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________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 13: Painting Tools 213 ________________________________________________________________________ CHAPTER 13: PAINTING TOOLS HyperPAD's painting tools let you create visually appealing screens tailored to your audience's needs. The appearance of a pad is important because a design that is carefully planned and pleasing to look at is more effective in presenting information. In this chapter, you'll learn: 0 The organization of the text screen. 0 How to select and use the painting tools. 0 How to use the tool box. 0 How each painting tool works so that you can modify your pages and backgrounds. 0 Special tips describing how to use the painting tools more effectively. ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 13: Painting Tools 214 ________________________________________________________________________ THE PAINTING ENVIRONMENT THE SCREEN Each page is overlaid on top of a background, creating a composite referred to as the screen. The screen is what you see when you look at your computer display. The screen is structured in composition, made up of a grid of rectangles called character cells. Depending on your screen resolution, there are normally 80 cells across and 25 cells down. Each cell contains aaracterandnd an attribute. ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ **** The Printed Documentation has a picture or screen shot here **** │ │ │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 13: Painting Tools 215 ________________________________________________________________________ The previous illustration shows you how the screen is divided and how characters and attributes fit into a character cell. HyperPAD's painting tools allow you to add or delete characters and attributes in the cells that make up the backgrounds and pages in a pad. CHARACTERS AND ATTRIBUTES As described above, each cell on the screen contains a character and an attribute. The range of characters you can include in a cell is from 0 to 255 (known as ASCII values). For example, the character A is represented by number 65. In Appendix 8 of the PADtalk Reference Guide, there is a table showing all of the 256 characters. The attribute portion of a cell is a number that represents a combination of a foreground color and a background color. Attributes range in value from 0 to 255. When a character is placed inside a cell, it is displayed with the foreground color of the attribute, while all other remaining space in the cell appears in the background color. ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ **** The Printed Documentation has a picture or screen shot here **** │ │ │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ As you know, each HyperPAD screen is a combination of a page and background layer. You may be wondering how elements on the background are visible on the page. Cells on the background are compared with the corresponding cells on the page. If the page cell contains the transparent character, the character from the background cell shows through. The same applies for the attribute. When a new page is created, all the cells on that page are filled with the transparent character (ASCII number 0) and the transparent attribute (7, or grey on black). Thus, the entire background shows through a newly created page. ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 13: Painting Tools 216 ________________________________________________________________________ The following illustration demonstrates how characters on the background show through onto the page. ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ **** The Printed Documentation has a picture or screen shot here **** │ │ │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ In the next illustration, the background contains the character A and the page contains the character B in identical positions. Notice that the background character is not seen, as the page's character blocks it from view. ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ **** The Printed Documentation has a picture or screen shot here **** │ │ │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 13: Painting Tools 217 ________________________________________________________________________ The next illustration demonstrates the difference between the transparent character and the space character. It might appear to the human eye that the space and transparent characters are the same; however, as you can see from the illustration, that is not the case. ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ **** The Printed Documentation has a picture or screen shot here **** │ │ │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ CHARACTER CELL INFO You can determine the contents of a character cell using the Character Cell Info dialog box. This box describes both the character and the attribute that currently occupy a character cell. Use this command if you're having trouble determining whether a character cell is transparent or contains a space, or if you want to know the attribute within a cell. ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 13: Painting Tools 218 ________________________________________________________________________ To access the Character Cell Info dialog box: 1. Place the cursor on the cell that you want information about. 2. Press F9. The Character Cell Info dialog box, shown here, appears on-screen. ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ **** The Printed Documentation has a picture or screen shot here **** │ │ │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ THE PAINT ATTR AND ASCII CHAR HyperPAD maintains a current character and a current attribute. As you design your pages and backgrounds, you will constantly be changing the values of these settings. When you paint color on the page or background, you are really setting the attribute portion of the character cell to the value of the Paint attr. Similarly, when you use the Char Paint tool, you are really assigning the character portion of the character cell to the value of the ASCII char. ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 13: Painting Tools 219 ________________________________________________________________________ To determine the Paint attr and ASCII char values: 1. Select a painting tool from the Tools menu. 2. Open the Workspace menu (ALT+W). The Workspace menu, shown below, will be placed on-screen. ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ **** The Printed Documentation has a picture or screen shot here **** │ │ │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Displayed to the right of the ASCII char and Paint attr commands are the values of the current character and paint attribute. 3. To remove the menu from the screen, press ESC. PAINTING UNDER THE MENU BAR AND THE STATUS BAR When you begin using the painting tools, you may find it necessary to use the screen areas normally hidden by the menu and status bars. Because of this, HyperPAD gives you a way to quickly hide and show the menu and status bars. To toggle the menu and status bars on and off: 1. Press ALT+SPACE. The menu and status bars will be removed from the screen. 2. Press ALT+SPACE to place them back on-screen. ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 13: Painting Tools 220 ________________________________________________________________________ SELECTING A PAINTING TOOL HyperPAD provides many tools for you to select from when you paint. This section describes the various methods used to select a painting tool. The easiest way, of course, is to select a painting tool from the Tools menu. However, when you're painting, you're constantly changing from tool to tool, making menu selection tedious. HyperPAD provides you with both shortcut keys and a tool box for quick tool selection. HYPERPAD TOOLS HyperPAD provides you with a palette of tools from which you can pick in order to paint on the page or background. The available tools are summarized in the following table. Tool: Shortcut key: Purpose: ------------------------------------------------------------------ Text CTRL+T Adds text Paint CTRL+P Adds color Erase CTRL+E Removes attributes and characters Line CTRL+L Draws single or double lines Mark Block CTRL+M Marks a block that you can move, copy, and, and paste or perform a block command on Char Paint CTRL+H Paints with the current ASCII character Selector CTRL+S Manipulates buttons and fields Browse CTRL+B Allows you to use the pads THE TOOL BOX PALETTE Using the tool box popup window, mouse users can quickly select a painting tool. To display the tool box, select the Tool Box command from the Workspace menu (ALT+W, T). ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 13: Painting Tools 221 ________________________________________________________________________ The tool box will now stay on-screen until you close it. ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ **** The Printed Documentation has a picture or screen shot here **** │ │ │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ To move the tool box using the mouse: Place the mouse pointer on the border of the tool box and drag it to a new location, then release the button. Selecting a tool from the tool box: Click the mouse on the tool you want to select. A triangle will appear next to the tool you selected, indicating that it is the current tool. SPECIAL FUNCTIONS OF THE TOOL BOX Double-clicking the mouse on different tools in the tool box provides a convenient shortcut for many of the painting commands. 0 You can change the current paint attribute by double-clicking on the Paint tool in the tool box. When you do, the Paint Attribute dialog box is displayed, letting you pick from the available attributes. 0 By double-clicking on the Char Paint tool in the tool box, you can set the current ASCII char, which, when combined with the Char Paint tool, lets you paint characters on the screen. 0 The line type can also be toggled (between single and double lines) by double-clicking on the Line tool. REMOVING THE TOOL BOX The tool box can be removed from the screen by selecting the Tool Box command from the Workspace menu (ALT+W, T). You can also click the mouse on the close box on the upper left corner of the tool box. ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 13: Painting Tools 222 ________________________________________________________________________ USING THE PAINTING TOOLS Before you can begin painting, check to make sure the user level is set to painting or higher. As you proceed through this chapter, you may find it helpful to try out the described procedures. If you want to follow along, you should create a new pad on which to practice so that you don't have to worry about changing an existing pad. USING THE KEYBOARD AND THE MOUSE The following table describes the various methods used to move around the page or background while working with the painting tools. When you're painting, the cursor location is displayed on the status bar. Key: Moves the cursor: ------------------------------------------------------ Up arrow Up one line Down arrow Down one line Left arrow Left one character Right arrow Right one character HOME To the left edge of the screen END To the right edge of the screen CTRL+Up arrow Up two lines CTRL+Down arrow Down two lines CTRL+Left arrow Left four characters CTRL+Right arrow Right four characters To use the mouse to position the cursor, simply move the pointer to where you want the cursor and click the right mouse button. ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 13: Painting Tools 223 ________________________________________________________________________ APPLYING A PAINTING TOOL All of the painting tools are used the same way. When you're painting, you are free to move the cursor anywhere on the screen using the keys in the preceding table. To apply a tool, you move the cursor the same way but with the SHIFT key held down. To use a painting tool with the keyboard: 1. Select the painting tool you want (use one of the shortcut keys described earlier). 2. While holding down the SHIFT key, move the cursor using the arrow keys. To move the cursor faster while applying a painting tool, hold down CTRL+SHIFT while moving the cursor with the arrow keys. To use a painting tool with the mouse: Hold down the left mouse button and drag the mouse. To paint in a straight line, hold down the SHIFT key while dragging the mouse. As an example, suppose that you wanted to draw a box: 1. Press CTRL+L to select the Line tool. 2. Move the cursor to where you want one of the corners of the box to be located. 3. Hold down the SHIFT key while using the arrow keys to outline your box. HOW PAINTING AFFECTS OBJECTS Painting occurs on the page or background layer behind all of the buttons and fields. Even though you're unable to see your screen modifications, they are indeed happening behind the objects. Use the Selector tool to move objects out of the way so you can see beneath them. ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 13: Painting Tools 224 ________________________________________________________________________ SELECTING THE PAINT ATTRIBUTE The following tools use the current paint attribute: 0 Paint tool 0 Mark Block tool To change the current attribute: 1. Select a painting tool. (Use the shortcut keys described above.) 2. Choose the Paint attr command from the Workspace menu (ALT+W, P). The shortcut for this command is + (on the numeric keypad). The Set Paint Attribute dialog box appears, displaying a palette of colors. This dialog box lets you pick an attribute from a list of all possible combinations. Each column contains a different background color, and each row shows a different foreground color. ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ **** The Printed Documentation has a picture or screen shot here **** │ │ │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ 3. To select an attribute: With the keyboard: Use the arrow keys to move the double box until it surrounds your choice and press ENTER. With the mouse: Place the mouse cursor on your choice and click the left mouse button. ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 13: Painting Tools 225 ________________________________________________________________________ Once you select a paint attribute, it appears next to the Paint attr command on the Workspace menu. Your selection remains the current paint attribute until you select another. CHANGING COLORS USING ACCELERATORS When you begin modifying and creating pads, you may find yourself constantly switching between a number of paint attributes. HyperPAD makes it easy! You can assign accelerator keys to up to 10 different paint attributes. Then, once you've selected a painting tool, you can quickly switch between colors without accessing the dialog box. To assign accelerator keys to paint attributes: 1. Select a painting tool. 2. Choose the Paint attr command from the Workspace menu. The Set Paint Attribute dialog box appears on-screen. 3. Use the arrow keys to select an attribute. 4. Hold down ALT and press the number (0 through 9) to be used as the accelerator key. A list of the available accelerator keys (ALT+1, ALT+2 . . . ALT+0) appears in a column to the right of the palette in the Set Paint Attribute dialog box. As you assign attributes, the attribute appears next to the corresponding accelerator key. 5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 to make additional assignments. When you assign accelerator keys to paint attributes, they remain active (even after you exit HyperPAD) until you select other paint attributes to take their place. USING THE PAINT ATTRIBUTE ACCELERATOR KEYS After you've assigned accelerator keys to the attributes you use most often, you can select them using the ALT key: 1. Select a painting tool. 2. Hold down ALT and press the number corresponding to the attribute you want (0 through 9). The paint attribute you assigned to that accelerator key becomes the current paint attribute and appears next to the Paint attr command on the Workspace menu. ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 13: Painting Tools 226 ________________________________________________________________________ PICKING UP AN ATTRIBUTE If the attribute that you want to paint with is already on the screen, you don't have to pick the attribute over again. HyperPAD provides a way that you can "pick up" the attribute off the screen, making it the current attribute. To "pick up" an attribute off the screen: 1. Move the cursor to the character cell with the attribute you want to use. 2. Press CTRL+ - (on the numeric keypad). UNDO The Undo command, on the Edit menu, allows you to recover the screen before the most recent painting change. After you've selected Undo, you can reselect it to recover the screen before you originally selected Undo--in effect, undoing the Undo. THE PAINTING TOOLS The painting tools allow you to add attributes to the pages and backgrounds in your pads. Use the painting tools to draw page layouts and lay out your screen, including such components as the border, the background color, the title bar, the message line, and any other information that will make the page more intuitive. Each of the painting tools is used the same way, following the procedures described in the previous subsection, "Applying a Painting Tool." THE PAINT TOOL The Paint tool allows you to add attributes to the pages and backgrounds in your pads. This tool paints using the current attribute, which appears next to the Paint attr command on the Workspace menu. ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 13: Painting Tools 227 ________________________________________________________________________ THE TEXT TOOL The Text tool allows you to type text directly on the pages or backgrounds in your pads. You can actually type text on the screen while using any of the painting tools. The following keys can be used while typing text. Key: Function: ---------------------------------------------------------------- DEL Deletes the character under the cursor. BACKSPACE Deletes the character to the left. CTRL+DEL Deletes all characters to the end of the line. TAB Moves the cursor to the next tab stop. CTRL+D, CTRL+Y Deletes the line with the cursor. INS Toggles Insert mode. ENTER Moves the cursor to the beginning of the next line. ENTERING SPECIAL CHARACTERS While you're designing the pages and backgrounds for your pads, you may find it necessary to insert characters that you can't type on the keyboard. You can place any ASCII character on the screen, including line-drawing characters and international characters. You can select from 255 characters using the Set Paint Character dialog box. ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 13: Painting Tools 228 ________________________________________________________________________ To choose an ASCII character: 1. While the Text tool is active, position the cursor where you want the character to be inserted. 2. Press the PLUS key on the numeric keypad. The Set Paint Character dialog box appears on-screen: ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ **** The Printed Documentation has a picture or screen shot here **** │ │ │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ 3. To insert a specific character: With the keyboard: Use the arrow keys to highlight the character you want to select, then press ENTER. With the mouse: Place the pointer over the ASCII character you want to select and click the left mouse button. The ASCII character you selected will be inserted at the cursor location. INSERT MODE The Text tool behaves differently depending on the Insert mode (accessible from the Workspace Options dialog box). If Insert mode is set, then the characters you type will replace those already on the screen. If Insert mode is not set, then the characters you type will push the other characters on the line off the end of the line. ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 13: Painting Tools 229 ________________________________________________________________________ USING EXTENDED ASCII CHARACTERS AS THE END OF LINE As you type text when Insert mode is not set, characters to the right on the same line are pushed right up to the end of the line. The end of the line is determined by setting an option in the Workspace Options dialog box (called "Use extended ASCII characters as end of line"). If this option is not set, the characters are pushed off the right edge of the screen and cannot be recovered. If this option is set, the end of the line is determined by the first character that is not a letter, punctuation mark, space, or digit. This option is especially useful for typing text inside a painted box. THE ERASE TOOL The Erase tool can be used to clean up any mistakes you may have made. It erases both the character and attribute portions of the character cell, replacing them with the transparent character (character 0) and the transparent attribute (7). Thus, when you use the Erase tool on the page, characters and attributes from the background will show through. When you use the Erase tool, only the paint and characters on the current page or background will be deleted. THE LINE TOOL The Line tool allows you to add single and double lines to the pages and backgrounds in your pads. Using the Line tool, you can create boxes, charts, and borders easily without having to worry about line intersections. LINE TYPE As noted above, you can use the Line tool to draw both single and double lines. To toggle the line type, select the Line Type command from the Workspace menu (ALT+W, L). A sample of the current line type appears next to the Line Type command in the menu. With the keyboard, you can quickly change the line type using the following keys: Key: Line Type: ------------------------------------------ CTRL+= Double CTRL+- Single ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 13: Painting Tools 230 ________________________________________________________________________ THE MARK BLOCK TOOL The Mark Block tool is used to perform a painting operation on a rectangular area of the screen. This helps speed the painting process by relieving you of the tedious job of painting large areas of the screen using the other painting tools. The Mark Block tool makes creating boxes easy. First, you select an area of the screen where you want to place the box, press P to paint it, then press B to draw a box in it. There are many painting operations that can be performed on marked blocks. When this tool is enabled, the commands on the Block menu are carried out on the entire block. You can also copy and paste blocks on the same screen or different screens. This allows you to grab screen designs from other pads, like the Ideas pad that comes with HyperPAD, and use them in your own screen layouts. To use the Mark Block tool: 1. Select Mark Block from the Tools menu (CTRL+M). 2. To mark an area: With the keyboard: Move the cursor to the upper left corner of the area you want to select. While holding down a SHIFT key, press the arrow keys, dragging the outline until the area you want to select is within the outline's boundaries. With the mouse: Move the cursor to the upper left corner of the area you want to select. Press the left mouse button and drag the mouse until the outline surrounds the area you want to select. Once a block is marked, you can perform the functions described in the following subsections. If you want to cancel the marking, just press SPACE or click the mouse outside the boundaries of the block. ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 13: Painting Tools 231 ________________________________________________________________________ The block commands are summarized in the following table: To: Press: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copy the block CTRL+C or CTRL+INSERT Cut the block CTRL+X or SHIFT+DEL Delete the block DEL or E Draw a box within the block B Paint the block with the current P attribute Clear the block C Opaque the block O Fill the block with current ASCII char F Shrink the block to enclose material T Make a button and link it to the page M UDOING A BLOCK COMMAND If you make any mistakes manipulating a block, press CTRL+U to undo your changes. This is especially handy when you experiment with different block commands, finding the best color or position for the block. For example, you might mark a block, paint it, draw a box inside it, and then change your mind and press CTRL+U to undo it. When you select Undo, the block is returned to its original position, size, and content. The block will remain outlined so that you can continue editing the same block. MOVING A BLOCK Use the arrow keys (and CTRL+arrow keys for faster movement) to move the block anywhere on the screen. If you're using a mouse, just place the mouse pointer within the outline of the block, press the left mouse button, and drag the block to the new location. If you hold down SHIFT while moving the block with the mouse, HyperPAD leaves copies of the block all over the screen. This is useful for painting patterns on a large area of the screen. ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 13: Painting Tools 232 ________________________________________________________________________ You can leave a copy of the block on the screen at the current position by pressing ENTER. ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 13: Painting Tools 233 ________________________________________________________________________ COPYING AND CUTTING A BLOCK You can cut and copy blocks to the clipboard, replacing what is currently in the clipboard, using the Copy Block and Cut Block commands. To copy a block using the mouse, hold down CTRL, then click the left mouse button within the block and drag the copy to a new location. ERASING A BLOCK This command erases all of the characters and attributes within the block, replacing them with the transparent character and the transparent attribute. If you erase the block accidentally, you can recover it using the Undo command. DRAWING A BOX WITHIN A BLOCK The Box Block command creates a border around the block using the current box style. The border is drawn within the confines of the outline that defines the block. To draw a box within the marked block: 1. Mark a block. 2. Press B to draw the box. To change the type of border, select the Box Style command from the Block menu. The dialog box that appears gives you 15 common border types from which to choose. With the keyboard, use the arrow keys to select a new border, then press ENTER. With the mouse, just click on the border you want. PAINTING BLOCK If you want to paint a large area with the current attribute, use the Paint Block command. This command changes all of the attributes within the borders of the block to the current paint attribute. If you want to change the color, press MINUS on the numeric keypad. This changes the current attribute, leaving the outline unchanged so that you can immediately paint the block again, by pressing P. ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 13: Painting Tools 234 ________________________________________________________________________ OPAQUING A BLOCK Oftentimes, a marked block contains transparent space. If the block is moved to a new location, the characters and attributes behind the marked block show through, making the information seem garbled. You can remedy this situation using the Opaque Block command. The Opaque Block command makes the block opaque, translating all transparent characters to spaces. CLEARING A BLOCK Sometimes when you move a marked block, you may want the characters and attributes behind the block to show through the empty spaces. In this case, use the Clear Block command. The Clear Block command makes all empty space in a block transparent by replacing the spaces with the transparent character (0). FILLING A BLOCK Use the Fill Block command to fill the block with the current ASCII character. You can change the current ASCII character by pressing PLUS on the numeric keypad and selecting a new character. Since the block remains marked, you can immediately fill it again by pressing F. TRIMMING A BLOCK The Trim Block command allows you to shrink the block's boundaries so that they enclose only the nontransparent data. HyperPAD computes the minimum-size rectangle needed to enclose the nontransparent data and reselects the block for you. This command is useful if you were sloppy marking your block and you accidentally enclosed some extra blank space. You could use the Trim Block command to enclose only the data you initially intended. MAKING A BUTTON The Make Button command is used to create a transparent HyperPAD button the same size as the marked area, then link the button to another page. This command is useful in designing hypertext systems, which present screens of information. Each screen contains links that go to other screens containing related information. This type of system lets the user browse through your data in an intuitive manner, selectively ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 13: Painting Tools 235 ________________________________________________________________________ clicking on information of interest. In HyperPAD, a quick way to create these links is to use the Make Button command. To create a button from a marked block: 1. Mark a block. 2. Choose the Make Button command from the Block menu (ALT+B, M). The shortcut for this command is M. When you select Make Button, HyperPAD presents you with a dialog box telling you to navigate to the destination page and select one of the choices. The destination page is the page that you want the button to be linked to when it's selected. 3. Navigate to the destination page and select one of the following: Press: To: ------------------------------------------------------------- ALT+P Select the current page as the destination. ALT+A Select the current pad as the destination. ALT+C Cancel the command and return to the original page. THE CHAR PAINT TOOL The Char Paint tool allows you to paint with the current ASCII character. Before you begin painting, you need to select a specific character to paint with. To choose an ASCII character: 1. Select the ASCII char command from the Workspace menu (ALT+W, A). The shortcut for this command is PLUS on the numeric keypad. The Set Paint Character dialog box appears on-screen. 2. To select an ASCII character: With the keyboard: Use the arrow keys to highlight the character you want to select and press ENTER. With the mouse: Click the mouse on the ASCII character you want to select. The ASCII character you selected will appear next to the ASCII char command on the Workspace menu. ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 13: Painting Tools 236 ________________________________________________________________________ CHARACTER PAINTING THE EASY WAY If you need to constantly switch back and forth between various ASCII characters, you may find it tedious to use the ASCII character dialog box. You can speed up selection of ASCII characters by assigning accelerator keys to the characters you use most (up to 10 accelerator keys can be assigned). These keys allow you to switch between ASCII characters without using the dialog box. To assign accelerator keys to ASCII characters: 1. Choose the Char Paint tool from the Tools menu (ALT+T, H). The shortcut is CTRL+H. 2. Choose the ASCII Char command from the Workspace menu (ALT+W, A). The shortcut is the PLUS key on the numeric keypad. 3. When the Set Paint Character dialog box appears, use the arrow keys to highlight one of the characters to which you want to assign an accelerator key. 4. Hold down CTRL and press the number (0 through 9) that you want as the character's accelerator key. A list of the available accelerator keys (CTRL+1, CTRL+2, CTRL+3,. . .CTRL+0) appears in a column to the right of the character list. As you assign accelerator keys, each character selection is placed next to the corresponding accelerator key. 5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 to make additional assignments. Accelerator keys remain operational until you replace them with other characters (even if you leave HyperPAD). To use the accelerator keys: 1. Select the Char Paint tool from the Tools menu (ALT+T, H). The shortcut is CTRL+H. 2. Hold down CTRL and press the accelerator key (0 through 9) corresponding to the character you want. The character assigned to that accelerator key will be inserted into the text and will become the current ASCII character. ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 13: Painting Tools 237 ________________________________________________________________________ THE SELECTOR TOOL The Selector tool allows you to modify the buttons and fields present on backgrounds and pages. This tool is discussed in depth in Chapter 14, "Manipulating Buttons and Fields." PAINTING TOOL OPTIONS HyperPAD offers many customization options that change the way the painting tools are used, including the way attributes are placed on the screen, automatic indenting when the ENTER key is pressed, and Insert mode. Each option is accessible using the Options command on the Workspace menu (ALT+W, O). ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ **** The Printed Documentation has a picture or screen shot here **** │ │ │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Each option with an X between the brackets is active. The following subsections describe each of the available options. USE PAINTING TOOLS WITH CURRENT ATTRIBUTE This option causes the current paint attribute to be used with every painting tool. When you type text or draw lines, the characters are placed on the screen using the current attribute. ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 13: Painting Tools 238 ________________________________________________________________________ AUTOMATIC INDENTING Automatic indenting only works with the Text tool. When this option is selected, and the ENTER key is pressed while entering text, the cursor moves directly under the leftmost (nonspace) character on the previous line. This is helpful when you want to line up text or type into boxes. Note: This capability is available only if you turn on the option called Use extended ASCII characters as end of line. USE EXTENDED ASCII CHARACTERS AS END OF LINE Extended ASCII characters are nonletter, nondigit, nonpunctuation characters that you can't normally type with the keyboard. Selecting this option causes extended characters to act as the right margin of a typing area when you're using the Text tool. Note: In order for this option to have any effect, the Insert mode (push characters right) option must also be selected. AUTOMATIC TOOL SWITCHING This option allows mouse users to quickly change between the Selector tool (which is used to manipulate buttons and fields) and a painting tool. When this option is on and you select a button or field with the mouse, the Selector tool is automatically activated. And when you click the mouse button outside of any buttons or fields, the painting tool you were last working with is activated. This option is useful if you constantly switch between the Selector and a painting tool. INSERT MODE (PUSH CHARACTERS RIGHT) When this option is on, the text that you type on the screen pushes the remaining characters on that line to the right. When this option is not on (overtype mode), the characters that you type replace those on the line. To toggle Insert mode on and off without accessing a menu, simply press the INS key. ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 13: Painting Tools 239 ________________________________________________________________________ PUSH CHARACTERS OFF EDGE OF PAGE If you select this option, text will be pushed off the end of the line (if Insert mode is also selected). For example, if there is a character in column 80 on the line on which you are typing, HyperPAD will push the character off the edge of the screen. If this option is not selected, HyperPAD will beep instead of losing the characters off the end of the line. Use this option if you're afraid of losing characters off the end of your lines. This option has no effect if Insert mode is not selected (because characters aren't being pushed right). PAINTING TRICKS The following subsections describe techniques that will make painting easier. Among the tricks are ways to view the page separated from its background, view nontransparent elements on a page or background, and delete and insert lines. DISPLAYING ALL ATTRIBUTES If you want to know what attribute is assigned to each cell on the page or background, you can do so quickly. When a character cell contains a space or the transparent character, it is impossible to determine the foreground color, because the cell appears as a block using the background color. This trick lets you temporarily view the screen filled with characters so that you can determine the foreground/background color combination being used in the character cells. To see all of the attributes on the screen: 1. Select a painting tool. 2. Press CTRL+A. HyperPAD temporarily fills the screen with block characters in each character cell. This allows you to examine the attributes assigned to the cells. 3. Press ESC to return to what you were just viewing. ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 13: Painting Tools 240 ________________________________________________________________________ VIEWING ONLY THE PAGE As your pads become more complex, you may find it difficult to keep track of what elements are on the background and page layers. Instead of selecting the Background command from the Edit menu (ALT+E, B), you can quickly view only the page elements by holding down both SHIFT keys. As soon as you release the keys, HyperPAD will return to viewing both the current page and its background. HIGHLIGHTING OPAQUE By holding down ALT+SHIFT, you can see all the elements on the page or background that are not transparent. This technique is used to identify which paint elements on the page will hide background elements and spot the holes through which background elements will be seen. INSERTING A ROW The two key combinations presented below are used to insert a new line on the paint layer. To insert a line: 1. Position the cursor on the line before which you want to insert a new line. 2. Press one of the following key combinations: CTRL+I: Inserts a line above the cursor's position. The cells in this line will contain the transparent character and attribute. CTRL+SHIFT+I: Inserts a line above the cursor's position. DELETING A ROW You can delete a line anywhere on the screen, creating a blank line on the bottom of the screen. To delete a line on the page or background: 1. Position the cursor on the line to be deleted. 2. Press CTRL+D or CTRL+Y. ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 13: Painting Tools 241 ________________________________________________________________________ OTHER PAINTING TIPS 0 To paint faster with the keyboard, hold down CTRL+SHIFT while painting with the arrow keys. 0 To paint straight lines of ASCII characters, place the mouse pointer where you want to begin painting, then hold down both the SHIFT key and the left mouse button while dragging the mouse. 0 When the tool box is displayed, you can quickly access the Set Paint Attribute dialog box by placing the mouse cursor on the Tool Box's Char Paint command and double-clicking the left mouse button. CONCLUSION In this chapter, you learned how to use HyperPAD's painting tools to create attractive screen layouts for your pads. The first section described the painting environment, including how the screen is divided up into character cells. You learned all about the painting tools, which allow you to manipulate the characters and attributes that make up these cells. At the end of the chapter, you learned how to control your painting environment using the Workspace Options and picked up some productivity tips that can help make the on-screen information more easily understandable.