REGISTER_FONT_FILE_TYPE(3alleg4)

💖 register_font_file_type — Allegro manual (3alleg4) 💖

okay bestie, welcome to the Allegro game programming library docs, and today's main character is register_font_file_type — she registers a new font loading function. that's the whole vibe. let's go 🦋

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

#include <allegro.h>

void register_font_file_type(const char *ext, FONT *(*load)(const char *filename, RGB *pal, void *param));

like yes, that second argument is a function pointer and yes she's a little intimidating at first glance, but she's serving, not scary 🫶

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

so what she does is: she tells the load_font() functions about a brand new file type, and hands over a routine that knows how to read fonts in that format. you bring the reader, she handles the rest. iconic behavior honestly 👑

the function you hand over has to follow this exact prototype, no cap:

FONT *load_my_font(const char *filename, RGB *pal, void *param)
{
   ...
}

now let's talk params because this is where it gets juicy 🍓

• the pal parameter can optionally be used to return a palette for the FONT.
• the param parameter can be literally anything you want — it's your little mystery bag. you can use it to pass info into your loading routine, like for instance:
  • the font height
  • the character range to load
  • or the index number of a font in a datafile

⚠️ okay this part matters, listen up: if you choose to write your own font loading code, your function should be prepared to deal with a value of NULL for either of these parameters. like, don't just assume they're there. handle the NULL, bestie. it's giving "defensive programming" and it's giving "self care" 💅

👀 SEE ALSO 👀

• load_font(3alleg4)

and that's the tea ☕ go forth and register those font types, you absolute legend 💜

Allegro — version 4.4.3 · register_font_file_type(3alleg4) · mwah, stan the Allegro manual for me, bye bestie 🎀✨