TextOut

The TextOut function writes a character string at the specified location, using the currently selected font, background color, and text color.

BOOL TextOut(
  HDC hdc,           // handle to device context
  int nXStart,       // x-coordinate of starting position
  int nYStart,       // y-coordinate of starting position
  LPCTSTR lpString,  // pointer to string
  int cbString       // number of characters in string
);
 

Parameters

hdc

Handle to the device context.

nXStart

Specifies the logical x-coordinate of the reference point that the system uses to align the string.

nYStart

Specifies the logical y-coordinate of the reference point that the system uses to align the string.

lpString

Pointer to the string to be drawn. The string does not need to be zero-terminated, since cbString specifies the length of the string.

cbString

Specifies the number of characters in the string.

Return Values

If the function succeeds, the return value is nonzero.

If the function fails, the return value is zero.

Windows NT: To get extended error information, call GetLastError.

Remarks

The interpretation of the reference point depends on the current text-alignment mode. An application can retrieve this mode by calling the GetTextAlign function; an application can alter this mode by calling the SetTextAlign function.

By default, the current position is not used or updated by this function. However, an application can call the SetTextAlign function with the fMode parameter set to TA_UPDATECP to permit the system to use and update the current position each time the application calls TextOut for a specified device context. When this flag is set, the system ignores the nXStart and nYStart parameters on subsequent TextOut calls.

When the TextOut function is placed inside a path bracket, the system generates a path for the TrueType text that includes each character plus its character box. The region generated is the character box minus the text, rather than the text itself. You can obtain the region enclosed by the outline of the TrueType text by setting the background mode to transparent before placing the TextOut function in the path bracket. Following is sample code that demonstrates this procedure.

// Obtain the window's client rectangle 
GetClientRect(hwnd, &r); 
 
// THE FIX: by setting the background mode 
// to transparent, the region is the text itself 
// SetBkMode(hdc, TRANSPARENT); 
 
// Bracket begin a path 
BeginPath(hdc); 
 
// Send some text out into the world 
TextOut(hdc, r.left, r.top, "Defenestration can be hazardous", 4); 
 
// Bracket end a path 
EndPath(hdc); 
 
// Derive a region from that path 
SelectClipPath(hdc, RGN_AND); 
 
// This generates the same result as SelectClipPath() 
// SelectClipRgn(hdc, PathToRegion(hdc)); 
 
// Fill the region with grayness 
FillRect(hdc, &r, GetStockObject(GRAY_BRUSH)); 
 

QuickInfo

  Windows NT: Requires version 3.1 or later.
  Windows: Requires Windows 95 or later.
  Windows CE: Unsupported.
  Header: Declared in wingdi.h.
  Import Library: Use gdi32.lib.
  Unicode: implemented as Unicode and ANSI versions on Windows and Windows NT.

See Also

Fonts and Text Overview, Font and Text Functions, GetTextAlign, SelectObject, SetBkColor, SetTextAlign, SetTextColor, TabbedTextOut