vpxPrint offers an easy interface to draw backgrounds and arrays within a page.
The drawArray() function can be used to draw an array with lines and columns, bookmarks and texts.
It works with a template.
You can use drawArray() to paint any background.
| 1. | Define an array template: |
A template is an array of lines with chr(10) (~n) as delimiter.
MyTemplate =
"+-----------------------------------+~n"
+ "| |~n"
+ "+-----------------------------------+".
Note that this array acts with standard rows and columns
settings as defined in the <CPI> and <LPI>.
... defines a box of 3 rows starting at column 1:
|
MyTemplate =
"+--------+--------------------------+~n"
+ "| | |~n"
+ "+--------+------+----------+--------+~n"
+ " | | |~n"
+ " +----------+--------+".
... defines a box, of 5 rows starting at column 1:
Each line break (~n) advances the cursor to the next line. The value of the line height is given by the setting of the <LPI> tag and the width of the '-' character is the <CPI> tag.
The characters that drawArray() uses are:
+ |
Describes a line collision (vertical and horizontal) or a corner: left upper, right upper, left bottom or right bottom. |
- |
Horizontal line |
| |
Vertical line |
# |
Defines a bookmark |
~t |
A tab (chr(9) or "~t") can be put on each line to define the line attributes. These attributes are applied on the line before drawing. Individual title characters specification width can be specified here. |
Space |
A space character is interpreted as a column shift. Each space character spaces the cursor right from 1 column. This can be a problem when using texts for labels because you may want to use proportional fonts and spaces must be evaluated as a standard space char in the selected font. In this case, you have to escape the space character with a '\' (see below). |
Text |
Any text can be written. If the text contains reserved characters like + - | # or space, you can escape with the \ character. The text may contain vpxPrint attributes like <B> or </I> etc… |
Each line in the array can have his own vpxPrint attributes.
If specific title, attributes must be specified, the format of the line can be :
"<B><I>~t| Name | Country |~n".
In this case "Name" and "Country" are displayed with bold and underline characters.
Attributes are put as soon as received and apply as long as no other tag is specified.
| Calling drawArray(): |
As defined in the xPrint.i, the drawArray procedure has the following syntax:
PROCEDURE drawArray EXTERNAL "xPrint.dll" :
DEF INPUT PARAMETER recLength AS LONG.
DEF INPUT PARAMETER inputFormat AS CHAR.
DEF INPUT PARAMETER vpxPrintvalue AS MEMPTR.
DEF INPUT PARAMETER starting# AS LONG.
DEF INPUT PARAMETER incr# AS LONG.
END.
Where:
reclength |
Number of bytes of the receiving area. This area must be large enough to accommodate the vpxPrint codification. The 'reclength' value indicates the size of this area. |
inputFormat |
The template, |
vpxPrintValue |
Area where drawArray() returns the vpxPrint code. The length of this area must be specified in the 'reclength' parameter. |
starting# |
The starting bookmark number. Each # in the template generates a bookmark. The first bookmark starts with this value. |
incr# |
Bookmark increment. Each subsequent bookmark after the first one. |
On return, the vpxPrintValue area contains the sequence to send to vpxPrint to draw the array.
Example 1:
DEF VAR M AS MEMPTR NO-UNDO.
DEF VAR myArray AS CHAR NO-UNDO.
DEF VAR myLENGTH AS INT NO-UNDO.
MyArray = "……
….
".
myLength = 32000. // length of the output area
SET-SIZE(M) = myLength.
RUN drawArray( myLength, myArray, M, 10, 10).
MyBackground = GET-STRING(M, 1).
SET-SIZE(M) = 0.
If myBackground = "" THEN
ERROR… area is not large enough…
Generates a background with the specified template. Bookmarks in the template are numbered from 10 by 10.
Example 2:
FUNCTION myBackGround RETURNS CHARACTER( /* parameter-definitions */ ) : /*------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Purpose: Notes: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------*/ DEF VAR M AS MEMPTR. DEF VAR iBackground AS CHAR. DEF VAR iFormat AS CHAR. iFormat = ' +-------------------------------+~n' + ' |# |~n' /* Defines the bookmark #10 */ + ' Address... | |~n' + ' | |~n' + ' | |~n' + ' | |~n' + ' | #|~n' /* Defines the bookmark #20 */ + ' +-------------------------------+~n' + '~n' + '~n' + '<FArial><P14><B><U>~t' /* Attributes values for the labels. Note the ~t character */ + ' References:~n' + '<P12></U></B>~t' /* rest previous attributes */ + ' +------------------------------------------------------------------------+~n' + ' |# |~n' /* defines the bookmark #30 */ + ' | |~n' + ' | #|~n' /* defines the bookmark #40 */ + ' +------------------------------------------------------------------------+~n' + '~n' + '+------------+---------------------------------+---------+--------+------------+~n' + '<B><I>~t' + '|Item\ num |Description | Unit| Qty | Sub\ Total|~n' + '</B></I>~t' /* Attributes values for the labels. Note the ~t character */ + '+------------+---------------------------------+---------+--------+------------+~n' + '|# |# #| # | # | # |~n' /* defines the bookmark #50,60,70,80,90,100 */ + '| | | | | |~n' + '| | | | | |~n' + '| | | | | |~n' + '| | | | | |~n' + '| | | | | |~n' + '| | | | | |~n' + '| | | | | |~n' + '| | | | | |~n' + '| | | | | |~n' + '| | | | | |~n' + '| | | | | |~n' + '| | | | | |~n' + '+------------+---------------------------------+------------------+------------+~n' + ' | # |~n' /* defines the bookmark #110 */ + ' +------------+~n' + ' ~n' + ' +----------------------------------+~n' + ' |TOTAL with 19.6% TAX # |~n' /* #120 */ + ' +----------------------------------+~n' .
SET-SIZE(M) = 8192.
RUN drawArray(8192, iFormat, M, 10, 10).
iBackground = GET-STRING(M, 1). SET-SIZE(M) = 0.
DEF VAR F AS CHAR NO-UNDO. DEF VAR A AS CHAR NO-UNDO.
F = SEARCH("4gl.bmp"). /* logo path */ IF F <> ? THEN FILE-INFO:FILE-NAME = F.
A = "<R1><C1><#1>" + "<AT=+40,+40><IMAGE#1=" + FILE-INFO:FULL-PATHNAME + ">" + "<R1><C50><B><P20><FTahoma>My Company~n~n" + "<C50>my Adress<FArial><P12>"
+ "<R10><C1>" + iBackGround + "<=#20><R+1><C+1><FRAME#10>" /* frame for address */ + "<=#40><R+1><C+1><FRAME#30>" /* frame for reference */ + "<R60><C1><FROM><C80><LINE>~n" + "<#400><R+5><C80><FRAME#400><USE#400>" + "<P8><I>All rights are reserved etc... All rights are reserved etc...All rights are reserved etc... All rights are reserved etc... All rights are reserved etc..." + "All rights are reserved etc... All rights are reserved etc... All rights are reserved etc... All rights are reserved etc..." + "All rights are reserved etc... All rights are reserved etc... All rights are reserved etc... All rights are reserved etc..." + "All rights are reserved etc... All rights are reserved etc... All rights are reserved etc... All rights are reserved etc..." + "All rights are reserved etc... All rights are reserved etc... All rights are reserved etc... All rights are reserved etc..." + "All rights are reserved etc... All rights are reserved etc...All rights are reserved etc...All rights are reserved etc...All rights are reserved etc...<P12></I></USE>" .
RETURN A. /* Function return value. */
END FUNCTION.
|
Technical notes:
- Note that each line in the template uses a bookmark starting at #800. So you can specifically address the lines with this number.