xlsfonts

xlsfonts [-options] [pattern]

-display displayname
    Specifies the X server to connect to.

-op modifier_list
    Lists font operators. Note: mostly deprecated

-l
    Lists long format, showing font properties in addition to the name.

-m
    Lists maximum useful size for each font. Note: mostly deprecated

-C
    Lists output in columns.

-1
    Lists output in one column (default).

pattern
    A wildcard pattern to filter the font list. Standard shell wildcard characters (*, ?, []) are allowed.

The `xlsfonts` command is a utility for listing the fonts available on an X Window System server. It retrieves font names from the server and prints them to standard output. This is useful for finding fonts that can be used by X applications and verifying that specific fonts are installed and accessible. The output is a simple list of font names, typically one font name per line. This command has been largely superseded by `xfontsel` and newer font management tools, but it remains a simple and direct way to get a list of available fonts. It allows to filter the fonts which match the pattern.

The output of `xlsfonts` can be very long, especially without a pattern specified. It relies on the X server and its font path configuration to determine available fonts. Modern systems may have moved to different font technologies (e.g., fontconfig), so this command might not reflect the entire set of fonts available to applications.

X font names typically follow a long, complex naming convention, such as `-foundry-family-weight-slant-width-style-pixels-point-resolutionX-resolutionY-spacing-averageWidth-charset-encoding`. Understanding this naming scheme is essential for interpreting the output of `xlsfonts` and selecting appropriate fonts for your applications.
This is an example of font name:
-adobe-helvetica-medium-r-normal--12-120-75-75-p-67-iso8859-1

The pattern argument allows you to filter the font list using wildcards. For example, `xlsfonts *helvetica*` will list all fonts with "helvetica" in their name. `xlsfonts -C *helvetica*` would provide same result in multiple columns.

xfontsel(1), xset(1)