Arc Function

Declare Function Arc Lib "gdi32.dll" (ByVal hdc As Long, ByVal nLeftRect As Long, ByVal nTopRect As Long, ByVal nRightRect As Long, ByVal nBottomRect As Long, ByVal nXStartArc As Long, ByVal nYStartArc As Long, ByVal nXEndArc As Long, ByVal nYEndArc As Long) As Long

Platforms

Windows 95: Supported
Windows 98: Supported
Windows NT: Requires Windows NT 3.1 or later
Windows 2000: Supported
Windows CE: Not Supported

Description & Usage

Arc draws an elliptical arc on a device using the device's current pen. The ellipse which the arc lies on is inscribed within the bounding rectangle coordinates passed to the function. The start and end points are determined by two radials. The radials begin at the center of the ellipse and extend through the given radial point (either the start or end one); where they intersect the ellipse is where the start and end points of the arc are. Windows 95/98: The arc is always drawn counterclockwise from the start point to the end point. Windows NT/2000: The direction the arc is drawn in depends on the device's current setting.

Return Value

If an error occured while attempting to draw the arc, the function returns 0 (Win NT/2000: call GetLastError to get the errror code). If the function completed successfully, it returns a non-zero value.

Visual Basic-Specific Issues

None.

Parameters

hdc: A handle to a device context of the device to draw the arc on.
nLeftRect: The x coordinate of the upper-left point of the ellipse's bounding rectangle.
nTopRect: The y coordinate of the upper-left point of the ellipse's bounding rectangle.
nRightRect: The x coordinate of the lower-right point of the ellipse's bounding rectangle.
nBottomRect: The y coordinate of the lower-right point of the ellipse's bounding rectangle.
nXStartArc: The x coordinate of the radial point that determines the arc's starting point.
nYStartArc: The y coordinate of the radial point that determines the arc's starting point.
nXEndArc: The x coordinate of the radial point that determines the arc's ending point.
nYEndArc: The y coordinate of the radial point that determines the arc's ending point.

Example

' This code is licensed according to the terms and conditions listed here.

' Draw the arc that forms the top half of an ellipse.  The ellipse
' is centered at (100, 100), has a width of 200, and has a height of 100.  The arc is drawn
' on window Form1 using the black solid stock pen.
Dim hpen As Long  ' handle to the black solid pen
Dim holdpen As Long  ' handle to window Form1's previously selected pen
Dim retval As Long  ' return value

' Get a handle to the solid black pen and set it as Form1's drawing pen.
hpen = GetStockObject(BLACK_PEN)  ' get a handle to the pen
holdpen = SelectObject(Form1.hDC, hpen)  ' set it as Form1's current pen

' The ellipse is determined by the bounding rectangle (0,50)-(200,150).
' The radial to (200, 100) is due right; the radial to (0, 100) is due left.
retval = Arc(Form1.hDC, 0, 50, 200, 150, 200, 100, 0, 100)

' Restore Form1's previous pen selection.
retval = SelectObject(Form1.hDC, holdpen)  ' set the old pen back