> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.abbyy.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# CreateEmptyUserPattern Method of the Engine Object

This method creates an empty user pattern file (\*.ptn) at the specified location.

## Syntax

### C++

```cpp theme={null}
HRESULT CreateEmptyUserPattern( BSTR FileName );
```

### C\#

```csharp theme={null}
void CreateEmptyUserPattern( string FileName );
```

### Visual Basic .NET

```vb theme={null}
Sub CreateEmptyUserPattern(FileName As String)
```

## Parameters

FileName

\[in] This variable contains the full path to the newly created user pattern file,

* Windows: C:\pattern.ptn
* Linux: /home/user/Documents/Patterns/pattern.ptn
* macOS: /Users/user/Documents/pattern.ptn

## Return values

This method has no specific return values. It returns the [standard return values of ABBYY FineReader Engine functions](/fine-reader/engine/api-reference/return-codes).

## Remarks

* User patterns are files that specify a number of pairs "image of a character — the character itself". User patterns may be used during recognition to identify characters of non-standard fonts. To use a user pattern during recognition, specify a path to it in the [IRecognizerParams::UserPatternsFile](/fine-reader/engine/api-reference/parameter-objects/preprocessing-analysis-recognition-and-synthesis-parameters/recognizerparams#userpatternsfile) property.
  * For Linux, user patterns may be trained using the [TrainUserPattern](/fine-reader/engine/api-reference/engine-object-iengine-interface/supplementary-methods/trainuserpattern-method) method of the [Engine](/fine-reader/engine/api-reference/engine-object-iengine-interface) object.
  * For Windows, user patterns may be edited via the [IEngine::EditUserPattern](/fine-reader/engine/api-reference/engine-object-iengine-interface/supplementary-methods/edituserpattern-method) method or trained during recognition. See [Recognizing with Training](/fine-reader/engine/guided-tour/advanced-techniques/using-gui-elements/recognizing-with-training).
* The method is enabled only if the license supports the [User Patterns Training](/fine-reader/engine/licensing/modules#user_patterns_training) module.
* Pattern training is not supported for [CJK languages](/fine-reader/engine/guided-tour/advanced-techniques/recognizing-cjk-languages#cjk).

## See also

[Recognizing with Training](/fine-reader/engine/guided-tour/advanced-techniques/using-gui-elements/recognizing-with-training)

[Engine](/fine-reader/engine/api-reference/engine-object-iengine-interface)

[EditUserPattern](/fine-reader/engine/api-reference/engine-object-iengine-interface/supplementary-methods/edituserpattern-method)