Tk_GetFont is identical to Tk_AllocFontFromObj except that the description of the font is specified with a string instead of an object. This prevents Tk_GetFont from caching the matching Tk_Font, so Tk_GetFont is less efficient than Tk_AllocFontFromObj.
Tk_GetFontFromObj returns the token for an existing font, given the window and description used to create the font. Tk_GetFontFromObj doesn't actually create the font; the font must already have been created with a previous call to Tk_AllocFontFromObj or Tk_GetFont. The return value is cached in objPtr, which speeds up future calls to Tk_GetFontFromObj with the same objPtr and tkwin.
Tk_AllocFontFromObj and Tk_GetFont maintain a database of all fonts they have allocated. If the same font is requested multiple times (e.g. by different windows or for different purposes), then a single Tk_Font will be shared for all uses. The underlying resources will be freed automatically when no-one is using the font anymore.
The procedure Tk_NameOfFont is roughly the inverse of Tk_GetFont. Given a tkfont that was created by Tk_GetFont (or Tk_AllocFontFromObj), the return value is the string argument that was passed to Tk_GetFont to create the font. The string returned by Tk_NameOfFont is only guaranteed to persist until the tkfont is deleted. The caller must not modify this string.
When a font is no longer needed, Tk_FreeFontFromObj or Tk_FreeFont should be called to release it. For Tk_FreeFontFromObj the font to release is specified with the same information used to create it; for Tk_FreeFont the font to release is specified with its Tk_Font token. There should be exactly one call to Tk_FreeFontFromObj or Tk_FreeFont for each call to Tk_AllocFontFromObj or Tk_GetFont.
Copyright © 1990-1992 The Regents of the University of California. Copyright © 1994-1998 Sun Microsystems, Inc. Copyright © 1995-1997 Roger E. Critchlow Jr.