---
name: "Xft"
section: "3x"
platform: "linux"
package: "xlibs-dev"
version: "4.1.0-16woody6"
release: "Debian 3.0 (Woody)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/Xft/3x"
---

# Xft(3x)

X FreeType interface library

## NAME

 XFT - X FreeType interface library

## DESCRIPTION

**Xft** is a simple library designed to interface the FreeType rasterizer with the X Rendering Extension.  This manual page barely scratches the surface of this library.

## DATATYPES

**XftPattern** holds a set of names with associated value lists; each name refers to a property of a font.  XftPatterns are used as inputs to the matching code as well as holding information about specific fonts.

**XftFont** contains general font metrics and a pointer to either the core XFontStruct data or a structure holding FreeType and X Render Extension data.

**XftFontStruct** contains information about FreeType fonts used with the X Render Extension.

**XftFontSet** contains a list of XftPatterns.  Internally Xft uses this data structure to hold sets of fonts.  Externally, Xft returns the results of listing fonts in this format.

**XftObjectSet** holds a set of names and is used to specify which fields from fonts are placed in the the list of returned patterns when listing fonts.

**XftDraw** is an opaque object which holds information used to render to an X drawable using either core protocol or the X Rendering extension.

## FUNCTIONS

```
XftFont *
XftFontOpen (Display *dpy, int screen, ...);
```

**XftFontOpen** takes a list of pattern elements of the form (field, type, value) terminated with a 0, matches that pattern against the available fonts and opens the matching font.

Example:\
\
 	font = XftFontOpen (dpy, scr,\
 			    XFT\_FAMILY, XftTypeString, "charter",\
 			    XFT\_SIZE, XftTypeDouble, 12.0);

This opens the charter font at 12 points.  The point size is automatically converted to the correct pixel size based on the resolution of the monitor.

```
void
XftTextExtents8 (Display	*dpy,
		 XftFont	*font,
		 unsigned char  *string,
		 int		len,
		 XGlyphInfo	*extents);
```

**XftTextExtents8** computes the pixel extents of "string" when drawn with "font".

```
XftDraw *
XftDrawCreate (Display   *dpy,
	       Drawable  drawable,
	       Visual    *visual,
	       Colormap  colormap);
```

**XtDrawCreate** creates a structure that can be used to render text and rectangles to the screen.

```
void
XftDrawString8 (XftDraw		*d,
		XRenderColor	*color,
		XftFont		*font,
		int		x,
		int		y,
		unsigned char	*string,
		int		len);
```

**XftDrawString8** draws "string" using "font" in "color" at "x, y".

```
void
XftDrawRect (XftDraw	    *d,
	     XRenderColor   *color,
	     int	    x,
	     int	    y,
	     unsigned int   width,
	     unsigned int   height);
```

**XftDrawRect** fills a solid rectangle in the specified color.

## XftConfig

The  **XftConfig** file contains configuration information for the Xft library consisting of directories to look at for font information as well as instructions on editing program specified font patterns before attempting to match the available fonts.

```
config	:   "dir" STRING
	|   "include" STRING
	|   "includeif" STRING
	|   "match" tests "edit" edits
	;
test	:   qual FIELD-NAME COMPARE CONSTANT
	;
qual	:   "any"
	|   "all"
	;
edit	:   FIELD-NAME ASSIGN expr SEMI
	;
```

STRINGs are double-quote delimited.  FIELD-NAMEs are identifiers, ASSIGN is one of "=", "+=" or "=+".  expr can contain the usual arithmetic operators and can include FIELD-NAMEs.

"dir" adds a directory to the list of places Xft will look for fonts. There is no particular order implied by the list; Xft treats all fonts about the same.

"include" and "includeif" cause Xft to load more configuration parameters from the indicated file.  "includeif" doesn't elicit a complaint if the file doesn't exist.  If the file name begins with a '~' character, it refers to a path relative to the home directory of the user.

If the tests in a "match" statement all match a user-specified pattern, the pattern will be edited with the specified instructions.

Where ASSIGN is "=", the matching value in the pattern will be replaced by the given expression.  "+="/"=+" will prepend/append a new value to the list of values for the indicated field.

## RESTRICTIONS

**Xft** will probably change radically in the future; weak attempts will be made to retain some level of source-file compatibility.

## AUTHOR

Keith Packard, member of the XFree86 Project, Inc.