TPanel ? 1

[cppdev]

I need a text area on a form, probably using a TPanel, of a specified size, 20 columns wide by 30 lines tall. Can this be specified in terms of columns and lines of characters?

the only specification for height and width i see is in pixels.


I am using Borland C++ Builder 6.0 with the latest patch installed.

Thanks in advance for assistance ,
cpp

 

[Supernat03]

I think you would want to use a TMemo instead, or TRichEdit. Since neither of these (if memory serves me right) has a TCanvas to draw to, you need to make a temporary one to test the width and height of the text.
Call a similar routine at creation. Be sure to use a fixed size font.

// Create a temporary Canvas
TCanvas *pCanvas = new TCanvas;

// Assign your row and column count
int iColumnCount = 30;
int iRowCount = 30;

// X and Y are for adding a bit more space to the Memo.
// Adjust them as needed after viewing the results.
int X = 10;
int Y = 10;

// Assign the font from the Memo to the Canvas
pCanvas->Font->Assign(Memo1->Font);

// Get width and height of each letter
int iTextWidth = pCanvas->TextWidth("A"
int iTextHeight = pCanvas->TextHeight("A"

Memo1->Width = iTextWidth*iColumnCount + X;
Memo1->Height = iTextHeight*iRowCount + Y;

I think this will work. You might have to move the X or Y into the multiplicand. ex: (iTextWidth + X)*iColumnCount;

You could run this every time the user types something if you want to use non-fixed sized fonts (but I'm not sure that you can even use non-fixed in a Memo field).

Hope it helps,
Chris

 

[cppdev]

Thanks Chris, I believe that is exactly what i need.

Cpp

 

[cppdev]

can you actually set fields within TRichEdit or TMemo?
Or would
you be repainting the whole section for any changes?

 

[Supernat03]

Set fields? You can set line by line. Use Memo1->Lines->Strings[x] to change them. Is that what you mean?

Chris

 

[cppdev]

I need to be able to select a group of characters and define these selected characters as a certain type, e.g. decimal, alpha, integer, currency, date, etc......, It is possible that one line could contain more than one type of data. This is what i mean by defining fields.

Thanks in advance.

 

[onrdbandit]

Howdy,

If you want to execute a search on the text, and test it so that it fits into one or other categories, the TRichEdit component has built-in Find() functions.

That may be of some use, but what exactly are you trying to accomplish? Could you be more specific?

Hope I could help,
onrdbandit

 

[Supernat03]

I'm thinking there is probably another component to make life much easier on you. However, you can still do what you want to do like such:

int x;
int y;

for (y=0; y < RowCount; y++)
{
AnsiString TempString;

char TempChars[11] // assuming 10 chars per field
for (x=0; x < ColumnCount; x++)
{
TempChars[x] = Memo1->Lines->Strings[y].SubString(x, 1);
}
TempChars[10] = NULL;
TempString = TempChars;
}

or

for (y=0; y < RowCount; y++)
{
AnsiString
Field1 = Memo1->Lines->Strings[y].SubString(0, 5),
Field2 = Memo1->Lines->Strings[y].SubString(6, 5),
Field3 = Memo1->Lines->Strings[y].SubString(11, 5);

// Use Field1, 2, 3.
}

 

[Supernat03]

Sorry, the snipet that says:
for (x=0; x < ColumnCount; x++)
{
TempChars[x] = Memo1->Lines->Strings[y].SubString(x, 1);
}

should be:
for (x=0; x < 10; x++)
{
TempChars[x] = Memo1->Lines->Strings[y].SubString(x, 1);
}

 

[Supernat03]

Also, the snipet:
AnsiString
Field1 = Memo1->Lines->Strings[y].SubString(0, 5),
Field2 = Memo1->Lines->Strings[y].SubString(6, 5),
Field3 = Memo1->Lines->Strings[y].SubString(11, 5);

could possibly have to be:
AnsiString
Field1 = Memo1->Lines->Strings[y].SubString(0, 5),
Field2 = Memo1->Lines->Strings[y].SubString(5, 5),
Field3 = Memo1->Lines->Strings[y].SubString(10, 5);

assuming 5 is the field size.

Chris

 

[butthead]

I am sure you could also use your tpanel for a backdrop for a grid of tlabel. this might be time consuming to make the array necessary to contain the positions of the grid col and rows. I depends on what you are wanting the end product to look like. I have an app that uses a grid array that contains the coordinates that are then display on a button click. I divided an image into a grid 21x11, each square is linked to a table. time consuming but adequate for the job.

tomcruz.net

 

[Supernat03]

You could definitely use TLabel on a Panel to do what you're looking for. To access the array, you would want to create a list and store each label separately.

For instance, if the Panel looked like this:

Label1 Label2 Label3 Label4
Label5 Label6 Label7 Label8
etc...

Create a TList on form creation that adds the labels.

TList *FieldList = new TList();
FieldList->Add(Label1);
FieldList->Add(Label2);
FieldList->Add(Label3);
FieldList->Add(Label4);
FieldList->Add(Label5);
FieldList->Add(Label6);
FieldList->Add(Label7);
FieldList->Add(Label8);
etc...

Then when you pass in X for the column value to access, and you pass in Y for the row value to access, just create an Index value.

int ColumnCount = 4; // Four columns in example above

TLabel* __fastcall GetLabel(int X, int Y)
{
int Index = Y*ColumnCount + X;

TLabel *SelectedLabel = (TLabel*) FieldList->Items[Index];
return SelectedLabel;
}

GetLabel(0,0) returns Label1.
GetLabel(1,0) returns Label2.
GetLabel(0,1) returns Label5.

Chris

 

[cppdev]

I think what i am looking for is :
1) a way to modify this part of the gui just using the mouse.

in other words, i will select a continous group of spaces with the mouse, specify the field type (int, decimal, date, etc.. ) and other relevant data in a seperarate part of the gui.

I might want to color code the differnt field types, or place some relevant text , such as in the area specified as DATE field i might put &quot;DATE&quot;, etc....

another thing i might do is to eventually write my own paint routine to only recolor a specific area that has been changed.


Thanks for the help.
cpp