Wrapping text in a texteditor window

[curly]

I've read the proboards and the inability to wrap text in the text editor is a pain.

I've seen on one of the proboard pages that the length of a text string can be determined in pixels?  Can't remember where though.  Knowing the width of the text editor window in pixels, would there be an easy way to automatically insert CRs in the string before printing it to the text window?

In my application all the defects are recorded as a single dimension array string, and the text window is used at appropriate times to keep the user up to date with the defects that are accumulating.  Every time a new defect is detected and confirmed by the user, I show him ( or her! ) a list of defects so far collected.  The text editor seems a convenient way to display them?

Thank you, have a nice day.

ps you may be aware we have a major soccer competition going on in the UK - my mate managed to buy 2 corporate tickets to see the England game for £300 each.  It was only after he bought them did he realise the game is on the same day of his rearranged wedding due to Covid?  He has texted all of us to see if anyone would like to take his place, it is at Chelmsford Wedding Chapel at 2:30, her name is Tracy, 5ft 4, quite pretty, good cook with her own income and car!

[curly]

Hi, still searching Google for wrapping and found, please don't all shout at me, R T Russell LB Booster

Any comments? It says it allows text to be wrapped using stylebits in a LB text editor window?

[Rod]

Liberty can wrap text just as well with stylebits. Janet gave us tutorials.

alycesrestaurant.com/lbpe/Stylebits%20-%20Textboxes.html

You won’t be able to pick bits out of Booster, you either use Booster or you use Liberty.

[tsh73]

Just try it. If you are lucky it will work in LB too.
But really LB and LBB is two different beasts, LBB is not discussed here.

Could you write your long string with defects as an example?
Does it needs to be editable?
Because if it is not be, StaticTexts (aka Label) do word wrap for free.

[Carl Gundel]

Jul 1, 2021 11:07:40 GMT -5 tsh73 said:

Just try it. If you are lucky it will work in LB too.
But really LB and LBB is two different beasts, LBB is not discussed here.

Could you write your long string with defects as an example?
Does it needs to be editable?
Because if it is not be, StaticTexts (aka Label) do word wrap for free.

Going forward Liberty BASIC and LBB will diverge significantly.  LBB hasn't been updated in some time and LB5 will become much more powerful, and I think I can make it even faster than it already is.

[Walt Decker]

There is a way you can do it, but you will have to use API.  I can walk you through it if you like. It has nothing to do with the link posted by Rod.

However, if you are using an array and inserting the array into the edit control, why not just insert  the CRLF characters in the array?

[dkl]

This code works in a textbox, but not a texteditor

If you comma out the Synopsis array, so you have and empty textbox you can type into the textbox and it will still wordwrap with out a problem.

Hope this helps?!

'Wordwrap in Textbox - This code works in a textbox, but not a texteditor
   WindowWidth = 450
   WindowHeight = 200
   UpperLeftX=int((DisplayWidth-WindowWidth)/2)
   UpperLeftY=int((DisplayHeight-WindowHeight)/2)
   Stylebits #1.Syn, _WS_VSCROLL OR _ES_MULTILINE, _ES_AUTOHSCROLL, 0, 0
   textbox #1.Syn, 10, 10, 410,  75
   'texteditor #1.Syn, 10, 10, 410,  75
   button #1.syn, "Close", [quit],LL, 10, 10, 50,50
   Synopsis$(index) = "Warm, funny and utterly gripping, this compelling heist caper about female friendship and empowerment set in Sydney’s glamourous Eastern Suburbs will take you on a wildly entertaining ride"


   open "Synopsis" for window as #1
   print #1, "font ms_sans_serif 10 Bold"
   print #1, "trapclose [quit.main]"
   print #1.Syn,Synopsis$(index)
   wait

[quit]
close #1


[curly]

OK - quick reply, I love Liberty Basic - didn't realise that Booster was an alternative product - I cannot believe anyone gives better suport than you, so I'm afraid you are stuck with me!

I'll comment again after lunch and when I've looked at all the suggestions. Thank you all

[curly]

My application will be used by an engineer on site inspecting and testing the electrical wiring, let's say in a dwelling. He will be using a Windows tablet so has a limited display size. After he has collected all the data of how the type of wiring and circuits, cable sizes, circuit breakers etc, he then carries out a series of tests to ensure the basic means of protection is achieved, i.e. a circuit breaker will automatically disconnect the supply to a circuit if there is a fault. When the configuration of a circuit has been entered, and the test results also entered, my validation process looks at each piece of data and compares it with other related bits and either passes it, i.e. ignores it and moves on, or identifies the defect. Predefined explanations of the various defects are stored in an array, and the relevant predefined explanation is saved with the job file, but is also printed to the 'defect window', a text editor and displayed to the engineer to ensure he is aware a defect exists. Each description of the defect printed to the text editor appears below the last one, so he is constantly reminded of the defects that exist. A textbox only displays the last string of data printed to it? I am working on the defect display now, and I think the window will only be about 500 pixels wide. Whilst some defects may have short explanations, such as, 'Circuit 4 - Cable rating, as installed, has insufficient current capacity for protective device - Outcome code C2', some will be twice that length or more. Each time a defect is detected, the 'defect window' is displayed, and it has a button to hide it when the engineer has looked at it, like a popup window? I hope this explanation is clear? It is to me as I have been in the electrical business all my life! It would also be helpful to have a scroll bar on the right in case the number of defects fill the window?

So, basically, there is no typing, I want to print a string of variable length to an entity and display it. Then print another and have both displayed, and then another and so on, using my very basic skill set. I read the proboard and could see it was a problem wrapping text ina text editor, and why I asked the first question, can I calculate where in my string to insert a CR and LF? As this display to the engineer is purely for his attention whilst on the job, I suppose I could estimate a number of characters in a line, and insert chr$s for LF and CR to put it on two or three lines?

[Brandon Parker]

A textbox only displays the last string of data printed to it?

You can certainly do something like this using Stylebits and a little programming.

There are two options for displaying information. You can show it with the newly added text first, or with the newly added text last.
If you want a TextBox to automatically perform word-wrapping then all you have to do is add the ES_MULTILINE style and remove the ES_AUTOHSCROLL style as shown below.
Note that in the current setup, if you send an empty string to the UpdatetxtNotifications Subroutine, it will print that empty string to the txtNotifications TextBox thus clearing the TextBox of all data.

Also, if you want to select & highlight the newly added text, you can do that with a little bit of API code. Let me know and I will dig that code out and add it to the example.

NoMainWin

WindowWidth = 500
WindowHeight = 155

Global CRLF$ : CRLF$ = chr$(13) + chr$(10)

Button     #Test.btnAddData, "Add Data", AddData, UL, 405, 90, 75, 25
Stylebits  #Test.txtNotifications, _ES_MULTILINE Or _ES_READONLY Or _WS_VSCROLL, _ES_AUTOHSCROLL, _WS_EX_DLGMODALFRAME Or _WS_EX_STATICEDGE, 0
TextBox    #Test.txtNotifications, 5, 5, 475, 82
Open "Test Window" For Window As #Test
#Test "TrapClose Quit"
Wait


Sub Quit handle$
   Close #handle$
   End
End Sub

Sub AddData handle$
   Call UpdatetxtNotifications Date$();" @ ";Time$();" Hello my friend! How are you today?  I was just curious because I am having a fantastic afternoon!"
End Sub

Sub UpdatetxtNotifications msg$
   #Test.txtNotifications "!Contents? txtNotificationscontents$"
   If txtNotificationscontents$ <> "" Then
       'If you want the new notification to be above the existing
       'information, that way the new item is always visible,
       'simply uncomment the line immediately below and
       'comment/remove the currently active line
       'msg$ = msg$ + CRLF$ + txtNotificationscontents$
       msg$ = txtNotificationscontents$ + CRLF$ + msg$
   End If
   #Test.txtNotifications msg$
End Sub


{:0)

Brandon Parker

[Rod]

The trick to using a textbox to DISPLAY changed text is to prepare the text "offline" and print once.


'Wordwrap in Textbox - This code works in a textbox, but not a texteditor
   WindowWidth = 540
   WindowHeight = 260
   UpperLeftX=int((DisplayWidth-WindowWidth)/2)
   UpperLeftY=int((DisplayHeight-WindowHeight)/2)
   Stylebits #1.faults, _WS_VSCROLL OR _ES_MULTILINE, _ES_AUTOHSCROLL, 0, 0
   textbox #1.faults, 10, 10, 500, 200
   fault$(1)="Circuit 4 - Cable rating, as installed, has insufficient current capacity for protective device - Outcome code C2"
   fault$(2)="Circuit 5 - Cable rating, as installed, has insufficient current capacity for protective device - Outcome code C2"
   fault$(3)="Circuit 6 - Cable rating, as installed, has insufficient current capacity for protective device - Outcome code C2"
   fault$(4)="Circuit 7 - Cable rating, as installed, has insufficient current capacity for protective device - Outcome code C2"
   fault$(5)="Circuit 8 - Cable rating, as installed, has insufficient current capacity for protective device - Outcome code C2"
   fault$(6)="Circuit 9 - Cable rating, as installed, has insufficient current capacity for protective device - Outcome code C2"
   fault$(7)="Circuit 0 - Cable rating, as installed, has insufficient current capacity for protective device - Outcome code C2"
   fault$(8)="Circuit 1 - Cable rating, as installed, has insufficient current capacity for protective device - Outcome code C2"



   open "Faults" for window as #1
   print #1, "trapclose [quit]"

   'prepare and show the text file
   f$=""
   for n=1 to 8
   f$=f$+fault$(n)
   f$=f$+chr$(13)+chr$(10)
   next
   #1.faults,f$
   wait

[quit]
close #1


[Brandon Parker]

I do not think it is really a matter of preparing the data ahead of time. The information being displayed will change as progress is made by the onsite engineer. No two jobs may ever be the same, and setting up all possible outcomes would be 2^n possible scenarios where n is the number of possible fault notifications there are. Maybe I misunderstood what you are saying, Rod?

Preparing all of the possible fault notifications as individual array elements is definitely worth it that way they can be pushed to the notification update routine extremely easily.


{:0)

Brandon Parker

[Rod]

You just need to print all faults each time, the fault list can grow. But you cannot print more than once to the text box else the previous text is erased, so marshal all text as it changes and print it as one block, but as often and as changed as you like.

[Brandon Parker]

Jul 4, 2021 14:34:18 GMT -5 Rod said:

You just need to print all faults each time, the fault list can grow. But you cannot print more than once to the text box else the previous text is erased, so marshal all text as it changes and print it as one block, but as often and as changed as you like.

You can simply grab the contents of the TextBox as my example shows, add to it, and print it back. Using this method, one does not even have to keep track of which faults/notification elements are used. The program's process would only include the complete fault/notification data and that which is in the TextBox, so potentially up to two copies.

You can keep a list of all faults encountered as you show, add to that each time, and print everything each time. That requires one to keep it all straight as a concatenated string. In this last approach, one would potentially have up to three complete copies of fault/notification data in the program's process.


Each approach has its benefits, and there is most often always more than one approach to doing things. I was just curious about what you meant by setting it up ahead of time since the process of updating the displayed fault/notification will be something that is triggered as each discrepancy is entered by the onsite engineer.

Also, I would like to update my example to show how to utilize the method to work as a standard update method for any TextBox within the program. I also added a "direction" parameter to the UpdatetxtData Subroutine to provide versatility and show how to display "oldest to newest" and "newest to oldest".

The code is below...
NoMainWin

WindowWidth = 500
WindowHeight = 272

Global CRLF$ : CRLF$ = chr$(13) + chr$(10)

Button     #Test.btnAddData1, "Add Data 1", AddData, UL, 405, 90, 75, 25
Button     #Test.btnAddData2, "Add Data 2", AddData, UL, 405, 205, 75, 25

Stylebits  #Test.txtNotifications1, _ES_MULTILINE Or _ES_READONLY Or _WS_VSCROLL, _ES_AUTOHSCROLL, _WS_EX_DLGMODALFRAME Or _WS_EX_STATICEDGE, 0
TextBox    #Test.txtNotifications1, 5, 5, 475, 82

Stylebits  #Test.txtNotifications2, _ES_MULTILINE Or _ES_READONLY Or _WS_VSCROLL, _ES_AUTOHSCROLL, _WS_EX_DLGMODALFRAME Or _WS_EX_STATICEDGE, 0
TextBox    #Test.txtNotifications2, 5, 120, 475, 82
Open "Test Window" For Window As #Test
#Test "TrapClose Quit"
Wait


Sub Quit handle$
   Close #handle$
   End
End Sub

Sub AddData handle$
   Select Case handle$
       Case "#Test.btnAddData1"
           'Displays older messages first
           Call UpdatetxtData "#Test.txtNotifications1", _
                              Date$();" @ ";Time$();" Hello my friend! How are you today?  I was just curious because I am having a fantastic afternoon!", _
                              0
       Case "#Test.btnAddData2"
           'Displays newer messages first
           Call UpdatetxtData "#Test.txtNotifications2", _
                              Date$();" @ ";Time$();" Hello my friend! How are you today?  I was just curious because I am having a fantastic afternoon!", _
                              1
       Case Else
           Notice "Unknown TextBox [#";handle$;"]"
   End Select
End Sub

Sub UpdatetxtData handle$, msg$, direction
   'handle$   - The handle for the TextBox to be manipulated
   'msg$      - The message to add to the TextBox
   'direction - 0 displays oldest messages first
   '            1 displays newer messages first
   #handle$ "!Contents? txtData$"
   If txtData$ <> "" Then
       If Not(direction) Then
           msg$ = txtData$ + CRLF$ + msg$
       Else
           msg$ = msg$ + CRLF$ + txtData$
       End If
   End If
   #handle$ msg$
End Sub


{:0)

Brandon Parker

[Rod]

Yes we are both saying the same thing. The answer to the original question, that the last print overwrites all previous prints, is to print the new everything once. I just wanted to be sure Curly got that point. There are many solutions if you understand that’s the “trick”.