-*-Help-*-

Setext Help

                                         help version: 2.6
                                              created: 12/07/2000 {11:55:16 AM}
                                          last update: 03/07/2006 {12:13:15 PM}
    
This document describes the Setext mode for the software Alpha.


	  	Table Of Contents

"# Table Of Contents"

"# Introduction"
"# How the file marking works"

"# Setext mode Preferences"
"#   Marking Preferences"
"#   Comment Characters"
"#   Keywords, Colorizing"
"#   Magic Characters"
"#   Command-Double-Click"
"#   Navigation"
"#   More Preferences"

"# The Setext Menu"
"#   Setext Templates"
"#   Setext Marks"
"#   Setext Text"
"#   Setext Help"
"#   Setext Options"
"#   Setext Keywords"
"#   Additional Menu Items"

"# License and Disclaimer"

<<floatNamedMarks>>


	================================================================


	  	Introduction


Setext stands for [S]tructure [E]nhanced [TEXT].  It is a markup scheme for
plain text documents such as email messages and e-zines.  Setext's primary
goal is to provide a way of marking text that is visually unobtrusive, so that
if you don't have a special setext browser, like EasyView, you can still read
the text.  (Have you ever tried to make sense of HTML source without your web
browswer?)

The "Setext Example.stx" demonstration file is a description of setext
concepts written by Ian Feldman.  Setext grabbed a foothold in the Mac world
with the online publication TidBITS.

<http://www.tidbits.com/tb-issues/TidBITS-222.html#lnk5>

Alpha's Setext mode not only facilitates marking of Setext files, but also
provides a handy menu for file navigation, template insertion, and utilities
to create Setext mark-up tags.  If you write a lot of text documents and
wished you could mark them with Alpha's mark menu (the little box up in the
righthand corner of the window with the M in it), then you might find the
Setext mode useful.  Or if Alpha doesn't contain a mode for a particular
programming syntax, Setext could be adapted to provide a quick surrogate
until a proper mode is written for you.


	  	How the file marking works


Any two lines that look like this:

Any string of words
===================


will be marked as a Chapter heading.  Any two lines that look like this:

Any other string of words
-------------------------


will be marked as a Section heading.  That's all there is to it.

The keyboard shortcuts Control-Equals (=) and Control-Dash (-) will turn the
current line into a chapter or section heading, and remark the file.


	==================================================================


	  	Setext mode Preferences


All of the Setext mode preferences can be changed when the active window is
in Setext mode, by using the "Config > Mode Prefs > Preferences" menu item,
which is also bound to F12.  Many of the "flag" preferences can also be
toggled on and off using the "Setext > Setext Options" menu.

Preferences: Mode-Setext

Alpha's Setext mode is useful even if you are not editing Setext documents.
You can set additional preferences, including comment characters, magic
characters, keyword definitions, keyword symbols and "string" colors.  In
some ways, Setext could be thought of as "Text2", with the same
functionality, but greater customization available.  If Alpha does not have a
mode that you need, Setext could be adapted to serve as a surrogate until
you've convinced someone to write one for you.


	  	 	Marking Preferences

	Auto Mark

If the "Auto Mark" preference is turned on, then any window opened in Setext
mode that does not have any saved marks will be automatically marked.  In
addition, whenever a new mark is created using either the "Setext Marks" menu
items or their keyboard shortcut equivalents, the file will be re-marked, and
any floating menu of marks will be updated.

Preferences: Mode-Setext


	Mark File As

Setext files can be marked using any scheme available for any other mode.
Changing this preference affects all of the various ways to mark a file, i.e.
the Marks menu, "Search > Named Marks > Mark File", the "Re-Mark File" item in
the floating marks menu ...  If this alternate scheme fails (which might be
true if the alternative mode's marking routine relies on some preferences
specific to that mode), you will be notified.

Preferences: Mode-Setext


	  	 	Comment Characters

	Comment Character
	Comment Color
	Comment Pair1
	Comment Pair2
	Prefix String
	Use Paired Comments

Setext per se has no comment character, but I often use one in my README.TXT
files.  Setext's Mode Preferences now allows the user to define both a single
comment character, as well as paired (or bracketed) comment characters.  The
flag preference "Use Paired Comments" determines which style to use.

When using single comment characters, be sure to adjust the "Prefix String"
preference as well, adding a single whitespace after the character.  Any
Section or Subsection heading which is preceded by the single comment
character will be colorized using the "Comment Color", but the comment
character (and any leading white-spaces) will be stripped from the mark.

This is an example of /* bracketed comments */, which can also /* extend 
over 
several */ lines.

Preferences: Mode-Setext


	  	 	Keywords, Colorizing

	Add Keywords1
	Add Keywords2
	Add Keywords3
	Symbols
	
	Keyword1 Color
	Keyword2 Color
	Keyword3 Color
	String Color
	Symbol Color

Colorizing of keywords is available, including a separate symbols category
(for characters such as @ or %).  While true Setext might not have any special
keywords that need to be colored, you can easily specify three different lists
that can be colored individually.  The "String" color will affect all text
contained within double quotes.  The "Symbol" color is used for all '-' and
'=' symbols within the window, as well as the list of additional symbols
specified.

Preferences: Mode-Setext

If the lists of desired keywords is rather long, the user might rather include
them in a separate "SetxPrefs.tcl" file.  To create such a list, select the
"Config > Mode Prefs > Edit Prefs File" menu item, and add these lines:

	regModeKeywords -a -k $SetxmodeVars(keyword1Color) \
	  Setx  {blah bladdity} 
	
	regModeKeywords -a -k $SetxmodeVars(keyword2Color) \
	  Setx  {blah2 bladdity2} 
	
	regModeKeywords -a -k $SetxmodeVars(keyword3Color) \
	  Setx  {blah3 bladdity3} 
	
	regModeKeywords -a -k $SetxmodeVars(symbolColor)   \
	  Setx  {! ^} 
	
	Setx::colorizeSetx

Include as many keywords as desired within the braces, separating each keyword
by at least one space or carriage return.  After editing a SetxPrefs.tcl file,
you must "Config > Mode Prefs > Load Prefs File".  Alpha will automatically
load this preferences file when it restarts.

Note that deletions from any user-defined keyword dictionaries will only take
effect upon restart -- keywords cannot be "unloaded".

The default mode preferences are intended to show off some of Setext's new
functionality, which can be observed in the "Setext Example.stx" help file.
All of these preferences could be set empty if desired.


	  	 	Magic Characters

	Magic Character
	Magic Color

The user can also specify one (and only one) "magic character."  Anything
appearing after the magic character and before the next space will be colored
according to the "magic color" preference.  In Alphatk, this symbol should
also be included in the "Word Break" and "Word Break Preface" preferences.

Preferences: Mode-Setext


	  	 	Command-Double-Click

	Search Url1
	Search Url2
	Search Url3
	Search Url4
	Setext Home Page

Setext mode contains four "Search Url" preferences that are initially set to
four different popular web search engines.  Command-Double-Clicking on any
text will send it to "Search Url 1".  Holding down any modifier key will send
the text to a different search url, using the table below:

Option modifier:     Search Url 2
Control modifier:    Search Url 3
Shift modifier:      Search Url 4

Note that Command-Double-Clicking with NO modifier keys can also be accessed
using the F6 keyboard shortcut.  This means that one can first highlight text,
and then hit F6 to send a phrase to the first search url.  The other
modifiers, however, can only send the word surrounding the current cursor
point.

Preferences: Mode-Setext

These urls (as well as that for the "Setext Home Page") are also used by the
"Setext > Setext Help" submenu.


	  	 	Navigation

	Navigate Paragraphs

Setext mode allows for two different styles of window navigation, using the
"Next/Prev/...  Paragraph" menu items and their keyboard equivalents.
Navigating "Paragraphs" is the default, and makes the most sense for true
Setext documents.  Here a paragraph is defined by a block of text separated by
at least one line which is either empty or only contains whitespace.

If the "Navigate Paragraphs" preference is turned off, then these menu items
(and their keyboard shortcuts) are changed to "Next/Prev/...  Function", where
a "Function" is defined by a block of text that starts in the first column of
a row, and continues until another function starts, as in

set Setx::PrefsInMenu {
    autoMark keypadFindsMark navigateParagraphs renderOnOpen
    usePairedComments
}
proc Setx::rebuildMenu {{pref ""}} {
    if {[llength $pref]} {status::msg "Rebuilding the Setext menu É"}
    menu::buildSome setextMenu
    requireOpenWindowsHook 1
    Setx::postEval
    if {[llength $pref]} {status::msg "The Setext menu has been rebuilt"}
}

This is of use only if Setext mode is being used as a surrogate for some
programming language.

Preferences: Mode-Setext

Tip: While the "Next/Prev Paragraph/Function" menu items are bound to
Control-Shift-N/P, they are also available using the Arrow keys with Control
and Shift.  'Up/Down' will simply move the cursor, while 'Right/Left' will
also reposition the window so that the cursor is at the top.  Toggle the
numeric keypad using 'Shift-Clear'.

Tip: If there is any selection highlighted when using these navigation items,
the selection is extended to the beginning/end of the prev/next paragraph or
function.

	Keypad Finds Mark

Alpha has the ability to take over the numeric keypad on extended keyboards,
and to use various keys for navigation items.  In Setext mode, Keys 1 and 3
are bound to either navigate the next/prev paragraph/function, or (if the
preference named "Keypad Finds Mark" is turned on) to find the next/prev mark
in the active window.

Preferences: Mode-Setext


	  	 	More Preferences

	Indent Setx File As

If Setext is being used for a programming mode, its indentation scheme can be
set to mimic that of any other mode distributed with Alpha.  This will
probably take some experimentation.

Preferences: Mode-Setext

	Fill Column

This is the length of a row that is allowed before auto-wrapping of the window
sets in, automatically inserting a carriage return.  This preference is found
in many modes.

Preferences: Mode-Setext

	Word Break

This preference is a regular expressions that determines when a 'word' ends,
and is used for various word breaking navigation items.  In general, it is
not necessary to change these settings unless you are using Setext as a
programming mode.  In that case, you probably want to include any special
symbols that can be found in the program's 'word' syntax, such as '-' for
LISP files, or ':' for Tcl files.  Any magic character used should also be
included for proper colorizing in Alphatk.

Preferences: Mode-Setext


	==================================================================


	  	The Setext Menu

Whenever a file is opened in Setext mode, the 'Setext' menu is automatically
inserted into the menu bar.  This section describes some of the menu items
available.


	  	 	Setext Templates

The 'New Setext Window' menu item will create a new window, using the
templates described below.  If any of these templates include 'template
stops', bullets '¥' by default, you can navigate this new window using your
'next stop' key, set in the "Config > Special Keys" dialog.  This menu item
inserts the 'Header' and 'Footer' templates.

Both the 'Header' and the 'Footer' templates can be customized by using the
'Edit Header' etc menu items.  These templates are stored as files in Alpha's
Prefs folder.  Restoring the templates will remove these files, and use the
default values set in the "setextMode.tcl" file.  Three additional templates
can also be defined, and inserted at any time using the items in this submenu.


	  	 	Setext Marks

Any line of text can be turned into a Setext mark using the keyboard shortcuts
found in the "Setext Marks" submenu.  If the text is already a mark, but is
now a different length that the dash line below it, as in

This mark has changed
==================

then the keyboard shortcut will readjust the dash line, as in

This mark has changed
=====================

If the 'Auto Mark' preference is turned on, then the active window will be
automatically re-marked whenever these shortcuts are employed.

If you are using Setext mode as a surrogate for some other syntax style, you
can try to mark the active window using any of the other mode file marking
procedures available using the "Mark File As" menu item.


	  	 	Setext Text

This submenu contains some handy keyboard shortcuts for marking Setext windows
using the (never completed) Setext markup specification.  These shortcuts will
all work on either highlighted selections, or within the middle of some text.
The 'Fill Paragraph' menu item preserves the special leading indentation found
in some Setext files.


	  	 	Setext Help

This submenu contains menu items to open the 'Setext Home Page', a user
customized url, this Help file, or a dialog to send some text to a specific
search engine.  Both the search engine and the home page url can be modified
using the "Config > Mode Prefs > Preferences" menu item when the active window
is in Setext mode.


	  	 	Setext Options

Most of the items in this submenu are toggleable menu items that flip various
'flag' preferences for Setext mode.  See the sections above concerning
specific preferences.


	  	 	Setext Keywords

While Setext doesn't have any keywords per se, I often find it handy to
colorize a list of keywords that I use often within text documents that I'm
writing, as in IMPORTANT or NOTE. This menu allows you to manipulate three
different lists of keywords.  The "Config > Mode Prefs > Preferences" will
open a dialog allowing you to change the colors used for each list.

Preferences: Mode-Setext


	  	 	Additional Menu Items


	Next/Prev Paragraph/Function

These items allow you to navigate the active window, moving the cursor to the
next/previous paragraph or function.  The "Navigate Paragraphs" preference
determines which style of navigation will be used.  See the section above on
"# Navigation" for more information.

	Select Paragraph/Function

Highights the paragraph or function surrounding the cursor.

	Reformat Paragraph/Function

If there is no selection currently highlighted, highlights the paragraph or
function surrounding the cursor.  Then this region is properly indented.  Note
that this is NOT the same as the "Text > Fill Paragraph" menu item, but is
instead a simple combination of the "Setext> Select Paragraph/Function" and
"Text > Indent Selection" menu commands.

	New Comment

Inserts a new comment immediately preceding the current paragraph/function in
which the cursor resides, respecting all of the comment character preferences
as well as "Navigate Paragraphs".  A standard "paragraph" style comment is
inserted, unless you have previously created a template using ...

	Comment TemplateÉ

Creates a new template used in the "New Comment" menu item.  Simply type your
template in any window, highlight it, and then select this item.  The
selection will be saved as a Setext mode preference, which can be modified
(or deleted entirely) using the "Config > Mode Prefs > Preferences" menu
item.  If you want to include template stops, which can be navigated using
the keyboard shortcut for "Next Stop" defined in the "Config > Special Keys"
dialog, enter two bullets '¥¥' using Option-8 for each template stop.

	Render Window

Alpha can be used as a Setext rendering engine, converting all marks and
'typotags' to stylized text.  See the end of the "Setext Example.stx" window
for more information on the Setext mark-up specification.

	Setext To Html

Windows which have been marked-up using the Setext specification can also be
converted to html files, using the package: filtersMenu.  (This package does
not have to be active to use this item, although it must be installed.  The
Filters menu is included in the standard AlphaTcl distribution.)

Note that while this item properly converts window marks, it probably needs to
be refined further to include all of the Setext typotags.


	==================================================================


	  	License and Disclaimer


Author: Craig Barton Upright
E-mail: <cupright@alumni.princeton.edu>
   www: <http://www.purl.org/net/cbu>

Author: Donavan Hall

AlphaTcl's Setext mode:

Copyright (c) 1996-2006 Tom Pollard, Craig Barton Upright, Donavan Hall
All rights reserved.

See the file "license.terms" for information on usage and redistribution of
this package, and for a DISCLAIMER OF ALL WARRANTIES.

This mode is free.  Alpha is shareware !   <<register>>

cheers,

-- Craig

This document has been placed in the public domain.
