Paragraphs of Text,     with Style and Colour,  by John Collett    on an ARexx screen    :)  6x9=42  :)  6x9=42  :)  6x9=42  :)  6x9=42  :)  6x9=42  :) Make the most of this ARexx contribution. It could be my last. In search of a new life style, I've got stuck into Modula-2, where the initial learning curve approaches vertical. If I ever emerge, it may be as a gibbering wreck, unable to communicate. To my regular readers, if neither of you hears from me for a year or so, send out a search party. ----------------------------------------------------------------  Styles and Colours  First, let's investigate the numbers. If you have, say, eight colours available, then plain text can appear in seven different colours - the other one is your general background. But you can also have any of the colours as local background to a character, word, line, etc. So you can have 56 (8 * 7 or 7 * 8) different methods of displaying plain text. There are seven other possible style settings, so your 56 colour arrangements can each appear in eight different styles. I make that 448 different ways of displaying text - the number of dots in the following table multiplied by the number of items in the 'Styles' column. Text colour 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Styles 0  . . . . . . .  Plain 1  . . . . . . .  Underlined Back- 2  . . . . . . .  Bold ground 3  . . . . . . .  Italics colour 4  . . . . . . .  Bold underlined 5  . . . . . . .  Italics underlined 6  . . . . . . .  Bold Italics 7  . . . . . . .  Bold italics underlined Now we'll explore ways of implementing some of these. To begin with, we can make a selection of colours and styles appear here : Bold Italic Underlined Colour 1 Colour 2 Colour 3 Background 1 Background 2 Background 3 Various combinations can be made by combining the ANSI codes which I have inserted into this text to produce those effects. It is hardly any more difficult to produce similar results on a CLI screen, or in a plain console window opened by an ARexx instruction such as : op = open(con,'CON:20/20/400/100/Title/CLOSE','w') Here's a silly little program which produces 512 different text settings, but counts only those in which the background and foreground colours differ. Each line displays its style and colour settings, and the answer to Life and Everything. Lift it out (including the opening comment line), give it a name, and run it with an 'rx' command. It confirms my arithmetic. The total is 448. Press Return in its window or click on its Close gadget to remove it. If you find it painful to watch, put your pointer over its window and press Ctrl/C. --------------------------------------------------------------- /* Count the ways */ op = open(con,'CON:180/10/220/200/Counting them.../CLOSE','w') csi = '9B'x /* Control sequence introducer */ bo = csi || '1m' ; it = csi || '3m' ul = csi || '4m' ; off = csi || '0m' n = 0 ; i = 0 ; st.= '' ; lab. = '' ; lab.0 = 'Plain' st.1 = bo ; lab.1 = 'Bold' st.2 = it ; lab.2 = 'Italics' st.3 = ul ; lab.3 = 'Underlined' st.4 = bo || it ; lab.4 = 'Bold Italics' st.5 = it || ul ; lab.5 = 'Underlined Italics' st.6 = bo || ul ; lab.6 = 'Underlined Bold' st.7 = bo || ul || it ; lab.7 = 'Underlined Bold Italics' do st = 0 to 7 /* Style */ w = writeln(con,'0A'x || st.st || lab.st || off) /* Label */ do bg = 40 to 47 /* Background */ do co = 30 to 37 /* Colour */ i = i + 1 ; pad = copies(' ',i) if bg - co ~= 10 then n = n + 1 /* Increment n */ str = st.st || csi || bg || ';' || co || 'm' str = ' ' || str || st bg-40 co-30 pad 42 off w = writeln(con,str) /* Display */ if i = 8 then i = 0 end end end str = 'different forms' w = writeln(con,csi || '0;32;40m ' n str) /* 448 expected! */ r = readch(con) /* Wait for close */ cl = close(con) /* End */ --------------------------------------------------------------- Similar settings can also be carried out in the more sophisticated environment of a window opened via a 'rexxarplib.library' function. Something like : address AREXX '"call CreateHost(HO, PORT)"' . (other settings as required) . call OpenWindow(HO,0,0,640,200, idcmp, flags) In the window which this would open, styles can be set by a function call such as : call SetFont(HO,"topaz.font",8,style) Foreground and background colours can be set by : call APen(HO,foreground_number) and call BPen(HO,background_number) The placement of the text is determined by : call Move(HO,x,y) Its content by : call Text(HO,text) There are so many details to deal with that if you want to set particular style and colour combinations more than just once or twice in a program, it is worth your while to set up your own functions to do the donkey work for you. I explored the idea, and in the process produced the accompanying ARexx program called 'Style'. The rest of this text is a description of what to expect if you run it, other helpful hints, and the complete code of the program itself.  The Text  A file-requester asks you to select a short file of plain text to work on. You can provide anything you like, but later on I shall be showing a sample set of lines which you might like to borrow to start with. The text must be short, no more than 26 lines. You will then see the selected text, centre screen in a box, and a column of 14 rectangular gadgets on the right.  The Gadgets  The top four gadgets contain the characters P, U, B, I. They stand for 'Plain', 'Underline', 'Bold' and 'Italics', and a small marker (in colour 3) next to the 'P' shows that 'Plain' is the current style. The next eight gadgets contain the numbers 0 to 7, one for each of the colours. Each number is shown in its own colour, which is why the 0 is invisible. A small marker (in colour 3) next to the '2' shows that colour 2 is the current colour.  Style and colour selection  These 12 gadgets are selected by clicking on them. While the colour gadgets are mutually exclusive (only one selected at a time, with a marker next to it), you can choose 1, 2, or even 3 of the style settings to operate together. A click on 'Plain' unsets all others.  Applying that choice to text  When you have chosen the style and/or colour you want to apply, turn your attention to the text. Which word or phrase do you want to apply it to? Select that text by dragging the mouse through it - just as if you were putting a line through it with a pencil to cross it out. Click on the first character, drag to the right, and release the mouse over the last character. Left to right is intended, but it also seems to work if you draw the invisible crossing-out line from right to left. Be sure to include the first and last characters, but if you go too far beyond them in, for example, underlining, the results may not be quite as you intended. The current setting of style and colour will appear on the text you have 'crossed out'.  The Thirteenth Gadget  If it is like this [·| ], you can set a foreground colour. If it is like this [ |·], you can set a background colour. You change from one to the other by clicking in the unmarked half. If you want black text on a yellow background: Click on the right half of gadget 13. Click on the colour yellow. Click on the left half of gadget 13. Click on the colour black.  A preview of effects  When you have selected the settings you want, before risking them on a piece of the text, just click with the mouse anywhere outside the text box. A little message showing the current pointer position will appear in the title bar. It will appear with your current choice(s) in action.  To the rescue : Gadget number 14  If you make a mistake or change your mind about a line, you can undo the whole line - reset it all to 'Plain' and no special colour. The last gadget in the column is maked 'R' for 'Reset'. Click on it and then on any line of the text. The line will reappear as it was before you started. But when you've done all this - when you've made the text look really pretty, dramatic, or subtle, what can you do with it? Bear in mind that, whatever enhancements to the text you can see on the screen, the plain text is still there, as you can check at any time by using the 'R' gadget as explained above. Now it's time to be thinking about how to create a new version of the text which contains the enhancements permanently, able to be reproduced at any time. It's time to talk about ...  Four simple menu choices  1 Load plain text 2 Save with style 3 View results 4 Quit  1  Produces a file requester to let you load another short text to work on. Check that you have set your style gadgets to 'Plain' before loading in the new text - or you might like to see what happens if you don't.  2  Another file requester, to save the processed text to a temporary file, ready for the next stage.  3  Creates a new window, about the same size as the original text box, and displays in that window the new format of the text. It obtains its data from the temporary file which was created in step 2. (By the way, if you want to look at it, that text will be in a readable form, and could even be edited by hand if you wished.) You may be wondering why a file need be used at all at this stage. Surely the program can just hold the processed stuff in a string array before moving on to the next stage? It could. But the grand plan is that everything under Menu Item 3 is arranged in such a way that it can be extracted for use, either on its own (though I don't know why you would want to do that) or for insertion into any other program, where it can do the text enhancement jobs for which it was designed (assuming the availability of a text file as produced by Menu Item 2).  A sample text  The following lines could be lifted out and used with the program if you want a readily available sample to work on. Sample Lines for Work with Style Some of this text will be underlined. This sample will contain something bold. I'll insert some italics here. And here I'll merge the above styles in various ways. This line and the next will use some of the options for setting the colour in which the text appears. This whole line will be in colour. Here I'll explore some different background settings. This whole line will have a background colour. When you've played around with it, you might produce something like : ---------------------------------------------------------- | Sample Lines for Work with Style | | | | Some of this text will be underlined. | | This sample will contain something bold. | | I'll insert some italics here. | | And here I'll merge the above styles in various ways. | | This line and the next will use some of the options | | for setting the colour in which the text appears. | | This whole line will be in colour. | | Here I'll explore some different background settings. | | This whole line will have a background colour. | | | ----------------------------------------------------------  A wrinkly one  How about overlapping one feature and another like this, where part of the underlined text is in italics? This is possible in the 'Style' program if you go about it like this. Apply the longest feature first : How about overlapping one feature and another like this? Then deal with the second feature inside it (here shown on its own) : How about overlapping one feature and another like this? If you try to put the longer feature over the shorter one, you'll have problems. This was the trickiest part of the whole program, but the method I worked out seems to handle it as required. For more details on this or other aspects of the program, see the comments which are included in the code below. The 'Style' program is everything below the next line. ---- End of discussion. Beginning of program. ---- /* */ /* Style and Colours in ARexx texts */ /* */ /* by John Collett */ signal on syntax ; signal on error /* In an emergency, rerun the program with ANY extra argument */ if arg() ~= 0 then signal "Finish" /* Load required libraries */ if ~show('l','rexxarplib.library') then do check = addlib('rexxsupport.library',0,-30,0) check = addlib('rexxarplib.library',0,-30,0) end /* Create a port */ address AREXX '"call CreateHost(HO, PORT)"' if ~show('Ports',HO) then address command 'WaitForPort HO' /* Initialisations */ flags = 'BORDERLESS + WINDOWCLOSE + WINDOWDEPTH' idcmp = 'GADGETUP + MOUSEBUTTONS + CLOSEWINDOW + MENUPICK' call SetReqColor(HO,BLOCKPEN,6) /* Affects menu appearance */ style = 0 ; fg = 2 ; bg = 0 /* Default settings */ foreground = 1 /* Boolean */ hite = 230 /* Peter Bagnato and other U.S.A. users, set hite to 200. You may also have to make corresponding adjustments elsewhere in the program. I'll let you work it out. */ st.1 = 0 ; st.2 = 1 ; st.3 = 2 ; st.4 = 4 /* Style values */ /* Open the window */ call OpenWindow(HO,0,0,640,hite,idcmp, flags) call openport(PORT) call ActivateWindow(HO) call ModifyHost(HO,'MOUSEBUTTONS','%l %b %x %y') call TitleBar() call PlaceGads() call SetMenu() /* You have an easy option here. If your source file is always called by a given name such as 'Specimen', then uncomment the next line ... */ /* fil = 'Specimen' */ /* ... and suppress the next three lines */ fil = GetFile(150,50,,,"Select a short text file") if fil = '' then signal "Finish" call TitleBar() /* Keeps things tidy */ call PlaceText() /* Here the program enters the driving loop. It waits for user actions and acts on them as it receives them, until the user either quits voluntarily or does something unexpected. */ do forever call waitpkt(PORT) p = getpkt(PORT) if p ~== NULL() then do i = getarg(p) ; t = reply(p, 0) parse var i class gadno rest select when class = 'CLOSEWINDOW' then signal 'Finish' when class = 'GADGETUP' then call Gadget() when class = 'MOUSEBUTTONS' then call GetXY() when class = 'MENUPICK' then call MenuHandler(gadno) otherwise end /* of 'select' */ end /* of 'if ... then do' */ end /* of 'do forever' */ Finish: call CloseWindow(HO) ; exit syntax: say 'Syntax : ' errortext(rc) '. Line 'sigl ; signal 'Finish' error: say "Error " rc sigl ; signal 'Finish' /* --------- and all the rest is user-defined functions --------- */ /* Gadgets : if a gadget is selected, which one is it : 1 Set style to plain 2 - 4 Set other styles 5 - 12 Set a colour 13 Background or foreground, depending on where clicked. 14 Reset a line */ Gadget: if gadno = 1 then do call setFont(HO,"topaz.font",8) ; style = 0 call Rect(0,615,14,619,56) /* Styles off */ call Rect(3,615,14,619,18) /* Plain on */ end else if gadno < 5 then do call Rect(0,615,14,619,18) /* Plain off */ call Rect(3,615,2+gadno*12,619,6+gadno*12) /* Style on */ style = style + st.gadno call SetFont(HO,"topaz.font",8,style) ; end else if gadno = 13 then do parse var rest x y foreground = (x < 630) on1 = foreground * 3 ; on2 = (~foreground) * 3 call Rect(on1,625,2+gadno*12,628,6+gadno*12) call Rect(on2,632,2+gadno*12,635,6+gadno*12) end else if gadno = 14 then call ResetLine() else do if foreground then fg = gadno - 5 ; else bg = gadno - 5 call Rect(0,615,62,619,150) /* Colours off */ call Rect(3,615,2+gadno*12,619,6+gadno*12) /* Colour on */ end return /* ----------------- */ pat: /* 'print at' for single lines */ if arg() > 3 then call Pens(arg(4),arg(5)) call Move(HO,arg(1),arg(2)) ; call Text(HO,arg(3)) return /* ----------------- */ patset: procedure expose a. /* 'print at' for a set of lines */ if arg() > 3 then call Pens(arg(4),0) n = arg(3) do i = 1 to n call Move(HO,arg(1),arg(2)+ (i-1)*8) ; call Text(HO,a.i) end return /* ----------------- */ Pens: call SetAPen(HO,arg(1)) ; call SetBPen(HO,arg(2)) ; return /* ----------------- */ GetXY: parse var i class gadno x y /* If outside the text box, just show xy position */ if x < left | x > right | y < top | y > bottom then do call pat(400,8,x y) ; return ; end /* Handle click-drag-release of mouse on a piece of text */ x1 = x piece = '' ; call waitpkt(PORT) ; p = getpkt(PORT) if p ~== NULL() then do i = getarg(p) ; t = reply(p, 0) ; parse var i class state x y end top = starty-6 ; row = ((y-2)%8)-(top%8) ; y1 = top + row * 8 row = row + 1 ; x1 = (x1%8) * 8 ; x2 = (x%8) * 8 + 8 if x2 < x1 then do ; x3 = x2 - 8 ; x2 = x1 + 8 ; x1 = x3 ; end c1 = (x1-startx)%8 + 2 ; c2 = (x2-startx)%8 piece = substr(a.row,c1,c2-c1+1) ; if piece = '' then return call pat(x1+4,y1+6,piece,fg,bg) /* Updating contents of the line : original held in 'a.' */ ccode = style || fg || bg aa = '{' || ccode ; zz = '}' b1 = index(copy.row,strip(piece),c1) if b1 = 0 then do ; call ReportProblem() ; return ; end b2 = b1 + length(piece) one = substr(copy.row,1,b1-1) two = substr(copy.row,b2) /* This is where I deal with the problem of an insertion within an existing insertion. My preliminary notes-as-comments are still here in the code. Make what you will of them. Normally : tttt {123TTTTTTTTTTTT} tttttt Problem : { tttt {123TTTTTTTTTTTT} tttttt A second '{' occurs before the '}' to close the first. I sorted it out in the next few nasty lines. */ p1 = lastpos('{',one) if pi ~= 0 then do p2 = lastpos('}',one) if p2 < p1 then do ; one = one || '}' tab = substr(one,p1+1,3) zz = zz || '{' || tab end end copy.row = one || aa || piece || zz || two return /* ----------------- */ PlaceGads: /* Builds the column of 14 gadgets */ call AddGadget(HO,624,12,1,'P','%l %d') call AddGadget(HO,624,24,2,' ','%l %d') call SetFont(HO,"topaz.font",8,1) ; call pat(626,31,'U',1,0) call AddGadget(HO,624,36,3,' ','%l %d') call SetFont(HO,"topaz.font",8,2) ; call pat(626,43,'B') call AddGadget(HO,624,48,4,' ','%l %d') call SetFont(HO,"topaz.font",8,4) ; call pat(624,55,'I') call SetFont(HO,"topaz.font",8) call Rect(3,615,14,619,18) do i = 0 to 7 call AddGadget(HO,624,60+i*12,5+i,i,'%l %d') call pat(626,67+i*12,i,i,0) end call Rect(3,615,86,619,90) /* Default Colour on */ call Rect(3,624,158,628,162) /* Foreground on */ call AddGadget(HO,624,156,13,'|','%l %d %x %y') call AddGadget(HO,624,168,14,'R','%l %d') /* Reset a line */ call pat(612,67,' ') return /* ----------------- */ PlaceText: /* Two arrays, 'a.' and 'copy.', hold the set of strings, one in their plain format, the other with all the style-setting insertions. */ call Rect(0,1,13,610,hite) op = open(fl,fil,'r') do lin = 1 to 28 a.lin = readln(fl) ; if eof(fl) then leave end cl = close(fl) nlines = lin ; longest = 0 do i = 1 to nlines a.i = ' ' || a.i || ' ' ; copy.i = a.i longest = max(longest,length(a.i)) end /* The lines are stored. Now patset puts them in place on the screen. */ startx = 304-longest*4 ; starty = 32 call patset(startx,starty,nlines,2,bg) left = startx-12; top = starty-12 right = startx+longest*8 +12 ; bot = starty + nlines * 8 /* A frame round the text. */ call Pens(1,0) ; call Move(HO,left,top) ; call Draw(HO,right,top) call Draw(HO,right,bot) ; call Draw(HO,left,bot) call Draw(HO,left,top) ; call Pens(2,0) return /* ----------------- */ TitleBar: /* Initial top line display. Also needs updating after call to Menu or GetFile, to keep it tidy. */ call Pens(0,0) ; call RectFill(HO,20,1,616,14) call pat(100,8,' Adding Style and Colour to Text ',1,2) d = date() ; d = left(d,length(d)-5) t = time('c') ; t = left(t,length(t)-2) ; call pat(500,8,d' 't,2,1) return /* ----------------- */ Rect: /* Used in several places for general screen management */ call Pens(arg(1),0) ; call RectFill(HO,arg(2),arg(3),arg(4),arg(5)) call Pens(fg,bg) return /* ----------------- */ SetMenu: call AddMenu(HO,'Do it with Style ') call AddItem(HO,'Load plain text ','%l %i','L') call AddItem(HO,'Save with style ','%l %i','S') call AddItem(HO,'View results ','%l %i','V') call AddItem(HO,'Quit ','%l %i','Q') return /* ----------------- */ MenuHandler: call TitleBar() item = arg(1) select when item = 0 then do fil = GetFile(150,50,,,"Select a short text file") if exists(fil) then call PlaceText() else r = Request(150,50,"File not found",,"Ok") end when item = 1 then do outfil = GetFile(150,50,,,"Name of output file") ; ok = 1 if exists(outfil) then do str = 'File already exists. Okay to overwrite?' r = Request(150,50,str,,"Yes","No") ; ok = (r = 'OKAY') end if ok then call SaveFile() end /* The action for item 2 is a call to View(), here used as an included function, but designed to be easy to lift out for use in another program. Any calls to functions made from within View are to its own separately defined port, window, 'pat2' function, etc. so that the whole lot can be pulled out as an integrated package. */ when item = 2 then call View(outfil,left,top,right-left,bot-top) when item = 3 then do r = Request(150,50,"Really quit?",,"Yes","No") if r = "OKAY" then do ; signal "Finish" ; end end otherwise end call TitleBar() return /* ----------------- */ SaveFile: /*This will create a stand-alone file intended to be used by View */ op = open(out,outfil,'w') do i = 1 to nlines tx = copy.i ; start = 1 ; zz = 0 w = writeln(out,a.i) do forever aa = index(tx,'{',start) if aa ~= 0 then zz = index(tx,'}',aa) if aa = 0 then leave else w = writeln(out,substr(tx,aa,zz-aa)) start = zz+1 end end cl = close(out) return /* ----------------- */ ReportProblem: /* ... a vain attempt to cover ... */ str = 'Problem found.', '\Your selection may have included something already done.', '\Remedy : do the longer patch first.', '\\Shall I reset the line to its plain form,', '\or ignore your last attempt?' r = Request(30,50,str,,"Reset it","Ignore") call TitleBar() if r = 'OKAY' then do copy.row = a.row call setFont(HO,"topaz.font",8) call pat(startx,starty - 8 + row*8,a.row,2,0) call setFont(HO,"topaz.font",8,style) end return /* ----------------- */ ResetLine: /* Used by gadget 14. It waits for a click on a line. If you click elsewhere at this point, expect problems. */ state = '' do until state = 'SELECTUP' call waitpkt(PORT) ; p = getpkt(PORT) if p ~== NULL() then do i = getarg(p) ; t = reply(p, 0) ; parse var i class state x y end end row = ((y-2)%8)-(top%8) + 1 copy.row = a.row call setFont(HO,"topaz.font",8) call pat(startx,starty - 8 + row*8,a.row,2,0) call setFont(HO,"topaz.font",8,style) return /* ----------------------------------------------------------- */ /* You should be able to cut here, and with a few modifications use what follows in another program. */ /* */ View: parse arg textfile,left,top,width,height /* 5 args expected */ /* The host and port names used here MUST be different from those used in the parent program. */ address AREXX '"call CreateHost(HOST, PORT2)"' if ~show('Ports',HOST) then address command 'WaitForPort HOST' flags2 = 'WINDOWCLOSE+WINDOWDRAG' /* These flag settings mean than you can drag the new window around and close it when you wish. Our 'height' needs to be incremented to allow for the drag bar. */ call OpenWindow(HOST,left,top,width,height+20,'CLOSEWINDOW',flags2) call openport(PORT2) ; call ActivateWindow(HOST) fg = 2 ; bg = 0 ; st = 0 op = open(inf,textfile,'r') do i = 1 until eof(inf) a.i = readln(inf) end cl = close(inf) /* Your eof character may be at the end of the last line of print, or alone on the final line. If the latter, then ... */ if a.i = '' then i = i - 1 op = open(ol,'outlist','w') x = 8 ; y = 16 do a = 1 to i b = a.a if left(b,1) ~= '{' then do st = 0 ; call SetFont(HOST,'topaz.font',8) current = b ; y = y + 8 ; call pat2(x,y,b,2,0) end else do st = substr(b,2,1) ; fg = substr(b,3,1) ; bg = substr(b,4,1) cuta = right(b,length(b)-4) thisx = x + index(current,cuta) * 8 - 8 call SetFont(HOST,'topaz.font',8,st) call pat2(thisx,y,cuta,fg,bg) end end cl = close(ol) /* A loop to wait for the window to be closed */ do forever call waitpkt(PORT2) ; p = getpkt(PORT2) if p ~== NULL() then do i = getarg(p) ; t = reply(p, 0) ; call CloseWindow(HOST) ; return end end return /* ----------------- */ pat2: call SetFont(HOST,'topaz.font',8,st) call SetAPen(HOST,arg(4)) ; call SetBPen(HOST,arg(5)) call Move(HOST,arg(1),arg(2)) ; call Text(HOST,arg(3)) return /* ------- End of 'View' ------- */ /* ----------- Hamilton, New Zealand November 1995 ------------ */ :)  6x9=42  :)  6x9=42  :)  6x9=42  :)  6x9=42  :)  6x9=42  :)