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Support Forums => Other Software and Code => Topic started by: Eddy Van Esch on December 03, 2009, 09:41:25 AM

Title: Format Selection to Colums
Post by: Eddy Van Esch on December 03, 2009, 09:41:25 AM
Hi Paul,

Jellyfish has a feature called "Format Selection to Colums".
It was based on a little tool I once wrote, "ColForm.bas":
http://www.powerbasic.com/support/pbforums/showthread.php?t=23671

I noticed that the FireFly Visual Designer editor does not have this functionality.
I kinda miss it. Would you consider putting that on the wishlist for the FF code editor?

Meanwhile, I am using it via "User Tools", but it would be cleaner if it was integrated.
Thanks for considering this.

Kind regards
Eddy
Title: Re: Format Selection to Colums
Post by: Marc van Cauwenberghe on December 03, 2009, 11:10:04 AM
That look very nice. Could you tell me how you use it via the 'User Tools'

Regards,
Marc
Title: Re: Format Selection to Colums
Post by: Rolf Brandt on December 03, 2009, 11:19:24 AM
Hi Eddy,

I tried to compile your tool, but I get errors under PB9.
Title: Re: Format Selection to Colums
Post by: John Montenigro on December 03, 2009, 12:10:39 PM
Rolf, me too.

There's no value established for: %MOD_CONTROL  which specifies the Key Shift-state:
   'Equates for Key states
   %NOSHIFT    = 0
   %ALT        = 1
   %CTRL       = 2
   %SHFT       = 4
so I put in: %MOD_CONTROL = 6   'CTRL + SHFT 

'take these out from inside the SUB: "FormatTheText"
%SmallDelay         = 200  'small delay between keypresses. Otherwise some programs can't open the clipboard
%HotkeyReleaseDelay = 500  'wait until sure that user has released hotkey combination, increase for slow users..;-)   


I put both changes just before: #Include "win32api.inc"
and it compiled. Rune the .exe and leave the little window open, switch to a text file and try it. Go back to the little window when you're done and want to unload the app.

Did a quick test. It runs, but text is not aligning as expected. I may have unexpected values for tabs or some such. Will investigate over the weekend. (The more I check code, the further behind I'm getting in my "real work" today!)
-John

Title: Re: Format Selection to Colums
Post by: Rolf Brandt on December 03, 2009, 12:29:43 PM
I guess we would have to assign another hotkey then Ctrl Q. FF3 uses Ctrl-Q for closing the project.
Title: Re: Format Selection to Colums
Post by: Eddy Van Esch on December 03, 2009, 07:12:33 PM
Hi all,

The original code, "ColForm.bas" was programmed for PBDll 6.0 I think. A few minor modifications are needed for PBWin 9.x.
Move the constants out of the function as John already mentioned.
Also, %MOD_CONTROL is defined in DDT.inc or IMM.inc.

I modified "ColForm.bas" for use as a User Tool in FF. Basically, I simply removed the GUI and the global hotkey.
Source code, compiled exe and a screenshot of the User Tool dialog are store in attached zip file.
How to use in FireFly:
       * Set this compiled exe as a User Tool, and assign a shortcut key combination to it. You need to do this only once.
       * To format a few lines of code:
           - Select the lines of code that you want to format,
           - Press the shortcut key combination to invoke this tool. The text is copied, formatted and pasted again in the editor.
That's it ....

Kind regards
Eddy
Title: Re: Format Selection to Colums
Post by: Rolf Brandt on December 03, 2009, 07:16:46 PM
Thanks a lot, Eddy.