SDL_ttf 2.0.7

1. Overview

The README from the SDL_ttf distribution

2. Getting Started

Using SDL_ttf

3. Functions		Functions supported by the SDL_ttf API
4. Types		Types used with the SDL_ttf API
5. Defines		Defined values/macros in the SDL_ttf API

6. Glossary

Terms used in this document

Index

Index of selected words

1. Overview

I am currently, as I write this document, a programmer for Raytheon. There I do all sorts of communications, network, GUI, and other general programming tasks in C/C++ on the Solaris and sometimes Linux Operating Systems. I've used SDL_ttf as one of the many methods of putting text on my SDL applications, and use it in my own SDL GUI code as well. While this document doesn't explain how and where to get fonts to use, it will explain how to use them with SDL_ttf.

Feel free to contact me: jcatki@jcatki.no-ip.org

The latest version of this library is available from:
SDL_ttf Homepage

I am also usually on IRC at irc.freenode.net in the #SDL channel as LIM

This is the README in the SDL_ttf source archive.

This library is a wrapper around the excellent FreeType 1.2 library, available at: Freetype Homepage WARNING: There may be patent issues with using the FreeType library. Check the FreeType website for up-to-date details. This library allows you to use TrueType fonts to render text in SDL applications. To make the library, first install the FreeType library, then type 'make' to build the SDL truetype library and 'make all' to build the demo application. Be careful when including fonts with your application, as many of them are copyrighted. The Microsoft fonts, for example, are not freely redistributable and even the free "web" fonts they provide are only redistributable in their special executable installer form (May 1998). There are plenty of freeware and shareware fonts available on the Internet though, and may suit your purposes. Please see the file "COPYING" for license information for this library. Enjoy! -Sam Lantinga slouken@devolution.com (5/1/98)

2. Getting Started

This assumes you have gotten SDL_ttf and installed it on your system. SDL_ttf has an INSTALL document in the source distribution to help you get it compiled and installed.

Generally, installation consists of:

./configure make make install

SDL_ttf supports loading fonts from TrueType font files, normally ending in .ttf, though some .fon files are also valid for use. Note that most fonts are copyrighted, check the license on the font before you use and redistribute.

Some free font sources are:

• Free UCS Outline Fonts
• Fonthead Design
• Bitstream Vera Fonts
• FreeUniFont
• 1001 Fonts
• Google!

You may also want to look at some demonstration code which may be downloaded from:
http://jcatki.no-ip.org/SDL_ttf/

2.1 Includes		The include files to use for SDL_ttf
2.2 Compiling		Using the SDL_ttf library and header file.

2.1 Includes

To use SDL_ttf functions in a C/C++ source code file, you must use the SDL_ttf.h include file:

#include "SDL_ttf.h"

2.2 Compiling

To link with SDL_ttf you should use sdl-config to get the required SDL compilation options. After that, compiling with SDL_ttf is quite easy.
Note: Some systems may not have the SDL_ttf library and include file in the same place as the SDL library and includes are located, in that case you will need to add more -I and -L paths to these command lines.

Simple Example for compiling an object file: cc -c `sdl-config --cflags` mysource.c Simple Example for compiling an object file: cc -o myprogram mysource.o `sdl-config --libs` -lSDL_ttf

Now myprogram is ready to run.

3. Functions

These are the functions in the SDL_ttf API.

3.1 General		API activation, info, and error handling
3.2 Management		Loading fonts from files or memory
3.3 Attributes		Getting and Setting font attributes
3.4 Render		Drawing strings and glyphs with a font

3.1 General

These functions are useful, as they are the only/best ways to work with SDL_ttf.

Info

3.1.1 TTF_Linked_Version

Get version number

Activation

3.1.2 TTF_Init		Initialize API
3.1.3 TTF_WasInit		Query API initialization status
3.1.4 TTF_Quit		Cleanup API

Errors

3.1.5 TTF_SetError		Set the current error string
3.1.6 TTF_GetError		Get the current error string

3.1.1 TTF_Linked_Version

const SDL_version *TTF_Linked_Version()
void TTF_VERSION(SDL_version *compile_version)

This works similar to SDL_Linked_Version and SDL_VERSION.
Using these you can compare the runtime version to the version that you compiled with.

SDL_version compile_version, *link_version; TTF_VERSION(&compile_version); printf("compiled with SDL_ttf version: %d.%d.%d\n", compile_version.major, compile_version.minor, compile_version.patch); link_version=TTF_Linked_Version(); printf("running with SDL_ttf version: %d.%d.%d\n", link_version->major, link_version->minor, link_version->patch);

See Also:
3.1.2 TTF_Init

3.1.2 TTF_Init

int TTF_Init()

Initialize the truetype font API.
This must be called before using other functions in this library, excepting TTF_WasInit.
SDL does not have to be initialized before this call.

Returns: 0 on success, -1 on errors

if(TTF_Init()==-1) { printf("TTF_Init: %s\n", TTF_GetError()); exit(2); }

See Also:
3.1.4 TTF_Quit, 3.1.3 TTF_WasInit

3.1.3 TTF_WasInit

int TTF_WasInit()

Query the initilization status of the truetype font API.
You may, of course, use this before TTF_Init to avoid initilizing twice in a row. Or use this to determine if you need to call TTF_Quit.

if(!TTF_WasInit() && TTF_Init()==-1) { printf("TTF_Init: %s\n", TTF_GetError()); exit(1); }

See Also:
3.1.2 TTF_Init, 3.1.4 TTF_Quit

3.1.4 TTF_Quit

void TTF_Quit()

Shutdown and cleanup the truetype font API.
After calling this the SDL_ttf functions should not be used, excepting TTF_WasInit. You may, of course, use TTF_Init to use the functionality again.

TTF_Quit(); // you could SDL_Quit(); here...or not.

See Also:
3.1.2 TTF_Init, 3.1.3 TTF_WasInit

3.1.5 TTF_SetError

void TTF_SetError(const char *fmt, ...)

This is the same as SDL_SetError, which sets the error string which may be fetched with TTF_GetError (or SDL_GetError). This functions acts like printf, except that it is limited to SDL_ERRBUFIZE(1024) chars in length. It only accepts the following format types: %s, %d, %f, %p. No variations are supported, like %.2f would not work. For any more specifics read the SDL docs.

int myfunc(int i) { TTF_SetError("myfunc is not implemented! %d was passed in.",i); return(-1); }

See Also:
3.1.6 TTF_GetError

3.1.6 TTF_GetError

char *TTF_GetError()

This is the same as SDL_GetError, which returns the last error set as a string which you may use to tell the user what happened when an error status has been returned from an SDL_ttf function call.

Returns: a char pointer (string) containing a human readable version or the reason for the last error that occured.

printf("Oh My Goodness, an error : %s", TTF_GetError());

See Also:
3.1.5 TTF_SetError

3.2 Management

These functions deal with loading and freeing a TTF_Font.

Loading

3.2.1 TTF_OpenFont		From a file
3.2.2 TTF_OpenFontRW		Using RWops
3.2.3 TTF_OpenFontIndex		From a file, with an index
3.2.4 TTF_OpenFontIndexRW		From memory, with an index

Freeing

3.2.5 TTF_CloseFont

Free a loaded font

3.2.1 TTF_OpenFont

TTF_Font *TTF_OpenFont(const char *file, int ptsize)

file

File name to load font from.

ptsize

Point size (based on 72DPI) to load font as. This basically translates to pixel height.

Load file for use as a font, at ptsize size. This is actually TTF_OpenFontIndex(file, ptsize, 0). This can load TTF and FON files.

Returns: a pointer to the font as a TTF_Font. NULL is returned on errors.

// load font.ttf at size 16 into font TTF_Font *font; font=TTF_OpenFont("font.ttf", 16); if(!font) { printf("TTF_OpenFont: %s\n", TTF_GetError()); // handle error }

See Also:
3.2.3 TTF_OpenFontIndex, 3.2.2 TTF_OpenFontRW, 3.2.5 TTF_CloseFont

3.2.2 TTF_OpenFontRW

TTF_Font *TTF_OpenFontRW(SDL_RWops *src, int freesrc, int ptsize)

src

The source SDL_RWops as a pointer. The font is loaded from this.

freesrc

A non-zero value mean is will automatically close/free the src for you.

ptsize

Point size (based on 72DPI) to load font as. This basically translates to pixel height.

Load src for use as a font, at ptsize size. This is actually TTF_OpenFontIndexRW(src, freesrc, ptsize, 0) This can load TTF and FON formats. Using SDL_RWops is not covered here, but they enable you to load from almost any source.

NOTE: src is not checked for NULL, so be careful.

Returns: a pointer to the font as a TTF_Font. NULL is returned on errors.

// load font.ttf at size 16 into font TTF_Font *font; font=TTF_OpenFontRW(SDL_RWFromFile("font.ttf"), 1, 16); if(!font) { printf("TTF_OpenFontRW: %s\n", TTF_GetError()); // handle error }

Note that this is unsafe because we don't check the validity of the SDL_RWFromFile's returned pointer.

See Also:
3.2.4 TTF_OpenFontIndexRW, 3.2.1 TTF_OpenFont, 3.2.5 TTF_CloseFont

3.2.3 TTF_OpenFontIndex

TTF_Font *TTF_OpenFontIndex(const char *file, int ptsize, long index)

file

File name to load font from.

ptsize

Point size (based on 72DPI) to load font as. This basically translates to pixel height.

index

choose a font face from a multiple font face containing file. The first face is always index 0.

Load file, face index, for use as a font, at ptsize size. This is actually TTF_OpenFontIndexRW(SDL_RWFromFile(file), ptsize, index), but checks that the RWops it creates is not NULL. This can load TTF and FON files.

Returns: a pointer to the font as a TTF_Font. NULL is returned on errors.

// load font.ttf, face 0, at size 16 into font TTF_Font *font; font=TTF_OpenFontIndex("font.ttf", 16, 0); if(!font) { printf("TTF_OpenFontIndex: %s\n", TTF_GetError()); // handle error }

See Also:
3.2.4 TTF_OpenFontIndexRW, 3.2.1 TTF_OpenFont, 3.2.5 TTF_CloseFont

3.2.4 TTF_OpenFontIndexRW

TTF_Font *TTF_OpenFontIndexRW(SDL_RWops *src, int freesrc, int ptsize, long index)

src

The source SDL_RWops as a pointer. The font is loaded from this.

freesrc

A non-zero value mean is will automatically close/free the src for you.

ptsize

Point size (based on 72DPI) to load font as. This basically translates to pixel height.

index

choose a font face from a multiple font face containing file. The first face is always index 0.

Load src, face index, for use as a font, at ptsize size. This can load TTF and FON formats.
Using SDL_RWops is not covered here, but they enable you to load from almost any source.

NOTE: src is not checked for NULL, so be careful.

Returns: a pointer to the font as a TTF_Font. NULL is returned on errors.

// load font.ttf, face 0, at size 16 into font TTF_Font *font; font=TTF_OpenFontRW(SDL_RWFromFile("font.ttf"), 1, 16, 0); if(!font) { printf("TTF_OpenFontIndexRW: %s\n", TTF_GetError()); // handle error }

Note that this is unsafe because we don't check the validity of the SDL_RWFromFile's returned pointer.

See Also:
3.2.3 TTF_OpenFontIndex, 3.2.2 TTF_OpenFontRW, 3.2.5 TTF_CloseFont

3.2.5 TTF_CloseFont

void TTF_CloseFont(TTF_Font *font)

font

Pointer to the TTF_Font to free.

Free the memory used by font, and free font itself as well. Do not use font after this without loading a new font to it.

// free the font // TTF_Font *font; TTF_CloseFont(font); font=NULL; // to be safe...

See Also:
3.2.1 TTF_OpenFont, 3.2.2 TTF_OpenFontRW, 3.2.3 TTF_OpenFontIndex, 3.2.4 TTF_OpenFontIndexRW

3.3 Attributes

These functions deal with TTF_Font, and global, attributes.

See the end of 3.3.12 TTF_GlyphMetrics for info on how the metrics work.

Global Attributes

3.3.1 TTF_ByteSwappedUNICODE

Set default UNICODE byte swapping mode

Font Style

3.3.2 TTF_GetFontStyle		Get font render style
3.3.3 TTF_SetFontStyle		Set font render style

Font Metrics

3.3.4 TTF_FontHeight		Get font maximum total height
3.3.5 TTF_FontAscent		Get font highest ascent (height above base)
3.3.6 TTF_FontDescent		Get font lowest descent (height below base)
3.3.7 TTF_FontLineSkip		Get font recommended line spacing

Face Attributes

3.3.8 TTF_FontFaces		Get the number of faces in a font
3.3.9 TTF_FontFaceIsFixedWidth		Get whether font is monospaced or not
3.3.10 TTF_FontFaceFamilyName		Get current font face family name string
3.3.11 TTF_FontFaceStyleName		Get current font face style name string

Glyph Metrics

3.3.12 TTF_GlyphMetrics

Get individual font glyph metrics

Text Metrics

3.3.13 TTF_SizeText		Get size of LATIN1 text string as would be rendered
3.3.14 TTF_SizeUTF8		Get size of UTF8 text string as would be rendered
3.3.15 TTF_SizeUNICODE		Get size of UNICODE text string as would be rendered

3.3.1 TTF_ByteSwappedUNICODE

void TTF_ByteSwappedUNICODE(int swapped)

swapped

if non-zero then UNICODE data is byte swapped relative to the CPU's native endianess.
if zero, then do not swap UNICODE data, use the CPU's native endianess.

This function tells SDL_ttf whether UNICODE (Uint16 per character) text is generally byteswapped. A UNICODE_BOM_NATIVE or UNICODE_BOM_SWAPPED character in a string will temporarily override this setting for the remainder of that string, however this setting will be restored for the next one. The default mode is non-swapped, native endianess of the CPU.

// Turn on byte swapping for UNICODE text TTF_ByteSwappedUNICODE(1);

See Also:
5. Defines

3.3.2 TTF_GetFontStyle

int TTF_GetFontStyle(TTF_Font *font)

font

The loaded font to get the style of

Get the rendering style of the loaded font.

NOTE: Passing a NULL font into this function will cause a segfault.

Returns: The style as a bitmask composed of the following masks:
TTF_STYLE_BOLD
TTF_STYLE_ITALIC
TTF_STYLE_UNDERLINE
If no style is set then TTF_STYLE_NORMAL is returned.

// get the loaded font's style //TTF_Font *font; int style; style=TTF_GetFontStyle(font); printf("The font style is:"); if(style==TTF_STYLE_NORMAL) printf(" normal"); else { if(style&TTF_STYLE_BOLD) printf(" bold"); if(style&TTF_STYLE_ITALIC) printf(" italic"); if(style&TTF_STYLE_UNDERLINE) printf(" underline"); } printf("\n");

See Also:
3.3.3 TTF_SetFontStyle,
5. Defines

3.3.3 TTF_SetFontStyle

void TTF_SetFontStyle(TTF_Font *font, int style)

font

The loaded font to get the style of

style

A bitmask of the desired style composed from the TTF_STYLE_* defined values

Set the rendering style of the loaded font.

NOTE: Passing a NULL font into this function will cause a segfault.

NOTE: This will flush the internal cache of previously rendered glyphs, even if there is no change in style, so it may be best to check the current style using TTF_GetFontStyle first.

NOTE: I've seen that combining TTF_STYLE_UNDERLINE with anything can cause a segfault, other combinations may also do this. Some brave soul may find the cause of this and fix it...

// set the loaded font's style to bold italics //TTF_Font *font; TTF_SetFontStyle(font, TTF_STYLE_BOLD|TTF_STYLE_ITALIC); // render some text in bold italics... // set the loaded font's style back to normal TTF_SetFontStyle(font, TTF_STYLE_NORMAL);

See Also:
3.3.2 TTF_GetFontStyle,
5. Defines

3.3.4 TTF_FontHeight

int TTF_FontHeight(TTF_Font *font)

font

The loaded font to get the max height of

Get the maximum pixel height of all glyphs of the loaded font. You may use this height for rendering text as close together vertically as possible, though adding at least one pixel height to it will space it so they can't touch. Remember that SDL_ttf doesn't handle multiline printing, so you are responsible for line spacing, see the TTF_FontLineSkip as well.

NOTE: Passing a NULL font into this function will cause a segfault.

Returns: The maximum pixel height of all glyphs in the font.

// get the loaded font's max height //TTF_Font *font; printf("The font max height is: %d\n", TTF_FontHeight(font));

See Also:
3.3.5 TTF_FontAscent,
3.3.6 TTF_FontDescent,
3.3.7 TTF_FontLineSkip,
3.3.12 TTF_GlyphMetrics

3.3.5 TTF_FontAscent

int TTF_FontAscent(TTF_Font *font)

font

The loaded font to get the ascent (height above baseline) of

Get the maximum pixel ascent of all glyphs of the loaded font. This can also be interpreted as the distance from the top of the font to the baseline.
It could be used when drawing an individual glyph relative to a top point, by combining it with the glyph's maxy metric to resolve the top of the rectangle used when blitting the glyph on the screen.

rect.y = top + TTF_FontAscent(font) - glyph_metric.maxy;

NOTE: Passing a NULL font into this function will cause a segfault.

Returns: The maximum pixel ascent of all glyphs in the font.

// get the loaded font's max ascent //TTF_Font *font; printf("The font ascent is: %d\n", TTF_FontAscent(font));

See Also:
3.3.4 TTF_FontHeight,
3.3.6 TTF_FontDescent,
3.3.7 TTF_FontLineSkip,
3.3.12 TTF_GlyphMetrics

3.3.6 TTF_FontDescent

int TTF_FontDescent(TTF_Font *font)

font

The loaded font to get the descent (height below baseline) of

Get the maximum pixel descent of all glyphs of the loaded font. This can also be interpreted as the distance from the baseline to the bottom of the font.
It could be used when drawing an individual glyph relative to a bottom point, by combining it with the glyph's maxy metric to resolve the top of the rectangle used when blitting the glyph on the screen.

rect.y = bottom - TTF_FontDescent(font) - glyph_metric.maxy;

NOTE: Passing a NULL font into this function will cause a segfault.

Returns: The maximum pixel height of all glyphs in the font.

// get the loaded font's max descent //TTF_Font *font; printf("The font descent is: %d\n", TTF_FontDescent(font));

See Also:
3.3.4 TTF_FontHeight,
3.3.5 TTF_FontAscent,
3.3.7 TTF_FontLineSkip,
3.3.12 TTF_GlyphMetrics

3.3.7 TTF_FontLineSkip

int TTF_FontLineSkip(TTF_Font *font)

font

The loaded font to get the line skip height of

Get the reccomended pixel height of a rendered line of text of the loaded font. This is usually larger than the TTF_FontHeight of the font.

NOTE: Passing a NULL font into this function will cause a segfault.

Returns: The maximum pixel height of all glyphs in the font.

// get the loaded font's max descent //TTF_Font *font; printf("The font descent is: %d\n", TTF_FontDescent(font));

See Also:
3.3.4 TTF_FontHeight,
3.3.5 TTF_FontAscent,
3.3.6 TTF_FontDescent,
3.3.12 TTF_GlyphMetrics

3.3.8 TTF_FontFaces

long TTF_FontFaces(TTF_Font *font)

font

The loaded font to get the number of available faces from.

Get the number of faces ("sub-fonts") available in the loaded font. This is a count of the number of specific fonts (based on size and style and ???) contained in the font itself. It seems to be a useless fact to know, since it can't be applied in any other SDL_ttf functions.
NOTE: Passing a NULL font into this function will cause a segfault.

Returns: The number of faces in the font.

// get the loaded font's number of faces //TTF_Font *font; printf("The number of faces in the font is: %ld\n", TTF_FontFaces(font));

See Also:
3.3.9 TTF_FontFaceIsFixedWidth,
3.3.10 TTF_FontFaceFamilyName,
3.3.11 TTF_FontFaceStyleName

3.3.9 TTF_FontFaceIsFixedWidth

int TTF_FontFaceIsFixedWidth(TTF_Font *font)

font

The loaded font to get the fixed width status of.

Test if the current font face of the loaded font is a fixed width font. Fixed width fonts are monospace, meaning every character that exists in the font is the same width, thus you can assume that a rendered string's width is going to be the result of a simple calculation:
glyph_width * string_length
NOTE: Passing a NULL font into this function will cause a segfault.

Returns: >0 if font is a fixed width font. 0 if not a fixed width font.

// get the loaded font's face fixed status //TTF_Font *font; if(TTF_FontFaceIsFixedWidth(font)) printf("The font is fixed width.\n"); else printf("The font is not fixed width.\n");

See Also:
3.3.8 TTF_FontFaces,
3.3.10 TTF_FontFaceFamilyName,
3.3.11 TTF_FontFaceStyleName,
3.3.12 TTF_GlyphMetrics

3.3.10 TTF_FontFaceFamilyName

char * TTF_FontFaceFamilyName(TTF_Font *font)

font

The loaded font to get the current face family name of.

Get the current font face family name from the loaded font. This function may return a NULL pointer, in which case the information is not available.
NOTE: Passing a NULL font into this function will cause a segfault.

Returns: The current family name of of the face of the font, or NULL perhaps.

// get the loaded font's face name //TTF_Font *font; char *familyname=TTF_FontFaceFamilyName(font); if(familyname) printf("The family name of the face in the font is: %s\n", familyname);

See Also:
3.3.8 TTF_FontFaces,
3.3.9 TTF_FontFaceIsFixedWidth,
3.3.11 TTF_FontFaceStyleName

3.3.11 TTF_FontFaceStyleName

char * TTF_FontFaceStyleName(TTF_Font *font)

font

The loaded font to get the current face style name of.

Get the current font face style name from the loaded font. This function may return a NULL pointer, in which case the information is not available.
NOTE: Passing a NULL font into this function will cause a segfault.

Returns: The current style name of of the face of the font, or NULL perhaps.

// get the loaded font's face style name //TTF_Font *font; char *stylename=TTF_FontFaceStyleName(font); if(stylename) printf("The name of the face in the font is: %s\n", stylename);

See Also:
3.3.8 TTF_FontFaces,
3.3.9 TTF_FontFaceIsFixedWidth,
3.3.10 TTF_FontFaceFamilyName

3.3.12 TTF_GlyphMetrics

int TTF_GlyphMetrics(TTF_Font *font, Uint16 ch, int *minx, int *maxx, int *miny, int *maxy, int *advance)

font

The loaded font from which to get the glyph metrics of ch from

ch

the UNICODE char of which to get the glyph metrics for

minx

poiter to int to store the retuned minimum X offset into, or NULL when no return value desired.

maxx

poiter to int to store the retuned maximum X offset into, or NULL when no return value desired.

miny

poiter to int to store the retuned minimum Y offset into, or NULL when no return value desired.

maxy

poiter to int to store the retuned maximum Y offset into, or NULL when no return value desired.

advance

poiter to int to store the retuned advance offset into, or NULL when no return value desired.

Get desired glyph metrics of the UNICODE chargiven in ch from the loaded font.
NOTE: Passing a NULL font into this function will cause a segfault.

Returns: 0 on success, with all non-NULL parameters set to the glyph metric as appropriate. -1 on errors, such as when the glyph named by ch does not exist in the font.

// get the glyph metric for the letter 'g' in a loaded font //TTF_Font *font; int minx,maxx,miny,maxy,advance; if(TTF_GlyphMetrics(font,'g',&minx,&maxx,&miny,&maxy,&advance)==-1) printf("%s\n",TTF_GetError()); else { printf("minx : %d\n",minx); printf("maxx : %d\n",maxx); printf("miny : %d\n",miny); printf("maxy : %d\n",maxy); printf("advance : %d\n",advance); }

This digram shows the relationships between the values:

Here's how the numbers look:

TTF_FontHeight : 33 TTF_FontAscent : 26 TTF_FontDescent : -6 TTF_FontLineSkip : 33 TTF_GlyphMetrics('g'): minx=0 maxx=21 miny=0 maxy=21 advance=24

We see from the Line Skip that each line of text is 33 pixels high, including spacing.
The Ascent-Descent=32, so there seems to be one pixel worth of space minimum between lines.

Let's say we want to draw the surface of glyph 'g' (retrived via 3.4.4 TTF_RenderGlyph_Solid or a similar function), at coordinates (X,Y) for the top left corner of the desired location. Here's the math using glyph metrics:

//SDL_Surface *glyph,*screen; SDL_Rect rect; int minx,miny,advance; TTF_GlyphMetrics(font,'g',&minx,NULL,&miny,NULL,&advance); rect.x=X+minx; rect.y=Y+miny; SDL_BlitSurface(glyph,NULL,screen,&rect); X+=advance;

Let's say we want to draw the same glyph at coordinates (X,Y) for the origin (on the baseline) of the desired location. Here's the math using glyph metrics:

//TTF_Font *font; //SDL_Surface *glyph,*screen; SDL_Rect rect; int minx,miny,advance; TTF_GlyphMetrics(font,'g',&minx,NULL,&miny,NULL,&advance); rect.x=X+minx; rect.y=Y-TTF_FontAscent(font)+miny; SDL_BlitSurface(glyph,NULL,screen,&rect); X+=advance;

NOTE: These examples assume that 'g' is present in the font!

See the web page at The FreeType2 Documentation Tutorial for more.

Any glyph based rendering calculations will not result in accurate kerning between adjacent glyphs. (see section Kerning)

See Also:
3.3.4 TTF_FontHeight,
3.3.5 TTF_FontAscent,
3.3.6 TTF_FontDescent,
3.3.7 TTF_FontLineSkip,
3.3.13 TTF_SizeText,
3.3.14 TTF_SizeUTF8,
3.3.15 TTF_SizeUNICODE,

3.3.13 TTF_SizeText

int TTF_SizeText(TTF_Font *font, const char *text, int *w, int *h)

font

The loaded font to use to calculate the size of the string with.

text

The LATIN1 null terminated string to size up.

w

pointer to int in which to fill the text width, or NULL for no desired return value.

h

pointer to int in which to fill the text height, or NULL for no desired return value.

Calculate the resulting surface size of the LATIN1 encoded text rendered using font. No actual rendering it done, however correct kerning is done to getthe actual width. The height returned in w is the same as you can get using 3.3.4 TTF_FontHeight.
NOTE: Passing a NULL font into this function will cause a segfault. NOTE: Passing a NULL text into this function will result in undefined behavior.

Returns: 0 on success with the ints pointed to by w and h set as appropriate, if they are not NULL. -1 is returned on errors, such as a glyph in the string not being found.

// get the width and height of a string as it would be rendered in a loaded font //TTF_Font *font; int w,h; if(TTF_SizeText(font,"Hello World!",&w,&h)) { // perhaps print the current TTF_GetError(), the string can't be rendered... } else { printf("width=%d height=%d\n",w,h); }

See Also:
3.3.14 TTF_SizeUTF8,
3.3.15 TTF_SizeUNICODE,
3.4.1 TTF_RenderText_Solid,
3.4.5 TTF_RenderText_Shaded,
3.4.9 TTF_RenderText_Blended

3.3.14 TTF_SizeUTF8

int TTF_SizeUTF8(TTF_Font *font, const char *text, int *w, int *h)

font

The loaded font to use to calculate the size of the string with.

text

The UTF8 null terminated string to size up.

w

pointer to int in which to fill the text width, or NULL for no desired return value.

h

pointer to int in which to fill the text height, or NULL for no desired return value.

Calculate the resulting surface size of the UTF8 encoded text rendered using font. No actual rendering it done, however correct kerning is done to getthe actual width. The height returned in w is the same as you can get using 3.3.4 TTF_FontHeight.
NOTE: Passing a NULL font into this function will cause a segfault. NOTE: Passing a NULL text into this function will result in undefined behavior.

Returns: 0 on success with the ints pointed to by w and h set as appropriate, if they are not NULL. -1 is returned on errors, such as a glyph in the string not being found.

Note that this example uses the same text as in the LATIN1 example, that is because plain ASCII is UTF8 compatible.

// get the width and height of a string as it would be rendered in a loaded font //TTF_Font *font; int w,h; if(TTF_SizeUTF8(font,"Hello World!",&w,&h)) { // perhaps print the current TTF_GetError(), the string can't be rendered... } else { printf("width=%d height=%d\n",w,h); }

See Also:
3.3.13 TTF_SizeText,
3.3.15 TTF_SizeUNICODE,
3.4.2 TTF_RenderUTF8_Solid,
3.4.6 TTF_RenderUTF8_Shaded,
3.4.10 TTF_RenderUTF8_Blended

3.3.15 TTF_SizeUNICODE

int TTF_SizeUNICODE(TTF_Font *font, const Unit16 *text, int *w, int *h)

font

The loaded font to use to calculate the size of the string with.

text

The UNICODE null terminated string to size up.

w

pointer to int in which to fill the text width, or NULL for no desired return value.

h

pointer to int in which to fill the text height, or NULL for no desired return value.

Calculate the resulting surface size of the UNICODE encoded text rendered using font. No actual rendering it done, however correct kerning is done to getthe actual width. The height returned in w is the same as you can get using 3.3.4 TTF_FontHeight.
NOTE: Passing a NULL font into this function will cause a segfault. NOTE: Passing a NULL text into this function will result in undefined behavior.

Returns: 0 on success with the ints pointed to by w and h set as appropriate, if they are not NULL. -1 is returned on errors, such as a glyph in the string not being found.

// get the width and height of a string as it would be rendered in a loaded font //TTF_Font *font; int w,h; Uint16 text[]={'H','e','l','l','o',' ', 'W','o','r','l','d','!'}; if(TTF_SizeUNICODE(font,text,&w,&h)) { // perhaps print the current TTF_GetError(), the string can't be rendered... } else { printf("width=%d height=%d\n",w,h); }

See Also:
3.3.13 TTF_SizeText,
3.3.14 TTF_SizeUTF8,
3.4.3 TTF_RenderUNICODE_Solid,
3.4.7 TTF_RenderUNICODE_Shaded,
3.4.11 TTF_RenderUNICODE_Blended

3.4 Render

These functions render text using a TTF_Font.
There are three modes of rendering:

Solid

Quick and Dirty
Create an 8-bit palettized surface and render the given text at fast quality with the given font and color. The 0 pixel value is the colorkey, giving a transparent background, and the 1 pixel value is set to the text color. The colormap is set to have the desired foreground color at index 1, this allows you to change the color without having to render the text again. Colormap index 0 is of course not drawn, since it is the colorkey, and thus transparent, though it's actual color is 255 minus each RGB component of the foreground. This is the fastest rendering speed of all the rendering modes. This results in no box around the text, but the text is not as smooth. The resulting surface should blit faster than the Blended one. Use this mode for FPS and other fast changing updating text displays.

Shaded

Slow and Nice, but with a Solid Box
Create an 8-bit palettized surface and render the given text at high quality with the given font and colors. The 0 pixel value is background, while other pixels have varying degrees of the foreground color from the background color. This results in a box of the background color around the text in the foreground color. The text is antialiased. This will render slower than Solid, but in about the same time as Blended mode. The resulting surface should blit as fast as Solid, once it is made. Use this when you need nice text, and can live with a box...

Blended

Slow Slow Slow, but Ultra Nice over another image
Create a 32-bit ARGB surface and render the given text at high quality, using alpha blending to dither the font with the given color. This results in a surface with alpha transparency, so you don't have a solid colored box around the text. The text is antialiased. This will render slower than Solid, but in about the same time as Shaded mode. The resulting surface will blit slower than if you had used Solid or Shaded. Use this when you want high quality, and the text isn't changing too fast.

Solid

3.4.1 TTF_RenderText_Solid		Draw LATIN1 text in solid mode
3.4.2 TTF_RenderUTF8_Solid		Draw UTF8 text in solid mode
3.4.3 TTF_RenderUNICODE_Solid		Draw UNICODE text in solid mode
3.4.4 TTF_RenderGlyph_Solid		Draw a UNICODE glyph in solid mode

Shaded

3.4.5 TTF_RenderText_Shaded		Draw LATIN1 text in shaded mode
3.4.6 TTF_RenderUTF8_Shaded		Draw UTF8 text in shaded mode
3.4.7 TTF_RenderUNICODE_Shaded		Draw UNICODE text in shaded mode
3.4.8 TTF_RenderGlyph_Shaded		Draw a UNICODE glyph in shaded mode

Blended

3.4.9 TTF_RenderText_Blended		Draw LATIN1 text in blended mode
3.4.10 TTF_RenderUTF8_Blended		Draw UTF8 text in blended mode
3.4.11 TTF_RenderUNICODE_Blended		Draw UNICODE text in blended mode
3.4.12 TTF_RenderGlyph_Blended		Draw a UNICODE glyph in blended mode

3.4.1 TTF_RenderText_Solid

SDL_Surface *TTF_RenderText_Solid(TTF_Font *font, const char *text, SDL_Color fg)

font

Font to render the text with. A NULL pointer is not checked.

text

The LATIN1 null terminated string to render.

fg

The color to render the text in. This becomes colormap index 1.

Render the LATIN1 encoded text using font with fg color onto a new surface, using the Solid mode (see section Solid). The caller (you!) is responsible for freeing any returned surface.

NOTE: Passing a NULL font into this function will cause a segfault.
NOTE: Passing a NULL text into this function will result in undefined behavior.

Returns: a pointer to a new SDL_Surface. NULL is returned on errors.

// Render some text in solid black to a new surface // then blit to the upper left of the screen // then free the text surface //SDL_Surface *screen; SDL_Color color={0,0,0}; SDL_Surface *text_surface; if(!(text_surface=TTF_RenderText_Solid(font,"Hello World!",color))) { //handle error here, perhaps print TTF_GetError at least } else { SDL_BlitSurface(text_surface,NULL,screen,NULL); //perhaps we can reuse it, but I assume not for simplicity. SDL_FreeSurface(text_surface); }

See Also:
3.3.13 TTF_SizeText,
3.4.2 TTF_RenderUTF8_Solid,
3.4.3 TTF_RenderUNICODE_Solid,
3.4.4 TTF_RenderGlyph_Solid,
3.4.5 TTF_RenderText_Shaded,
3.4.9 TTF_RenderText_Blended

3.4.2 TTF_RenderUTF8_Solid

SDL_Surface *TTF_RenderUTF8_Solid(TTF_Font *font, const char *text, SDL_Color fg)

font

Font to render the text with. A NULL pointer is not checked.

text

The UTF8 null terminated string to render.

fg

The color to render the text in. This becomes colormap index 1.

Render the UTF8 encoded text using font with fg color onto a new surface, using the Solid mode (see section Solid). The caller (you!) is responsible for freeing any returned surface.

NOTE: Passing a NULL font into this function will cause a segfault.
NOTE: Passing a NULL text into this function will result in undefined behavior.

Returns: a pointer to a new SDL_Surface. NULL is returned on errors.

Note that this example uses the same text as in the LATIN1 example, that is because plain ASCII is UTF8 compatible.

// Render some UTF8 text in solid black to a new surface // then blit to the upper left of the screen // then free the text surface //SDL_Surface *screen; SDL_Color color={0,0,0}; SDL_Surface *text_surface; if(!(text_surface=TTF_RenderUTF8_Solid(font,"Hello World!",color))) { //handle error here, perhaps print TTF_GetError at least } else { SDL_BlitSurface(text_surface,NULL,screen,NULL); //perhaps we can reuse it, but I assume not for simplicity. SDL_FreeSurface(text_surface); }

See Also:
3.3.14 TTF_SizeUTF8,
3.4.1 TTF_RenderText_Solid,
3.4.3 TTF_RenderUNICODE_Solid,
3.4.4 TTF_RenderGlyph_Solid,
3.4.6 TTF_RenderUTF8_Shaded,
3.4.10 TTF_RenderUTF8_Blended

3.4.3 TTF_RenderUNICODE_Solid

SDL_Surface *TTF_RenderUNICODE_Solid(TTF_Font *font, const Uint16 *text, SDL_Color fg)

font

Font to render the text with. A NULL pointer is not checked.

text

The UNICODE null terminated string to render.

fg

The color to render the text in. This becomes colormap index 1.

Render the UNICODE encoded text using font with fg color onto a new surface, using the Solid mode (see section Solid). The caller (you!) is responsible for freeing any returned surface.

NOTE: Passing a NULL font into this function will cause a segfault.
NOTE: Passing a NULL text into this function will result in undefined behavior.

Returns: a pointer to a new SDL_Surface. NULL is returned on errors.

// Render some UNICODE text in solid black to a new surface // then blit to the upper left of the screen // then free the text surface //SDL_Surface *screen; SDL_Color color={0,0,0}; SDL_Surface *text_surface; Uint16 text[]={'H','e','l','l','o',' ', 'W','o','r','l','d','!'}; if(!(text_surface=TTF_RenderUNICODE_Solid(font,text,color))) { //handle error here, perhaps print TTF_GetError at least } else { SDL_BlitSurface(text_surface,NULL,screen,NULL); //perhaps we can reuse it, but I assume not for simplicity. SDL_FreeSurface(text_surface); }

See Also:
3.3.15 TTF_SizeUNICODE,
3.4.1 TTF_RenderText_Solid,
3.4.2 TTF_RenderUTF8_Solid,
3.4.4 TTF_RenderGlyph_Solid,
3.4.7 TTF_RenderUNICODE_Shaded,
3.4.11 TTF_RenderUNICODE_Blended

3.4.4 TTF_RenderGlyph_Solid

SDL_Surface *TTF_RenderGlyph_Solid(TTF_Font *font, Uint16 ch, SDL_Color fg)

font

Font to render the glyph with. A NULL pointer is not checked.

text

The UNICODE character to render.

fg

The color to render the glyph in. This becomes colormap index 1.

Render the glyph for the UNICODE ch using font with fg color onto a new surface, using the Solid mode (see section Solid). The caller (you!) is responsible for freeing any returned surface.

NOTE: Passing a NULL font into this function will cause a segfault.

Returns: a pointer to a new SDL_Surface. NULL is returned on errors, such as when the glyph not available in the font.

// Render and cache all printable ASCII characters in solid black //SDL_Surface *screen; SDL_Color color={0,0,0}; SDL_Surface *glyph_cache[128-20]; Uint16 ch; for(ch=20; ch<128; ++ch) glyph_cache[ch-20]=TTF_RenderGlyph_Solid(font,ch,color);

Combined with a cache of the glyph metrics (minx, miny, and advance), you might make a fast text rendering routine that prints directly to the screen, but with inaccurate kerning. (see section Kerning)

See Also:
3.4.8 TTF_RenderGlyph_Shaded,
3.4.12 TTF_RenderGlyph_Blended,
3.4.1 TTF_RenderText_Solid,
3.4.2 TTF_RenderUTF8_Solid,
3.4.4 TTF_RenderGlyph_Solid,
3.3.12 TTF_GlyphMetrics

3.4.5 TTF_RenderText_Shaded

SDL_Surface *TTF_RenderText_Shaded(TTF_Font *font, const char *text, SDL_Color fg, SDL_Color bg)

font

Font to render the text with. A NULL pointer is not checked.

text

The LATIN1 null terminated string to render.

fg

The color to render the text in. This becomes colormap index 1.

bg

The color to render the background box in. This becomes colormap index 0.

Render the LATIN1 encoded text using font with fg color onto a new surface filled with the bg color, using the Shaded mode (see section Shaded). The caller (you!) is responsible for freeing any returned surface.

NOTE: Passing a NULL font into this function will cause a segfault.
NOTE: Passing a NULL text into this function will result in undefined behavior.

Returns: a pointer to a new SDL_Surface. NULL is returned on errors.

// Render some text in shaded black on white to a new surface // then blit to the upper left of the screen // then free the text surface //SDL_Surface *screen; SDL_Color color={0,0,0}, bgcolor={0xff,0xff,0xff}; SDL_Surface *text_surface; if(!(text_surface=TTF_RenderText_Shaded(font,"Hello World!",color,bgcolor))) { //handle error here, perhaps print TTF_GetError at least } else { SDL_BlitSurface(text_surface,NULL,screen,NULL); //perhaps we can reuse it, but I assume not for simplicity. SDL_FreeSurface(text_surface); }

See Also:
3.3.13 TTF_SizeText,
3.4.6 TTF_RenderUTF8_Shaded,
3.4.7 TTF_RenderUNICODE_Shaded,
3.4.8 TTF_RenderGlyph_Shaded,
3.4.1 TTF_RenderText_Solid,
3.4.9 TTF_RenderText_Blended

3.4.6 TTF_RenderUTF8_Shaded

SDL_Surface *TTF_RenderUTF8_Shaded(TTF_Font *font, const char *text, SDL_Color fg, SDL_Color bg)

font

Font to render the text with. A NULL pointer is not checked.

text

The UTF8 null terminated string to render.

fg

The color to render the text in. This becomes colormap index 1.

bg

The color to render the background box in. This becomes colormap index 0.

Render the UTF8 encoded text using font with fg color onto a new surface filled with the bg color, using the Shaded mode (see section Shaded). The caller (you!) is responsible for freeing any returned surface.

NOTE: Passing a NULL font into this function will cause a segfault.
NOTE: Passing a NULL text into this function will result in undefined behavior.

Returns: a pointer to a new SDL_Surface. NULL is returned on errors.

Note that this example uses the same text as in the LATIN1 example, that is because plain ASCII is UTF8 compatible.

// Render some UTF8 text in shaded black on white to a new surface // then blit to the upper left of the screen // then free the text surface //SDL_Surface *screen; SDL_Color color={0,0,0}, bgcolor={0xff,0xff,0xff}; SDL_Surface *text_surface; if(!(text_surface=TTF_RenderUTF8_Shaded(font,"Hello World!",color,bgcolor))) { //handle error here, perhaps print TTF_GetError at least } else { SDL_BlitSurface(text_surface,NULL,screen,NULL); //perhaps we can reuse it, but I assume not for simplicity. SDL_FreeSurface(text_surface); }

See Also:
3.3.14 TTF_SizeUTF8,
3.4.5 TTF_RenderText_Shaded,
3.4.7 TTF_RenderUNICODE_Shaded,
3.4.8 TTF_RenderGlyph_Shaded,
3.4.2 TTF_RenderUTF8_Solid,
3.4.10 TTF_RenderUTF8_Blended

3.4.7 TTF_RenderUNICODE_Shaded

SDL_Surface *TTF_RenderUNICODE_Shaded(TTF_Font *font, const Uint16 *text, SDL_Color fg, SDL_Color bg)

font

Font to render the text with. A NULL pointer is not checked.

text

The UNICODE null terminated string to render.

fg

The color to render the text in. This becomes colormap index 1.

bg

The color to render the background box in. This becomes colormap index 0.

Render the UNICODE encoded text using font with fg color onto a new surface filled with the bg color, using the Shaded mode (see section Shaded). The caller (you!) is responsible for freeing any returned surface.

NOTE: Passing a NULL font into this function will cause a segfault.
NOTE: Passing a NULL text into this function will result in undefined behavior.

Returns: a pointer to a new SDL_Surface. NULL is returned on errors.

// Render some UNICODE text in shaded black on white to a new surface // then blit to the upper left of the screen // then free the text surface //SDL_Surface *screen; SDL_Color color={0,0,0}, bgcolor={0xff,0xff,0xff}; SDL_Surface *text_surface; Uint16 text[]={'H','e','l','l','o',' ', 'W','o','r','l','d','!'}; if(!(text_surface=TTF_RenderUNICODE_Shaded(font,text,color,bgcolor))) { //handle error here, perhaps print TTF_GetError at least } else { SDL_BlitSurface(text_surface,NULL,screen,NULL); //perhaps we can reuse it, but I assume not for simplicity. SDL_FreeSurface(text_surface); }

See Also:
3.3.15 TTF_SizeUNICODE,
3.4.5 TTF_RenderText_Shaded,
3.4.6 TTF_RenderUTF8_Shaded,
3.4.8 TTF_RenderGlyph_Shaded,
3.4.3 TTF_RenderUNICODE_Solid,
3.4.11 TTF_RenderUNICODE_Blended

3.4.8 TTF_RenderGlyph_Shaded

SDL_Surface *TTF_RenderGlyph_Shaded(TTF_Font *font, Uint16 ch, SDL_Color fg, SDL_Color bg)

font

Font to render the glyph with. A NULL pointer is not checked.

text

The UNICODE character to render.

fg

The color to render the glyph in. This becomes colormap index 1.

bg

The color to render the background box in. This becomes colormap index 0.

Render the glyph for the UNICODE ch using font with fg color onto a new surface filled with the bg color, using the Shaded mode (see section Shaded). The caller (you!) is responsible for freeing any returned surface.

NOTE: Passing a NULL font into this function will cause a segfault.

Returns: a pointer to a new SDL_Surface. NULL is returned on errors, such as when the glyph not available in the font.

// Render and cache all printable ASCII characters in shaded black on white //SDL_Surface *screen; SDL_Color color={0,0,0}, bgcolor={0xff,0xff,0xff}; SDL_Surface *glyph_cache[128-20]; Uint16 ch; for(ch=20; ch<128; ++ch) glyph_cache[ch-20]=TTF_RenderGlyph_Shaded(font,ch,color,bgcolor);

Combined with a cache of the glyph metrics (minx, miny, and advance), you might make a fast text rendering routine that prints directly to the screen, but with inaccurate kerning. (see section Kerning)

See Also:
3.4.4 TTF_RenderGlyph_Solid,
3.4.12 TTF_RenderGlyph_Blended,
3.4.5 TTF_RenderText_Shaded,
3.4.6 TTF_RenderUTF8_Shaded,
3.4.8 TTF_RenderGlyph_Shaded,
3.3.12 TTF_GlyphMetrics

3.4.9 TTF_RenderText_Blended

SDL_Surface *TTF_RenderText_Blended(TTF_Font *font, const char *text, SDL_Color fg)

font

Font to render the text with. A NULL pointer is not checked.

text

The LATIN1 null terminated string to render.

fg

The color to render the text in. Pixels are blended between transparent and this color to draw the antialiased glyphs.

Render the LATIN1 encoded text using font with fg color onto a new surface, using the Blended mode (see section Blended). The caller (you!) is responsible for freeing any returned surface.

NOTE: Passing a NULL font into this function will cause a segfault.
NOTE: Passing a NULL text into this function will result in undefined behavior.

Returns: a pointer to a new SDL_Surface. NULL is returned on errors.

// Render some text in blended black to a new surface // then blit to the upper left of the screen // then free the text surface //SDL_Surface *screen; SDL_Color color={0,0,0}; SDL_Surface *text_surface; if(!(text_surface=TTF_RenderText_Blended(font,"Hello World!",color))) { //handle error here, perhaps print TTF_GetError at least } else { SDL_BlitSurface(text_surface,NULL,screen,NULL); //perhaps we can reuse it, but I assume not for simplicity. SDL_FreeSurface(text_surface); }

See Also:
3.3.13 TTF_SizeText,
3.4.10 TTF_RenderUTF8_Blended,
3.4.11 TTF_RenderUNICODE_Blended,
3.4.12 TTF_RenderGlyph_Blended,
3.4.1 TTF_RenderText_Solid,
3.4.5 TTF_RenderText_Shaded

3.4.10 TTF_RenderUTF8_Blended

SDL_Surface *TTF_RenderUTF8_Blended(TTF_Font *font, const char *text, SDL_Color fg)

font

Font to render the text with. A NULL pointer is not checked.

text

The UTF8 null terminated string to render.

fg

The color to render the text in. Pixels are blended between transparent and this color to draw the antialiased glyphs.

Render the UTF8 encoded text using font with fg color onto a new surface, using the Blended mode (see section Blended). The caller (you!) is responsible for freeing any returned surface.

NOTE: Passing a NULL font into this function will cause a segfault.
NOTE: Passing a NULL text into this function will result in undefined behavior.

Returns: a pointer to a new SDL_Surface. NULL is returned on errors.

Note that this example uses the same text as in the LATIN1 example, that is because plain ASCII is UTF8 compatible.

// Render some UTF8 text in blended black to a new surface // then blit to the upper left of the screen // then free the text surface //SDL_Surface *screen; SDL_Color color={0,0,0}; SDL_Surface *text_surface; if(!(text_surface=TTF_RenderUTF8_Blended(font,"Hello World!",color))) { //handle error here, perhaps print TTF_GetError at least } else { SDL_BlitSurface(text_surface,NULL,screen,NULL); //perhaps we can reuse it, but I assume not for simplicity. SDL_FreeSurface(text_surface); }

See Also:
3.3.14 TTF_SizeUTF8,
3.4.9 TTF_RenderText_Blended,
3.4.11 TTF_RenderUNICODE_Blended,
3.4.12 TTF_RenderGlyph_Blended,
3.4.2 TTF_RenderUTF8_Solid,
3.4.6 TTF_RenderUTF8_Shaded

3.4.11 TTF_RenderUNICODE_Blended

SDL_Surface *TTF_RenderUNICODE_Blended(TTF_Font *font, const Uint16 *text, SDL_Color fg)

font

Font to render the text with. A NULL pointer is not checked.

text

The UNICODE null terminated string to render.

fg

The color to render the text in. Pixels are blended between transparent and this color to draw the antialiased glyphs.

Render the UNICODE encoded text using font with fg color onto a new surface, using the Blended mode (see section Blended). The caller (you!) is responsible for freeing any returned surface.

NOTE: Passing a NULL font into this function will cause a segfault.
NOTE: Passing a NULL text into this function will result in undefined behavior.

Returns: a pointer to a new SDL_Surface. NULL is returned on errors.

// Render some UNICODE text in blended black to a new surface // then blit to the upper left of the screen // then free the text surface //SDL_Surface *screen; SDL_Color color={0,0,0}; SDL_Surface *text_surface; Uint16 text[]={'H','e','l','l','o',' ', 'W','o','r','l','d','!'}; if(!(text_surface=TTF_RenderUNICODE_Blended(font,text,color))) { //handle error here, perhaps print TTF_GetError at least } else { SDL_BlitSurface(text_surface,NULL,screen,NULL); //perhaps we can reuse it, but I assume not for simplicity. SDL_FreeSurface(text_surface); }

See Also:
3.3.15 TTF_SizeUNICODE,
3.4.9 TTF_RenderText_Blended,
3.4.10 TTF_RenderUTF8_Blended,
3.4.12 TTF_RenderGlyph_Blended,
3.4.3 TTF_RenderUNICODE_Solid,
3.4.7 TTF_RenderUNICODE_Shaded

3.4.12 TTF_RenderGlyph_Blended

SDL_Surface *TTF_RenderGlyph_Blended(TTF_Font *font, Uint16 ch, SDL_Color fg)

font

Font to render the glyph with. A NULL pointer is not checked.

text

The UNICODE character to render.

fg

The color to render the glyph in. Pixels are blended between transparent and this color to draw the antialiased glyph.

Render the glyph for the UNICODE ch using font with fg color onto a new surface, using the Blended mode (see section Blended). The caller (you!) is responsible for freeing any returned surface.

NOTE: Passing a NULL font into this function will cause a segfault.

Returns: a pointer to a new SDL_Surface. NULL is returned on errors, such as when the glyph not available in the font.

// Render and cache all printable ASCII characters in blended black //SDL_Surface *screen; SDL_Color color={0,0,0}; SDL_Surface *glyph_cache[128-20]; Uint16 ch; for(ch=20; ch<128; ++ch) glyph_cache[ch-20]=TTF_RenderGlyph_Blended(font,ch,color);

Combined with a cache of the glyph metrics (minx, miny, and advance), you might make a fast text rendering routine that prints directly to the screen, but with inaccurate kerning. (see section Kerning)

See Also:
3.4.4 TTF_RenderGlyph_Solid,
3.4.8 TTF_RenderGlyph_Shaded,
3.4.9 TTF_RenderText_Blended,
3.4.10 TTF_RenderUTF8_Blended,
3.4.12 TTF_RenderGlyph_Blended,
3.3.12 TTF_GlyphMetrics

4. Types

These types are defined and used by the SDL_ttf API.

4.1 TTF_Font

The opaque holder of a loaded font

4.1 TTF_Font

typedef struct _TTF_Font TTF_Font;

The opaque holder of a loaded font. You should always be using a pointer of this type, as in TTF_Font*, and not just plain TTF_Font. This stores the font data in a struct that is exposed only by using the API functions to get information. You should not try to access the struct data directly, since the struct may change in different versions of the API, and thus your program would be unreliable.

See Also:
3.2 Management

5. Defines

TTF_MAJOR_VERSION

2
SDL_ttf library major number at compilation time

TTF_MINOR_VERSION

0
SDL_ttf library minor number at compilation time

TTF_PATCHLEVEL

7
SDL_ttf library patch level at compilation time

UNICODE_BOM_NATIVE

0xFEFF
This allows you to switch byte-order of UNICODE text data to native order, meaning the mode of your CPU. This is meant to be used in a UNICODE string that you are using with the SDL_ttf API.

UNICODE_BOM_SWAPPED

0xFFFE
This allows you to switch byte-order of UNICODE text data to swapped order, meaning the reversed mode of your CPU. So if your CPU is LSB, then the data will be interpretted as MSB. This is meant to be used in a UNICODE string that you are using with the SDL_ttf API.

TTF_STYLE_NORMAL

0x00
Used to indicate regular, normal, plain rendering style.

TTF_STYLE_BOLD

0x01
Used to indicate bold rendering style. This is used a bitmask along with other styles.

TTF_STYLE_ITALIC

0x02
Used to indicate italicized rendering style. This is used a bitmask along with other styles.

TTF_STYLE_UNDERLINE

0x04
Used to indicate underlined rendering style. This is used a bitmask along with other styles.

See Also:
6. Glossary,

6. Glossary

Byte Order This all has to do with how data larger than a byte is actually stored in memory. The CPU expects 16bit and 32bit, and larger, data to be ordered in one of the two ways listed below. SDL has macros which you can use to detemine which endian your program will be using. Big-Endian(MSB) means the most significant byte comes first in storage. Sparc and Motorola 68k based chips are MSB ordered. (SDL defines this as SDL_BYTEORDER==SDL_BIG_ENDIAN) Little-Endian(LSB) is stored in the opposite order, with the least significant byte first in memory. Intel and AMD are two LSB machines. (SDL defines this as SDL_BYTEORDER==SDL_LIL_ENDIAN)

LATIN1 Latin-1 is an extension of ASCII, where ASCII only defines characters 0 through 127. Latin-1 continues and adds more common international symbols to define through character 255. ISO 8859-1 (Latin-1) Unicode Table (pdf)

Kerning Kerning is the process of spacing adjacent characters apart depending on the actual two adjacent characters. This allows some characters to be closer to each other than others. When kerning is not used, such as when using the glyph metrics advance value, the characters will be spaced out at a constant size that accomodates all pairs of adjacent characters. This would be the maximum space between characters needed. There's currently no method to retrieve the kerning for a pair of characters from SDL_ttf, However correct kerning will be applied when a string of text is rendered instead of individual glyphs.

Index

Jump to:	A   B   K   L   M   R   S   T   U

Table of Contents

1. Overview
2. Getting Started

2.1 Includes
2.2 Compiling

3. Functions

3.1 General

3.1.1 TTF_Linked_Version
3.1.2 TTF_Init
3.1.3 TTF_WasInit
3.1.4 TTF_Quit
3.1.5 TTF_SetError
3.1.6 TTF_GetError

3.2 Management

3.2.1 TTF_OpenFont
3.2.2 TTF_OpenFontRW
3.2.3 TTF_OpenFontIndex
3.2.4 TTF_OpenFontIndexRW
3.2.5 TTF_CloseFont

3.3 Attributes

3.3.1 TTF_ByteSwappedUNICODE
3.3.2 TTF_GetFontStyle
3.3.3 TTF_SetFontStyle
3.3.4 TTF_FontHeight
3.3.5 TTF_FontAscent
3.3.6 TTF_FontDescent
3.3.7 TTF_FontLineSkip
3.3.8 TTF_FontFaces
3.3.9 TTF_FontFaceIsFixedWidth
3.3.10 TTF_FontFaceFamilyName
3.3.11 TTF_FontFaceStyleName
3.3.12 TTF_GlyphMetrics
3.3.13 TTF_SizeText
3.3.14 TTF_SizeUTF8
3.3.15 TTF_SizeUNICODE

3.4 Render

3.4.1 TTF_RenderText_Solid
3.4.2 TTF_RenderUTF8_Solid
3.4.3 TTF_RenderUNICODE_Solid
3.4.4 TTF_RenderGlyph_Solid
3.4.5 TTF_RenderText_Shaded
3.4.6 TTF_RenderUTF8_Shaded
3.4.7 TTF_RenderUNICODE_Shaded
3.4.8 TTF_RenderGlyph_Shaded
3.4.9 TTF_RenderText_Blended
3.4.10 TTF_RenderUTF8_Blended
3.4.11 TTF_RenderUNICODE_Blended
3.4.12 TTF_RenderGlyph_Blended

4. Types

4.1 TTF_Font

5. Defines
6. Glossary
Index

Short Table of Contents

1. Overview
2. Getting Started
3. Functions
4. Types
5. Defines
6. Glossary
Index

About this document

• 1. Section One
• 1.1 Subsection One-One
• ...
• 1.2 Subsection One-Two
• 1.2.1 Subsubsection One-Two-One
• 1.2.2 Subsubsection One-Two-Two
• 1.2.3 Subsubsection One-Two-Three     <== Current Position
• 1.2.4 Subsubsection One-Two-Four
• 1.3 Subsection One-Three
• ...
• 1.4 Subsection One-Four