[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: [StrongED] Display of Tabs and Ctrls



In message <3aa17bcc52.martin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
          Martin Bazley <martin.bazley@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> The following bytes were arranged on 8 Sep 2012 by Fred Graute :
>
> > The files would start of with a mapping that works with both Regular and
> > CtrlTab styles but it can be modified by the user to provide their own
> > mapping. The default mapping would be:
> >
> >   single tab char: '>'
> >   left tab char:   '-'
> >   middle tab char: '-'
> >   right tab char:  '>'
> >
> > The mapping for a bitmap could be changed to allow the old CtrlTab
> > display to be reinstated by modifying the CtrlTab style appropriately.
>
> To be quite honest, why do the CtrlTab styles even exist?  It's a pretty
> hideous bodge to have files where 220 out of 256 characters in it are
> redundant by design - even before you proposed increasing that
> proportion to 222 characters.

The CtrlTab style actually uses 70 characters, the old pre-4.69a7
mapping is also supported so older versions of StrongED can display the
new style tabs too.

> It also causes periodic threads on this mailing list asking, "Why do
> all my tabs look like accented Ws?", as the style (incredibly) isn't
> actually used by default for display of Ctrls and Tabs, and the
> correct configuration is non-obvious.

The problem with tabs not looking right should be gone under the scheme
that's being employed in 4.69a7. They'd start of using '--->' but can be
changed to display a proper dotted line if the user wants that (and the
bitmap supports it).

> It would, I think, be much more sensible to define a new file format
> especially for this rather specialised purpose.  This would remove a
> lot of duplication, and in addition to that the same file could
> probably be reused in most existing bitmap styles.  (Telling the
> difference between the old CtrlTab format and the new one would be a
> simple matter of reading the file's length.)

Sorry but that's a bit vague. How is this new file format supposed to
look? At a guess I'd say you're proposing that the file be reduced in
size and only contains the glyphs for control and tab characters?

Cheers,
Fred.

-- 
StrongED developer
http://www.stronged.iconbar.com/

-- 
To unsubscribe send a mail to StrongED+unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx