XSetFontPath(3) XLIB FUNCTIONS XSetFontPath(3)
NAME
XSetFontPath, XGetFontPath, XFreeFontPath - set, get, or free the font
search path
SYNTAX
int XSetFontPath(Display *display, char **directories, int ndirs);
char **XGetFontPath(Display *display, int *npaths_return);
int XFreeFontPath(char **list);
ARGUMENTS
directories
Specifies the directory path used to look for a font. Setting
the path to the empty list restores the default path defined
for the X server.
display Specifies the connection to the X server.
list Specifies the array of strings you want to free.
ndirs Specifies the number of directories in the path.
npaths_return
Returns the number of strings in the font path array.
DESCRIPTION
The XSetFontPath function defines the directory search path for font
lookup. There is only one search path per X server, not one per client.
The encoding and interpretation of the strings are implementation-depen-
dent, but typically they specify directories or font servers to be
searched in the order listed. An X server is permitted to cache font
information internally; for example, it might cache an entire font from
a file and not check on subsequent opens of that font to see if the un-
derlying font file has changed. However, when the font path is changed,
the X server is guaranteed to flush all cached information about fonts
for which there currently are no explicit resource IDs allocated. The
meaning of an error from this request is implementation-dependent.
XSetFontPath can generate a BadValue error.
The XGetFontPath function allocates and returns an array of strings con-
taining the search path. The contents of these strings are implementa-
tion-dependent and are not intended to be interpreted by client applica-
tions. When it is no longer needed, the data in the font path should be
freed by using XFreeFontPath.
The XFreeFontPath function frees the data allocated by XGetFontPath.
DIAGNOSTICS
BadValue Some numeric value falls outside the range of values accepted
by the request. Unless a specific range is specified for an
argument, the full range defined by the argument's type is ac-
cepted. Any argument defined as a set of alternatives can
generate this error.
SEE ALSO
XListFont(3), XLoadFonts(3)
Xlib - C Language X Interface
X Version 11 libX11 1.8.12 XSetFontPath(3)
Generated by dwww version 1.16 on Fri Oct 2 16:07:31 CEST 2026.