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1995-11-28
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XChars 1.01 (28-Nov-95)
Purpose: Advanced chars utility
Author: Martin Würthner
Runs under: RISC OS 3.1 or higher
Status: FREEWARE (see below)
XChars is a replacement for the Chars utility that comes with RISC OS
with a lot of additional features, such as:
- multiple windows
- outline fonts at arbitrary sizes
- font aspect, line/character spacing control
- different arrangements of characters (+optional display of ctrl chars)
- configurable default settings
- character zoom window at configurable size by clicking Adjust on a letter
(during the duration of the button press only or as a persistent window)
- configurable character insertion hot key: Shift, Ctrl or Alt (both keys
or only left/only right key)
- option to install an application icon on the icon bar
- all options can be set independently in each window
- "hotlist": the state of all options (font,font size,line spacing etc.) of
a window can be saved (associating a name with it) and restored later
from the hotlist menu
Starting XChars
---------------
Double-click on the !XChars application to load it. Depending on the
Startup options which have been set up, the application installs an
icon on the icon bar and/or opens a character display window.
The XChars window
-----------------
Each window shows the full character set in one font. If you click SELECT
on a character, it is inserted at the caret position in the application
which currently owns the input focus (the window with the cream title bar).
If you click ADJUST, the character is displayed in a bigger 'zoom' window
(note that this only works with outline fonts, not with the System font!).
Depending on the 'Persistent zoom window' option in the Choices window (see
below under "Choices window"), the zoom window disappears automatically as
soon as you release the ADJUST button or it remains on screen (in the latter
case it is called persistent). The persistent zoom window has a close icon,
so you can close it just as any other window. To reopen it, simply click
ADJUST again in any XChars window.
The font size to be used in the zoom window can be changed in the Display
options window (see below).
When trying to enter text in a writable menu field or a transient
dialogue box, the SELECT click method cannot be used, because this would
cause the destination window to disappear. To overcome this problem, you
can also insert a character by placing the pointer over it and pressing
the character insertion hotkey (e.g. Ctrl). The hotkey to be used can be
configured in the Choices window (see below).
Changing the font, font size etc.
---------------------------------
The toolbar (at the top of each character window) shows the current font
and the font size. The font can be changed by clicking on the pop-up menu
button next to the font name and choosing a font from the menu.
If the current font is an outline font (i.e. not the System font), then
The size can be changed by using the up/down arrows or entering a number
in the input field. The change only takes effect if you click on the OK
button. A quicker way of changing the font size is to choose a size from
the font size menu which appears if you click on the pop-up menu button
next to the font size input field. This changes the font size immediately.
The arrangement of the characters can be changed from the window's menu:
You can choose between 32 by 8,16 by 16 and 8 by 32. Also, if you select
the option 'Show ctrl', then the window shows the control characters at
the top row as inverted letters. So, e.g. to enter Ctrl-C, click SELECT
on the inverted letter 'C'.
More advanced options are found in the Display options window: Choose
'Display options' from the window's menu to open it:
The Display options window:
---------------------------
In this window you can change the font aspect, the line and character
spacing and zoom font size. The font aspect determines the width of the
characters in relation to their height. Normally, characters are displayed
at 100% which is the default. If the aspect ratio is smaller than 100%, the
characters appear narrow, if it is greater than 100%, they are expanded.
The next two options, line spacing and char spacing can in most cases
be left at their default values, i.e. at 100%. XChars automatically leaves
enough room vertically to accomodate even the highest character of the font.
Horizontally, it uses by default 80% of the widest character (i.e. this
corresponds to char spacing 100%) which is enough in almost all cases as it
is very inlikely that two very wide characters are next to each other.
However, if you want more (or less) space between the rows/columns, then
you can increase (or decrease) the line/char spacing.
The last value is the font size to be used in the character zoom window
(this is the window you call up by clicking ADJUST on a character). This is
set for each window individually, so if you have a persistent zoom box (or
if you press and hold Adjust) the size of the zoom window may change as you
move from one window to another.
Default settings
----------------
The whole set of options can be saved as the default by choosing 'Save as
default' from the window's menu. This means that any new window now has
the properties of the current window, e.g. the font, font size etc.
This is saved to disc, so the next time you start the application it will
still remember which default settings to use.
The hotlist
-----------
One of the most powerful features of XChar is the hotlist: You can add the
complete state of a window including all options to the hotlist and give
it a name. By choosing the entry from a menu later, you can recall the
settings you associated with that name.
Supposed you use Dingbats quite often and you want it to be displayed at
24pt with a line spacing of 120%. Instead of setting all these options
every time you want to view Dingbats, you can set them once and then add
the current window state to the hotlist: Click menu over the window and
follow the submenu arrow of the entry "Add to hotlist". Then, type the name
which you want to associate with these settings, e.g. "Dingbats" and click
on OK.
To recall the settings later, click on the "A" icon to the left of the
tool bar. This displays the hotlist. The first entry of the hotlist is
always "Default". Choosing this restores the default settings. Below this
entry, you can see all the additional entries. Choosing one of these
restores the settings associated with the corresponding entry.
If you want to modify one of the entries, choose it, change the options,
and then use "Add to hotlist" again without changing the name in the
writable field. This overwrites the old definition with your modified one.
A hotlist entry can be removed by choosing its name from the "Remove"
sub-menu.
Like the default settings, the hotlist is immediately saved to disc
every time you modify it.
The Choices window
------------------
The Choices window is opened by choosing 'Choices...' from the icon bar menu.
Obviously, this is only possible if there is an XChars icon on the icon bar.
If there is not, the 'Choices...' entry is present in the main menu obtained
by clicking Menu over any XChars window.
The Choices window allows you to configure some options which are global
and do not belong to a particular window. These are the startup options,
the character insertion hotkey and the zoom window behaviour:
When the application starts up it can either install an icon on the
icon bar or open a window (or do both). Of course, doing neither of
both is not sensible as in this case you could not access the application
at all! This option only takes effect if you quit and re-load the
application.
The character insertion hotkey can be either of Ctrl, Shift or Alt. As
each of these keys appear twice on the keyboard, you can choose which one
is to be used. If you want both keys to be active, select both option icons,
'Left key' and 'Right key'. By deselecting both option icons, the whole
feature (character insertion by hotkey) can be disabled.
The last option in the Choices window determines whether the zoom window
stays on the screen when yo