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____ | | | | | | * __ | ___| | | | | \ |ÿÿÿÿ / | \ /\ / | | | | | | \/ \/ | | | |____ \__/| A template editor for RISC OS 3. Author: Tony Houghton 271 Upper Weston Lane Southampton SO19 9HY England Email: wined@tonyh.tcp.co.uk WWW: http://homepages.tcp.co.uk/~tonyh/wined.html This manual describes release 2.8x of WinEd. CONTENTS About WinEd............................................................1 Requirements...........................................................1 Conditions of use and distribution.....................................1 Installation...........................................................1 Disclaimer.............................................................2 Units used.............................................................2 Mode independence......................................................2 WinEdæs dialogue boxes.................................................2 Error handling.........................................................2 Interactive help.......................................................2 Loading and creating templates.........................................3 Keyboard control of the pointer........................................3 Sprite files and sprite areas..........................................3 The icon bar menu......................................................3 The Choices dialogue box...............................................4 Browsers...............................................................5 Mouse operations in browsers...........................................6 The browser menu.......................................................6 Saving templates.......................................................7 Statistics windows.....................................................7 The browser tool bar...................................................7 Exporting icon names...................................................8 Preview windows........................................................8 The preview menu.......................................................8 Editable windows.......................................................8 Mouse operations in editable windows...................................9 Selected icon(s) submenu..............................................10 The editable window tool bar..........................................10 Edit window dialogue box..............................................11 The monitor...........................................................11 Creating icons: the Icon picker.......................................12 Work area dialogue box................................................12 Visible area dialogue box.............................................13 Edit icon/title dialogue box..........................................13 Edit multiple icons dialogue box......................................14 Align dialogue box....................................................14 Space out dialogue box................................................15 Resize icons dialogue box.............................................16 Coordinates dialogue box..............................................17 Frame dialogue box....................................................17 Hints & tips..........................................................17 Customising WinEd.....................................................19 Bug reports & suggestions.............................................21 Acknowledgements......................................................21 WINED ________________________________________________________________________ About WinEd ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ WinEd is a template editor. Its features are aimed at designing templates for RISCáOSá3 with a 3D look, but it can also be used for 2D templates. The most attractive features of WinEd are: Å Main editing interfaces use dialogue boxes. Å Icons can be dragged between windows, including a customisable ÉPickeræ window containing the most commonly used icons. Å Multiple files can be loaded by one instantiation of WinEd. Å Conventions are based on Acornæs Style Guide. Å Statistics are available on the size etc of template files. Å Powerful features for positioning icons relative to each other. Å Optional rounding of coordinates in high resolution modes to ensure low resolution compatibility. Å Optional tool panes and keyboard short cuts enhance convenience. Å Fast loading and saving. Requirements ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ WinEd requires RISC OS 3.1 or later, but will work on 1Mb systems. No modules are required except that, because it is designed for a 3D look, you should use the NewLook suite if you have RISC OS 3.1. This includes the WindowUtils module, without which some 3D applications may crash. Conditions of use and distribution ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ WinEd is part way between freeware and shareware. This means that it can be freely copied and distributed, provided all files are left in their original form and permission is sought from the author before distributing it in connection with a commercial venture. If you like WinEd you are encouraged to send the author a donation in appreciation of the work put into its creation, but unlike shareware, this is voluntary and does not imply extra support being given in return. To make a donation send approximately ú10.00 sterling or equivalent (cheques payable to A. Houghton) to: Tony Houghton 271 Upper Weston Lane Southampton SO19 9HY England Installation ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Page 1 WINED ________________________________________________________________________ WinEd can be run from any filing system. To install WinEd drag it from the directory you receive it on to the directory you want it to Éliveæ in. To ensure your new copy is used in preference to the original open the application directory with Shift-Double-click and double click the !Boot file. You only need to do this if you have just made a new copy and intend to use it without rebooting the computer. Disclaimer ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ I, the author can accept no liability for any loss or damage caused by installing or using WinEd. I reserve the right to change the specification of WinEd without notice and upgrade it or not as I see fit. Units used ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ The units used and referred to throughout are OS units, except where stated. If a writable icon expecting a number is left blank, zero is assumed. Remember that work area coordinates have the origin at the top left and anything below this is negative. Mode independence ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ WinEd has been designed so that you do not have to design your templates in low resolution modes to ensure compatibility. This is done by providing an option to round all coordinates to the nearest 4 OS units (equivalent to one pixel in the lowest resolution desktop modes), including the dashed outline in drags. WinEdæs dialogue boxes ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Most of WinEdæs dialogue boxes are static ie a click outside them does not close them. This slightly improves convenience and consistency. Error handling ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Where possible, WinEd tries to continue after an error, but you should save your data as soon as possible. If WinEd can not continue there will be a Cancel button instead of OK or Continue. After a fatal error WinEd will attempt to save files with unsaved changes in <Wimp$ScrapDir>.WinEd. I hope you never have occasion to find this useful :-). Interactive help ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ WinEd supports interactive help, including its menus; you may find this helpful at first. Page 2 WINED ________________________________________________________________________ Loading and creating templates ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Template files can be loaded by double clicking or dragging them to WinEd's icon on the icon bar. The number of files WinEd can load and edit is only limited by memory. To create a new file click the WinEd icon; this opens an empty browser (see below). Files can be merged by dragging one file into a browser containing the other. Keyboard control of the pointer ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ While WinEd is on the icon bar and no other windows have input focus, each press of one of the cursor keys moves the mouse pointer by one pixel in the appropriate direction. Alternatively, the cursor keys can be made to 'nudge' any selected icons without using the mouse. Sprite files and sprite areas ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ In some windows it is necessary to create icons with sprites that belong to an application instead of the Wimpæs sprite pool. You can load Éuseræ sprite files into WinEd by dragging them to its icon. WinEd only has one sprite pool which it shares between all windows loaded in it, but it can load sprite files dragged to any of its windows or its icon bar. Holding shift while dragging a sprite file to WinEd causes it to be merged with the Wimp sprite pool and the screen is redrawn. From version 2.30 onwards, all sprite area fields are saved with the value 1 (use Wimp sprites) and WinEd makes no distinction between the Wimp sprite pool and the user sprite pool. RISC OS 3 allows all sprite area pointers to be set to a user sprite area and it will look for sprites in the Wimp pool if they are not found in the useræs area. It is up to the target application to change sprite area pointers to its own sprite area if necessary. The icon bar menu ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Info ---- Moving the pointer right opens a typical dialogue box contating information about WinEd. However, clicking on the box's toggle size icon reveals two extra buttons, one for emailing me and one for visiting WinEd's web page. These require suitable Internet software to have been booted or loaded. Icon picker ----------- Page 3 WINED ________________________________________________________________________ This opens the icon picker immediately above the right hand end of the icon bar. The icon picker is described in a later section. Monitor ------- This opens the monitor window at the top right of the screen. The monitor is described in a later section. Clear sprites ------------- Clears the user sprite area to save memory. The Choices dialogue box ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Automatic monitor ----------------- If selected the monitor will automatically open and close when editable or preview windows are opened and closed, as described in the section about The monitor. Automatic icon picker --------------------- This makes the icon picker open and close with editable windows in a similar way to the monitor. Browser tool bar ---------------- This causes a tool bar to be displayed along the top of browsers. Editable window tool bar ------------------------ This causes a tool pane to be attached to the top left of editable windows. Editor panes ------------ If this option is set, the two large dialogue boxes for editing windows and icons will have their main action buttons in panes. Editable window furniture ------------------------- This causes editable windows to be displayed with all the tools (title bar, scroll bars etc) to save you having to repeatedly switch them on and off every time you want to move or scroll the window. A Preview system is provided to see how your windows will actually look. Hatch user-drawn windows ------------------------ If selected, a cross hatch pattern will be displayed in any editable Page 4 WINED ________________________________________________________________________ window which needs the taskæs help to be redrawn. Round coordinates ----------------- This causes all coordinates to be rounded to the nearest 4 OS units as described in the section on Mode independence. Auto-load sprites ----------------- When a template file is loaded WinEd will load a Sprites or Sprites22 file from the same directory if one exists and this option is set. Keyboard short cuts ------------------- If selected, browsers and editable windows will claim input focus and respond to keyboard short cuts. The short cuts are shown in the menus if this option is selected. Move selection without mouse ---------------------------- If selected, selected icons in editable windows can be nudged with the cursor keys instead of the keys only nudging the mouse pointer. Confirm deletions ----------------- If selected, you will be prompted with an error box before deleting any icons or windows. Always show borders ------------------- If selected, all editable icons will be drawn with borders, making it easier to line them up with each other without using the automated features WinEd provides. FormEd compatible strings ------------------------- All strings in template files are supposed to use CR (carriage-return) terminators. The Wimp's template SWIs, and most applications, work with any control character terminator, but FormEd is a notable exception, which insists on CR for most strings. WinEd now uses CR by default, but if this option is unticked, it will use only zero terminators, which may be useful if you're programming lazily in C :-). Strict with panes ----------------- If selected, windows with the pane flag set will have certain other flags disabled to avoid unusual behaviour in the target application. Browsers ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Page 5 WINED ________________________________________________________________________ Browser is the term for a window which displays a list of the window/dialogue box definitions in a file. Each entry is shown as a small icon depicting a dialogue box (with no scroll bars) or window (with scroll bars) next to its template identifier. The windows are displayed in the order they appear in the file left to right. If you click Adjust on a browseræs close tool WinEd will attempt to open the directory the templates were last loaded or saved in, keeping the browser open if you hold Shift. Iconising a browser (Shift-Select on the close tool) closes any windows which Ébelongæ to it, thus it can be used for a quick tidy-up. Mouse operations in browsers ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Where Éwork areaæ is shown in brackets below it refers to clicking over a part of the window not covered by an icon. Similarly, É(icon)æ means clicking over an icon; each icon corresponds to a window or dialogue box definition. If neither are specified it refers to any part of the window. Holding down Ctrl while clicking has the effect of forcing the action to behave as if the click is over the work area, ignoring any icon. Select (icon) Exclusively select icon Select (work area) Clear selection Adjust (icon) Toggle selection state of icon without affecting others Double-click Select (icon) Open window for editing, or close it if already open Double-click Adjust (icon) Open window for preview, or close it if already open Drag Select (work area) Start dragging rubber box; when complete all icons within the box are selected Drag Select (icon) Start drag & drop operation on current selection, saving it with a filename of "Selection". Drag Adjust Start dragging rubber box; all icons inside will have their selection state toggled Menu Open browser menu. The browser menu ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Create ------ Move the pointer right to create a new window. This must contain at least one character, and you will be asked for confirmation if you are about to overwrite any existing windows with the same name. Statistics ---------- Page 6 WINED ________________________________________________________________________ Opens a statistics window for the file in the browser. This is described below. Saving templates ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ If one or more windows are selected the Selection button will be selectable. Select this if you only want to save the selected templates. Note that when you save a selection, the fonts for the whole file are saved with it. To remove superfluous fonts load the new file back into WinEd and resave. Statistics windows ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ The top row shows the column headings. The Identifier column shows the name of the window, Icons shows how many icons the window contains. Buffer shows the size of the buffer needed to load the window block with Wimp_LoadTemplate; similarly Indirected shows the size of buffer needed to hold the iconsæ indirected data. Note that the Buffer size is the size that will be requested by Wimp_LoadTemplate and includes the Wimp's scratch buffer for indirected data. Each row in the main section of the window shows the data described above for each window definition in the file. The penultimate row shows the total of each column for all the windows in the file. The bottom row shows, from left to right, the number of windows in the file, the number of different font definitions used, and the size in bytes of the file as stored on disc. Note the latter is generally smaller than the total size needed to load the templates, this is because only the parts of indirected strings which contain data are stored in the file, but the application using the templates needs to reserve space for the maximum possible length of the string. The browser tool bar ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ This is a row of tool icons which can optionally be displayed along the top of browser windows. The tools provide short cuts for the functions described above, available from the browser menu. They are (from left to right): Create (opens writable submenu) Select all (Select mouse button) / Clear selection (Adjust mouse button) Save Copy (opens writable submenu) Rename (opens writable submenu) Delete Statistics Page 7 WINED ________________________________________________________________________ Exporting icon names ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ The last entry on the selected window(s) submenu of the browser menu leads to a Save as dialogue box for exporting icon names. An icon can be given a name in an N validation command. WinEd is configured to export the icon names as sets of enum statements for the C programming language, but it can be configured by editing its Messages file. See the chapter on customisation. Preview windows ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Since editable windows have their attributes altered to make them easier to edit, it is necessary to have a system of viewing exactly how your finished windows will look and behave. This is what preview windows are for. They can be opened by double clicking Adjust on a window in a browser or by choosing Preview from the browser menu. Previews can also be used to fine tune the size and appearance of windows in ways which are not practical or possible with editable windows. It is possible to drag a preview window by dragging an empty part (ie not covered by an icon) of its work area while pressing Ctrl. Using Select has the same effect as dragging the title bar (move window) and Adjust is the same as dragging the adjust size tool (resize window). It may also be necessary to see how windows fit with each other (eg for panes) without superfluous tools. Once you are satisfied with the size and position of a preview window remember to store the position and size with the preview menu (see below), otherwise they will be reset next time you open the window. The preview menu ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Store position -------------- Stores the current on-screen size and position of the window in the template definition. Store icon states ----------------- Stores the selection states of the windowæs icons in the template definition. However, it is better practice to leave any selection to the application which finally uses the templates. Editable windows ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ The changes you make to editable windows directly affect the template data, including moving and resizing. Editable windows are optionally Page 8 WINED ________________________________________________________________________ always shown with all tools (title bar, scroll bars etc) to make editing easier. All icons are given the same button type to make them selectable. To see how your windows will really look use the preview system. Many of the following sections refer to dialogue boxes; each of these is described in its own section. Mouse operations in editable windows ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ These are summarised below with notes. Note also that all mouse operations in editable windows can be modified in the same way with the Ctrl key. This has the effect of making the operation act as if over an empty bit of work area instead of over an icon. All irreversible drags (ie excepting rubber boxes) can be cancelled by pressing Esc when you release the mouse. Select (work area) Clear selection Select Exclusively select icon (non-selected icon) Menu Open editable window menu. Adjust Select icon without (non-selected icon) affecting others Adjust (selected icon) Deselect icon Drag Select (work area) Drag a rubber box to select icons ╣ Drag Select (icon) Move (local)/Copy (export) icon ▓ Drag Adjust (work area) Drag a rubber box to invert the selection state of icons ╣ Drag Adjust (icon) Resize icon, moving the edge nearest the pointer │ Drag Shift-Adjust Resize icon, moving the corner (icon) nearest the pointer │ Drag Shift-Select Copy (local)/Move (export) icon ▓ (icon) Drag Shift-Ctrl-Select Move window as if dragging title bar Drag Shift-Ctrl-Adjust Resize window as if dragging adjust size tool Double click Select Edit window (open dialogue) £ (work area) Double click Select Edit icon(s) " * (icon) Double click Adjust Edit work area " £ (work area) Double click Adjust Minimise icon ¥ (icon) Double click Shift-Select Edit window title icon " £ (work area) ╣ This is similar to the same type of drag in browsers. Page 9 WINED ________________________________________________________________________ ▓ This follows the conventions of Drag & Drop as outlined in the Style Guide. The unmodified drag and Shift-modified drag have the opposite effect depending on whether the drag is local (finishing in the same window as it started) or an export (to a different window). In the local case an unmodified drag moves the icon and a Shift-drag copies it, in the export case an unmodified drag copies the icon, a Shift-drag effectively moves the icon by making a copy in the destination window and deleting the original. If the pointer leaves the window during a drag the window is scrolled if possible; if the drag turns out to be an export the scroll bars are reset to their original positions. The Shift key is polled at the start of the drag, not the end. │ Resize drags are limited by the windowæs visible area. £ These operations open the relevant dialogue box. ¥ This minimises both the width and height of an icon; minimisation makes the icon just large enough to display its contents and is described in more detail in the section about the Resize icons dialogue box. * See "Edit..." below. Selected icon(s) submenu ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Delete ------ Deletes the selected icon(s). Deleted icons are entirely removed from the template; any icons with higher numbers are renumbered to Éfill the gapæ. Renumber nn ----------- Renumbers the selection, starting from the number shown. A different number can be entered by moving the pointer right. Groups of icons can be renumbered as well as single icons. When renumbering a group they are kept in the same order but are made consecutive, starting from the new number. After renumbering the number in the menu and dialogue box is updated to the number following the new number of the last renumbered icon. Edit... ------- If only one icon is selected, the Edit icon dialogue box is opened, if more than one is selected, the Edit multiple icons dialogue is opened. The editable window tool bar ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ This is optionally attached to the top-left edge of editable windows and provides short cuts for the menu functions described above. The tools are (left to right, top to bottom): Edit window... Edit title... Page 10 WINED ________________________________________________________________________ Work area... Visible area... Delete Renumber (Select opens dialogue box, Adjust renumbers with value currently shown in menu) Align... Space out... Resize... Coords... Frame... Select all (Select mouse button) / Clear selection (Adjust mouse button) Edit window dialogue box ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Most of the option buttons in this dialogue box correspond directly to window flags documented in the PRM and other books. The names of the colours are abbreviated to save space. They are: TF Title bar Foreground. TB Title bar Background. WF Work area Foreground. WB Work area Background. SO Scroll bar Outer. SI Scroll bar Inner. IF Input focus (the colour the title bar changes to when the window has input focus). Default ------- Sets all the colours to their recommended default values. This button doesnæt close the dialogue box. GCOL colours ------------ If set the above colours are taken to be GCOL values. This was originally intended for 256 colour modes and should not really be used. WinEd only supports colours in the usual range of 0-15 (and 255/-1 for transparent). The monitor ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ The monitor shows the following information about any window/icon under the pointer, provided it is in a template loaded in WinEd. Window ------ The identifier of the window under the pointer. A trailing * means it is an editable window, otherwise it is a preview window. Icon Page 11 WINED ________________________________________________________________________ ---- The number of the icon under the pointer, or öWork areaò. Position -------- The work area coordinate of each edge of the icon. Size ---- The size of the icon, shown as <width> x <height>. If the pointer is over an empty bit of work area instead of an icon, the dimensions refer to the visible portion of the work area. This information is generally the most useful, it can be used to accurately position icons near the visible edge of a window. The monitor can be opened from the icon bar menu and closed with its close icon as a manual override, but it also opens automatically (this is optional) when any editable or preview windows are opened and closes when no editable or preview windows are open. Creating icons: the Icon picker ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ The icon picker is a convenient alternative to creating icons from a menu. You simply drag one or more icons from the picker to where you want them in an editable window. It behaves rather like an editable window, but most of the functions are suppressed. The only action which can be carried out, apart from making selections, is to export icons from it to other editable windows. Like the monitor the icon picker can be opened from the icon bar menu and closed with its close icon as a manual override, but it also opens automatically when any editable or preview windows are opened and closes when no editable or preview windows are open. The icon picker contains examples of most of the common types of icon, but it can be customised. See the section on Customising WinEd. Work area dialogue box ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ The work area coordinates are shown in formation. Note that it is usual to have the origin of the window (0) at the top, and the bottom coordinate is negative. Minimise -------- This sets the values in the work area coordinate fields to the work area coordinates of the portion of the window currently visible. It is not recommended that the origin (X0 & Y1) coordinates are set to any value other than zero, hence the Keep origin button is provided. Keep origin Page 12 WINED ________________________________________________________________________ ----------- This has a similar effect to the Minimise button, but the origin (X0 & Y1) coordinates are set to zero. Minimum size ------------ These icons set the minimum size (both values are positive) the window can be dragged to with the Adjust size tool. Zero values mean the size will be determined by the size of the title bar and window tools. The Maximise button sets the values to the current size of the window. Visible area dialogue box ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ This allows you to specify the position, size and scroll offsets of a window as it will appear on screen when first opened. All values are usually positive, except for the vertical scroll offset (V Scroll), which should be negative. Edit icon/title dialogue box ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Most of the entries in this window correspond to icon flags and properties described in the PRM or other books. Txt/sprt -------- If the icon contains a text or sprite, enter the text or sprite name here. Validation ---------- You can enter a validation string here for indirected text icons. Max text length --------------- Enter the maximum allowed length (including terminator) of the text for indirected text icons. This can be set to the length of the string in the Txt/sprt field by clicking the Minimise button. Outline font ------------ If set the icon uses the outline font shown in the field below; fonts can be chosen from a menu by clicking the menu button. The height can be entered in points (decimals are allowed). The Aspect ratio is the ratio of width to height expressed as a percentage. Outline fonts do not seem to work in icons with validation strings containing the L command. Validate -------- Font handles overwrite the colour fields in icon flags, therefore the Page 13 WINED ________________________________________________________________________ colour data is held in an F command in the validation string. The Validate button reads the colours from the fields in the dialogue box and ensures the validation string contains the correct L command, forcing the indirected flag on if necessary. Donæt resize Update ------ These both update the template data with settings from the dialogue box. Update also resizes the icon if it is currently too small to display its data (see Resize icons dialogue box). Edit multiple icons dialogue box ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ WinEd can apply changes to a subset of the icon flags to a selection of icons simultaneously; only those which do not affect icon data or outline fonts can be changed for a multiple selection. For simple on/off flags you can choose one of the radios Y, N or ?, meaning set the flag for all selected icons, reset it, or leave this flag alone for each icon respectively. For ESG and Button type tick the option button on the left to enable a value to be entered for all selected icons, otherwise they will not be affected. Align dialogue box ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ This is opened from an editable window menu tree. It is for aligning groups of icons with each other. The top group of radio icons determines along which edge the icons will be aligned. If only one icon is selected it can be centred in its window. Left ---- The icons will all share the same left (minimum x) coordinate. H centre -------- The icons will be arranged so that half their width is each side of a notional vertical mid-line. This mid-line is calculated from the left-most or right-most mid-point of all the icons, depending on whether the Move left or Move right icon is selected. Right ----- The icons will all share the same right (maximum x) coordinate. Top --- The icons will all share the same top (maximum y) coordinate. V centre -------- Page 14 WINED ________________________________________________________________________ The icons will be arranged so that half their height is each side of a notional horizontal mid-line. This mid-line is calculated from the topmost or bottom-most mid-point of all the icons, depending on whether the Move down or Move up icon is selected. Bottom ------ The icons will all share the same bottom (minimum y) coordinate. Group box & label ----------------- This is only applicable if exactly two icons are selected in the editable window and the lower-numbered of them has a border and no text and the other has text and no border. The icons will be aligned so that the labelæs left edge 32 OS units to the right of the left edge of the group box and its bottom edge is 24 OS units below the top of the group box (ideal for labels 44 OS units high). Move Resize ------ Icons can either be moved or resized to achieve alignment. If Move is chosen, icons are moved without changing their size. If Resize is chosen, only the edge that has to be aligned is moved, thus resizing the icon; icons will not be allowed to become too small to be selected. Move left/down/label Move right/up/box ----------------- These determine which way the icons will be moved or resized. For instance if one of the horizontal alignments is selected above and Move left is selected all the icons will be aligned with the originally left-most icon. In the special case of Group box & label these options determine whether the label or the box is moved. Centre in window ---------------- If this is selected instead of one of the above, the centre of the window is chosen as the reference point instead of one of the icons, and it only allows alignment of centres, not edges. Space out dialogue box ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Opened from an editable window menu tree, the Space out dialogue box can either be used to space a group of icons out from each other or a single icon from the edge of the visible area. The icons are sorted into order depending on their horizontal or vertical positions and spaced out from each other by the number of OS units entered in the Gap icon. The direction radio icons determine which icon is used as the Éanchoræ eg if you choose From left the left-most icon stays still and all the others are spaced out to its Page 15 WINED ________________________________________________________________________ right. If only a single icon is selected it is spaced out from the edge of the visible area corresponding to the direction radio icons. Resize icons dialogue box ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ This dialogue box is for changing the size of icons, either making a group all the same size, making a single icon or group just large enough to display its data, or a single icon a specified size. The resizing is carried out on the right and top edges, leaving the bottom left corner fixed. Minimise -------- These action buttons change the width and/or height of the selected icon(s), making it just large enough to display its data, using fairly intelligent rules. The size needed for text (taking outline fonts into account) is first calculated, adding a few pixels to each side to satisfy Style Guide conventions. Then the size needed for any sprite is calculated if possible. These two sizes are combined, taking into account the iconæs alignment flags. If there is a border, sufficient pixels are added, depending on the type of border. If the icon still has a zero size it is made just large enough to click with the mouse. Icons with ÉLæ validation commands can now also be minimised fairly sensibly. The program ensures that the current width is sufficient to display the longest word, then makes the icon just the right size to preserve the current format of the text. This does not take outline fonts into account; they do not work with the L command in RISCáOSá3.1 anyway. Versions 2.12 onwards ensure that icons that use the system font are also large enough for the current RISC PC Desktop font. If the Desktop font is the System font or you are using RISC OS 3.1 Homerton.Medium (12pt) is used. Note that this does not apply to L validation, but it is unlikely that an outline font will take more room than the System font for long strings. Make same size -------------- This only applies to multiple selections. All the icons can be set to the same width or height, either taking on the width of the narrowest or the widest or the height of the tallest or shortest. Excluding borders ----------------- If this option is set while making a group of icons the same size as each other, only the size of the icons inside their borders is made the same, so icons with wider borders will be larger overall. This is most Page 16 WINED ________________________________________________________________________ useful for sets of action buttons where the default action button is the same size as the others with an additional trench around it. Coordinates dialogue box ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ This allows you to enter the position (relative to the window's work area) and size coordinates of an icon. The Top entry is usually negative. Frame dialogue box ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ This is for placing a frame around the selected icons. The frame can consist of the windowæs visible area or an empty bordered icon (group box) with a lower number than any of the selected icons. Gap --- Enter the minimum gap (OS units) to leave between the frame and any icons inside it. This varies depending on whether the frame is the windowæs visible area (8-16 looks best) or an icon with a 3D border (usually R4 validation, 20 or more looks better). Visible area ------------ If selected the frame is made by resizing the windowæs visible area to fit the selection. The windowæs work area must be large enough to accommodate it. Icon ---- If selected the frame is made by moving and resizing the icon specified in the adjacent writable field to make a group box. It must satisfy the requirements outlined above. Allow for label --------------- Group boxes often have a label at the top. If this option is selected an extra gap (read from the writable icon, the default is 24 OS units) is left between the top of the frame and the topmost selected icon to make room for a text label. Top, Left, Right, Bottom ------------------------ Only the frameæs edges indicated by which of these icons are selected are moved (unless the frame would become too small or have negative size). This is useful because frames are often initially placed in relation to objects outside them and resized when their contents have been entered. Hints & tips ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Page 17 WINED ________________________________________________________________________ Size of dialogue boxes ---------------------- When designing dialogue boxes and non-scrollable windows, try to make sure they will fit on screen in as many modes as possible. Mode 22 support (768 * 576 OS units) is not strictly necessary, but you should at least fit your windows on a Mode 27 screen (1280 * 960 OS units). The Style Guide recommends a maximum of 800 * 600 OS units for dialogue boxes. Positioning icons ----------------- Icons with similar functions should be the same size as each other and aligned. When aligning icons, some of which have double borders (eg R6 validation), align with the inner border (use the centre alignment options). If a dialogue box has several groups of icons (eg two or more groups of radio icons with two or more different ESGæs) place group boxes around them. Place action icons, particularly the default action and Cancel buttons aligned up the side or preferably along the bottom of dialogue boxes. Position the default action button at the bottom right. Your dialogue boxes will look more attractive the more you space out icons, up to a point. The larger the dialogue box, the more space you should leave. The Style Guide suggests a gap of at least 8 OS units between icons, but 16 or more generally looks far better. Note that WinEdæs window and icon editing dialogue boxes are not spaced out very much, in this case it was considered more important to make them as small as possible. It is also unconventional to have scrolling dialogue boxes unless they are a pane with the default action and Cancel buttons in the parent window so they are also visible. Panes were used in WinEdá1.00, but were too restrictive. Writable icons -------------- Use a validation string containing Kta, not Ktar as the Style Guide suggests. Due to a bug in RISC OS 3.1 this must be the last entry in a validation string to work correctly. Outline fonts ------------- Outline fonts in icons should generally be avoided. Apart from the latest versions of RISCáOS now being able to automatically use outline fonts in all icons there are a couple of bugs. In RISC OS 3.1 using an outline font in the title bar of a window causes a terrible mess if a customised title bar (eg NewLookæs 3D one) is used. In RISC OS 3.5 using an outline font in slabbing icons (R5 and R6 validation) causes the default desktop font to be reset or disappear or Page 18 WINED ________________________________________________________________________ something. In RISC OS 3.1 at least, outline fonts seem to be incompatible with ÉLæ validation commands. Modifying other peopleæs templates ---------------------------------- Be careful when modifying other peopleæs templates; always make sure you have a backup of the original file. Some programs may object to changes in their template files eg adding outline fonts, changing the order of windows in the file, and increasing the amount of indirected data. Never renumber any icons. Deleting icons -------------- Unlike many template editors, when deleting an icon in WinEd its definition is entirely removed from the template, subsequent icons are renumbered to Éfill the gapæ. The Delete flag is best avoided, having deleted icons in your templates can cause confusion when using other template editors. Customising WinEd ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ As well as the Choices dialogue box WinEd can be customised by editing its own template file; this is the file called ÉTemplatesæ within the !WinEd directory. WinEd can not handle outline fonts in its own template file, but changing the order of windows and the amount of indirected data is not a problem. Some windows you may wish to customise are: Icon picker ----------- You can put any icons you want in here (but no outline fonts), depending on which icons you like to create most often. Its initial position depends on its template. Monitor ------- The monitoræs initial position depends on its template. Edit window dialogue box Edit icon dialogue box ---------------------- The shape, size and initial positions of these dialogue boxes may be inconvenient to you so you may wish to rearrange the icons. Do not renumber or delete any icons; if you want to get rid of any non-functional icons such as group boxes and labels, temporarily Page 19 WINED ________________________________________________________________________ enlarge the work area and move them out of the way. Remember you can turn the command button panes off in Choices if you want to reshape the window. Tool panes ---------- You can customise these by editing the WinTools and BrowTools templates and/or the Sprites and Sprites22 files. Note that you will have to disable the Editable window tool icons option to avoid inadvertently resizing the current browser tool bar while editing it. You can make these panes any size you like, within reason. If you design some that you think are better than mine, which are perhaps a little small, please let me know. Many of the default values shown in writable icons etc in the dialogue boxes are determined by the values in WinEdæs templates. If you alter WinEdæs templates be sure to back up the original file; WinEd must be distributed with this Templates file. Exporting icon names -------------------- The format in which icon names are exported is highly configurable by editing the Messages file. For example, look at the export template messages as supplied; you should find them at the bottom of the file: XPreamble:/* Icon names exported by WinEd 2.82 */\n\n XPreWin:/* Icons for window %0 */\ntypedef enum {\n X1stIcon XIcon: icon_%1 = %2,\n XOneIcon XLastIcon: icon_%1 = %2\n XPostWin:} icons_%0;\n\n XPostamble:\n The string up to and including the colon at the beginning of each line is the tag used by the program to look up the message. The following text is the message that will be substituted. In each line, the following parameters can be substituted: %0 Window template name %1 Icon name %2 Icon number Note that %1 and %2 are undefined for XPreamble, XPreWin, XPostWin and XPostamble, and %0 is undefined for XPreamble and XPostamble. You need not use all the substitutions available for any message. A newline character is substituted for \n and a tab for \t. Any other character following a backslash will be written, but cause the backslash to be ignored, so you can use \\ to include a backslash in your messages. However, to allow a % character to be included in a message you must type %%. Page 20 WINED ________________________________________________________________________ XPreamble is a message that will appear at the top of an icon names file, and XPostamble will appear at the end. XPreWin appears at the start of each window and XPostWin at the end; they will not be written for a window with no icons. X1stIcon, XLastIcon and XIcon are the messages for the first, last and any other icon in each window respectively. If a window has one icon, XOneIcon is used. Bug reports & suggestions ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ I hope that you will find WinEd to be reliable; I would not release it with known bugs. However, no application is entirely bug free, so you are advised to keep backups and save your work regularly. Bug reports will be welcome from all users, even if you have not registered (yet). If you do find a bug please do your best to inform me of the exact circumstances that cause it, ideally sending template files on disc or by email if they seem to be triggering a problem. Where possible I will personally send you a corrected upgrade if the bug is serious and a corrected version is not already in circulation. Acknowledgements ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ WinEd was written in C (compiled by Acorn C Release 5) with extensive use of DeskLib. DeskLib is a set of freeware C libraries written by Jason Williams and many others, now managed by Julian Smith. All C programmers should consider this an essential replacement for RISC_OSLib. Dr Smith's C Development Toolkit, written by Julian Smith and marketed by WSS, was helpful in debugging recent versions. The text editor used was !Zap, an excellent PD program written by Dominic Symes with extensions by several other skilled programmers. The templates were initially created with TemplEd, a PD template editor. I consider this to be WinEdæs main rival and I have aimed to improve on it in every aspect. I would like to thank David Holden of APDL for his advice from one shareware author to another and for some useful suggestions about WinEd, and many users for submitting bug reports and suggestions to help make WinEd the reliable and useful tool it is today. Page 21