SetTextAlign function (wingdi.h)

Article
10/13/2021

The SetTextAlign function sets the text-alignment flags for the specified device context.

Syntax

UINT SetTextAlign(
  [in] HDC  hdc,
  [in] UINT align
);

Parameters

[in] hdc

A handle to the device context.

[in] align

The text alignment by using a mask of the values in the following list. Only one flag can be chosen from those that affect horizontal and vertical alignment. In addition, only one of the two flags that alter the current position can be chosen.

Value	Meaning
TA_BASELINE	The reference point will be on the base line of the text.
TA_BOTTOM	The reference point will be on the bottom edge of the bounding rectangle.
TA_TOP	The reference point will be on the top edge of the bounding rectangle.
TA_CENTER	The reference point will be aligned horizontally with the center of the bounding rectangle.
TA_LEFT	The reference point will be on the left edge of the bounding rectangle.
TA_RIGHT	The reference point will be on the right edge of the bounding rectangle.
TA_NOUPDATECP	The current position is not updated after each text output call. The reference point is passed to the text output function.
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 applies only when the font selected into the device context is either Hebrew or Arabic.
TA_UPDATECP	The current position is updated after each text output call. The current position is used as the reference point.

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

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

The default values are TA_LEFT, TA_TOP, and TA_NOUPDATECP.

Return value

If the function succeeds, the return value is the previous text-alignment setting.

If the function fails, the return value is GDI_ERROR.

Remarks

The TextOut and ExtTextOut functions use the text-alignment flags to position a string of text on a display or other device. The flags specify the relationship between a reference point and a rectangle that bounds the text. The reference point is either the current position or a point passed to a text output function.

The rectangle that bounds the text is formed by the character cells in the text string.

The best way to get left-aligned text is to use either


SetTextAlign (hdc, GetTextAlign(hdc) & (~TA_CENTER))


SetTextAlign (hdc,TA_LEFT | <other flags>)

You can also use SetTextAlign (hdc, TA_LEFT) for this purpose, but this loses any vertical or right-to-left settings.

Note You should not use SetTextAlign with TA_UPDATECP when you are using ScriptStringOut, because selected text is not rendered correctly. If you must use this flag, you can unset and reset it as necessary to avoid the problem.

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