Interacting with StrongED

StrongED does not provide many * Commands. However it includes a module Dialog which implements *Message

There are four commands which are accepted by *Message:

1. StrongED_OpenDoc
2. StrongED_OpenView
3. StrongED_ExecCmds
4. StrongED_ExecFile

These names are pretty-much self-explanatory and must be followed by the relevant file, view, commands etc. that are to be opened or executed. They can normally only be used from an Obey file or a Task window. If running in a Task window gives an error Window Manager is currently in use then StrongED needs updating. See the note below.

StrongED_OpenDoc and StrongED_OpenView

The formats of these messages are:
StrongED_OpenDoc <filename> <parameters>
StrongED_OpenView <parameters>

The StrongED_OpenDoc message is used to load a file into StrongED.
The StrongED_OpenView message is used to create additional views on a text which has been opened by StrongED_OpenDoc. It always relates to the last StrongED_OpenDoc message received.

You can store the messages in an obey file by prefixing each line with 'Message'. Which is a *command implemented by the Dialogue module that comes with StrongED. It's purpose is to convert the remainder of the line into a Wimp message that's then sent to StrongED.

Both messages understand the following parameters:

Parameter	Value	Meaning
-x0	<num>	x coordinate of top left corner
-y0	<num>	y coordinate of top left corner
-w	<num>	width of a view
-h	<num>	height of a view
-scrollx	<num>	x scroll offset
-scrolly	<num>	y scroll offset
-wordwrap		if present, word wrap is on
-charwrap		if present, character wrap is on
-autowrap		if present, auto wrap is on
-wrap	<num>	wrap width of view in characters
-iconised		if present, view is iconised (actually it's hidden)
-offset	<num>	cursor offset in bytes from start of text
-ftyp	<num>	3 digit hex filetype of file displayed in view
-readonly		if present, text is write-protected
-mode	<name>	mode used in the view
-m1	<num>	mark position 1, offset from start of text
-m2	<num>	mark position 2, offset from start of text
-m3	<num>	mark position 3, offset from start of text
-m4	<num>	mark position 4, offset from start of text

The items marked in bold may have their keywords omitted, but must then be given in the right order.

StrongED_ExecCmds and StrongED_ExecFile

StrongED_ExecCmds executes commands consisting of a string of StrongED functions with their parameters which are executed sequentially. This is very much like the list of functions/commands tied to a key in a ModeFile.

For example, the following will insert the current date at the start of a view: StrongED_ExecCmds StartOfText DateAndTime("%CE%YR-%M3-%DY") Newline

You can either prefix the line with 'Message' and put it in an obey file (see Loading files from a list) or send it directly from an application by building a message block and passing it to StrongED.

The message block should have the following format:

+0	message length (rounded up to a multiple of 4)
+4	handle of sender (filled out by Wimp)
+8	my ref (filled out by Wimp)
+12	your ref (should be 0 as it's the original message)
+16	message code, &43B00
+20	message data, StrongED_ExecCmds <list of commands>

If you want to execute lots of commands then you can put them in a file and send the message StrongED_ExecFile with the path of the file as its argument. StrongED will then execute all the commands in the file.