Welcome to the documentation directory.

Most of the  files here are obsolete or  will undergo great changes!
However, the following titles are up-to-date and useful:


  ..................................................................

  apiref.txt    FreeType high-level  API reference.  All  the types,
                functions and error codes of FreeType

  ..................................................................

  user.txt      FreeType's  user  guide.    A  guide  to  FreeType's
                concepts, a  step by step example, and  a note about
                future works and projects.



The following files are incomplete, but useful:

  ..................................................................

  FAQ           A  rather obsolete  faq,  but many  of its  sections
                remain true.

  ..................................................................

  convntns.txt  The  FreeType developer's conventions  guide.  Lists
                the  design  and  coding  conventions  used  in  the
                engine's source  code.  This file  is incomplete and
                needs   some  updates,   but  still   contains  very
                important information.

  ..................................................................

  history.txt   FreeType's history.  Yes,  this engine is the result
                of several  damaged brains who decided  to provide a
                _real_  TrueType engine  to the  masses.   This text
                isn't  up to  date  but gives  some relatively  good
                info.

  ..................................................................

  memory.txt    This document is  a draft that originated FreeType's
                internal memory and object management model. Even if
                the real one is  more sophisticated, this file gives
                some interesting clues. It will soon disappear.

  ..................................................................

  raster.doc    The  scan-line converter's internals  explained. The
                document is  still incomplete but  presents many key
                concepts.


Soon to come:   These  documents will probably  come with  the first
                public release, also known as FreeType 1.0.

  FAQ           An updated  FreeType faq, with  many more questions,
                and answers!

  ..................................................................

  develop.txt   The FreeType developer's guide. All you need to know
                in order to be able  to understand and even hack the
                engine's core source code.

  ..................................................................

  extend.txt    The FreeType extension writer's how-to. All you need
                to be able to provide new extensions to the engine.

  ..................................................................

  porting.txt   The  FreeType  porting   guide.   All  you  need  to
                configure  and adapt  very  easily FreeType's source
                code to tailor it to your own platform.

                Learn how to provide  your own memory, i/o and mutex
                components, best fitted to your system.  See how you
                can   build   a   singly-threaded,  thread-safe   or
                re-entrant  version  of  the  engine from  the  same
                source code!

  ..................................................................

  history.txt   Updated, with all the  juicy bits!  Things you could
                have never imagined from FreeType's authors (neither
                did we :-)

  ..................................................................

  undoc.txt     Undocumented TrueType!

                Yes,    ladies   and    gentlemen,    the   TrueType
                specification  is  fuzzy  and misleading  enough  to
                disband  some  serious  commercial  developers,  but
                that's wasn't  enough for  us.  Even though  it took
                some time (aaargh...), we finally discovered through
                hard work the real meanings of the specs, fixed some
                errors   and  even  found   surprising  undocumented
                behaviour or features!

