The J2SE 5.0 spec states for Font.getFont(String):
"Returns a Font object from the system properties list. nm is treated as the name of a system property
 to be obtained. The String value of this property is then interpreted as a Font object according to the
 specification of Font.decode(String) If the specified property is not found, null is returned instead."

This method may return null if the property is not found, however if the property does exist and
there is no java.util.PropertyPermission "*", "read" the getFont would still return null. The spec
for the getFont method does not require this permission to function properly, so the implementaion
does not follow the spec. Actually, it seems to be a specification issue. Since the method explicitly
mentions the system properties list then it is necessary to describe behavior in the constraint
environment: throws SecurityException or explicitly specify null return value for no permission case.

The follow sample code demonstrates incorrect behavior:
----------------- TestFont.java ---------------
import java.awt.Font;

public class TestFont {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        new TestFont().test();
    }


    private void test() {
        String name = "NewFont";

        System.setProperty(name, "BoldFont-bolditalic-10");
        System.out.println(Font.getFont(name));
    }
}
---------------------------------------------------
--------------- test.polcy ------------------------
grant{
// permission java.util.PropertyPermission "*", "read";
  permission java.util.PropertyPermission "*", "write";
};
---------------------------------------------------
#java -version
java version "1.5.0_02"
Java(TM) 2 Runtime Environment, Standard Edition (build 1.5.0_02-b09)
Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (build 1.5.0_02-b09, mixed mode, sharing)
#java -Djava.security.manager -Djava.security.policy==test.policy -cp . TestFont
null

###@###.### 2005-05-16 05:50:02 GMT