INPUT Box [now to use RUBY]

[tester]

1. Open it in synthmaker and run
2. Open it in flowstone and run.
3. See the difference.
In SM, such loop affects only cursor, not the display.

If you know how to quick fix it (without breaking it and without overloading the schematic) - I would appreciate the solution. It's funny (in this case) - you should be able to use keyboard keys while editing selected value, because what you edit "right now" is what you want to change on the fly.

[Nubeat7]

sorry dont get it , i`m used to type in something in and press enter to apply, like i understood the problem i would solve it like this, same as RJ already did, just with a selector in the the feed

[RJHollins]

sorry dont get it , i`m used to type in something in and press enter to apply, like i understood the problem i would solve it like this, same as RJ already did, just with a selector in the the feed

Hi NuBeat7 !

Once again I need to that you for coming to the assist ... particularly involving RUBY. The work you provided me with the 'GUAGE' routine was a major determinant for me to migrate to FS ... Thank-you!

Ahhh ... now this EDIT box. Very interesting to see how you combined the ideas into the 2 internal RUBY's. Every bit helps me in trying to learn this stuff !

OK ... the mod's you've posted indeed work, along with the controls of the string length, this is already an improved edit box.

There are some 'features' that would really be desired ... to make for a more 'friendly' user experience. I'm not sure how difficult this would really be [I know how it would be for me ]. What we need is an elegant edit box

In no particular order, I could list several aspects that I've experienced in other apps that that are just plain good.

Some of the design needs controls that the programmer should be able to dictate for his program. In this category, I see things like:
1. String LENGTH
2. Alpha/Numeric and range restrictions [parsing]
3. optional caps.
4. final display placement within the edit box [Left, Center, Right]
5. maybe even decimal point handling

From a Users perspective ...

It would be nice if a user could click in the box and have the text highlight . [not disappear].

Also ... if the user could, be able to make a small change to the original string, maybe to fix a misspelled word or change a number without having to re-type all the data.

Of course, after the user edits ... any pre-conditions set by the programmer should then be applied.

As I type this, I'm realizing just how advanced the programming of this might be ! Add to this that these edit boxes need to be able to be loaded [from disk] ... oh yeah ... and saved too.

From what I've been reading, it seems the RUBY language is very capable ... however, there is no doubt that coding this would take someone[s] with experience. Which is why my plea to the GURU's. This is such an important GUI component [really fundamental] that puts the User in direct interaction with our app ... we really need a 1st class solution.

I see from some of the earlier replies that I'm not alone in this need. Even my web searching finds so very little info on a design ... regardless ... maybe we need to call out to the GURU community to piece this critical component together ! [i very much hope].

thanks again for listening ... very much appreciated!

[RJHollins]

me playing with this ... trying to learn what each part is doing.

So I added a Ruby LABEL inside the edit box and fed it the output of the 2 earlier Rubys.
The LABEL has the alignment feature.

I then changed the font COLOR to White ... same as background, and matched the font size.

Talk about a real kludge job ... but ya know what ... it kinda works !

The text still disappears when editing [as before], and this is really lousy programming [I know], but it was an idea to try ... and it points that a solution [in part] is possible. Just NOT this way

[tester]

sorry dont get it , i`m used to type in something in and press enter to apply, like i understood the problem i would solve it like this, same as RJ already did, just with a selector in the the feed

The basic problem is, that in some situations, when you go to editbox (click to edit), value becomes invisible (this should not happen) while it's still there and is editable. But no matter into what you change it - it is invisible until you finish editing (so you don't know what you type in). The only visible thing is the cursor, which blinks after blank digit positions.

Your example is not solving it (but brings some other issues? I give up...).

[Nubeat7]

hmm ok i understand more now, i designed a liitle editbox (very basic) with save/load and edit options which should work ok for editing... the more complex thing are the restrictions - length is already solved ( watch properties ) all other stuff like alpha/numerical restrictions need to be done inside the restrictions ruby code , ruby has a wide range of string manipulation but this is very specific and need to be done individual..

[Nubeat7]

here are a few ways to get numbers and floats out of a string

[RJHollins]

Hi NuBeat !

Will definately check these out !!!


Earlier I was again playing with some ideas ... when I realized something ....

Drag in a 'String Data Component' from the library.
The 'editing' within this component is exactly what we [I] need

I don't know if this is funny ... or I'm just short on a lot of sleep

oh ... something else noticed ..

Looking at the 'EDIT' primitive. The 3rd label on its' left size [FONT].

It say: 'NOTE: only typeface is used'.

Now this seems the same as from SM, but with FS, the font SIZE is also working. This did not seem the case when I was trying this stuff in SM ??? maybe I'm confused.

[RJHollins]

OK ... the NuBeat edit box provided some good improvements ! Thanks.

A couple of issues appeared, so looking inside I made a couple modifications. I also stripped down the schematic to focus solely on the edit box.

There was an 'alignment' problem, so I replaced the edit window sizing with a standard 'AREA' prim.

Using this, maybe as a start point.

What I'm trying to do now is have 2 addition programming controls. That would be separate control for:
1. Text COLOR
2. edit window COLOR. [the 'transparent' mode would probably be good to keep too, as another option.

I've not be able to get the coloring to work right ... could use more help please

[RJHollins]

work continues ... but my 'solution' is not pretty

capture-1.jpg (53.26 KiB) Viewed 18180 times

OK .. TEXT can be edited and it stays visible. The mouse cursor can also be placed within the text to make minor corrections. Seems to work alright.

There is still an overall display problem to solve. For example, if the width of the the display is dragged to accomodate the defined text LENGTH, when you hit edit, the first letter is cut off. It almost like the the display shifts left

Getting the color stuff ... well, through a kludge was able to provide a background color. This 'example' shows how not to program ... but it does show it working.

Text in the display can also be 'justified aligned'.
Text LENGTH is also controlled.

For additional INPUT [from disk] ... data can be sent into the EDIT BOX, and then further edited.

To note: The disk data is not subject to the LEN mod. Normally the disk data would come from previous entry [and limits] from the edit box ... so this should not be an issue.

I still need to add programming limits, etc ... but this is a basic idea that will need some 'elegance' applied

here's the latest .FSM