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Alphabet Functionality

A recent update to CVS has provided an alphabet function accessible from the icon.

After selection of the tool, click on the pattern space where you would like to start the characters. This will be the baseline position and characters will be added to the right. I appreciate there is the possibility of using alternative languages which may be right to left or top to bottom and if anyone requires this then let me know and I will update the code.

The baseline value allows characters that may have a descender that needs to appear below the baseline e.g. j or g. Alternatively it can be used to raise a character above the base line, e.g. quotation marks, degrees symbol, etc.

The selected location will be marked with a red square. As you type, the key code will be searched for in the currently selected library and if found the associated character will be added to the pattern and the cursor will be advanced by the width of the character added. The space character will advance the cursor by a predetermined amount. Backspace will delete the last character entered and Return/Enter will start a new line.

Whilst typing, if you reach the right edge of the pattern and there is insufficient space for the next character, the pattern will be extended right to accommodate it. If the character entered was a space and word wrapping is enabled a new line will be started rather than extending the pattern. When a new line is started and there is insufficient space the pattern will be extended downwards.

The library manager is now a non modal dialog and can be left open whilst working on a pattern. It is also drag and drop enabled so that library patterns can be easily copied from the manager to the pattern.

Setting up a library pattern to use with the alphabet tool is simply a matter of assigning a keycode to the pattern. All libraries and patterns can be done as no differentiation is made between alphabet and other pattern libraries.

Clicking the right mouse button on a pattern icon will bring up a context menu, one of the options is Properties. This will bring up a dialog giving information about the selected pattern and will allow entering the baseline value and the associated keycode. The baseline value is the number of cells that will appear below the baseline. Using a negative value will raise the character above the baseline. Clicking in the Associated Character edit box will allow you to press a key which will then be shown with any modifiers e.g. Shift, Alt, etc. Clicking the Apply button will update the library with the new information

Note that you need write access to the file that contains the character to be able to add keycodes