DOCUMENT:Q87115 12-MAY-2001 [win16sdk] TITLE :HOWTO: GetGlyphOutline() Native Buffer Format PRODUCT :Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit PROD/VER::3.1,3.5,3.51,4.0,95 OPER/SYS: KEYWORDS:kbOSWinNT350 kbOSWinNT351 kbOSWinNT400 kbOSWin95 kbSDKWin16 ====================================================================== ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The information in this article applies to: - Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit (SDK) 3.1 - Microsoft Win32 Application Programming Interface (API) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY ======= The GetGlyphOutline function provides a method for an application to retrieve the lowest-level information about a glyph in the TrueType environment. This article describes the format of the data the GetGlyphOutline function returns. MORE INFORMATION ================ A glyph outline is a series of contours that describe the glyph. Each contour is defined by a TTPOLYGONHEADER data structure, which is followed by as many TTPOLYCURVE data structures as are required to describe the contour. Each position is described by a POINTFX data structure, which represents an absolute position, not a relative position. The starting and ending point for the glyph is given by the pfxStart member of the TTPOLYGONHEADER data structure. The TTPOLYCURVE data structures fall into two types: a TT_PRIM_LINE record or a TT_PRIM_QSPLINE record. A TT_PRIM_LINE record is a series of points; lines drawn between the points describe the outline of the glyph. A TT_PRIM_QSPLINE record is a series of points defining the quadratic splines (q-splines) required to describe the outline of the character. In TrueType, a q-spline is defined by three points (A, B, and C), where points A and C are on the curve and point B is off the curve. The equation for each q-spline is as follows (xA represents the x-coordinate of point A, yA represents the y-coordinate of point A, and so on) x(t) = (xA-2xB+xC)*t^2 + (2xB-2xA)*t + xA y(t) = (yA-2yB+yC)*t^2 + (2yB-2yA)*t + yA where t varies from 0.0 to 1.0. The format of a TT_PRIM_QSPLINE record is as follows: - Point A on the q-spline is the current position (either pfxStart in the TTPOLYGONHEADER, the starting point for the TTPOLYCURVE, or the ending point of the previous TTPOLYCURVE). - Point B is the current point in the record. - Point C is as follows: - If the record has two or more points following point B, point C is the midpoint between point B and the next point in the record. - Otherwise, point C is the point following point B. The following code presents the algorithm used to process a TT_PRIM_QSPLINE record. While this code demonstrates how to extract q-splines from a TT_PRIM_QSPLINE record, it is not appropriate for use in an application. pfxA = pfxStart; // Starting point for this polygon for (u = 0; u < cpfx - 1; u++) // Walk through points in spline { pfxB = apfx[u]; // B is always the current point if (u < cpfx - 2) // If not on last spline, compute C { pfxC.x = (pfxB.x + apfx[u+1].x) / 2; // x midpoint pfxC.y = (pfxB.y + apfx[u+1].y) / 2; // y midpoint } else // Else, next point is C pfxC = apfx[u+1]; // Draw q-spline DrawQSpline(hdc, pfxA, pfxB, pfxC); pfxA = pfxC; // Update current point } The algorithm above manipulates points directly, using floating-point operators. However, points in q-spline records are stored in a FIXED data type. The following code demonstrates how to manipulate FIXED data items: FIXED fx; long *pl = (long *)&fx; // Perform all arithmetic on *pl rather than on fx *pl = *pl / 2; The following function converts a floating-point number into the FIXED representation: FIXED FixedFromDouble(double d) { long l; l = (long) (d * 65536L); return *(FIXED *)&l; } In a production application, rather than writing a DrawQSpline function to draw each q-spline individually, it is more efficient to calculate points on the q-spline and store them in an array of POINT data structures. When the calculations for a glyph are complete, pass the POINT array to the PolyPolygon function to draw and fill the glyph. The following example presents the data returned by the GetGlyphOutline for the lowercase "j" glyph in the 24-point Arial font of the 8514/a (Small Fonts) video driver: GetGlyphOutline GGO_NATIVE 'j' dwrc = 208 // Total native buffer size in bytes gmBlackBoxX, Y = 6, 29 // Dimensions of black part of glyph gmptGlyphOrigin = -1, 23 // Lower-left corner of glyph gmCellIncX, Y = 7, 0 // Vector to next glyph origin TTPOLYGONHEADER #1 // Contour for dot on "j" cb = 44 // Total size of dot polygon dwType = 24 // TT_POLYGON_TYPE pfxStart = 2.000, 20.000 // Start at lower-left corner of dot TTPOLYCURVE #1 wType = TT_PRIM_LINE cpfx = 3 pfx[0] = 2.000, 23.000 pfx[1] = 5.000, 23.000 pfx[2] = 5.000, 20.000 // Automatically close to pfxStart TTPOLYGONHEADER #2 // Contour for body of "j" cb = 164 // Total size is 164 bytes dwType = 24 // TT_POLYGON_TYPE pfxStart = -1.469, -5.641 TTPOLYCURVE #1 // Finish flat bottom end of "j" wType = TT_PRIM_LINE cpfx = 1 pfx[0] = -0.828, -2.813 TTPOLYCURVE #2 // Make hook in "j" with spline // Point A in spline is end of TTPOLYCURVE #1 wType = TT_PRIM_QSPLINE cpfx = 2 // two points in spline -> one curve pfx[0] = -0.047, -3.000 // This is point B in spline pfx[1] = 0.406, -3.000 // Last point is always point C TTPOLYCURVE #3 // Finish hook in "j" // Point A in spline is end of TTPOLYCURVE #2 wType = TT_PRIM_QSPLINE cpfx = 3 // Three points -> two splines pfx[0] = 1.219, -3.000 // Point B for first spline // Point C is (pfx[0] + pfx[1]) / 2 pfx[1] = 2.000, -1.906 // Point B for second spline pfx[2] = 2.000, 0.281 // Point C for second spline TTPOLYCURVE #4 // Majority of "j" outlined by this polyline wType = TT_PRIM_LINE cpfx = 3 pfx[0] = 2.000, 17.000 pfx[1] = 5.000, 17.000 pfx[2] = 5.000, -0.250 TTPOLYCURVE #5 // start of bottom of hook wType = TT_PRIM_QSPLINE cpfx = 2 // One spline in this polycurve pfx[0] = 5.000, -3.266 // Point B for spline pfx[1] = 4.188, -4.453 // Point C for spline TTPOLYCURVE #6 // Middle of bottom of hook wType = TT_PRIM_QSPLINE cpfx = 2 // One spline in this polycurve pfx[0] = 3.156, -6.000 // B for spline pfx[1] = 0.766, -6.000 // C for spline TTPOLYCURVE #7 // Finish bottom of hook and glyph wType = TT_PRIM_QSPLINE cpfx = 2 // One spline in this polycurve pfx[0] = -0.391, -6.000 // B for spline pfx[1] = -1.469, -5.641 // C for spline Additional query words: ====================================================================== Keywords : kbOSWinNT350 kbOSWinNT351 kbOSWinNT400 kbOSWin95 kbSDKWin16 Technology : kbAudDeveloper kbWin3xSearch kbSDKSearch kbWin32sSearch kbWin32API kbWinSDKSearch kbWinSDK310 Version : :3.1,3.5,3.51,4.0,95 Issue type : kbhowto ============================================================================= THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THE MICROSOFT KNOWLEDGE BASE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. 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