Bitmaps as Brushes

The Win32 API provides a number of functions that use the brush currently selected into a device context to perform bitmap operations. For example, the PatBlt function replicates the brush in a rectangular region within a window, and the FloodFill function replicates the brush inside an area in a window bounded by the specified color (unlike PatBlt, FloodFill does fill nonrectangular shapes).

The PatBlt function name (an abbreviation for pattern block transfer) implies that the function simply replicates the brush (or pattern) until it fills a specified rectangle. However, the function is actually much more powerful. Before replicating the brush, it combines the color data for the pattern with the color data for the existing pixels on the video display by using a raster operation (ROP). An ROP is a bitwise operation that is applied to the bits of color data for the replicated brush and the bits of color data for the target rectangle on the display device. There are 256 ROPs in the Win32 API; however, the PatBlt function recognizes only those that require a pattern and a destination (not those that require a source). The following table identifies the five most common ROPs.

ROP
Description
PATCOPY
Copies the pattern to the destination bitmap.
PATINVERT
Combines the destination bitmap with the pattern by using the Boolean OR operator.
DSTINVERT
Inverts the destination bitmap.
BLACKNESS
Turns all output to binary zeroes.
WHITENESS
Turns all output to binary ones.

The FloodFill function replicates the brush within a region bounded by a specified color. However, unlike the PatBlt function, FloodFill does not combine the color data for the brush with the color data for the pixels on the display; it simply sets the color of all pixels within the enclosed region on the display to the color of the brush that is currently selected into the device context.

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