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Subject:RE: highlighting text in Frame? From:Goober Writer <gooberwriter -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Tue, 7 Oct 2003 06:15:32 -0700 (PDT)
> I think it sucks. You should be able to overlap
> character tags (and conditions should work as they
> do
> in RH, while I'm on about it). But, as goober notes,
> if you know the limitation, the workaround is a no
> brainer (create new tags that perform as would
> overlapping the tags you want).
It sucks, true, but the complexity of managing
multiple style attributions can be incredibly
difficult. Not only would you have to manage what
styles are applied, but in what order they are applied
to default paragraph text. Otherwise you just get a
muddy representation of the styles being used, which
cannot be managed.
For example, say you have a default body text and want
to apply three char formats:
1. Italic
2. Instruction
3. Bold
Italic is currently as-is except for an italic angle
setting.
Instruction is currently as-is except for a Arial font
setting.
Bold is currently as-is except for a Bold weight
setting.
Now, as an experienced FrameUser, I'd wrap all these
into one style and be done with it, and manage that
style.
But, to overlap styles and manage the changes, you
need to consider the order in which the formatting is
being applied.
Say you no longer want Instruction tags to appear
Italic, for whatever reason. But, to go through and
S&R for Italic in specific cases where Instruction is
applied would be more trouble than it's worth. So, in
this case you'd want to set Instruction to include an
angle of None setting as well as the font setting.
To make sure this update would work, FM would have to
maintain the order in which the char formatting is
applied... 1. Italic (change default text to italic),
2. Instruction (change text angle to "none" and change
font to Arial), then Bold (change selected text to
weight of Bold).
Don't get me wrong, this could easily be automated in
FM's code, but really, where's the benefit?
Also, with regard to single-sourcing, this type of
formatting would be hard to track and duplicate in
HTML output. Another layer of complexity.
=====
Goober Writer
(because life is too short to be inept)
"As soon as you hear the phrase "studies show",
immediately put a hand on your wallet and cover your groin."
-- Geoff Hart
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