GDI Tools - Fonts

HGDIOBJ SelectObject(HDC hdc, HGDIOBJ hgdiobj);

HFONT CreateFont(
  int nHeight,               
  int nWidth,                
  int nEscapement,           
  int nOrientation,          
  int fnWeight,              
  DWORD fdwItalic,           
  DWORD fdwUnderline,        
  DWORD fdwStrikeOut,
  DWORD fdwCharSet,
  DWORD fdwOutputPrecision,
  DWORD fdwClipPrecision,
  DWORD fdwQuality,
  DWORD fdwPitchAndFamily,
  LPCTSTR lpszFace
);

Here is an example:

#include <windows.h>

LRESULT CALLBACK WindProcedure(HWND hWnd, UINT Msg, WPARAM wParam, LPARAM lParam);

INT WINAPI WinMain(HINSTANCE hInstance, HINSTANCE hPrevInstance,
                   LPSTR lpCmdLine, int nCmdShow)
{
    WNDCLASSEX  WndCls;
    static char szAppName[] = "ExoFont";
    MSG         Msg;

    WndCls.cbSize        = sizeof(WndCls);
    WndCls.style         = CS_OWNDC | CS_VREDRAW | CS_HREDRAW;
    WndCls.lpfnWndProc   = WindProcedure;
    WndCls.cbClsExtra    = 0;
    WndCls.cbWndExtra    = 0;
    WndCls.hInstance     = hInstance;
    WndCls.hIcon         = LoadIcon(NULL, IDI_APPLICATION);
    WndCls.hCursor       = LoadCursor(NULL, IDC_ARROW);
    WndCls.hbrBackground = (HBRUSH)GetStockObject(WHITE_BRUSH);
    WndCls.lpszMenuName  = NULL;
    WndCls.lpszClassName = szAppName;
    WndCls.hIconSm       = LoadIcon(hInstance, IDI_APPLICATION);
    RegisterClassEx(&WndCls);

    CreateWindowEx(WS_EX_OVERLAPPEDWINDOW,
                   szAppName, "Fonts Fundamentals",
                   WS_OVERLAPPEDWINDOW | WS_VISIBLE,
                   CW_USEDEFAULT, CW_USEDEFAULT, 450, 220,
                   NULL, NULL, hInstance, NULL);

    while( GetMessage(&Msg, NULL, 0, 0) )
    {
        TranslateMessage(&Msg);
        DispatchMessage( &Msg);
    }

    return static_cast<int>(Msg.wParam);
}

LRESULT CALLBACK WindProcedure(HWND hWnd, UINT Msg,
                               WPARAM wParam, LPARAM lParam)
{
    HDC         hDC;
    PAINTSTRUCT Ps;
    HFONT	    font;

    switch(Msg)
    {
    case WM_PAINT:
	hDC = BeginPaint(hWnd, &Ps);
		
         font = CreateFont(46, 28, 215, 0,
                           FW_NORMAL, FALSE, FALSE, FALSE,
                           ANSI_CHARSET, OUT_DEFAULT_PRECIS,
		         CLIP_DEFAULT_PRECIS, DEFAULT_QUALITY,
		         DEFAULT_PITCH | FF_ROMAN,
			"Times New Roman");

        SelectObject(hDC, font);
        TextOut(hDC, 20, 128, "Euzhan Palcy", 12);
        DeleteObject(font);

	EndPaint(hWnd, &Ps);
	break;
    case WM_DESTROY:
	PostQuitMessage(WM_QUIT);
	break;
    default:
	return DefWindowProc(hWnd, Msg, wParam, lParam);
    }
    return 0;
}

Remember that once an object such as a font has been selected, it remains in the device context until further notice. For example, if you have created and selected a font, any text you draw would follow the characteristics of that font. If you want another font, you must change the previously selected font.

The computer uses the default black color to draw the text. If you want to draw text with a different color, you can first call the SetTextColor() function and specify the color of your choice.

The CreateFont() function is used to specify all characteristics of a font in one step. Alternatively, if you want to specify each font property, you can declare a LOGFONT variable and initialize it. It is defined as follows:

typedef struct tagLOGFONT { 
LONG lfHeight; 
LONG lfWidth; 
LONG lfEscapement; 
LONG lfOrientation; 
LONG lfWeight; 
BYTE lfItalic; 
BYTE lfUnderline; 
BYTE lfStrikeOut; 
BYTE lfCharSet; 
BYTE lfOutPrecision; 
BYTE lfClipPrecision; 
BYTE lfQuality; 
BYTE lfPitchAndFamily; 
TCHAR lfFaceName[LF_FACESIZE]; 
} LOGFONT, *PLOGFONT;

This time, you do not have to provide a value for each member of the structure and even if you do, you can supply values in the order of your choice. For any member whose value is not specified, the compiler would use a default value but you may not like some the result. Therefore, you should specify as many values as possible.

After initializing the LOGFONT variable, call the CreateFontIndirect() function. Its syntax is:

BOOL CreateFontIndirect(const LOGFONT* lpLogFont);

When calling this member function, pass the LOGFONT variable as a pointer, lpLogFont.

To select the newly created font, call the SelectObject() function. Once done, you can use the new font as you see fit. Here is an example:

LRESULT CALLBACK WindProcedure(HWND hWnd, UINT Msg,
                               WPARAM wParam, LPARAM lParam)
{
    HDC         hDC;
    PAINTSTRUCT Ps;
    HFONT	    font;
    LOGFONT LogFont;

    switch(Msg)
    {
    case WM_PAINT:
	hDC = BeginPaint(hWnd, &Ps);
		        
        LogFont.lfStrikeOut = 0;
        LogFont.lfUnderline = 0;
        LogFont.lfHeight = 42;
        LogFont.lfEscapement = 0;
        LogFont.lfItalic = TRUE;

        font = CreateFontIndirect(&LogFont);
        SelectObject(hDC, font);
        TextOut(hDC, 20, 18, "James Kolowski", 14);

        DeleteObject(font);

	EndPaint(hWnd, &Ps);
	break;
    case WM_DESTROY:
	PostQuitMessage(WM_QUIT);
	break;
    default:
	return DefWindowProc(hWnd, Msg, wParam, lParam);
    }
    return 0;
}

If some text is displaying and you want to get the font properties of that text, you can call the GetObject() function. Its syntax is:

int GetObject(HGDIOBJ hgdiobj, int cbBuffer, LPVOID lpvObject);