microsoft Sans Serif'
 font, then I add it to pango.aliases:

 "Microsoft Sans Serif" = "simsun"

 Finally it works for both chat window and message history window.

 My friend uses Simplified Chinese, so I set it to "simsun". For those who
 use Traditional Chinese or Japanese or other languages, they may need to
 set it to other font.

 Wish this solution helps.

 Replying to [comment:57 hueykam]:
 > In addition to that, change your font to some Unicode font (eg Arial
 Unicode) or some other font which supports the language you use.
 >
 > Replying to [comment:56 hueykam]:
 > > I have not use Pidgin for a while because I am now using Mac.
 > > But have u tried this yet:
 > >
 > > Preferences -> Conversation Tab. Uncheck the first checkbox "Show
 formatting on incoming messages". This will display your own font instead
 of the font that the other side specify.
 > >
 > > Let us know if this work?

-- 
Ticket URL: <http://developer.pidgin.im/ticket/604#comment:65>
Pidgin <http://pidgin.im>
Pidgin