FcPatternBuild(3)

✨ FcPatternBuild(3) ✨

okay so bestie, we're in the FcPatternBuild(3) part of the fontconfig manual today — three functions that literally just assemble patterns out of arguments for you. it's giving factory-line energy, no cap 💅

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🌸 NAME 🌸

FcPatternBuild, FcPatternVaBuild, FcPatternVapBuild — create patterns from arguments 🎀

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🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

#include <fontconfig/fontconfig.h>

FcPattern * FcPatternBuild (FcPattern *pattern, ...);

FcPattern * FcPatternVaBuild (FcPattern *pattern, va_list va);

void FcPatternVapBuild (FcPattern *result, FcPattern *pattern, va_list va);

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💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

So what these icons actually do is build a pattern out of a whole little guest list of objects, types and values. And when I say "each value gets specified with three arguments", I mean it fr fr — three, every single time, like a trio of besties who refuse to be separated 🫶

1. Object name — a string that literally describes the property you're adding.
2. Object type — one of the FcType enumerated values, periodt.
3. Value — and heads up, this one is not an FcValue. It's the raw type, exactly as you'd pass it to any of the FcPatternAdd<type> functions. and it must match the type of that second argument, or it's gonna be a whole situation 😭

The argument list is terminated by a null object name — and no, you don't need to pass an object type or a value along with it, she just ends there, iconic queen behavior 👑. The values get added to pattern, and if pattern is null, a brand new pattern gets created instead. Either way? The pattern gets returned to you. slay ✨

Example, because we love a visual:

pattern = FcPatternBuild (0, FC_FAMILY, FcTypeString, "Times", (char *) 0);

FcPatternVaBuild is your girl when the arguments are already sitting there in the form of a va_list varargs value — no unpacking required. And FcPatternVapBuild? That's a macro version of FcPatternVaBuild that returns its result directly in the result variable. lowkey convenient, highkey underrated 🧚

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ngl if you get the type mismatch in step 3 wrong, that's on you — the manpage warned you, bestie 💀

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and that's the page!! brought to you by Fontconfig 2.17.0, dated 27 June 2025 — go forth and build those patterns, main character 🔥💜