Path Outline

To draw the outline of the current path, use GpiOutlinePath. This function accepts a path identifier (which must be 1) as input. GpiOutlinePath does not create a geometric line; therefore, the cosmetic line attributes are used.

GpiOutlinePath normally has the same effect as though the lines and arcs used to create the path were drawn without actually being part of the path. Any open figures within the path are not closed automatically. If the path contains character strings that use an outline font, the characters are not filled.

The following functional sequence is recommended for drawing outline text or outline figures:

┌──────────────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────┐
│Function Name                 │Effect                        │
├──────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────┤
│GpiBeginPath                  │Starts the path definition.   │
├──────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────┤
│GpiMove                       │Moves to the starting point of│
│                              │the first figure.             │
├──────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────┤
│GpiCharString, GpiFullArc     │Uses an outline font to       │
│                              │specify text or define the    │
│                              │lines in a figure.            │
├──────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────┤
│GpiEndPath                    │Ends the path.                │
├──────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────┤
│GpiOutlinePath                │Draws the text or figure      │
│                              │outlines.                     │
└──────────────────────────────┴──────────────────────────────┘

If you are drawing a complex path, consisting of several character strings that use an outline font, it can take quite some time to produce. If you want to create a only rough draft, you might find it quicker to draw an outline instead of the filled path. This improves performance and might be acceptable for small characters. When they are small enough, hollow characters can look like filled characters.

You can create hollow characters in either of two ways:

• Outside a path, call GpiCreateLogFont.

  This enables you to define an outline font that uses hollow characters.

• Inside a path, draw the characters, then display the path with GpiOutlinePath.

  Only the character outlines contribute to the path definition even if the font is not hollow. (This might cause ambiguous results.)

Using outlined paths to create character outlines also can be used to define a clip path in the shape of a letter or word.