HTML-Format Help

Last review: 02.03.2003

Content

Preface
File menu
Edit menu
Search menu
Insert menu
Preview menu
Extras menu
Options menu

Index


This links can only be used if an external browser (see "preview" paragraph) is selected. To select an external browser in the toolbar of HTML-Foramt please click on symbol: Browser 1 wählen
Without exploiting an external browser you can use the vertical scroll bar to navigate through the help text.

HTML-Format










Preface

HTML-Format is under permanent development. It therefore is a good idea, to regularly visit the www.christian-diekmann.de Web-site.
If you miss functions you would like to see realized in this editor, please don't hesitate to send me a short message via support@christian-diekmann.de ). I will evaluate the feasibility of the functions and try to realize them within the constraints of my limited resources.

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Index

Adjust syntax highlighting
Admin
Auto-completion of tags
Auto-text

Bold

Center
Color
Comment
Create a project
Create new page

Define clipboard
Define internal anchor point

Format

Go to line

Heading

Insert eMail-Link
Insert graphics
Insert internal link
Insert line
Insert line breaks
Insert link
Insert list
Insert list entry
Insert paragraph
Insert table
Insert table row
Italic

Java-Script

Open URL
Options

Preview
Project-Properties

Recall clipboard
Redo
Replace text
Replace text in more than one file
Replace "Umlaut"

Save modes
Search
Search engige plug-in
Server installation

Underline
Undo


File Menu

File Menu -> new

Generates the base settings for a new HTML document.

Document-fast This function generates a document initially containing the base template for a HTML page without input dialog.
Document-dialog This function generates a document initially containing the base template for a HTML page with input dialog. Procedure:
Select menu item File->new->dialog. A new dialog will be started. Via this dialog you first should define the file and the location, the file has to be stored. Now you can fill in the fields important for your project. Important are the text fields for the description of the page and the keywords relevant for the new page. This information will be used to generate so called Meta-Tags. Meta-Tags are used by search engines to locate a page in the World-Wide-Web. Colors for the page background, the text and for links can be defined via the provided buttons.
After clicking the "OK" button the base content of the page will be generated.

Project
Use this menu item if you want to define a new project. A project joins files or documents logically belonging together.
First determine the file name for the project and confirm the input. Now you can provide additional information describing the project in more detail.

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File menu -> open file

Opens a file from the folder used last (even across several sessions).

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File menu -> open URL

Downloads a web page. This function currently is only enabled if your machine has been connected to the internet prior to the invocation of HTML-Format. If you are connected via a Proxy-Server (Firewall), you have to configure this proxy manually (via Miscellaneous->Proxy Settings) if you have not provided this information in the "start settings" during the first invocation of HTML-Format.
Your actual proxy settings you will find e.g. via your browser under "manual proxy settings".

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File menu -> save

Save mode 1:
Files will be saved in the folder, they have been loaded from or in the folder they have been saved last (as any other products do).

Save mode 2:
Files are saved in the folder in which the directly preceeding file has been saved with "save as" (not in the folder the file has been loaded from!).
There is no warning, if a file with an identical name already exists!
This mode can be used to change several files one after the other and to save these modified files e.g. in an upload folder. By this it is not necessary to permanently switch folders.

File menu -> save as

As in any other program.

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File menu -> open project

Opens an existing project. If a project is still open during HTML termination, it will be automatically opend again during the next HTML-Format startup.

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File menu -> save project

Saves the actually open project. An open project will be automatically saved, when HTML-Format is terminated.

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File menu -> project properties

Allows verification and modification of the actual project description.

You can set a root-directory for your files. After that all files will be saved with a relative path.

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File menu -> close project

Closes the actually open project.

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Edit menu

Edit menu -> undo/redo

[This function may also be selected via the button bar]

HTML-Format supports multiple undo/redo actions. Undo removes previously provided input and redo reconstructs input deleted by an undo action.

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Edit menu -> heading

[Inserts a <Hx>-tag]

(Displays the selected text as a heading.)

Procedure
Highlight the text that has to be displayed as a heading and select one of the provieded "heading X" menu entries. This generates the surrounding tags, that cause the browser to display the highlighted text as a heading of level X. Remind that a level 1 heading uses a larger font than a level 4 heading. You can invoke this function also via the key sequences [Ctrl+1] to [Ctrl+4].

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Edit menu -> color

[Inserts a <FONT COLOR ...> </FONT>-tag combination]

[This function may also be selected via the button bar]

(Changes the color of the highlighted text when displayed via a browser)

Procedure
Highlight the text for which the color should be changed. Then select menu item "color". The required tags will be generated and the text cursor will be located at the place you have to insert the color code. Finally you have to provide the desired color code.

Note: For a quick selection the button bar shows those 10 colors most recently used. You can change this function via the option menu item so that the default colors will be kept for quick selection. (see "Options")

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Edit menu -> bold

[Inserts a <B> </B>-tag combination]

[This function may also be selected via the button bar]

(Changes the highlighted text to bold when displayed via a browser.)

Procedure
Highlight the text which should be shown in a bold font. Then select menu item "bold". The required tags will be generated which cause the highlighted text to be presented in bold if displayed via a browser.

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Edit menu -> italic

[Inserts a <I> </I>-tag combination]

[This function may also be selected via the button bar]

(Changes the highlighted text to italic when displayed via a browser.)

Procedure
Highlight the text which should be shown in an italic font. Then select menu item "italic". The required tags will be generated which cause the highlighted text to be presented in italic if displayed via a browser.

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Edit menu -> underline

[Inserts a <U> </U>-tag combination]

[This function may also be selected via the button bar]

(Underlines the highlighted text when displayed via a browser.)

Procedure
Highlight the text which should be shown underlined. Then select menu item "underline". The required tags will be generated which cause the highlighted text to be presented underlined if displayed via a browser.

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Edit menu -> center

[Inserts a <CENTER> </CENTER>-tag combination]

[This function may also be selected via the button bar]

(Centers the highlighted text when displayed via a browser.)

Procedure
Highlight the text which should be shown centered. Then select menu item "center". The required tags will be generated which cause the highlighted text to be presented centered if displayed via a browser.

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Edit menu -> comment

[Inserts a <!--><//-->-tag combination]

(Makes the highlighted text a comment. A comment will not be displayed by a browser.)

Procedure
Highlight the text which should be made a comment. Then select menu item "comment". The required tags will be generated which cause the highlighted text to be changed to a comment so that it is not displayed by the browser.

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Edit menu -> format

[This function may also be selected via the button bar]

If enabled via the HTML-Format options tables can be indented according to their actual level.
Text rearragement after BR, Highlighting of P (reverse-indent, that is: move one level up).
Via the options it can be selected, that only tags are indented not immediately following another tag (no blank between the tags). This may be needed if you want to place graphics without a gap into different table columns.

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Edit menu -> replace "umlaut"

[This function may also be selected via the button bar]

Replaces "Umlauts" in the source text by the relevant umlaut-variable according to the HTML-Format options set (e.g. not inside the "applet" tag) (see options).

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Search menu

Search menu -> search

[This function may also be selected via the button bar]

This function allows to search for an item in the source text. The HTML-Format options allow to extend the search on all open files or on all files of the actual project. The search result is presented in the search result table (at the left of the editor window). This allows quick and easy navigation between the various search locations.
If the search result table is not visible it can be popped up via the menu item "Visibility->project"

Search menu -> search next

[This function may also be selected via the button bar]

Starts an additional search for the same search item beginning at the current cursor position


Search menu -> replace

[This function may also be selected via the button bar]

This function allows to replace parts of the source text by another text block (supports replacement also for multi-line text).
The HTML-Format options allow to extend the search and replace action on all open files or on all files of the actual project.
If you select function "replace via context menu" you get at the left border of the search result window all search results as a table. By klicking into an entry you can locate the text in the document. With the Context Menu Key you now can klick into the text and select "insert last replacement". This replaces the found text and guarantees optimal tracking about performed replacements. With the F3 function key you can advance to the next located text segment in the document.

Search menu -> replace next

[This function may also be selected via the button bar]

Starts an additional search and replace action for the same search item beginning at the current cursor position. This function is extremely valuable if the same text has to be exchanged multiple times in several files. To do this, just switch to another open file (via menu item "document") and press 'F4' or select the function in the symbol bar.
-> Please keep in mind, that the last input is saved. This means that the last search item (regardless if entered via the search or replace function) and the last provided replacement text is used.


Search menu -> Go to line

This function allows to position the cursor at the beginning of a selected line in the open document. The window content is scrolled up or down if necessary. This function is useful to locate errors detected by external utilities (parser, syntax checker, ...) applied to the document.

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Insert menu

Insert menu -> table

[This function may also be selected via the button bar]

Starts a table generation dialog

Table
The following attributes can be determined via this dialog:

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Insert menu -> table row

[This function may also be selected via the button bar]

Inserts a new row into a table

The cursor must be placed inside a syntacticaly correct table. The number of columns is automatically detected by HTML-Format.

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Insert menu -> list

[This function may also be selected via the button bar]

Inserts a list

The following attributes can be determined via this dialog:

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Insert menu -> list entry

[This function may also be selected via the button bar]

Inserts a new list item.

If a text is highlighted ist will be included into the list item.

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Insert menu -> Auto-text

Defines a position in a document at which HTML-Format automatically inserts the actual date and/or time when the document is saved.

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Menü Einfügen -> Java-Script

Inserts a Java-Script at the actual cursor position.

Load Host-Frameset

This script loads a selectable frameset, if the page is not already displayed inside a frame set.

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Insert menu -> graphic

[This function may also be selected via the button bar]

Inserts a graphic..

a) Selection dialog
Procedure
This function is only valid, if a save path has been defined. Without the path it is not possible to determine the relative location of the graphics-file with respect to the location of the HTML-page.

Place the cursor at the location you want to insert the graph but do not highlight any text. Select menu item "graphic". If the HTML document path and the graphics path is not identical you can choose whether HTML-Format automatically should use relative path specification. This can also be specified via the HTML-Format options.

b) Shortcut
Procedure
Enter the file name of the graphic to be inserted into the source text. Highlight the file name and select menu item "graphic". The same dialog as above will pop up, but the graphic file will be already specified.

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Insert menu -> Link

[This function may also be selected via the button bar]

Inserts a hyperlink into the document.

Procedure
Enter the description of the hyperlink to be inserted into the source text. Highlight the description and select menu item "Link". The required tag will be generated and the cursor will be positioned where the link address has to be specified (after "http://"). The correct link address has to be provided manually as input.

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Insert menu -> Internal link

Generates a link to a text position inside the actual document (see Define internal anchor point)

Procedure
Enter the description of the internal hyperlink to be inserted into the source text. Highlight the description and select menu item "Internal link". The required tag will be generated and the cursor will be positioned where the link address (name of the internal anchor points) has to be specified. The name of the internal anchor point has to be provided manually as input.

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Insert menu -> Define internal anchor point

Generates an internal anchor point for a text position inside the actual document (see Insert menu -> Internal link)

Procedure
Enter the description of the anchor for a potential hyperlink to be inserted into the source text. Highlight the description and select menu item "Define internal anchor point". The required tag will be generated and the cursor will be positioned where the name of the internal anchor point has to be specified. The name of the internal anchor point has to be provided manually as input.

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Insert menu -> eMail-Link

[This function may also be selected via the button bar]

Generates an eMail-Link in the actual document.

Procedure
Select the relevant menu item or symbol in the button bar. A selection dialog will be started which allows the specification of the required information.
eMail-recipient
The address to which the e-Mail should be sent.

Linktext
Here you can provide the text to be presented by the browser which triggers the mail program when clicked.

Subject
Here you can specify a subject to be used for the e-Mail. This can be the heading of the section of the document where the e-Mail link is located. This can be useful when browsing through a list of mail items in the in-box).

copy and blind copy recipients (cc: and bcc:)
This is to specify copy recipients. To enable this function you must mark the relevant check-box.

Predefined text
An introductory text at the beginning of the e-Mail. This text is placed at the top of the text window of the e-Mail program.

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Insert menu -> line break

[Inserts a <BR>-tag]

This menu item or the key combination "Ctrl - Enter" inserts a BR-tag at the current cursor position into the open document.

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Insert menu -> paragraph

[Inserts a <P>-Tag ein]

This menu item or the key combination "Alt - Enter" inserts a P-tag at the current cursor position into the open document.

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Insert menu -> Horizontal line

This menu item inserts a HR-tag (horizontal rule) at the current cursor position into the open document.

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Preview

[This function may also be selected via the button bar]

Via the menu items "Preview with browse 1" to "Preview with browser 3" you can invoke an external browser to view the cureently open document. Which browser to exploit is queried during the first usage of the function. A selected browser is stored by HTML-Format for future use. If you want to change browsers you can do this via "options-> additional settings->select browser". Here you can redefine browser 1 to browser 3. If you want just test a browser or use a browser in single session you can specify the browser via "Other browser". A browser specified this way will not be stored by HTML-Format. A browser specified under "browser 1" will also be used for the presentation of the HTML-Help file.

By specifying a prefix or suffix you may specify also other external programs (parser, syntax checker, ...) to be used by HTML-Format. The entry is not for browsers only.

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Extras Menu

Search engine analysis plug-in

[This function may be selected via the Extras Menu]

This plug-in is Shareware and must be registered. As long as it is not registered the invocation is defered for some seconds and it is enabled only to test the function.

This powerful analysis plug-in allows to test the open HTML-file with regards to how well it may be found and rated by commercial search engines.
This plug-in detects defects of your HTML-document which may inhibit the search engine to show it at a top position. It provides tips how to improve the document.

Please register the plug-in if you want to use it. You will receive via e-Mail a code that permanently enables it.

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View menu

This function allows the quick position of program windows on the desktop, e.g. if you want to work on 2 documents simultaneously.

Work with 2 documents

Procedure
Start HTML-Format twice and position one window to the left and one window to the right of your desktop. Use "View menu -> window to the left" and "View menu -> window to the right"
As Java is allocating a separate thread to each window, two simultaneously running programs are as effective as two client windows of the same program environment.

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Extras menu -> Clipboard

Insert clipboard

Via menu items "insert clipboard 1 - 8" or via key combination "F5" to "F8" and "Ctrl F5" to "Ctrl F8" you can insert the content of a clipboard into the open document at the actual cursor position.
How to define the content of a clipboard is discussed below.

Define clipboard

Via menu items "define clipboard 1 - 8" you save the highlighted document text in the relevant clipboard.
How to insert the content of a clipboard in a document is discussed above.

Work on clipboard

Via this function you can display existing macros (clipboard contents) and modify them if necessary.

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Option menu

Options

Format | Editor | Browser | Auto-completion | Miscellaneous

Format

Umlauts:
With "in Applet tag" and "in comment" you can specify where to convert "umlauts" to the relevant variable. You normally should avoid to convert "umlauts" inside an applet text.

place-holder:
"max. blanks" , "max. tab" and "max. enter" determine the maximum allowed number of consecutive characters of the specific type that should be kept in a document (e.g. when highlighting ?????) The formatting of the document by HTML-Format is not affected by these place-holders.

In a row:
The selected tags (if arranged in a sequence shorter than the available line length) will be kept in a single line for readability reasons.

Indent:
"Indent with tab" determines, whether tags should be indented with tabs or not. If this function is enabled "number of spaces" is ignored. "Number of spaces" provides an integer number determining how many blanks should be used to indent the various tags.

Line length:
"Line length" is a threshold value, which should not be exceeded by a line without indentation. Indentations in tables are not affected by this value. This threshold value may be disabled for applet-tags.

Indent tables:
If "Indent tables" is enabled, nested tables are indented according to their nesting level.

"Only when blank preceeds tag" (default=on) inhibits the insertion of spaces during automatic formatting at positions blanks are not allowed. This is important, if graphics should be shown without gaps. A separation with a space (blank)would cause the browser to insert a gap between the pictures.

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Editor

Format | Editor | Miscellaneous
Colors
Here you can adjust all colors used for syntax highlighting. The new values become active, as soon as you take them over via the OK button. Via button "default colors" you can reestablish the default colors for syntax highlighting.
Text Editor:
Option menu | Content | Index


Browser (external programs)

Format | Editor | Miscellaneous

In this part of "Options" you can specify parameters needed to start external programs (e.g. a browser). Besides the program specification you can in addition set the following parameters:
Parameter Function
Prefix The prefix is the part of a parameter which is presented to an external program immediately in front of the provided file name. In the complete invocation sequence "netscape -reload file://verzeichnis/Datei.htm" "-reload file://" is the prefix.
Suffix The suffixis the part of a parameter which is presented to an external program immediately after of the provided file name. In the complete invocation sequence "pgm_name C:\verzeichnis\Datei.txt -compress -crypt" " -compress -crypt" is the suffix.
Provide file with path Via this setting a file name can be presented to an external program without complete path specification. This might be needed, if programs locate files via "http://localhost/" - in this case it is not allowed to provide an additional path specification to the external program.

Options menu | Content | Index



Auto-completion

Format | Editor | Miscellaneous

Auto-completion of tags saves keyboard input. For a provided start-tag automatically the relevant end-tag is generated. To achieve this it is only required to hold down the "shift"-key a little longer during the input of the ('>') character.

Auto-completion of tags on:
Enables or disables the function.

Complete unknown tags:
If this function is enabled, HTML-Format completes all tags. This includes also those tags, which are not explicitely specified via the HTML-Format options. Exceptions are those tags specified under "tags not to be completed".

Complete tags preceeding text with no space:
If this function is enabled, HTML-Format compeltes even tags which are entered immediately in front of document text. This may be a little awkward, if you want to enclose a word between a start-tag and an end-tag manually.

tags to be completed:
If unknown tags should not be completed, you can explicitely define the tags to be completed here.

tags not to be completed:
You can explicitely define tags here, which never should be completed.

Options menu | Content | Index



Miscellaneous

Format | Editor | Miscellaneous

Save:
HTML-Format is capable to work with different "open (source)" and "save (target)" path specifications. "reset path after open" (default) establishes - after a new file has been opened - the path under which the file has been opened as the "save (target)" path. "Always last save path" keeps - after a new file has been opened - the path under which the last save action occured as "save (target)" path. This is very effective. Just save a file in a directory, all following files should be saved. Now you can open files from the "open (source)" path and save them in the "save (target)" path with a single click e.g. to the "save" menu item. This of course makes only sense if the target path is different from the source path.
This can be an "upload" path which holds all files not yet uploaded to the internet server.

Colors:
This checkbox determines whether the actual colors should be shown in the button bar under "edit" or if always the default colors should be shown.
Via button "Default Colors" the default colors can be reestablished.

Insert graphic:
Relative path specification without query
If this function is selected, HTML-Format evaluates automatically the relative path for a graphic file to be inserted with respect to the open HTML document. This is valuable if the directory hierarchy on the web-server is identical to the path hierarchy on your development machine.

Options menu | Content | Index


Admin

This menu item allows the specification of a directory which should hold your options, macros, browser data, and so on.
This allows server installation of HTML Format. Users can load HTML-Format from the server, but keep their individual settings in their home directory. This saves storage space but allows users to keep their own profiles.
The setting will be established when terminating the program. This allows experimenting with different values.
After a restart of HTML-Format menu item "Admin" will be disabled, so that normal users cannot select it. To enable the menu item file "HF-admin.dat" has to be deleted in the program directory. Only authorized administrators can do that.

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