ALLEGRO_GLYPH(3)

💅 ALLEGRO_GLYPH(3) 💅

okay so bestie, welcome to the ALLEGRO_GLYPH(3) page from the Library Functions Manual. It's giving Allegro 5 API, and we're about to get into a struct that describes one character in a font. Cute, small, iconic. 🎀

🌸 NAME 🌸

ALLEGRO_GLYPH — Allegro 5 API

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

#include <allegro5/allegro_font.h>

typedef struct ALLEGRO_GLYPH ALLEGRO_GLYPH;

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

ALLEGRO_GLYPH is a structure containing the properties of a character in a font. Literally the character lore. It's defined like this:

typedef struct ALLEGRO_GLYPH {
   ALLEGRO_BITMAP *bitmap;   // the bitmap the character is on
   int x;                    // the x position of the glyph on bitmap
   int y;                    // the y position of the glyph on bitmap
   int w;                    // the width of the glyph in pixels
   int h;                    // the height of the glyph in pixels
   int kerning;              // pixels of kerning (see below)
   int offset_x;             // x offset to draw the glyph at
   int offset_y;             // y offset to draw the glyph at
   int advance;              // number of pixels to advance after this character
} ALLEGRO_GLYPH;

Now let's break down the fields, because every single one is important:

• bitmap — the bitmap the character is on.
• x — the x position of the glyph on bitmap.
• y — the y position of the glyph on bitmap.
• w — the width of the glyph in pixels.
• h — the height of the glyph in pixels.
• kerning — pixels of kerning (see below).
• offset_x — x offset to draw the glyph at.
• offset_y — y offset to draw the glyph at.
• advance — number of pixels to advance after this character.

Okay but the bitmap field has extra tea: it may be a sub-bitmap in the case of color fonts. It can also be NULL, in which case nothing should be drawn — sometimes true for whitespace characters in TTF fonts. So if it's NULL, do not draw, bestie. 💀

kerning should be added to the x position you draw to if you want your text kerned, and it depends on which codepoints al_get_glyph(3) was called with. This is the "make the letters sit pretty" number, essentially. ✨

Glyphs are tightly packed onto the bitmap, so you need to add offset_x and offset_y to your draw position for the text to look right. Like, don't skip the offsets unless you want your text looking a little chaotic. 🙈

advance is the number of pixels to add to your x position to advance to the next character in a string, and it includes kerning. So it's the "where do I put the next letter" number. Slay. 💅

👑 SINCE 👑

5.2.1

[Unstable API]: This API is new and subject to refinement. So yes, it's new, it's cute, and it may still get refined — don't act surprised. 🔥

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

• al_get_glyph(3)

---

That's the whole page, bestie. Footer says Allegro reference manual and ALLEGRO_GLYPH(3) — no date listed, so that's the sign-off. 💖🫶