BoxIt! 0.10 -- For TSE 1.0 Pre-Release
BoxIt! is the quick way to add boxes to your
text. Mark a column block, press a key, and
the box is added to your text. BoxIt is also
flexible, allowing you to toggle each side of
the box on and off, and adjust the spacing
between the block and the box. Several new
features and fixes in this version!

BoxIt!
Version 0.10

For The SemWare Editor 1.00 Pre-Release

George J. De Bruin


Table Of Contents


Introduction
Installing BoxIt!
Using BoxIt!
Side Toggles
Gap Settings
Line Settings
Quick Key Reference
Error Messages
History
Author Bio. & Contacting
Contact Points
BoxIt Releases
Remuneration / Donations
Future Versions



Introduction


Many of the editors available in both the shareware and commercial
markets today have a line drawing facility. A number of popular
editors have extended this to a box drawing facility.

This macro serves two purposes:

(1) To implement a box drawing facility for TSE that is
integrated closely with the editor.

(2) To provide a well documented example of a macro written in
the SAL macro language. (This

Permission is granted to the user of this macro to modify and
distribute modified versions of BoxIt! See source code for
conditions applying to modified versions of BoxIt!


Installing BoxIt


Installation is easy. You may do it in any way you chose!

The .mac file supplied is exactly the same as the source provided.
It was compiled with the current version of TSE (indicated on the
cover page of the documentation, and in the source code), and is
bound to , while the Main Menu is bound to . All
you have to do is load it through the Macro / Load command on the
menu, or by adding a LoadMacro() command to the appropriate location
in your se.s file (and re-burning it into the TSE).

Another way to add it to TSE is the use the '#include' directive in
your se.s file. If you do so, you will need to remove the '#include
['Boxit.Key'] at the end of the BoxIt.S file, and add key bindings
to your se.key file.

Note: the '#include' method of adding BoxIt! to TSE may not be too
appealing to some. As of version 0.10, BoxIt! has grown to
approximately 11K in size (due primarily to the menu changes and the
new help system).

Please consult the TSE documentation if you need help with loading
macros, or modifying the se.s or se.key file. (Or consult a SemWare
representative, or me.)


Using BoxIt!


Using BoxIt! is easy. Just follow these steps:

(1) Column mark where you want the box.

(2) Pull up the BoxIt! Menu ().

(3) Set the Side Toggles, Gaps Settings, and Line Type to your
preferences.

(4) Select BoxIt! from the menu.

To draw another box using the same settings:

(1) Column mark where you want the box.

(2) Press .

More information on specific options can be found in the next sections
of the documentation, or the help system.


Side Toggles


The Side Toggles menu is used to turn each side of the box On or Off.
Each side may be set individually using the Top, Bottom, Left and Right
toggles. Additionally, all sides may be set at the same time using the
Global selection.

The Global selection has an extra option: Invert. Inverting the sides
changes all settings that were On to Off, and vice versa. For example,
if the toggles were set like this:


Global [ On]

Top [Off]
Bottom [Off]
Left [ On]
Right [ On]


After selecting the Global, Invert option, the menu would look like
this:


Global [ Inv]

Top [ On]
Bottom [ On]
Left [Off]
Right [Off]


The top and bottom sides have been turned on, while the left and right
sides have been turned off. Note that the Global selection now says
'Inv' next to it, indicating that you selected the inversion operation.

This is useful if you want to quickly draw a box where two sides have
one type of line (say the top and right sides), while the other sides
have a different type of line. For example:





Combining this feature with the user defined line type opens many
possibilities.


Gap Settings


The Gap Settings menu is used to adjust the amount of space between your
marked block and the box BoxIt will draw for you. Each side may be set
individually using the Top, Bottom, Left and Right options.
Additionally, the gap may be set for all sides at once using the Global
option.

For example, if the Gap Settings menu looked like this:


Global [ 0]

Top [ 2]
Bottom [ 2]
Left [ 1]
Right [ 1]


You would get a box that looks like this (assuming the inner box was the
column block):











Not that there is only 1 space between the block and the box. This is
the way BoxIt! works. Just remember this short table:


Lines Between
Gap Box and Block

0 Within Block
1 0
2 1
3 2
... ...


Now, assuming we wanted all of the gaps set to 1, we would use the
global option to set them:


Global [ 1]

Top [ 1]
Bottom [ 1]
Left [ 1]
Right [ 1]


And our box would look like this (again, assuming the inner box was our
block):










Line Settings


The Line Settings menu allows you to chose the style of line that you
want to draw your box with. This features uses the standard line type
settings supported by TSE:

Single:

Double Top:

Double Side:

Double Both:

ASCII: +-|

Eraser

User-defined: []

The user defined selection can be set to any character you wish to draw
your box with.

You can use the Eraser option to remove boxes that you have drawn. The
easiest way to accomplish this is to

(1) Select the box with a column block.
(2) Set the Line Type to Eraser.
(3) Set Global Gaps to 0.
(4) Set Global Side Toggles ON.

Then execute BoxIt.


Quick Key Reference


Below is a short chart of the keys used by BoxIt:

BoxIt! Menu Bar
Execute BoxIt! (Draw Box)

These keys are provided as short-cuts to navigating the menus:

Set Global Gap
Set Top Gap
Set Bottom Gap
Set Left Gap
Set Right Gap

Side Global Setting
Side Top Toggle
Side Bottom Toggle
Side Left Toggle
Side Right Toggle


Error Messages


BoxIt! has a grand total of 3 error messages. Below is a short
explanation of them:

No Column Block In File

Currently BoxIt! only supports column blocks ( in TSE's
standard interface).

This message appears when there is either no column block in the
current file, or if there is no block in the current file.

BoxIt aborts in this condition. All settings are left as they were,
and the block (if there was one) is still marked.


Cursor Not In Block

The cursor needs to be placed somewhere inside the marked area.

This is an adopted standard among the TSE Beta testers and macro
authors. It's primary purpose is to keep users from accidentally
performing an action they didn't mean to.

BoxIt aborts in this condition. All settings are left as they were,
and the block is still marked.


Cannot Insert Box At or Before Beginning of Line

This error occurs most often when the left column of the block -
left gap is < 1. Currently, BoxIt! does *not* insert spaces at the
beginning of a line if it needs to.

A later version may support this.

BoxIt aborts in this condition. All settings are left as they were,
and the block is still marked.




History


Version Date Comments

0.01 03/22/93 Initial coding of macro. Very simple implementation.
0.02 03/24/93 Fixed bug that affects using macro in overwrite
mode. Insert is now set to On when macro is
executed, and reset on exit.
Added: Side Toggles for Top, Bottom, Left and
Right sides.
Added: Box Gap to all adjusting space between
the block and the box.
Added: Menu. Allows setting all of the options,
including the line pattern. Also allows calling
BoxIt.
Added: Global Variables for Box edge toggles and
Box gap.
0.03 06/10/93 First public release of BoxIt!
Changed names of several procedures to resolve
conflicts with internal TSE procedures.

0.04 - 0.09 Were not released.

0.10 06/24/93 Fixed bug that caused total lock-up of TSE when
current row - gap < 1.
BoxIt! now inserts as many lines as needed at
the beginning and end of a buffer.
Fixed bug that caused total lock-up of TSE when
current column - gap < 1. Boxit! now returns
an error message "Cannot Insert Box At or Before
Beginning of Line."
Changed to menu-bar structure.
All menu items have a help line message attatched.
Added: About menu. Select '' from menu bar.
Added: Help screen(s). Select 'Help' from menu
bar.
Added: Gap settings for each side of box.
Added: Global gap setting.
Added: Global sides on/off toggle.
Documentation over-haul.
Source code split into four files:
BOXIT.S : The main source code.
BOXIT.MNU: The menus.
BOXIT.HLP: Help Screens.
BOXIT.KEY: Key Bindings.


Author: Bio. & Contacting


George J. De Bruin has been a beta tester for the SemWare Editor for
over a year and a half, and has hosted the Ilink Editors Conference for
over two years.

Contact Points


George may be reached on the following networks in the conferences
listed:

RIME: Qedit
Ilink: Qedit, Editors, Shareware
Fido: Qedit
Intelec: Qedit, Word Processing
PlanoNet: Reviews
SmartNet: Qedit
MetroLink: Qedit
EchoNet: Qedit

In addition, he may be reached at the following places:

The SemWare BBS -- (404) 641-8968
Conference #4, TSE Questions.
Send Mail To: George De Bruin

The Lunatic Fringe BBS -- (214) 235-5288
Conference #141, Get-Mo!
Send private message to: George De Bruin.

Exec-PC -- (414) 789-4210
Send Email to: George De_Bruin

8:930/13@RBBSNet routed through 8:930/1
NetMail To: George De Bruin

He may also be reached via the U.S. Postal Service at:

George J. De Bruin
1414 Shiloh Rd. Box 511
Plano, TX 75074

He will also accept voice phone calls at:

(214) 422-0266

during reasonable hours (Central Time Zone). Because of an ever
changing work schedule he cannot commit to hours when he will be
available.

He is also unable to accept collect calls, or return calls.

BoxIt Releases


All future versions of BoxIt will be officially released on the
three BBS systems (SemWare, The Lunatic Fringe, and Exec-PC) listed
above. BoxIt may also be downloaded from the author directly after
first calling him voice. Terminal settings will be 2400 N-8-1.

If you would like a copy sent to you on disk, please send a
pre-formatted disk and SASE to the address listed above.

Remuneration / Donations


BoxIt is distributed as freeware, with source code included. No
payment is expected or required for it's use.

However, donations are cheerfully accepted (especially since my HST
just died). Any donations will be applied to a fund to purchase a
new modem.

Note: Donations will not be used as a form of contract. I will not
supply any extra services to anyone who does make a donation.
Heck, I may not even produce another version of BoxIt
(although I still have things on the list that I want to do).


Future Versions



Below is a list of the features that are planned for future
versions. Features will be added to the list as they are suggested.
All features will be implemented as time permits.

Line marking. Calculate longest line, and check for ample
left margin space.

Block history. Allow user to restore block from a scroll-back
stack to ease making changes to existing boxes. (??????)

Overwriting text warning.

Inserting blank lines warning(s).

Quick Keys. Menus will probably become cumbersome to some.
Need quick way to set options on the fly. (Partially
implemented now...not too well thought out, IMO).

Insert mode. Allow text around box to be pushed left / right
and create blank lines for box where necessary.