According to Wikipedia, "In typesetting, justification (can also be referred to as 'full justification') is the typographic alignment setting of text or images within a column or "measure" to align along both the left and right margin. Text set this way is said to be "justified".
In justified text, the spaces between words, and, to a lesser extent, between glyphs or letters (kerning), are stretched or sometimes compressed in order to make the text align with both the left and right margins. When using justification, it is customary to treat the last line of a paragraph separately by left or right aligning it, depending on the language direction. Lines in which the spaces have been stretched beyond their normal width are called loose lines, while those whose spaces have been compressed are called tight lines."
To create Full-Justified texts, the main point is to know exactly the measures of each word, and to be able to draw each word exactly in a certain position. Unfortunately, VFP does not bring thiese possibilities natively. Yes, I know we have TXTWIDTH and FONTMETRIC(6), but they are not that accurate. A good but not beautiful solution was to use some monospace fonts, like Courier New or Lucida Console, that every character has the same measures.
So, if we wanted to use any fonts, one of the few options was to use the RTF Active-X control, or to use an OLE Word object in a VFP form.
With the GdiPlus-X library, from now on you can also draw Full Justified texts in a very easy way too.
GDI+ originally allows to draw texts in three String Format Alignments: Left, Center and Right. In these last years, I've noticed that it's a very common request from VFP developers the ability to draw texts in FullJustified mode.
To draw Full-Justified strings we need to have the accurate measurements of each of the words in a paragraph, and draw each word individually in a calculated position. Well, no need to say that GDI+ provides the needed tools for the task. So, we added a new method to the Graphics class of the GdiPlus-X library, DRAWSTRINGJUSTIFIED.
Maybe you find that the natural choice would be to add a new StringFormat Alignment fot FullJustifying purposes, and let the method "DrawString" deal with the text and the received parameters and draw. But we believe that the original library, GdiPlus.dll will receive some updates in the future, and MS can possibly include a specific "StringFormat.Alignment" for our case. So, we found the best solution would be to create a new method, with a different name. The usage is very similar to the original "DrawString":
Method: DrawStringJustified(tcString, toFont as xfcFont, toBrush as xfcBrush, toRectangle as xfcRectangle)
PARAMETERS
| tcString | Character, String to Draw |
| toFont | Object, Font that defines the text format of the string. |
| toBrush | Object, Brush that determines the color and texture of the drawn text. |
| toRectangle | Object, Rectangle structure that specifies the location of the drawn text. |
HOW IT WORKS
Basically, DrawStringJustified receives the 4 parameters above, very similar to DrawString. But intead of drawing the whole text in one time, this function needs to make some calculations in order to know where exactly each word from the string will be drawn. It starts by populating an array of words and the calculated measures of each word, using GdipMeasureString. Then, calculates how many words will fit on each line. Next step is to calculate the resulting space between the words of the related line. After collecting all information needed, we draw each word at a time, at the calculated position.
For maximum performance, we used direct API calls to gdiplus.dll for the main process, measuring and drawing each string. I did some tests, and the difference is huge, about 5 times faster.
All samples below require that you have the latest PLANNED RELEASE, 0.08A. It's a little bit hidden at codeplex, so I'm putting below the link for direct downloading:
http://www.codeplex.com/VFPX/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx?ReleaseId=1711
TIME TO PLAY
1 - Draw Full-Justified strings in image files
The PRG below shows how to draw a text in 4 ways, left, centered, right and full justified, just like the picture above, and saves he image to a file.
** Program: FullJustCode.prg ** Sample program that draws text in 4 modes: ** 1 - Left Aligned ** 2 - Centered ** 3 - Right Aligned ** 4 - Full Justified * The code performs the following actions: * Creates a String * Draws text in 4 modes and shows the results * Locate and load GdiPlus-X DO LOCFILE("System.App") LOCAL lcText AS CHARACTER TEXT TO m.lcText NOSHOW GDIPlusX is a set of VFP 9.0 class libraries that wrap the 603 GDI+ Flat API functions of GDIPlus.dll. The library currently consist of 83 VFP classes and 1,146 methods. The project is still under development so not all classes have been completed and several of the classes/methods are still being tested. ENDTEXT WITH _SCREEN.SYSTEM.Drawing * Create Image LOCAL loBMP AS xfcBitmap m.loBMP = .BITMAP.New(400, 600) * Create a Graphics object to be able to draw on image LOCAL loGfx AS xfcGraphics m.loGfx = .Graphics.FromImage(m.loBMP) * Fill Image with White Background color m.loGfx.CLEAR(.COLOR.White) * Create a DarkBlue Brush LOCAL loTextBrush AS xfcSolidBrush m.loTextBrush = .SolidBrush.New(.COLOR.DarkBlue) * Create Font Object LOCAL loFont AS xfcFont m.loFont = .FONT.New("Tahoma", 11, .FontStyle.Regular) * Create a StringFormat object LOCAL loStringFormat AS xfcStringFormat m.loStringFormat = .StringFormat.New() LOCAL lnHeight, lnWidth m.lnWidth = 400 m.lnHeight = 150 * Draw Left Aligned Text m.loStringFormat.ALIGNMENT = .StringAlignment.NEAR m.loGfx.DrawString(m.lcText, m.loFont, m.loTextBrush, ; .Rectangle.New(0, 0, m.lnWidth, m.lnHeight), ; m.loStringFormat) * Draw Centered Text m.loStringFormat.ALIGNMENT = .StringAlignment.CENTER m.loGfx.DrawString(m.lcText, m.loFont, m.loTextBrush, ; .Rectangle.New(0, m.lnHeight + 1, m.lnWidth, m.lnHeight), ; m.loStringFormat) * Draw Right Aligned Text m.loStringFormat.ALIGNMENT = .StringAlignment.Far m.loGfx.DrawString(m.lcText, m.loFont, m.loTextBrush, ; .Rectangle.New(0, m.lnHeight * 2 + 1, m.lnWidth, m.lnHeight), ; m.loStringFormat) * Draw Full Justified m.loGfx.DrawStringJustified(m.lcText, m.loFont, m.loTextBrush, ; .Rectangle.New(0, m.lnHeight * 3 + 1, m.lnWidth, m.lnHeight)) * Draw a Red Border m.loGfx.DrawRectangle(.PEN.New(.COLOR.Red, 1), 0, 0, 399, 599) * Save Image to Disk m.loBMP.SAVE("c:\TestAlignment.png", .Imaging.ImageFormat.Png) * Show Generated Text RUN /N explorer.EXE c:\TestAlignment.Png ENDWITH RETURN
2 - Draw Full-Justified strings in Forms
The easiest way to draw a Full-Justified string in a form is using the ImageCanvas object. Below is the code that you need to add to the "BeforeDraw" method if the ImgCanvas. In my previous post, Direct Draw with the Image Canvas from GdiPlus-X you'll get a tutorial showing how to work with it, and some tips.
Note that I chose to reduce the code of the GDI+ drawing part, to show that with only two lines of code you can draw your Full-Justified string with the image canvas.
LOCAL lcText AS CHARACTER TEXT TO m.lcText NOSHOW GDIPlusX is a set of VFP 9.0 class libraries that wrap the 603 GDI+ Flat API functions of GDIPlus.dll. The library currently consist of 83 VFP classes and 1,146 methods. The project is still under development so not all classes have been completed and several of the classes/methods are still being tested. The Readme.htm file, included with the download, shows the current coding status of each class. As of August 31, 2006, the overall status of the library is about 97% coded and 60% tested. ENDTEXT WITH _SCREEN.SYSTEM.Drawing * Fill Image with Background color THIS.oGfx.CLEAR(.COLOR.White) * Draw the Full-Justified text THIS.oGfx.DrawStringJustified(m.lcText, .FONT.New("Tahoma", 12), ; .Brushes.Black, THIS.Rectangle) ENDWITH
In the samples folder of the GdiPlus-X libary you'll find the form "FULLJUSTIFIED.SCX". Don't miss to run it, and play, changing the fonts, sizes, style, alignment type. But, in my opinion the most interesting feature of that sample is that you can resize the form, and the whole image will be redrawn in a flash ! Doing that you'll see how fast this routine works.
3 - Draw Full-Justified strings in reports.
This has become very easy too, after the creation of a specific report listener... but I prefer to leave this for my next post.
Maybe you have interest in the DRAWSTRINGJUSTIFIED method. To see the code, open the class xfcGraphics from the file Drawing.vcx. Look for the method "DrawStringJustified".
FoxyPreviewer brings another cool facility, that allows you to draw your texts in the report surface (and export it) having control on each word. Forget those old workarounds, generating images to draw some texts in your reports or even embedding RTF controls in your reports !
This brings a super cool new feature, allowing you to add some basic HTML texts to your fields. This means that you can from now on determine how EACH WORD in your field should be formatted!
See the image below, all the text is in ONE SINGLE FIELD !
How to do it ?
Very very simple:
And just add the HTML code below to that field:
The search capabilities are kept, and exporting to PDF returns an excellent output as well.
Here is the list of the available TAGS that you can use:
| Feature | Opening Tag | Closing Tag |
| bold | <b> | </b> |
| italic | <i> | </i> |
| underline | <u> | </u> |
| strikethru | <s> | </s> |
| text color | <color=rgb/ncolor > <c= > | </color> </c> |
| text backcolor | <highlight=rgb/ncolor> <h=rgb/ncolor> <backcolor=rgb/ncolor> | </highlight> </h> </backcolor> && in FP v3 |
| font name | <fontname=”name”> <fname=”name”> | </fontname> </fname> |
| font size | <fontsize=n> <fsize=n> | </fontsize> </fsize> |
| whole font style | <fontstyle=”BIUS”> <fstyle=”BIUS”> | </fontstyle> </fstyle> |
| force new line (CRLF) | <br> CHR(13) CHR(10) CHR(13) + CHR(10) |
| Server | SMTP adress | Port(s) | Use SSL |
HOTMAIL / LIVE
|
smtp.live.com
|
25
|
TRUE
|
YAHOO
|
smtp.mail.yahoo.com
|
25 or 465
|
TRUE
|
GOOGLE
|
smtp.gmail.com
|
465 or 25
|
TRUE
|
AOL
|
smtp.aol.com
| ||
NETSCAPE
|
smtp.isp.netscape.com
|
25
| |
MSN
|
smtp.email.msn.com
| ||
REDIFF
|
smtp.rediffmailpro.com
| ||
UOL
|
smtp.uol.com.br
|
25
|
TRUE
|
| UOL | smtps.uol.com.br | 587 or 465 | TRUE |
DO FOXYPREVIEWER.APP _Screen.oFoxyPreviewer.lRepeatInPage = .T. REPORT FORM YourReport PREVIEW
lnOption = MsgboxEx( ; "You have entered a wrong password for 5 times." + CHR(13) + ; "For security reasons this login was suspended.", ; && main message 0, ; && default icon info "Password incorrect", ; && title bar caption "\&Retry,&Exit,Get &new pwd", ; && new button captions "41.ico") && icon file
lnOption = MsgboxEx(;
"An unexpected error has occurred and the system needs to be restarted." + ;
CHR(13) + CHR(13) + "What do you want to do ?", ;
"X", ;
"MsgboxEx sample", ;
"Restart &Now,Restart &later,&Never restart")
lnOption = MsgboxEx( ;
"Could not find the file 'Import.csv' in the selected folder.", ;
0, ;
"File not found", ;
"&Abort,\&Retry,Change folder", ;
"17.ico")
use the same dialog interface from the messagebox() function, allowing us to easilly customize existing dialog boxes.
almost the same structure of parameters of the original function
behaves correctly in all operating systems.
allows hotkeys (thanks to thiago takehana for reminding about this possibility)
up to 3 buttons are allowed
size of buttons is limited to the original messagebox() buttons size, not allowing big sized buttons.
LPARAMETERS tcCaption, tnIcon, tcTitle, tcButtons, tcIconFile * msgboxex.prg * description: modifies the Captions of messagebox Buttons * Parameters: * tcCaption - the text that appears in the dialog box. * tnIcon - the Icon sign * tcTitle - the text that appears in the Title bar of the dialog box * tcButtons - the Captions to be used in the Buttons using the comma "," delimiter * use the "&" character to determine the hotkeys to be used - eg: "option&1,option&2,option&3" * use a "\" to disable the Button * tcIconFile - the Icon File to replace the default from messagebox() * returns: the index number according to the option selected - eg. returns the value 3 if the 3rd Button was selected. * sample: * =MsgBoxEx("This is a common text", "!", "Window Title", "Option 1,Option 2,Option 3") * Special thanks to: * Herman Tan - Article: 'Centering VFP MessageBox in any Form' * http://hermantan.blogspot.com/2008/07/centering-vfp-messagebox-in-any-form.html * Craig boyd - Article: 'BindEvents on Steroids' * http://www.sweetpotatosoftware.com/spsblog/2005/08/07/bindeventonsteroids.aspx LOCAL loMsgB, lnOption loMsgB = CREATEOBJECT("xmbMsgBoxEx") =INKEY(.1) lnOption = loMsgB.SendMessage(tcCaption, tnIcon, tcTitle, tcButtons, tcIconFile) loMsgB = NULL RETURN lnOption DEFINE CLASS xmbMsgBoxEx AS CUSTOM nButtonCnt = 0 cButtons = "" nbutttype = 0 cIconFile = "" hIcon = 0 PROCEDURE SendMessage LPARAMETERS tcCaption, tnIcon, tcTitle, tcButtons, tcIconFile IF VARTYPE(tntimeout) = "C" AND (PCOUNT() = 4) tcButtons = tntimeout tntimeout = 0 ENDIF PRIVATE pnButtonCnt, pcButtons, pnbutttype, pcIconFile, phIcon This.cIconFile = IIF(EMPTY(tcIconFile),"", tcIconFile) This.nButtonCnt = GETWORDCOUNT(tcButtons, ",") This.cButtons = tcButtons *!* stop 16 *!* question 32 *!* exclamation 48 *!* info 64 IF (NOT EMPTY(m.tcIconFile)) OR INLIST(TRANSFORM(tnIcon), "X", "?", "!", "I") IF VARTYPE(tnIcon) = "C" tnIcon = UPPER(tnIcon) DO CASE CASE tnIcon = "X" tnIcon = 16 CASE tnIcon = "?" tnIcon = 32 CASE tnIcon = "!" tnIcon = 48 CASE tnIcon = "I" tnIcon = 64 OTHERWISE tnIcon = 0 ENDCASE ENDIF ELSE tnIcon = 0 ENDIF * check if an Icon will be shown * if an Icon File was passed, we need to ensure that messagebox() will * show an Icon, that will be changed further. #DEFINE image_bitmap 0 #DEFINE image_Icon 1 #DEFINE lr_loadfromFile 0x0010 #DEFINE lr_defaultsize 0x0040 This.hIcon = 0 IF NOT EMPTY(This.cIconFile) AND ; (NOT (BITTEST(tnIcon, 4) OR BITTEST(tnIcon, 5) OR BITTEST(tnIcon, 6))) tnIcon = tnIcon + 16 This.hIcon = xmbLoadImage(0, FULLPATH(This.cIconFile), image_Icon,; 0,0, lr_loadfromFile + lr_defaultsize) ENDIF * this messagebox will be modified before it is shown LOCAL lnoption, lnIndex DO CASE CASE This.nButtonCnt = 1 This.nbutttype = 0 && ok CASE This.nButtonCnt = 2 This.nbutttype = 4 && yes / no CASE This.nButtonCnt = 3 This.nbutttype = 2 && abort / retry / ignore OTHERWISE ENDCASE BINDEVENT( 0, 0x06, THIS, 'WndProc' ) lnoption = MESSAGEBOX(tcCaption, tnIcon + This.nbutttype, tcTitle) UNBINDEVENTS( 0, 0x06 ) LOCAL lnOffset lnOffset = ICASE(This.nButtonCnt = 3, 2, This.nButtonCnt = 2, 5 , 0) lnIndex = lnoption - lnOffset IF This.hIcon <> 0 =xmbdeleteobject(This.hIcon) && clear Icon handle ENDIF RETURN lnIndex ENDPROC * Windows event handler procedure * MSDN WindowProc callback function * http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ms633573(v=vs.85).aspx * http://hermantan.blogspot.com/2008/07/centering-vfp-messagebox-in-any-form.html * Here we will make all the modifications in the Windows dialog PROCEDURE WndProc( th_Wnd, tn_Msg, t_wParam, t_lParam ) IF (tn_Msg == 0x06) AND (t_wParam == 0) AND (t_lParam <> 0) wParam = t_lParam #DEFINE dlg_ctrlid_Icon 0x0014 #DEFINE stm_setIcon 0x0170 #DEFINE stm_setimage 0x0172 IF NOT EMPTY(This.hIcon) * changing the dialog Icon LOCAL lhIconwindow lhIconwindow = xmbGetDlgItem(wParam, dlg_ctrlid_Icon) IF lhIconwindow <> 0 IF This.hIcon <> 0 =xmbSendMessage(lhIconwindow, stm_setIcon, This.hIcon, 0) ENDIF ENDIF ENDIF * Set tansparency IF VARTYPE(_Screen.xmbMessageboxTransp) = "N" LOCAL lnTransp lnTransp = _Screen.xmbMessageboxTransp IF lnTransp > 30 AND lnTransp < 255 && values lower than 30 generate an almost invisible dialog!!! lnTransp = MIN(INT(lnTransp), 254) =xmbSetWindowLong( wParam, -20, ; BITOR( xmbGetWindowLong( wParam, -20 ), 0x80000 )) =xmbSetLayeredWindowAttributes( wParam, 0, lnTransp, 2 ) ENDIF ENDIF * change Button attributes LOCAL N, lnOffset, lcCaption lnOffset = ICASE(This.nButtonCnt = 3, 2, This.nButtonCnt = 2, 5 , 0) LOCAL lnBtnhWnd FOR N = 1 TO This.nButtonCnt lcCaption = GETWORDNUM(This.cButtons, N, ",") + CHR(0) * disable current Button IF LEFT(lcCaption, 1) = "\" lcCaption = SUBSTR(lcCaption, 2) && get the rest of the string lnBtnhWnd = xmbGetDlgItem(wParam, lnOffset + N) =xmbEnableWindow(lnBtnhWnd, 0) ENDIF * change the Caption =xmbSetDlgItemtext(wParam, lnOffset + N, lcCaption) ENDFOR ENDIF LOCAL pOrgProc pOrgProc = xmbGetWindowLong( _VFP.hWnd, -4 ) = xmbCallWindowProc( pOrgProc, th_Wnd, tn_Msg, t_wParam, t_lParam ) ENDPROC ENDDEFINE
*********************************************************************
FUNCTION xmbSetDlgItemtext(hdlg, nidDlgItem, lpString) ********************************************************************* DECLARE INTEGER SetDlgItemText IN user32 AS xmbsetDlgItemtext ; LONG hdlg,; LONG nidDlgItem,; STRING lpString RETURN xmbSetDlgItemtext(hdlg, nidDlgItem, lpString) ENDFUNC ********************************************************************* FUNCTION xmbCallNextHookEx(hhook, ncode, wParam, LParam) ********************************************************************* DECLARE LONG callnexthookex IN user32 AS xmbcallnexthookex ; LONG hhook, LONG ncode, LONG wParam, LONG LParam RETURN xmbcallnexthookex(hhook, ncode, wParam, LParam) ENDFUNC
********************************************************************* FUNCTION xmbGetDlgItem(hdlg, nidDlgItem) ********************************************************************* * hdlg in handle to the dialog box that contains the control. * nidDlgItem in specifies the identifier of the control to be retrieved * http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms645481(vs.85).aspx DECLARE INTEGER GetDlgItem IN user32 AS xmbgetDlgItem ; LONG hdlg,; LONG nidDlgItem RETURN xmbGetDlgItem(hdlg, nidDlgItem) ENDFUNC ********************************************************************* FUNCTION xmbEnableWindow(hWnd, fEnable) ********************************************************************* DECLARE INTEGER EnableWindow IN user32 AS xmbEnablewindow INTEGER hWnd, INTEGER fEnable RETURN xmbEnableWindow(hWnd, fEnable) ENDFUNC ********************************************************************* FUNCTION xmbSendMessage(hwindow, msg, wParam, LParam) ********************************************************************* * http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb760780(vs.85).aspx * http://www.news2news.com/vfp/?group=-1&function=312 DECLARE INTEGER SendMessage IN user32 AS xmbsendmessage; INTEGER hwindow, INTEGER msg,; INTEGER wParam, INTEGER LParam RETURN xmbSendMessage(hwindow, msg, wParam, LParam) ENDFUNC ********************************************************************* FUNCTION xmbLoadImage(hinst, lpszname, utype, cxdesired, cydesired, fuload) ********************************************************************* DECLARE INTEGER LoadImage IN user32 AS xmbloadimage; INTEGER hinst,; STRING lpszname,; INTEGER utype,; INTEGER cxdesired,; INTEGER cydesired,; INTEGER fuload RETURN xmbLoadImage(hinst, lpszname, uType, cxdesired, cydesired, fuload) ENDFUNC ********************************************************************* FUNCTION xmbDeleteObject(hobject) ********************************************************************* DECLARE INTEGER DeleteObject IN gdi32 AS xmbdeleteobject INTEGER hobject RETURN xmbdeleteobject(hobject) ENDFUNC ********************************************************************* FUNCTION xmbCallWindowProc(lpPrevWndFunc, nhWnd, uMsg, wParam, LParam) ********************************************************************* DECLARE LONG CallWindowProc IN User32 ; AS xmbCallWindowProc ; LONG lpPrevWndFunc, LONG nhWnd, ; LONG uMsg, LONG wParam, LONG LParam RETURN xmbCallWindowProc(lpPrevWndFunc, nhWnd, uMsg, wParam, LParam) ENDFUNC ********************************************************************* FUNCTION xmbGetWindowLong(nhWnd, nIndex) ********************************************************************* DECLARE LONG GetWindowLong IN User32 ; AS xmbGetWindowLong ; LONG nhWnd, INTEGER nIndex RETURN xmbGetWindowLong(nhWnd, nIndex) ENDFUNC ********************************************************************* FUNCTION xmbSetWindowLong(nHWnd, nIndex, nNewVal) ********************************************************************* DECLARE INTEGER SetWindowLong In Win32Api ; AS xmbSetWindowLong ; INTEGER nHWnd, INTEGER nIndex, INTEGER nNewVal RETURN xmbSetWindowLong(nHWnd, nIndex, nNewVal) ********************************************************************* FUNCTION xmbSetLayeredWindowAttributes(nHWnd, cColorKey, nOpacity, nFlags) ********************************************************************* DECLARE INTEGER SetLayeredWindowAttributes In Win32Api ; AS xmbSetLayeredWindowAttributes ; INTEGER nHWnd, STRING cColorKey, ; INTEGER nOpacity, INTEGER nFlags RETURN xmbSetLayeredWindowAttributes(nHWnd, cColorKey, nOpacity, nFlags)