GetTextAlign function (wingdi.h)

Article
10/13/2021

The GetTextAlign function retrieves the text-alignment setting for the specified device context.

Syntax

UINT GetTextAlign(
  [in] HDC hdc
);

Parameters

[in] hdc

A handle to the device context.

Return value

If the function succeeds, the return value is the status of the text-alignment flags. For more information about the return value, see the Remarks section. The return value is a combination of the following values.

Value	Meaning
TA_BASELINE	The reference point is on the base line of the text.
TA_BOTTOM	The reference point is on the bottom edge of the bounding rectangle.
TA_TOP	The reference point is on the top edge of the bounding rectangle.
TA_CENTER	The reference point is aligned horizontally with the center of the bounding rectangle.
TA_LEFT	The reference point is on the left edge of the bounding rectangle.
TA_RIGHT	The reference point is on the right edge of the bounding rectangle.
TA_RTLREADING	Middle East language edition of Windows: The text is laid out in right to left reading order, as opposed to the default left to right order. This only applies when the font selected into the device context is either Hebrew or Arabic.
TA_NOUPDATECP	The current position is not updated after each text output call.
TA_UPDATECP	The current position is updated after each text output call.

When the current font has a vertical default base line (as with Kanji), the following values are used instead of TA_BASELINE and TA_CENTER.

Value	Meaning
VTA_BASELINE	The reference point is on the base line of the text.
VTA_CENTER	The reference point is aligned vertically with the center of the bounding rectangle.

If the function fails, the return value is GDI_ERROR.

Remarks

The bounding rectangle is a rectangle bounding all of the character cells in a string of text. Its dimensions can be obtained by calling the GetTextExtentPoint32 function.

The text-alignment flags determine how the TextOut and ExtTextOut functions align a string of text in relation to the string's reference point provided to TextOut or ExtTextOut.

The text-alignment flags are not necessarily single bit flags and may be equal to zero. The flags must be examined in groups of related flags, as shown in the following list.

TA_LEFT, TA_RIGHT, and TA_CENTER
TA_BOTTOM, TA_TOP, and TA_BASELINE
TA_NOUPDATECP and TA_UPDATECP

If the current font has a vertical default base line, the related flags are as shown in the following list.

TA_LEFT, TA_RIGHT, and VTA_BASELINE
TA_BOTTOM, TA_TOP, and VTA_CENTER
TA_NOUPDATECP and TA_UPDATECP

To verify that a particular flag is set in the return value of this function:

Apply the bitwise OR operator to the flag and its related flags.
Apply the bitwise AND operator to the result and the return value.
Test for the equality of this result and the flag.

Examples

For an example, see Setting the Text Alignment.

Requirements

Requirement	Value
Minimum supported client	Windows 2000 Professional [desktop apps only]
Minimum supported server	Windows 2000 Server [desktop apps only]
Target Platform	Windows
Header	wingdi.h (include Windows.h)
Library	Gdi32.lib
DLL	Gdi32.dll