PAPERINIT(3)

💖 PAPERINIT — bestie edition 💖

okay so we're in the PAPERINIT(3) page, which lives in the Library Functions Manual, and it's all about the two lil' bookend functions that start and stop the whole paper library. two functions. one vibe. let's go 🎀

✨ NAME ✨

paperinit, paperdone — the beginning and the end of using the paper library. like the opening and closing credits, but for a C library 🫶

✨ SYNOPSYS ✨

(yes bestie it's spelled like that, we don't fix what we didn't write 💅)

#include <paper.h>

void paperinit(void)
void paperdone(void)

✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

okay so first up: paperinit() initializes the paper library. what does that mean fr? it means it allocates any resources that are necessary for the library to actually be used. it's giving setup era ✨

🚨 THE RULE: you must call paperinit() before you touch any other function of the paper library. literally any of them. no exceptions, no shortcuts, no "but it worked that one time". call it first, bestie. periodt.

then when you're done done, there's paperdone() — it frees any resources that were allocated for the paper library. cleanup queen 👑

💀 and listen: no function of the library should be called after a call to this function. after paperdone() it's over over. don't call anything else, don't try to be cute, don't text back. the library is closed, the lights are off, the vibe is gone 🙈

so the whole flow is just: init at the start, do your paper library things in the middle, done at the end. bookends. iconic behaviour honestly 🌸

✨ SEE ALSO ✨

• defaultpapername(3)
• paperinfo(3)
• papersize(5)

go read those too, they're part of the same little family 🦋

and that's the whole page, bestie! this one's been chilling in the Library Functions Manual since 24 September 1996 — yes, 1996, she's a vintage icon and she still ate 💅✨