Pages 2-41 and 2-42 of the "Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit (SDK) Reference Volume 1" for version 3.0 list the subset of Windows GDI functions that an application can use in a metafile under Windows 3.0. The list printed in the manual is incorrect.

Page 107 of the "Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit: Programmer's Reference, Volume 1: Overview," lists the functions that are valid in a metafile for Windows 3.1. This list is incomplete.

This article provides a corrected list of functions that an application can use in a metafile under Windows 3.1.

The following list of functions that are valid in a Windows 3.1 metafile is taken from page 107 of the "Windows SDK: Programmer's Reference, Volume 1: Overview":

AnimatePalette           OffsetViewportOrg   SetBkMode
Arc                      OffsetWindowOrg     SetDIBitsToDevice
BitBlt                   PatBlt              SetMapMode
Chord                    Pie                 SetMapperFlags
CreateBrushIndirect      Polygon             SetPixel
CreateDIBPatternBrush    Polyline            SetPolyFillMode
CreateFontIndirect       PolyPolygon         SetROP2
CreatePatternBrush       RealizePalette      SetStretchBltMode
Ellipse                  RestoreDC           SetTextColor
Escape                   RoundRect           SetTextJustification
ExcludeClipRect          SaveDC              SetViewportExt
ExtTextOut               ScaleViewportExt    SetViewportOrg
FloodFill                ScaleWindowExt      SetWindowExt
IntersectClipRect        SelectClipRgn       SetWindowOrg
LineTo                   SelectObject        StretchBlt
MoveTo                   SelectPalette       StretchDIBits
OffsetClipRgn            SetBkColor          TextOut
				

The following table lists additional functions that are valid in a metafile under Windows 3.1:

CreateDIBitmap           CreateSolidBrush    Rectangle
CreateFont               DeleteObject        ResizePalette
CreateHatchBrush         ExtFloodFill        SetPaletteEntries
CreatePalette            FillRgn             SetTextAlign
CreatePen                InvertRgn           SetTextCharacterExtra
CreatePenIndirect        PaintRgn
				

Although the following functions might function correctly in a metafile, they should not be used in a metafile:

AbortDoc                 EndPage             StartPage
EndDoc                   StartDoc            ResetDC
				

Windows has a number of functions that are not supported in metafiles directly because they are used to put an object into a metafile. The region functions are a common example of this function category. An application can create an arbitrary region, either directly or by combining existing regions. When an application selects the handle to the region into a metafile DC (display context), Windows records a CREATEREGION record into the metafile.

An application can select a bitmap into a memory DC that is compatible with the display (not directly into the metafile), and then then call the BitBlt function to move the bitmap from the memory DC into the metafile DC. Windows saves the bitmap image in the metafile as a Device-Independent Bitmap(DIB).

For more information, please refer to the online documentation for the Windows SDK or pages 106-109 of the "Windows SDK: Programmer's Reference, Volume 1: Overview" for version 3.1 manual.

* As a general rule, a metafile should be as device-independent as possible. Therefore, an application should not record into a metafile a GDI function that requires device units. Such functions include BitBlt, FillRgn, SetViewportExt, and SetViewportOrg.