old ASCII formatting codes - ASCII (*.txt) files within Arti

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Gaev
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old ASCII formatting codes - ASCII (*.txt) files within Arti

Post by Gaev »

couldn't find this on the forum any more ... so I posted this from my personal archives

Here is the documentation for the using the old ASCII formatting codes. These codes can only be used with ASCII (*.txt) files displayed within NeoBook's Article object.

You may use the following formatting codes when creating an article with your ASCII text editor. These may be inserted into the text using the "^" (caret) character (not the CTRL key, but the actual "^" character). Click on one of titles below to view formatting codes:

Bold   Italic   Underline   Strikeout   Reverse Video   Font Size   Color   Tab   Center   Caret   Hypertext   Hidden Hypertext

Also note: As ASCII text files contain no paragraph formatting information, you must place a double carriage return (ENTER-ENTER) at the end of each paragraph to notify NeoBook to break at that point.

You may also choose to create your articles in Rich Text Format (RTF) using a special editor like WordPad which is included with Windows. RTF files contain their own formatting and do not require the use of embedded codes like the ones below.

Bold

Use "^B" at the start of the portion which is to display as bold text. To turn bold off, place a "^b" at the end of the section of text which is to be bold.


Usage:   Typing the line "I want a ^Bbigger^b dog." displays as, "I want a bigger dog."

Italic

Use "^I" at the start of the portion which is to display in italics. To turn italics off, place a "^i" at the end of the italicized section of text.

Usage:   Typing the line "I want a ^Ibigger^i dog." displays as,  "I want a bigger  dog."

Underline

Use "^U" at the start of the underlined text. To turn the underscore off, place a "^u" at the end of the section of text which is to be underlined.

Usage:   Typing the line "I want a ^Ubigger^u dog."  displays as,  "I want a bigger dog."

Strikeout

Use "^x" at the start of the strikeout text. To turn the strikeout off, place a "^x" at the end of the section of text which is to be strukout.

Usage:   Typing the line "I want a ^Xbigger^x dog."  displays as,  "I want a bigger dog."

Reverse Video

Use "^R" at the start of the portion which is to display as reversed text (e.g., white text on black background). To return the text to normal, place a "^r" at the end of the section of text which is to be reversed.

Usage:   Typing the line "I want a ^Rbigger^r dog."  displays as: "I want a BIGGER dog."

Font Size

Use "^F" followed by a number indicating the new point size at the start of the text. To return the default font, place a "^f" at the end of the section of text.

Usage:   Typing the line "I want a ^F14bigger^f dog."  displays as,  "I want a bigger dog."

Color

Use "^P" followed by a number from the chart below indicating the new color at the start of the text. To return to the default color, place a "^p" at the end of the section of text.

0=Black
1=Maroon
2=Green
3=Olive
4=Navy
5=Purple
6=Teal
7=Gray
8=Silver
9=Red
10=Lime
11=Blue
12=Fuchsia
13=Aqua
14=Yellow
15=White

Usage:   Typing the line "I want a ^P2green^p dog."  displays as,  "I want a green dog."

Tab

To tab text from the left margin, insert a "^T" followed immediately by a number. The number should represent the number of M-width (width of the "M" character) spaces from the left margin. To tab text from a spot within a line, insert a "^S" followed by the number of spaces to tab.

Usage:   Typing the line: "I want ^T16 a bigger dog."  displays as,

"I want a bigger dog."

Centering

If the center code is included on a line along with other codes listed above, the "^C" should be the innermost code. End centered text with "^c".

Usage:   Typing the line: "^B^CDogs For Sale^c^b"  displays as,

                            "Dogs For Sale"

Caret Symbol

If you need to display the caret character in your article, type two carets not separated by a space.

Usage:   Typing the line: "My rabbit wants a ^^!"  displays as,  "My rabbit wants a ^!"


(Edited by gk51 at 8:46 am on July 25, 2004)
johnpalm
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Old ASCII Formatting Codes

Post by johnpalm »

:roll: It's a shame that all of the old ASCII codes no longer work since we have the option to use previously used text file from our older version programs.

Not knowing which do or don't continue to work is annoying. I don't think the reverse, tab or color codes work any longer, but it would be nice to see a list from support as to which still continue to work and which ones no longer work. I know the recommendation is to use *.rtf files now or to convert our old text files into the rich text format, but if you have hundreds in a program this is very labor intensive when you want to introduce a new version.

I am upgrading from version 3.2f, I know I am a long time hold out. Anyway we use to be able to edit the pub files with a text editor which makes it a little easier to find and replace items in a global fashion. I think this opportunity still exists but should a pub file be changed to a text file to do this or an .rtf file ? I am hesitant to try because I don't want to wreck the original .pub file.
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Post by Neosoft Support »

Actually, most of the old DOS era formatting codes still work with the current version of NeoBook:

Image

However, these codes originated with the DOS version of NeoBook in the early 1990's. The fact that they still work, if not perfectly, is pretty remarkable - or dumb depending on your point of view. The nice thing is that you can open these files in NeoBook 5.6's built-in text editor and it will do a pretty good job of converting them to RTF format. You can then tweak the formatting if needed.
I am upgrading from version 3.2f, I know I am a long time hold out. Anyway we use to be able to edit the pub files with a text editor which makes it a little easier to find and replace items in a global fashion. I think this opportunity still exists but should a pub file be changed to a text file to do this or an .rtf file ? I am hesitant to try because I don't want to wreck the original .pub file.
Just use version 3.2's "Archive" command to make a copy/backup of your entire publication. Then you can experiment with the copy without wrecking the original.
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nerdgerl
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Post by nerdgerl »

Neosoft Support wrote:The fact that they still work, if not perfectly, is pretty remarkable - or dumb depending on your point of view.
Sorry, but there's absolutely nothing dumb about Neobook! [/u]
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Post by Neosoft Support »

Thanks nerdgerl!
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Post by nerdgerl »

Neosoft Support wrote:Thanks nerdgerl!
You're welcome!! ;-)
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