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From: sokoloff@athena.mit.edu (James T Sokoloff)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer
Subject: Re: Rotated text on the Mac
Message-ID: <1991May12.205414.6429@athena.mit.edu>
Date: 12 May 91 20:54:14 GMT
References: <2898@istop.ist.CO.UK>
Sender: news@athena.mit.edu (News system)
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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In Article 25157, Jeremy Huxtable writes:

{
I need to be able to draw rotated text on the Mac. Now the obvious solution
is to draw into an offscreen bitmap, rotate it and then CopyBits it, but
surely in these days of Adobe Type manager and TrueType, there must be a
better way if they happen to be installed??? I assume that this must be an
FAQ, but I haven't been reading the news for a while so apologies if this
has been discussed recently.

Can I tell if ATM or TrueType are installed?
Can I use them to draw rotated text, falling back on bitmap rotation
as a last resort?
}

I do not claim to know anything about programming with ATM;  I do however
know a good deal about Apple's TT.  The answer to your question of using TT to
do rotated text is twofold, and you will likely not like the answer.

1. Yes, TT can (& does) support rotated text.  Unfortunately, it is Apple's
decision not to make public the internals of TT interface.  So, the answer to
your question is: Yes, TrueType can do it, but you will not be able to figure out
how without Apple's documentation which they will not provide. (Anyone who gets
hold of this info is bound by VERY TIGHT non-disclosure agreements.  Trust me-I
am not willing to, nor is anyone else willing to disclose it in the face of Apple's
litigation history!)

2. Can I tell if TT is installed.  Sure, call Gestalt; I believe the Gestalt switch
is 'font'  If zero or error is returned, assume that TT is not present.
(For a desc. of Gestalt, check Inside Mac VI)

Hope this helps,
Jim Sokoloff