load_dat_font(3alleg4)						  Allegro manual					    load_dat_font(3alleg4)

NAME

       load_dat_font - Loads a FONT from an Allegro datafile.

SYNOPSIS

       #include <allegro.h>

       FONT *load_dat_font(const char *filename, RGB *pal, void *param)

DESCRIPTION

       Loads  a  FONT from an Allegro datafile. You can set param parameter to point to an array that holds two strings that identify the font and
       the palette in the datafile by name.  The first string in this list is the name of the font. You can pass NULL here to just load the  first
       font  found  in	the  datafile.	The  second  string can be used to specify the name of the palette associated with the font.  This is only
       returned if the pal parameter is not NULL. If you pass NULL for the name of the palette, the last palette found before the font	was  found
       is  returned.   You can also pass NULL for param, which is treated as if you had passed NULL for both strings separately. In this case, the
       function will simply load the first font it finds from the datafile and the palette that precedes it.

       For example, suppose you have a datafile named `fonts.dat' with the following contents:

	  FONT	FONT_1_DATA
	  FONT	FONT_2_DATA
	  FONT	FONT_3_DATA
	  PAL	FONT_1_PALETTE
	  PAL	FONT_2_PALETTE

       Then the following code will load FONT_1_DATA as a FONT and return FONT_1_PALETTE as the palette:

	  FONT *f;
	  PALETTE pal;
	  char *names[] = { "FONT_1_DATA", "FONT_1_PALETTE" }

	  f = load_dat_font("fonts.dat", pal, names);

       If instead you want to load the second font, FONT_2, from the datafile, you would use:

	  FONT *f;
	  PALETTE pal;
	  char *names[] = { "FONT_2_DATA", "FONT_2_PALETTE" }

	  f = load_dat_font("fonts.dat", pal, names);

       If you want to load the third font, but not bother with a palette, use:

	  FONT *f;
	  char *names[] = { "FONT_3_DATA", NULL }

	  f = load_dat_font("fonts.dat", NULL, names);

RETURN VALUE

       Returns a pointer to the font or NULL on error. Remember that you are responsible for destroying the font when you are finished with it	to
       avoid memory leaks.

SEE ALSO

       register_font_file_type(3alleg4), load_font(3alleg4)

Allegro 							   version 4.4.2					    load_dat_font(3alleg4)