[Freetype] Halo(?) font/effect

[Ian Britten]

Hi all,
We use FreeType quite extensively, and I have been asked to looking into
providing a requested effect...

The effect (Called a 'halo font' by the end user - Not sure if that is the 
correct
term or not) results in a ring (typically white) of a pixel or two being drawn
all the way around each character, almost as if the character was drawn on top
of a larger version of itself.
The purpose is to make text more readable when being drawn on top of cluttered
graphics (For example, drawing place names on maps).  It's not simply a 
rectangle
under the characters, as it follows their shape, has holes for closed characters
(ie Inside an 'O'), etc.

So, I'm wondering if FreeType has any support for this feature, or if anyone
has suggestions about how to achieve this?  The best approach I've found so far
is to extract the curves of each character, draw them as (white) lines with a
thick lineweight, then proceed to draw the (black) character on top as per 
usual.

Any thoughts, pointers, suggestions would be welcome!
Ian