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CreateMetaFile function

The CreateMetaFile function creates a device context for a Windows-format metafile.

Note This function is provided only for compatibility with Windows-format metafiles. Enhanced-format metafiles provide superior functionality and are recommended for new applications. The corresponding function for an enhanced-format metafile is CreateEnhMetaFile.

Syntax

Copy

HDC CreateMetaFile(
  __in  LPCTSTR lpszFile
);

Parameters

lpszFile [in]: A pointer to the file name for the Windows-format metafile to be created. If this parameter is NULL, the Windows-format metafile is memory based and its contents are lost when it is deleted by using the DeleteMetaFile function.

Return value

If the function succeeds, the return value is a handle to the device context for the Windows-format metafile.

If the function fails, the return value is NULL.

Remarks

Where text arguments must use Unicode characters, use the CreateMetaFile function as a wide-character function. Where text arguments must use characters from the Windows character set, use this function as an ANSI function.

CreateMetaFile is a Windows-format metafile function. This function supports only 16-bit Windows-based applications, which are listed in Windows-Format Metafiles. It does not record or play back GDI functions such as PolyBezier, which were not part of 16-bit Windows.

The device context created by this function can be used to record GDI output functions in a Windows-format metafile. It cannot be used with GDI query functions such as GetTextColor. When the device context is used with a GDI output function, the return value of that function becomes TRUE if the function is recorded and FALSE otherwise. When an object is selected by using the SelectObject function, only a copy of the object is recorded. The object still belongs to the application.

To create a scalable Windows-format metafile, record the graphics output in the MM_ANISOTROPIC mapping mode. The file cannot contain functions that modify the viewport origin and extents, nor can it contain device-dependent functions such as the SelectClipRgn function. Once created, the Windows metafile can be scaled and rendered to any output device-format by defining the viewport origin and extents of the picture before playing it.

Requirements