AddFontResourceExW function (wingdi.h)

Article
02/09/2023

The AddFontResourceEx function adds the font resource from the specified file to the system. Fonts added with the AddFontResourceEx function can be marked as private and not enumerable.

Syntax

int AddFontResourceExW(
  [in] LPCWSTR name,
  [in] DWORD   fl,
  [in] PVOID   res
);

Parameters

[in] name

A pointer to a null-terminated character string that contains a valid font file name. This parameter can specify any of the following files.

File Extension	Meaning
.fon	Font resource file.
.fnt	Raw bitmap font file.
.ttf	Raw TrueType file.
.ttc	East Asian Windows: TrueType font collection.
.fot	TrueType resource file.
.otf	PostScript OpenType font.
.mmm	multiple master Type1 font resource file. It must be used with .pfm and .pfb files.
.pfb	Type 1 font bits file. It is used with a .pfm file.
.pfm	Type 1 font metrics file. It is used with a .pfb file.

To add a font whose information comes from several resource files, point lpszFileName to a string with the file names separated by a | --for example, abcxxxxx.pfm | abcxxxxx.pfb.

[in] fl

The characteristics of the font to be added to the system. This parameter can be one of the following values.

Value	Meaning
FR_PRIVATE	Specifies that only the process that called the AddFontResourceEx function can use this font. When the font name matches a public font, the private font will be chosen. When the process terminates, the system will remove all fonts installed by the process with the AddFontResourceEx function.
FR_NOT_ENUM	Specifies that no process, including the process that called the AddFontResourceEx function, can enumerate this font.

[in] res

Reserved. Must be zero.

Return value

If the function succeeds, the return value specifies the number of fonts added.

If the function fails, the return value is zero. No extended error information is available.

Remarks

This function allows a process to use fonts without allowing other processes access to the fonts.

When an application no longer needs a font resource it loaded by calling the AddFontResourceEx function, it must remove the resource by calling the RemoveFontResourceEx function.

This function installs the font only for the current session. When the system restarts, the font will not be present. To have the font installed even after restarting the system, the font must be listed in the registry.

A font listed in the registry and installed to a location other than the %windir%\fonts\ folder cannot be modified, deleted, or replaced as long as it is loaded in any session. In order to change one of these fonts, it must first be removed by calling RemoveFontResource, removed from the font registry (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Fonts), and the system restarted. After restarting the system, the font will no longer be loaded and can be changed.

Note

The wingdi.h header defines AddFontResourceEx as an alias which automatically selects the ANSI or Unicode version of this function based on the definition of the UNICODE preprocessor constant. Mixing usage of the encoding-neutral alias with code that not encoding-neutral can lead to mismatches that result in compilation or runtime errors. For more information, see Conventions for Function Prototypes.

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