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[Win32] Emojis not displayed in text string when GC.setAdvanced(true) #3581
Description
Describe the bug
On Windows when GC.setAdvanced(true) an emoji is displayed as a square box.
To Reproduce
Run the Snippet below. Set e.gc.setAdvanced(false); to see the emoji.
import org.eclipse.swt.graphics.Color;
import org.eclipse.swt.layout.FillLayout;
import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Display;
import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Shell;
public class EmojiTest {
public static void main(String[] args) {
final Display display = new Display();
final Shell shell = new Shell(display);
shell.setText("SWT Test");
shell.setLayout(new FillLayout());
shell.setSize(300, 250);
shell.setBackground(new Color(255, 255, 255));
String emoji = Character.toString(0x1F600);
shell.addPaintListener(e -> {
e.gc.setAdvanced(true);
e.gc.drawText("Hello World " + emoji, 20, 50);
});
shell.open();
while(!shell.isDisposed()) {
if(!display.readAndDispatch()) {
display.sleep();
}
}
display.dispose();
}
}Expected behavior
Should see the emoji when advanced mode is true
Screenshots
With advanced mode false:
With advanced mode true:
Environment:
- Select the platform(s) on which the behavior is seen:
-
- All OS
-
- Windows
-
- Linux
-
- macOS
- Additional OS info (e.g. OS version, Linux Desktop, etc)
Windows 11
Java 21
Activity
HeikoKlare commentedon Sep 10, 2026
We see more and more flaws with GDI+. We also have to roll back the text layouting with GDI+ because of limitations with respect to text kerning:
And there is no chance that anything improves, as Microsoft considers GDI and GDI+ as legacy with Direct2D being a more modern successor: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/learnwin32/overview-of-the-windows-graphics-architecture
I have no idea how much effort adopting Direct2D for SWT advanced mode may be, but it could be worth giving a try (with the help of an AI agent).
So I am not sure if there a solution for the reported issue. A quick search just revealed that "Segoe UI Emoji" seems to be the only font for emojis with GDI+.
Phillipus commentedon Sep 10, 2026
@HeikoKlare Understood. Thanks for the feedback.
laeubi commentedon Sep 10, 2026
I once made a little experiment moving to direct2d/directx and it seems doable but nothing for one weekend :-)
laeubi commentedon Sep 10, 2026
I've proposed this work item to the IDE-WG Development Funding Initiative for potential funding:
Please keep expectations in check — funding decisions and subsequent work will likely take some time. That said, anyone interested in helping move this forward is of course welcome, and funding from outside the IDE-WG program is always appreciated too. And if you'd like to have a direct say in prioritizing efforts like this one, consider joining the IDE-WG!
Phillipus commentedon Sep 11, 2026
Would the Skia Initiative 31 solve the problem of GDI?
HeikoKlare commentedon Sep 11, 2026
I have not tried but I am confident that Skia is able to render emojis.
Phillipus commentedon Sep 11, 2026
Sorry, I meant would Skia Initiative 31 solve all the problems of GDI and GDi+ rather than porting to Direct2D?
HeikoKlare commentedon Sep 11, 2026
It would solve issues regarding performance, and it would probably not have the issues we have discussed for GDI+ recently (such as strange text layouting and kerning, missing capability to render some symbols). But we do of course not have a "complete" list of known issue with GDI and GDI+. And adopting Skia will introduce other challenges, like third-party dependencies with maintenance effort, maybe other technical limitations and the like. I am still convinced that the benefits would outweigh that, but there is of course also some cost coming with it. See also the PR for the Skia integration: