ExtTextOut() Instead of TextOut() to Improve Performance

Last reviewed: July 22, 1997
Article ID: Q71230
3.00 3.10 WINDOWS kbprg

The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit (SDK) for Windows versions 3.0 and 3.1

If speed is the most critical factor when an application writes text to a window, then the application should take advantage of every possible speed improvement no matter how minor. Therefore, when writing text to a window in a time-constrained environment, ExtTextOut() should be used instead of TextOut() because ExtTextOut() is slightly faster.

ExtTextOut() is the lowest level function that an application can call to output text to a window. On the other hand, TextOut() is essentially a call to ExtTextOut() with wOptions, lpRect, and lpDx set to zero. Using ExtTextOut() may not result in a noticeable speed difference; however, it is the faster alternative especially when the application has a large amount of text to write.


Additional reference words: 3.00 3.10
KBCategory: kbprg
KBSubcategory: GdiDrw
Keywords : kb16bitonly


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Last reviewed: July 22, 1997
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