Testing all available fonts

Question

I need to display some very small numbers in my document (3-5 pt). I want to test out all available fonts within my installation at this size, to find which produces the most readable numbers. Is there a simple way to produce this output (i.e. generate a document which contains a sample text displayed in all fonts at the specified size)??

Answer 1

The following ConTeXt/LuaTeX solution prints a pdf with all available fonts in the font size 4pt. Beware: It takes a long time to process and consumes lots of memory.

Edit: I replaced the ugly unix command dependency of cut with a lua solution.

\def\sample{Some Sample text\crlf}
\def\testfont#1{\definedfont[name:#1 at 4pt] #1: \sample}

\starttext

\executesystemcommand {mtxrun --script fonts --list --all --pattern=* > \jobname.filelist}
\startluacode
    myfile = assert(io.open('\jobname.filelist', 'r'))
    for line in myfile:lines() do
        local first, second, third = line:match '(%S+)'
        if first~= nil then
            context('\\testfont{')
            context(line)
            context('}')
        end
    end
    myfile:close()
\stopluacode

\stoptext

This is a screenshot of the first few fonts:

Edit:

Unfortunately there is no method for reading the database directly from within Lua (see: How do I get a list of all available fonts for luaotfload). You either have to use an external command or read in the database file (otlf-names.lua for LaTeX). Neither solution is optimal.