fFormatting interface

FOM Reference > Formatting > fFormatting interface

This object provides access to the current formatting state, such as the stream heirarchy, current styles and block / table properties and format-safe variables. This object is only available when PTC ALD is formatting, and can be accessed using the global property "formatting".

ContextLimits enumeration

Values to specify what limits should be applied when a new context group is added using fFormatting.contextAdd().

The ContextLimits enumeration has the following constants of type int.

LIMIT_NONE = 0

Add the new context group with no limits.

LIMIT_ALL = 1

Prevent searching through all previous context groups.

LIMIT_GROUP = 2

Only prevent searching through previous contexts in the same group as this.

MapReturnFlags enumeration

Flag values to specify how returns should be mapped while formatting. These should be added and assigned to mapReturns.

The MapReturnFlags enumeration has the following constants of type int.

MAP_RETURNS = 1

Specifies that all the carriage returns in a given text stream should be mapped to either a space or a 'yellow bar return' depending on the useage of the MAP_TO_YBR flag.

MAP_TO_YBR = 2

If return are being mapped, map them to a 'yellow bar return' rather than a space.

A yellow bar return (or spacer) is an PTC ALD-specific character that is used to space out code in the yellow edit bar. It is represented by PTC ALD-ISO character &147;.

IgnoreSpaceFlags enumeration

Flag values to specify which spaces should be ignored while formatting.

The IgnoreSpaceFlags enumeration has the following constants of type int.

IGNORE_START = 1

Specifies that the text stream should ignore spaces at the start of a paragraph.

IGNORE_MULTIPLE = 2

Specifies that any multiple spaces in the text stream should be ignored.

IGNORE_END = 4

Specifies that the text stream should ignore spaces that appear at the end of a paragraph.

IGNORE_SPACES = 8

Specifies that all spaces in the text stream should be ignored.

BreakType enumeration

The possible values for breakTop and breakBottom.

The BreakType enumeration has the following constants of type int.

BREAK_COLUMN = 1

Starts a new column.

BREAK_PAGE = 2

Starts a new page.

BREAK_FIRST_LINE = 16

Repositions to the first line.

BREAK_LAST_LINE = 32

Repositions to the last line.

BREAK_COLUMN_CENTER = 64

Starts column centering.

BREAK_COLUMN_BOTTOM = 128

Flushes to column bottom.

BREAK_TABLE_CELL = 512

Starts a new table cell.

BREAK_TABLE_ROW = 1024

Starts a new table row.

BREAK_TABLE_END = 2048

Ends the current table.

BREAK_SOFT_COLUMN = 32768

Soft column break.

BREAK_SOFT_PAGE = 65536

Soft page break.

RecordEndType enumeration

These values specify the possible ways to end the current line.

The RecordEndType enumeration has the following constants of type int.

END_PARAGRAPH = 1

Ends the paragraph.

END_PAGE = 2

Ends the page.

END_LINE = 3

Ends the line.

END_COLUMN = 5

Ends the column.

RecordEndAlign enumeration

These values specify how the line containing the break should be aligned.

The RecordEndAlign enumeration has the following constants of type int.

ALIGN_DEFAULT = 0

Use the current paragraph alignment.

ALIGN_CENTER = 1

Center the line.

ALIGN_JUSTIFY = 2

Justify the line.

ALIGN_LEFT = 3

Left align the line.

ALIGN_RIGHT = 4

Right align the line.

RecordEndCondition enumeration

These values specify when to issue the record end.

The RecordEndCondition enumeration has the following constants of type int.

CONDITION_NONE = 0

Always do the record end.

CONDITION_NOTSTART = 1

Only issue the record end if formatting is not at the start of the line.

CONDITION_BEFORE = 2

Issue the record end and reposition to just before the tag containing the command.

CONDITION_HERE = 3

Issue the record end and start the next line from this command.

CounterNames enumeration

These constants provide the array indexes to access PTC ALD's named counters. They reside in the counters array at negative indices before the X-Counters. Remember that not all of PTC ALD's named counters may be changed by the user.

The CounterNames enumeration has the following constants of type int.

COUNTER_A = -15

The array index of PTC ALD's a counter.

COUNTER_B = -14

The array index of PTC ALD's b counter.

COUNTER_C = -13

The array index of PTC ALD's c counter.

COUNTER_D = -12

The array index of PTC ALD's d counter.

COUNTER_E = -11

The array index of PTC ALD's e counter.

COUNTER_F = -10

The array index of PTC ALD's f counter.

COUNTER_G = -9

The array index of PTC ALD's g counter.

COUNTER_H = -8

The array index of PTC ALD's h counter.

COUNTER_I = -7

The array index of PTC ALD's i counter.

COUNTER_J = -6

The array index of PTC ALD's j counter.

COUNTER_K = -5

The array index of PTC ALD's k counter.

COUNTER_L = -4

The array index of PTC ALD's l counter.

COUNTER_M = -3

The array index of PTC ALD's m counter.

COUNTER_N = -2

The array index of PTC ALD's n counter.

COUNTER_O = -1

The array index of PTC ALD's o counter.

ErrorSeverity enumeration

These values specify the severity of an error raised by fFormatting.raiseError.

The ErrorSeverity enumeration has the following constants of type int.

SEVERITY_INFORMATION = 2

An information message.

SEVERITY_WARNING = 1

A warning message.

SEVERITY_ERROR = 0

An error message.

LineNumberType enumeration

Flag values to specify which type of line number should be modified by the changeLineNumber method.

The LineNumberType enumeration has the following constants of type int.

PAGE_LINE = 1

This option specifies that the page's line number should me changed.

COLUMN_LINE = 2

This option specifies that the column's line number should me changed.

CELL_LINE = 4

This option specifies that the cell's line number should me changed.

This only occurs when formatting a table cell.

PARAGRAPH_LINE = 8

This option specifies that the paragraph's line number should me changed.

ALL_LINES = 15

This will modify all line numbers as detailed above.

ROW_NUMBER = 16

This option allows the secondary row number to be changed within a table. See fTable.RowZeroMode.

This only occurs when formatting a table cell.

ImageScale enumeration

How to scale the image to fit inside the defined area.

The ImageScale enumeration has the following constants of type int.

SCALE_NONE = 0

Don't scale the image.

SCALE_PRESERVE = 1

Scale the image preserving the aspect ratio.

SCALE_FIT = 2

Scale the image to fit the available space.

SCALE_DOT = 3

Scale the image using the specified dot size.

SCALE_ABSOLUTE = 4

Scale the image using the specified absolute size.

SCALE_PERCENT = 5

Scale the image using the specified percentage.

SCALE_SHRINK = 6

Shrink the image if greater than the maximum size.

SCALE_ENLARGE = 7

Enlarge the image if smaller than the minimum size.

ImageBestFit enumeration

Which Best Fit mode to use when outputting the image.

The ImageBestFit enumeration has the following constants of type int.

BESTFIT_NONE = 0

Don't use Best Fit mode.

BESTFIT_START = 1

Use left horizontally, or top vertically.

BESTFIT_CENTER = 2

Use the center of the image.

BESTFIT_END = 3

Use right horizontally, or bottom vertically.

BESTFIT_SQUASH = 4

Use squash horizontally, or flatten vertically.

ImagePlaces enumeration

Where to place the image relative to the current formatting position.

The ImagePlaces enumeration has the following constants of type int.

PLACE_BLOCK = 0

Place the image as a block, centered on the line.

PLACE_INLINE = 1

Place the image inline with the surrounding text.

PLACE_BLOCKLEFT = 2

Place the image as a block, to the left of the line.

PLACE_BLOCKRIGHT = 3

Place the image as a block, to the right of the line.

InheritModes enumeration

Which inherit mode to use in getAttribute().

The InheritModes enumeration has the following constants of type int.

INHERIT_ALL = 0

Find the attribute from all tags in the stream hierarchy.

INHERIT_CURRENT = 1

Find the attribute on the current tag only.

INHERIT_ANCESTOR = 2

Find the attribute on the ancestors only.

PDFActivationFlags enumeration

The playback style to use, if the object supports animation.

The PDFActivationFlags enumeration has the following constants of type int.

ACTIVATE_CLICKED = 0

The object should be activated when clicked.

ACTIVATE_OPENED = 1

The object should be activated when the page containing it is opened.

ACTIVATE_VISIBLE = 2

The object should be activated as soon as it becomes visible.

PDFAnimationStyles enumeration

The playback style to use, if the object supports animation.

The PDFAnimationStyles enumeration has the following constants of type int.

ANIMATION_NONE = 0

The animation should not play.

ANIMATION_LINEAR = 1

The animation should play linearly, from beginning to end.

ANIMATION_OSCILLATING = 2

The animation should oscillate, playing from beginning to end, then in reverse from end to beginning, and so on.

blockHierarchy attribute

Nested blocks can be accessed using this property. The block at the bottom of the hierarchy, i.e. the root block can be accessed at index 0. Block hierarchy excludes nested tables, for nested tables, see tableHierarchy.

blockHierarchy
Access	read-only
Returns	fBlockPos[]

counters attribute

This array of integers gives access to PTC ALD's X-Counters. The values of these counters are guaranteed to be the same each time a particular part of the document is being processed during formatting, no matter how many passes are needed to format that part of the document.

counters
Access	read-only
Returns	fIntArray

currentBlock attribute

Access properties of the current block, if any.

currentBlock
Access	read-only
Returns	fBlockResolved

currentBlockRegion attribute

Access properties of the current block region, if any.

currentBlockRegion
Access	read-only
Returns	fBlockResolvedRegion

currentBlockRow attribute

Access row properties of the current block, if any.

currentBlockRow
Access	read-only
Returns	fBlockResolvedRow

currentFormat attribute

This is the current set of parameters that were used to start this format, or null if the document is not currently being formatted. The properties on this object are read only and cannot be changed.

currentFormat
Access	read-only
Returns	fFormat

currentPage attribute

This is the current active page.

currentPage
Access	read-only
Returns	fPage

currentParagraph attribute

A paragraph object that reflects the values of paragraph properties that are currently in effect.

currentParagraph
Access	read-only
Returns	fParagraph

currentState attribute

Current state of the area being formatted.

currentState
Access	read-only
Returns	fFormatState

currentStream attribute

This object describes the invocation of the stream that is currently being formatted.

currentStream
Access	read-only
Returns	fFormatPos

currentStyle attribute

A style object that reflects the values of style properties that are currently in effect.

currentStyle
Access	read-only
Returns	fStyle

currentTable attribute

A table object that reflects the values of table properties that are currently in effect. If no table is currently being formatted, this property is null.

currentTable
Access	read-only
Returns	fTableResolved

currentTableCell attribute

An fTableCell object that reflects the values of table cell properties that are currently in effect. If no table is currently being formatted, this property is null.

currentTableCell
Access	read-only
Returns	fTableResolvedCell

currentTableRow attribute

An fTableRow object that reflects the values of table row properties that are currently in effect. If no table is currently being formatted, this property is null.

currentTableRow
Access	read-only
Returns	fTableResolvedRow

currentTeX attribute

An fTeX object that reflects the values of the TeX properties that are currently in effect.

currentTeX
Access	read-only
Returns	fTeX

currentTypeface attribute

Return the font object corresponding to the currently selected font family when taking any styling information such as fStyle.italic, fStyle.weight etc. into account.

currentTypeface
Access	read-only
Returns	fTypeface

currentXMLNode attribute

If the primary stream being formatted contains XML, this is is fxNode object for the current node within the XML tree.

The primary stream is either level 0 in the streamHierarchy or a level where an XML stream has been promoted to the primary position for XPath. e.g. formatting.formatStream( streamName, '+' );

currentXMLNode
Access	read-only
Returns	fxNode

defaultParagraph attribute

A paragraph object that reflects this paragraph's default values for all paragraph properties, as set up by the paragraph object passed to paragraphStart.

defaultParagraph
Access	read-only
Returns	fParagraph

defaultStyle attribute

A style object that reflects this paragraph's default values for all style properties, as set up by the style object passed to paragraphStart.

defaultStyle
Access	read-only
Returns	fStyle

defaultTeX attribute

An fTeX object that reflects this paragraph's default values for all TeX properties, as set up by the fTeX object passed to paragraphStart.

defaultTeX
Access	read-only
Returns	fTeX

errorLogCountsFatal attribute

The current total of fatal error messages raised so far.

errorLogCountsFatal
Access	read-only
Returns	int

errorLogCountsInformation attribute

The current total of information error messages raised so far.

errorLogCountsInformation
Access	read-only
Returns	int

errorLogCountsNonFatal attribute

The current total of non fatal error messages raised so far.

errorLogCountsNonFatal
Access	read-only
Returns	int

errorLogCountsWarning attribute

The current total of warning error messages raised so far.

errorLogCountsWarning
Access	read-only
Returns	int

fish attribute

Access and modify the Format Inheritable String Hashes. This property is an "array of hashes," representing the indiviual FISH buckets. That is, there is an element for each FISH bucket. These elements in turn are hashes that provide access to the values stored in the FISH variables.

fish
Access	read-only
Returns	fStringArray[]

formatTextMode attribute

The mode value that was set when formatting.formatText() was called.

formatTextMode
Access	read-only
Returns	int

streamHierarchy attribute

This array provides access to the hierarchy of streams that are currently being formatted. There is one fFormatPos derived object for each level of nesting. The currently formatted stream itself is available as currentStream.

streamHierarchy
Access	read-only
Returns	fArray

stringCounters attribute

This array of strings gives access to PTC ALD's so-called String-Counters. The strings stored in this array are guaranteed to be the same each time a particular part of the document is being processed during formatting, no matter how many passes are needed to format that part of the document.

stringCounters
Access	read-only
Returns	fStringArray

tableHierarchy attribute

Nested tables can be accessed using this property. The table at the bottom of the hierarchy, i.e. the root table can be accessed at index 0. Table hierarchy excludes nested blocks, for nested blocks, see blockHierarchy.

tableHierarchy
Access	read-only
Returns	fTablePos[]

accoladeEnd method

PI: accolade

Ends the accolade at the specified level.

accoladeEndlevel
Parameters	intlevel The level containing the accolade to end.
Returns	void. None.

accoladeStart method

PI: accolade

Marks the start of the link for the specified bookmark.

accoladeStartaccoladelevelpercentoffsetdrawModedrawLevelpreventRepeatonlyTop
Parameters	fAccoladeaccolade The object containing the accolade settings to use. This can either be an fAccolade or fAccoladeInline object, as required. intlevel The level on which to start the accolade. intpercent The percentage of the accolade to display. intoffset The field percentage to use, overriding the value in the accolade top location. intdrawMode When to draw the accolade. Value is one of fAccolade-AccoladeDrawMode. intdrawLevel Where to draw the accolade relative to other text and rules. Value is one of fAccolade-AccoladeDrawLevel. booleanpreventRepeat If true, the accolade will not repeat when flowing into a new column. booleanonlyTop If true, the accolade will only start if it is at the top of the frame.
Returns	void. None.

addHorizontalKern method

PI: hkern

Add the given amount of horizontal kerning at the current formatting position.

addHorizontalKernamount
Parameters	fLengthamount The amount of horizontal kerning to be added.
Returns	void. This method does not return a value.

addImage method

Insert an image at the current formatting position. Instead of providing a single list of parameters, it is possible to call this method with an anonymous object containing properties using the names listed in the parameters.

addImageimageplacescaleXscaleXSizescaleYscaleYSizebestFitXbestFitYuseBaselineforceMinDPIopacitypdfLayer
Parameters	fTagimage The image to use. This can either be an fRaster or an fGraphic object. intplace Where to place the image. Value is one of fFormatting.ImagePlaces. intscaleX The method to use when scaling the image horizontally. Value is one of fFormatting.ImageScale fLengthscaleXSize The size to use when scaleX is set to SCALE_ABSOLUTE, SCALE_DOT, SCALE_SHRINK or SCALE_ENLARGE, or the percentage to use when set to SCALE_PERCENT. intscaleY The method to use when scaling the image vertically. Value is one of fFormatting.ImageScale fLengthscaleYSize The size to use when scaleY is set to SCALE_ABSOLUTE, SCALE_DOT, SCALE_SHRINK or SCALE_ENLARGE, or the percentage to use when set to SCALE_PERCENT. intbestFitX The method to use when scaling the image horizontally. If either this property or bestFitY is set to BESTFIT_NONE, best fit mode is not used. Value is one of fFormatting.ImageBestFit intbestFitY The method to use when scaling the image vertically. If either this property or bestFitX is set to BESTFIT_NONE, best fit mode is not used. Value is one of fFormatting.ImageBestFit booleanuseBaseline If true, the image will sit on the baseline, otherwise it will be centred on the baseline. This property is ignored if inline is false. booleanforceMinDPI If true, any image with lower than 10 DPI will be adjusted to 96 DPI. floatopacity The percentage opacity to draw this image on supported output drivers. fPDFLayerpdfLayer The PDF layer to place the U3D object on.
Returns	void. None.

addMedia method

Insert a media file at the current formatting position, using a specified flash player. This is only supported when outputting to PDF, and will result in an empty box when using any other output driver. Instead of providing a single list of parameters, it is possible to call this method with an anonymous object containing properties using the names listed in the parameters.

addMediaimageplacescaleXscaleXSizescaleYscaleYSizebestFitXbestFitYuseBaselinepdfNameflashVarsflashPlayerposteractivationanimationCountanimationSpeedanimationStyle
Parameters	fTagimage The media file to use. This must be an fRaster object. intplace Where to place the player. Value is one of fFormatting.ImagePlaces. intscaleX The method to use when scaling the player horizontally. Value is one of fFormatting.ImageScale fLengthscaleXSize The size to use when scaleX is set to SCALE_ABSOLUTE, SCALE_DOT, SCALE_SHRINK or SCALE_ENLARGE, or the percentage to use when set to SCALE_PERCENT. intscaleY The method to use when scaling the player vertically. Value is one of fFormatting.ImageScale fLengthscaleYSize The size to use when scaleY is set to SCALE_ABSOLUTE, SCALE_DOT, SCALE_SHRINK or SCALE_ENLARGE, or the percentage to use when set to SCALE_PERCENT. intbestFitX The method to use when scaling the player horizontally. If either this property or bestFitY is set to BESTFIT_NONE, best fit mode is not used. Value is one of fFormatting.ImageBestFit intbestFitY The method to use when scaling the player vertically. If either this property or bestFitX is set to BESTFIT_NONE, best fit mode is not used. Value is one of fFormatting.ImageBestFit booleanuseBaseline If true, the player will sit on the baseline, otherwise it will be centred on the baseline. This property is ignored if inline is false. StringpdfName The name for this object when outputting it to PDF. StringflashVars The configuration string to use with the flash player when adding it to the PDF. StringflashPlayer The name of the flash player to use to play the media in the PDF. This parameter will be ignored if the fRaster object is a Flash media type. fRasterposter The image to display when the media object is not active in the PDF. intactivation When to activate or deactivate the media object in the PDF. Possible values are in fFormatting-PDFActivationFlags. intanimationCount The number of times to play the animation if supported by the media, or a negative value to play the animation indefinitely. floatanimationSpeed The speed multiplier for the animation if supported by the media. A value greater than 1 will speed the animation up, a value less than 1 will slow it down. intanimationStyle The animation playback style to use if supported by the media. Possible values are in fFormatting-PDFAnimationStyles.
Returns	void. None.

addPDFFormItem method

This method will place a PDF Form item at the current formatting position. This is only supported when outputting to PDF, and will result in an empty box when using any other output driver. Instead of providing a single list of parameters, it is possible to call this method with an anonymous object containing properties using the names listed in the parameters.

addPDFFormItempdfFormItemplacewidthheightuseBaselinepdfNamepdfLayer
Parameters	fPDFFormItempdfFormItem The PDF Form item to place. intplace Where to place the PDF Form item. Value is one of fFormatting.ImagePlaces. fLengthwidth The width of the PDF Form item. fLengthheight The height of the PDF Form item. booleanuseBaseline If true, the PDF Form item will sit on the baseline, otherwise it will be centred on the baseline. This property is ignored if inline is false. StringpdfName The name for this object when outputting it to PDF. This parameter will override the fPDFFormItem-pdfName property, if specified. fPDFLayerpdfLayer The PDF layer to place the PDF Form item on. This parameter will override the fPDFFormItem-pdfLayer property, if specified.
Returns	void. None.

addReference method

This method supports the reference objects used to replace the respective quote PIs, e.g. fBookmarkReference, fFootnoteReference, fIndexReference, fRunningHeaderReference.

addReferencereference
Parameters	Objectreference The reference object to process.
Returns	void. None.

addU3D method

Insert a U3D image at the current formatting position. Instead of providing a single list of parameters, it is possible to call this method with an anonymous object containing properties using the names listed in the parameters.

addU3DimageplacescaleXscaleXSizescaleYscaleYSizebestFitXbestFitYuseBaselineviewNamepdfNameanimationCountanimationSpeedanimationStylescript
Parameters	fTagimage The U3D image to use. This must be an fRaster object. intplace Where to place the image. Value is one of fFormatting.ImagePlaces. intscaleX The method to use when scaling the image horizontally. Value is one of fFormatting.ImageScale fLengthscaleXSize The size to use when scaleX is set to SCALE_ABSOLUTE, SCALE_DOT, SCALE_SHRINK or SCALE_ENLARGE, or the percentage to use when set to SCALE_PERCENT. intscaleY The method to use when scaling the image vertically. Value is one of fFormatting.ImageScale fLengthscaleYSize The size to use when scaleY is set to SCALE_ABSOLUTE, SCALE_DOT, SCALE_SHRINK or SCALE_ENLARGE, or the percentage to use when set to SCALE_PERCENT. intbestFitX The method to use when scaling the image horizontally. If either this property or bestFitY is set to BESTFIT_NONE, best fit mode is not used. Value is one of fFormatting.ImageBestFit intbestFitY The method to use when scaling the image vertically. If either this property or bestFitX is set to BESTFIT_NONE, best fit mode is not used. Value is one of fFormatting.ImageBestFit booleanuseBaseline If true, the image will sit on the baseline, otherwise it will be centred on the baseline. This property is ignored if inline is false. StringviewName The name of the view to display for the U3D image. StringpdfName The name for this object when outputting it to PDF. intanimationCount The number of times to play the animation if defined in the U3D, or a negative value to play the animation indefinitely. intanimationSpeed The speed multiplier for the animation if defined in the U3D. A value greater than 1 will speed the animation up, a value less than 1 will slow it down. intanimationStyle The animation playback style to use if if defined in the U3D. Possible values are in fFormatting-PDFAnimationStyles. fPDFActionscript A PDF action containing JavaScript to run when the 3D object is instantiated in the PDF.
Returns	void. None.

blockColumnFooter method

PI: blockfootc

Used to indicate the beginning and end of the block column footers, which cause text to be repeated at the bottom of each individual column/cell when they overflow.

The footer line(s) will potentially be reinserted whenever the block overflows a region, but N.B. this will NOT cause the commands at the very start of the footer to be re-processed; just the text. When the column overflows after inserting a footer, it does so after having processed the pre-amble for the next paragraph, and remembers the properties for the paragraph. This means that any showstrings and getvars will have been processed at the end of the previous column and the results will be remembered instead of being reprocessed at the top of the new column.

You can change footers mid-way through the block. When used in conjunction with levels, you will override the specified level and all subsequent levels will be cleared.

blockColumnFooternumlevelflags
Parameters	intnum If num is non-zero then this marks the start of the footer, and when zero it indicates that the footer will stop at the end of the current paragraph. (Footers must be a complete number of paragraphs). If num is 2, then it marks the start of the footer in the normal way, but the footer para(s) will be skipped when first encountered in the text. intlevel You can have multiple levels of column footers, by using several calls to blockColumnFooter and specifying a level for each, from 1 to 5. This lets you have up to 5 footers running concurrently. When the block overflows a region, all of the relevant column footers will be inserted in order, from 1 to 5. Stringflags The flags consist of a series of letters that let you control when the column footer is included. They come in two halves as follows: f,l,m You can specify which columns include the footer by using flags and distinguishing between first column, last column and middle columns by including a combination of the letters f, l and m. If you don't specify f, l or m, 3B2 will default to including the footer on all columns. o,h,c,r,t You can also specify whether to include the footer by using flags to distinguish between the different reasons for the cell ending. Again, if you don't specify any of o, h, c, r or t, 3B2 will default to including the footer whatever the reason for the cell ending. The individual flags work as follows: o Footer will appear if the cell overflowed. h Footer will appear if a hard column or page break is used. c Footer will appear if cell break used. r Footer will appear if row break used. t Footer will appear at end of block.
Returns	void. This method has no return value.

blockColumnHeader method

PI: blockheadc

Used to indicate the beginning and end of the block column headers, which cause text to be repeated at the top of each individual column/cell.

The header line(s) will potentially be re-inserted whenever the block starts a region, but N.B. this will NOT cause the commands at the very start of the header to be re-processed; just the text.

You can change headers mid-way through the block. When used in conjunction with levels, you will override the specified level and all subsequent levels will be cleared. Thus you could have a main header on level 1, and sub-headers on level 2 that change for each section of the block. If a change of header occurs, whilst inserting existing headers, then the new header(s) will be used and the old ones ignored.

blockColumnHeadernumlevelflags
Parameters	intnum If num is non-zero then this marks the start of the header, and when zero it indicates that the header will stop at the end of the current paragraph. (Headers must be a complete number of paragraphs). If num is 2, then it marks the start of the header in the normal way, but the header para(s) will be skipped when first encountered in the text. intlevel You can have multiple levels of column headers, by using several calls to blockColumnHeader and specifying a level for each, from 1 to 5. This lets you have up to 5 headers running concurrently. When the block starts a new region, all of the relevant column headers will be inserted in order, from 1 to 5. Stringflags You can specify which columns include the header by using flags and distinguishing between first column, last column and middle columns by including a combination of the letters f, l and m.
Returns	void. This method has no return value.

blockEnd method

PI: blockend

End a block previously started with blockStart.

blockEndtopbreakname
Parameters	inttopbreak If topbreak is set to 1 and the blockEnd call occurs at the start of a line, then it no longer behaves like a carriage return and doesn't create a newline, whilst still ending the block. Specifying topbreak = 2 goes one stage further, and if the whole block is empty means that it will be ignored, it will take up no space, and margin merging will take place between the blocks on either side. Specifying topbreak = 3 will preserve a block if it only contains ignorable whitespace, otherwise it is treated the same as topbreak = 2. Stringname If a name is provided here, it will be checked against the 'name' property of the block. If the names mismatch the block will still be ended but a warning message will be generated. These messages can be viewed by using the tformat? command and turning on the relevant messages.
Returns	void. This method does not return a value.

blockStart method

PI: blockstart and blockbody

This method marks the beginning of a new block. If the optional block parameter is specified, the new block's properties are set up from the attributes that are defined on that object. If no block object is specified or certain attributes are undefined, the new block uses default values for these attributes.

blockStartblockpreamblename
Parameters	fBlockblock An optional parameter that specifies the new block's properties. Stringpreamble This optional parameter allows inserting a string of processing instructions literally into the preamble of the new block. Stringname This optional parameter allows giving a name to a block. See block 'name' property for more details. This method of giving a name to a block will override the 'name' property, if given previously.
Returns	void. This method does not return a value.

bookmarkLinkEnd method

PI: tbklnk

Marks the end of the current bookmark link.

bookmarkLinkEnd
Parameters	None
Returns	void. None.

bookmarkLinkStart method

PI: tbklnk

PI: tbklnkcol (since APP 11.0 F000)

Marks the start of the link for the specified bookmark.

bookmarkLinkStartlinkNamelinkColor
Parameters	StringlinkName The name of the bookmark to use in the link. If a fBookmark object with that name doesn't already exist, one will be created. fColorlinkColor Sets the colour of highlight for the hot area of a link in PDFs. If not specified, the link colour specified in the current fStyle will be used. IF "none", the link colour specified in the PDF Printer options will be used.
Returns	void. None.

breakBottom method

PI: breakb

Breaks the current paragraph at the bottom.

breakBottomtypeimmediate
Parameters	inttype The type of break to issue. Value is one of fFormatting.breakType. Multiple breaks can be issued at the same time by adding these values together. intimmediate Indicates if the break should occur immediately without waiting for the line or paragraph to end.
Returns	void. None.

breakTop method

PI: breakt

Breaks the current paragraph at the top. For this instruction to be effective, it must be specified before the first printable character.

breakToptypeimmediate
Parameters	inttype The type of break to issue. Value is one of fFormatting.breakType. Multiple breaks can be issued at the same time by adding these values together. intimmediate Indicates if the break should occur immediately without waiting for the line or paragraph to end. If this value is set to 2, the break will be deferred until the next printable character.
Returns	void. None.

buildIndex method

PI: buildindex

If formatting with an index control stream, build the specified index now.

buildIndexnamedelay
Parameters	Stringname The name of the desired attribute booleandelay If true and the specified index is of type fIndexItem.ON_COMMAND, delay building the index until the end of the format.
Returns	void. None.

calculateExpression method

PI: calcf

Evaluate the specified expression, including lengths and custom PTC ALD functions.

calculateExpressionexpressionpercent
Parameters	Stringexpression The expression to be evaluated. floatpercent If the expression contains any percentages, this value will determine what 100% equates to.
Returns	String. The results of the expression. If the expression evaluated to a number, it will need to be converted manually.

changeLineNumber method

PI: lineno

When placed on a line, the fFormatting.changeLineNumber method will artificially alter PTC ALDs internal line count for that line. If no parameters are specified, the method will assume the type of ALL_LINES and the value -1 (not absolute).

changeLineNumbertypevalueabsolute
Parameters	inttype The line reference to modify. See fFormatting.LineReference. intvalue the amount to alter the line number by. booleanabsolute if true, the value will be used as is, otherwise it will be addedd to the current line number.
Returns	void. None.

contextAdd method

PI: contextup

Adds the specified fContext control object to the current list of contexts used during formatting.

contextAddcontextsgrouplimit
Parameters	fContextscontexts The set of contexts to add to the current list. intgroup The number of the group to add the contexts to. This value should be between 0 and 4. The default value is 0. intlimit If set, any other contexts added prior to this instruction will not be searched. This value defaults to 0. This value should be one of fFormatting-ContextLimits.
Returns	void. None.

contextRemove method

PI: contextdown

Removes the most recently added set of contexts from the specified group.

contextRemovegroupremoveAll
Parameters	intgroup The number of the group to remove the contexts from. This value should be between 0 and 4. The default value is 0. booleanremoveAll If true, all contexts added using contextAdd() will be removed. This value defaults to false.
Returns	void. None.

evaluateRunningHeader method

PI: show

Obtain the value of the specified running header reference at the current formatting position and return the result.

evaluateRunningHeadernamegroupstreamNamewhichReferenceblankReferencewhichFirstnumCharacters
Parameters	Stringname The name of the running header reference, or blank for no name. intgroup The running header group from which to obtain the reference. This is the group value from fRunningHeaderReference.RunningHeaderReferenceGroups. If more than one group is specified, the reference determined by whichReference is returned. StringstreamName The name of the stream containing the running header, or blank for the first stream on the page. intwhichReference Which reference to obtain the header text from. Value is one of fRunningHeaderReference.RunningHeaderText. intblankReference How to handle blank running header references. Value is one of fRunningHeaderReference.RunningHeaderBlank. intwhichFirst Which line should contain the first reference on the page. Value is one of fRunningHeaderReference.RunningHeaderFirstOnPageRef. intnumCharacters The maximum number of characters to output.
Returns	String. The result of the specified running header.

evaluateShowString method

PI: show

Evaluate the given show string at the current formatting position and return the result.

evaluateShowStringexpression
Parameters	Stringexpression The show string to evaluate.
Returns	String. The result of evaluating the given show string.

evaluateUnstableXPath method

Evaluate the provided XPath expression at the current formatting position and return the result.

evaluateUnstableXPathexpression
Parameters	Stringexpression The expression to evaluate.
Returns	String. The results of the expression.

evaluateXPath method

Evaluate the provided XPath expression at the current formatting position and return the result.

evaluateXPathexpression
Parameters	Stringexpression The expression to evaluate.
Returns	String. The results of the expression.

fishGet method

ShowString: fish

Gets the current value of the named property from the specified fish[] bucket with the given number.

fishGetbucketnamelevel
Parameters	intbucket The number of fish bucket to look in. Stringname The name of the property to get. intlevel The number of levels to look back through, i.e. 0 will only return a value if the property was set on this level, 1 will return a value if it was set either on this level or it's parent, etc. -1 will check all levels.
Returns	String. The value of the named fish property, if set.

fishRestore method

Restore the values of a fish[] bucket previously stored by fishUp.

fishRestorebucket
Parameters	intbucket The number of fish bucket to restore, or 0 if omitted.
Returns	void. This method does not return a value.

fishSave method

PI: fishup

Save the current state of the values stored in the fish[] bucket with the given number. This state can be restored by a subsequent call to fishDown with the same argument.

fishSavebucket
Parameters	intbucket The number of fish bucket to save, or 0 if omitted.
Returns	void. This method does not return a value.

formatSequence method

PI: format_seq

Formats a number according to the specified sequence.

formatSequencenumberpatterngroupSeparatorgroupSize
Parameters	intnumber The number to format. Stringpattern The pattern to use, for example "1" for digits, "a" for letters, or "i" for Roman Numerals. The possible patterns are identical to those provided with the XSLT element xsl:number. This value can also be a complex number format, such as those included in fNumberFormat-NumberFormats. StringgroupSeparator A single character to be used to separate groups of digits. intgroupSize The number of digits in each group, indicating where the separator should be inserted.
Returns	String. The formatted number.

formatStream method

Format the given stream at the current formatting location.

formatStreamstreampositionattributes
Parameters	fStreamstream The stream to be formatted. Stringposition Optionally specify the positions to format in the given stream. Objectattributes Optionally pass named attributes to the called stream. The properties on the given object are treated equivalently to XML attributes specified when calling a stream. They can be accessed using attribute loops from traditional streams or via arguments[0].attributes from .Jf streams.
Returns	void. This method does not return a value.

formatText method

Funcvar ^[format_text]

This method will format the text in the specified stream and return the text that was generated during the format.

formatTextstreammodewidth
Parameters	fStreamstream The stream containing the text to format. intmode The mode value to use while formatting the content. This value will be available using the fFormatting.formatTextMode property. fLengthwidth The width to use when measuring the text. If not provided, it will use 100mm.
Returns	String. The text generated by formatting the input stream.

formatUnstableStream method

Format the given stream at the current formatting location.

formatUnstableStreamstreampositionattributes
Parameters	fStreamstream The stream to be formatted. Stringposition Optionally specify the positions to format in the given stream. Objectattributes Optionally pass named attributes to the called stream. The properties on the given object are treated equivalently to XML attributes specified when calling a stream. They can be accessed using attribute loops from traditional streams or via arguments[0].attributes from .Jf streams.
Returns	void. This method does not return a value.

getAttribute method

PI: showifdef

Get the value of the attribute based on the current stream (or ancestor, when formatting).

getAttributenameinherited
Parameters	Stringname The name of the desired attribute intinherited [optional] If true, check ancestors in the formatting hierarchy for the attribute. Value is one of fFormatting.InheritModes.
Returns	String. The value of the attribute if found, or empty string if not.

getCurrentIndent method

Returns an fIndent object that represents the current position on the line. When this object is used with indentLeft and indentRight of fParagraph, the indentation will be set to the horizontal position at the point of its creation. Consequently, to set a left indent to the current horizontal position, use formatting.currentParagraph.indentLeft[0] = formatting.getCurrentIndent();

getCurrentIndent
Parameters	None
Returns	fIndent. An fIndent object that represents the current horizontal position on the line.

ignoreSpaces method

PI: signssp

PI: signmsp

PI: signsp

Determines whether spaces are ignored, overriding the default setting on the stream currently being formatted.

ignoreSpacesignoreSpaces
Parameters	intignoreSpaces The flag indicating which spaces should be ignored. Value is one of fFormatting.IgnoreSpaceFlags.
Returns	void. None.

insertLeader method

Inserts leaders between the current formatting position and the right text margin.

insertLeaderleader
Parameters	fLeaderleader The object containing the leader parameters to insert.
Returns	void. None.

keepEnd method

PI: ek

PI: ekw

This method can be used to bracket a section of text that must stay together in one segment. The keepStart method must be called at the start of the text to be kept and the keepEnd method must be called at the end.

keepEndshowStringwordKeep
Parameters	StringshowString This method can each take an optional show string. If the text cannot be kept together in a segment then the given show string is processed, otherwise it is ignored. There is no default keepEnd show string. booleanwordKeep If true, the keep will end at the end of the word, otherwise it will apply from when this command is issued.
Returns	void. This method does not return a value.

keepStart method

PI: bk

PI: bkw

keepStartshowStringwordKeep
Parameters	StringshowString This method can each take an optional show string. If the text cannot be kept together in a segment then the given show string is processed, otherwise it is ignored. The keepStart show string defaults to $262# (soft return ISOnumber) which generates a soft return. booleanwordKeep If true, the keep will start from the beginning of the word, otherwise it will apply from when this command is issued.
Returns	void. This method does not return a value.

lineKeepEnd method

PI: elk

This method will keep a block of text together over pages. When the lineKeepStart method is invoked, all following lines will remain together as a block, until the line keep is revoked. The key difference between a line keep and other keep facilities is that it works indiscriminately across paragraph boundaries. It can be invoked and revoked anywhere on any line of any paragraph. The lines from (and including) the start to the end line will remain together as an unbroken block.

Using the lineKeepEnd method is a good way to keep the paragraph that precedes a table with the actual table.

lineKeepEndlevel
Parameters	intlevel Line keeps can also be nested. When no line keep is active, the current level is 0. When line keep is first invoked with lineKeepStart, the level for the current line increases to 1. Each subsequent lineKeepStart without any intervening lineKeepEnd will increase the nest level by 1 more. Each lineKeepEnd will decrease the level by 1. When it reaches 0, Line Keep becomes inactive for the current line. lineKeepEnd does not allow the Line Keep level to go below 0. Sometimes, it may be necessary to start a new nesting structure, ending any previous Line Keeps, or to completely end all active line keeps, without regard to the current level. Both of these are achieved by passing a level number to the methods: lineKeepStart(1); lineKeepEnd(0) Any level number can be used, but the lineKeepStart number must be at least 1 or the method call is ignored. If all line keeps are started and ended with level values of 1 and 0 as shown above then this effectively gives inner keep blocks priority over any outer block. However, do note that lines at the beginning of the outer block, before the first inner block starts, will still be kept with the first inner keep as the level number for these lines was greater than 0.
Returns	void. This method does not return a value.

lineKeepStart method

PI: blk

lineKeepStartlevel
Parameters	intlevel Line keeps can also be nested. When no line keep is active, the current level is 0. When line keep is first invoked with lineKeepStart, the level for the current line increases to 1. Each subsequent lineKeepStart without any intervening lineKeepEnd will increase the nest level by 1 more. Each lineKeepEnd will decrease the level by 1. When it reaches 0, Line Keep becomes inactive for the current line. lineKeepEnd does not allow the Line Keep level to go below 0. Sometimes, it may be necessary to start a new nesting structure, ending any previous Line Keeps, or to completely end all active line keeps, without regard to the current level. Both of these are achieved by passing a level number to the methods: lineKeepStart(1); lineKeepEnd(0) Any level number can be used, but the lineKeepStart number must be at least 1 or the method call is ignored. If all line keeps are started and ended with level values of 1 and 0 as shown above then this effectively gives inner keep blocks priority over any outer block. However, do note that lines at the beginning of the outer block, before the first inner block starts, will still be kept with the first inner keep as the level number for these lines was greater than 0.
Returns	void. This method does not return a value.

lineNumberReset method

This method will reset the current line number count to the specified value, if line numbering is enabled for this current frame.

lineNumberResetlineNumberparaNumber
Parameters	intlineNumber The value to set the line number count to, or 0 to not change. intparaNumber The value to set the paragraph number count to, or 0 to not change.
Returns	void. None.

mapReturns method

PI: smapret

PI: smaprety

Maps all return characters to spaces, overriding the default setting on the stream currently being formatted.

mapReturnsmapReturns
Parameters	intmapReturns The flag indicating which character to map returns to. Value is one of fFormatting.MapReturnFlags.
Returns	void. None.

mapTabs method

PI: smaptab

Maps all tab characters to spaces, overriding the default setting on the stream currently being formatted.

mapTabsmapTabs
Parameters	booleanmapTabs If true, any tab characters will be mapped to spaces. Otherwise, they will be left as tabs.
Returns	void. None.

measureContent method

Funcvar ^[copyheight]

This method will format the text in the specified stream and return the height of the content.

measureContentstreamwidth
Parameters	fStreamstream The stream containing the text to format. fLengthwidth The width to use when measuring the text. If not provided, it will use 100mm.
Returns	fLength. The height of the content.

output method

Process text at the current formatting position. The text is parsed normally by PTC ALD, that is, showstrings, PIs, etc. are resolved and their results are inserted at the current formatting position.

Processing instructions issued using this call are running in a child stream as if issued from a <?show> instruction. This means that if PIs such as yanks are referencing their ancestor streams using negative numbers, the direct ancestor (at -1) will be the JavaScript stream that called output and further ancestors will be at indices -2 and lower.

outputstring
Parameters	Stringstring The string to be processed at the current formatting position.
Returns	String. The string that was inserted at the formatting position.

pageLabelStore method

This method will store a page label at the current formatting position.

pageLabelStorelabel
Parameters	Stringlabel The text to store in the page label.
Returns	void. None.

pageSequenceBreak method

PI: pseqbreak

Breaks the page, possibly inserting a blank page to ensure the page sequence continues on the correct odd or even page. If no content has been output on the current page, a break will only be inserted if required to meet the condition.

pageSequenceBreakoddevenid
Parameters	intoddeven The side the next page should be on. Possible values are in fDocumentSequenceItem-StartForce. intid The new document sequence id number to use for the current page sequence. If this value is not provided or set to -1, the current id number will be used.
Returns	void. None.

pageSequenceEnd method

PI: pseqend, pseqdown

Ends the current active page sequence.

pageSequenceEnddownLevel
Parameters	booleandownLevel If true, move back to the previous level in the stack of active page sequences. Otherwise, switch to the next available sequence.
Returns	void. None.

pageSequenceStart method

PI: pseqstart, psequp

Starts the specified page sequence.

pageSequenceStartsequenceupLevel
Parameters	fDocumentSequenceItemsequence The page sequence to start with all associated parameters. booleanupLevel If true, start this page sequence as a child of the current active page sequences, creating a new level in the stack of sequences. Otherwise, end the current sequence and start this one in its place.
Returns	void. None.

paragraphStart method

This method causes the current paragraph to break. It is possible to specify default values for the paragraph and style properties for the new paragraph, which will subsequently be available through the property defaultParagraph.

paragraphStartparagraphstyle
Parameters	fParagraphparagraph If specified, specifies the default values for the paragraph properties of the new paragraph. fStylestyle If specified, specifies the default values for the style of the new paragraph.
Returns	void. This method does not return a value.

pdfNote method

This method will output a PDF Sticky Note at the current formatting position.

pdfNotecommentopenauthorsubjectcoloriconpdfNamepdfLayer
Parameters	Stringcomment The text to put in the sticky note. booleanopen If true, the comment will initially be open when the PDF is opened. Stringauthor The author of the comment. Stringsubject The subject of the comment. fColorcolor The color to use for the sticky note. If this parameter is null, the sticky note will default to yellow. inticon The icon to use when displaying the note in the PDF. The value is one of fPDFNote.Icons, and defaults to fPDFNote.ICON_NOTE. StringpdfName The name to use for the note in the PDF. fPDFLayerpdfLayer The PDF layer to place the PDF note on.
Returns	void. None.

pdfTagActivate method

This method will store the current PDF Tag element and activate a labeled PDF Tag element. Subsequent PDF Tags will be inserted as children of the labeled PDF Tag element. If no parameters are specified, the previously stored PDF Tag element is activated.

pdfTagActivatelabel
Parameters	Stringlabel An optional parameter for the label of the PDF Tag that should be activated.
Returns	void. None.

pdfTagEnd method

PI: pdftagend

This method will end the current PDF Tag element.

pdfTagEndname
Parameters	Stringname An optional parameter for the name of the PDF Tag that should be closed. If a name is provided and the name doesn't match the current open PDF Tag, then an error is raised.
Returns	void. None.

pdfTagStart method

PI: pdftagstart

This method instantiates a PDF Tag element which will be used to generate the PDF Tag Structure when printed to PDF. Calls to pdfTagStart must be paired with calls to pdfTagEnd within the same stream to generate the desired structure.

pdfTagStarttag
Parameters	fPDFTagItemtag The PDF Tag to start, use fPDFTagArtifact objects for tags with the Artifact Role, and fPDFTagElement for all other roles.
Returns	void. None.

printPassthrough method

Sends extra data during printing, if the current printer supports it.

printPassthroughprintermodestream
Parameters	Stringprinter The name of the printer to send data to. intmode The passthrough mode. These values are different depending on the type of printer. For the JS driver, mode 0 will copy the contents of the stream to the output, and mode 1 will run the stream if it is a JavaScript function. For the RAW drivers, mode 0 will copy the contents of the stream to the output. fStreamstream The stream containing the data to send to the printer.
Returns	void. None.

raiseError method

The method will raise an error in the format log (if enabled) at the specified level.

raiseErrorseveritymessage
Parameters	intseverity The level of the error to raise. See fFormatting.ErrorSeverity. Stringmessage The message text to be written to the log.
Returns	void. None.

recordEnd method

PI: re

Ends the current line.

recordEndtypealignconditional
Parameters	inttype The type of break to issue when ending the line. Value is one of fFormatting.RecordEndType. intalign Specifies how to align the line containing the break. Value is one of fFormatting.RecordEndAlign. intconditional Specifies when to issue the break. Value is one of fFormatting.RecordEndCondition.
Returns	void. None.

styleChange method

Activate the style properties that are defined on the given style object. The modified style comes into effect immediately.

styleChangestyle
Parameters	fStylestyle The style object to process.
Returns	void. This method does not return a value.

styleRestore method

Used mainly but not exclusively within references and paragraph styles as a way to delimit the point at which attributes preceded by a call to styleSave are to be turned off.

Pairing calls to styleSave and styleRestore is particularly useful when setting up font references. All of these attributes would be turned off with a simple styleRestore method call, avoiding the need to reset each attribute.

styleRestore
Parameters	None
Returns	void. This method does not return a value.

styleSave method

PI: up

Used mainly but not exclusively within references and paragraph styles as a way of delimiting a set of text attribute changes which are being turned on; a subsequent call to styleRestore will delimit the point at which these attributes are to be turned off.

styleSave
Parameters	None
Returns	void. This method does not return a value.

subscriptEnd method

PI: sb, sx

End one or all levels of superscripts or subscripts.

subscriptEndkeepHorizontalendAll
Parameters	booleankeepHorizontal If false or omitted, end the current subscript level and return to the horizontal position where the subscript started. If true, remain at the horizontal position where the subscript ended. booleanendAll If false or omitted, one subscript level is ended. If true, all subscript and superscript levels are ended. If true, the parameter keepHorizontal is ignored.
Returns	void. This method does not return a value.

subscriptStart method

PI: sub

Increase the subscript level by one.

subscriptStart
Parameters	None
Returns	void. This method does not return a value.

superscriptEnd method

PI: sb, sx

End one or all levels of superscripts or subscripts.

superscriptEndkeepHorizontalendAll
Parameters	booleankeepHorizontal If false or omitted, end the current subscript level and return to the horizontal position where the subscript started. If true, remain at the horizontal position where the superscript ended. booleanendAll If false or omitted, one superscript level is ended. If true, all subscript and superscript levels are ended. If true, the parameter keepHorizontal is ignored.
Returns	void. This method does not return a value.

superscriptStart method

PI: sub

Increase the superscript level by one.

superscriptStart
Parameters	None
Returns	void. This method does not return a value.

tableCellStart method

PI: tbcstrt

Will start a new cell within the table, breaking the current line if necessary. This command is ignored if you are following either

• The start of the table.

• A tableRowStart

• A paragraph break to start of a row or cell.

• A column break or page break.

It is designed to be used at the start of every cell, and if consecutive tableCellStart's occur then will break multiple cells.

When using boxheads, you can now specify optional column numbers for the start and end column for the cell. This enables columns to be specified in a non-sequential order and also contain more than one cell which gives rise to the stacking.

tableCellStartcellstartColumnendColumnfillCells
Parameters	fTableCellcell Specifies properties of the new cell. StringstartColumn The first column used by the cell. The parameters startColumn and endColumn can either both be integers specifying the desired columns by index or strings giving the column's names (see fTableColumn::name . StringendColumn The last column used by the cell. The parameters startColumn and endColumn can either both be integers specifying the desired columns by index or strings giving the column's names (see fTableColumn::name . intfillCells If the start column is not the next column, should the intervening cells be filled with an empty cell.
Returns	void. This method does not return a value.

tableColumnFooter method

PI: tbfootc

Only works when currentTable.overflow = 3 and the table is working in slim/flow mode. Used to indicate the beginning and end of the table column footers, which cause text to be repeated at the bottom of each individual column/cell when they overflow.

Unlike tableRowFooter(), these footers are not a table row, or even a table cell, they appear within a cell and are line based. The footer line(s) will potentially be reinserted whenever the table overflows a cell, but N.B. this will NOT cause the commands at the very start of the footer to be re-processed; just the text. When the column overflows after inserting a footer, it does so after having processed the pre-amble for the next paragraph, and remembers the properties for the paragraph. This means that any showstrings and getvars will have been processed at the end of the previous column and the results will be remembered instead of being reprocessed at the top of the new column.

You can change footers mid-way through the table. When used in conjunction with levels, you will override the specified level and all subsequent levels will be cleared.

tableColumnFooternumlevelflags
Parameters	intnum If num is non-zero then this marks the start of the footer, and when zero it indicates that the footer will stop at the end of the current paragraph. (Footers must be a complete number of paragraphs). If num is 2, then it marks the start of the footer in the normal way, but the footer para(s) will be skipped when first encountered in the text. intlevel You can have multiple levels of column footers, by using several calls to tableColumnFooter and specifying a level for each, from 1 to 5. This lets you have up to 5 footers running concurrently. When the table overflows a cell, all of the relevant column footers will be inserted in order, from 1 to 5. Stringflags The flags consist of a series of letters that let you control when the column footer is included. They come in two halves as follows: f,l,m You can specify which columns include the footer by using flags and distinguishing between first column, last column and middle columns by including a combination of the letters f, l and m. If you don't specify f, l or m, 3B2 will default to including the footer on all columns. o,h,c,r,t You can also specify whether to include the footer by using flags to distinguish between the different reasons for the cell ending. Again, if you don't specify any of o, h, c, r or t, 3B2 will default to including the footer whatever the reason for the cell ending. The individual flags work as follows: o Footer will appear if the cell overflowed. h Footer will appear if a hard column or page break is used. c Footer will appear if cell break used. r Footer will appear if row break used. t Footer will appear at end of table.
Returns	void. This method has no return value.

tableColumnHeader method

PI: tbheadc

Only works when currentTable.overflow = 3 and the table is working in slim/flow mode. Used to indicate the beginning and end of the table column headers, which cause text to be repeated at the top of each individual column/cell.

Unlike tableRowHeader(), these headers are not a table row, or even a table cell, they appear within a cell and are line based. The header line(s) will potentially be re-inserted whenever the table starts a cell, but N.B. this will NOT cause the commands at the very start of the header to be re-processed; just the text.

You can change headers mid-way through the table. When used in conjunction with levels, you will override the specified level and all subsequent levels will be cleared. Thus you could have a main header on level 1, and sub-headers on level 2 that change for each section of the table. If a change of header occurs, whilst inserting existing headers, then the new header(s) will be used and the old ones ignored.

tableColumnHeadernumlevelflags
Parameters	intnum If num is non-zero then this marks the start of the header, and when zero it indicates that the header will stop at the end of the current paragraph. (Headers must be a complete number of paragraphs). If num is 2, then it marks the start of the header in the normal way, but the header para(s) will be skipped when first encountered in the text. intlevel You can have multiple levels of column headers, by using several calls to tableColumnHeader and specifying a level for each, from 1 to 5. This lets you have up to 5 headers running concurrently. When the table starts a new cell, all of the relevant column headers will be inserted in order, from 1 to 5. Stringflags You can specify which columns include the header by using flags and distinguishing between first column, last column and middle columns by including a combination of the letters f, l and m.
Returns	void. This method has no return value.

tableEnd method

PI: tbend

End the current table

tableEndtopbreakname
Parameters	inttopbreak If topbreak is set to 1 and the tableEnd call occurs at the start of a line, then it no longer behaves line a carriage return and doesn't create a newline, whilst still ending the table. Stringname If a name is provided here, it will be checked against the 'name' property of the table. If the names mismatch the table will still be ended but a warning message will be generated. These messages can be viewed by using the tformat? command and turning on the relevant messages.
Returns	void. This method does not return a value.

tableRowCaption method

PI: tbcaptr

Used to signify the table caption row(s), in a similar fashion to tableRowHeader. A top caption is inserted at the start of the table, outside of the table rules, and a bottom caption is specified after the table. When a table is too wide and breaks into more than 1 set of columns (see <?tbwmode=1,2or3>) the mid captions is used. When the caption row(s) are encountered in the main body of the table, they are automatically skipped and so only occur outside of the table.

tableRowCaptionnum
Parameters	intnum tableRowCaption(1) specifies the start of a top caption, tableRowCaption(2) specifies the start of a bottom caption, tableRowCaption(4) specifies the start of a mid-colset caption and tableRowCaption(0) specifies the end of the caption row(s).
Returns	void. This method does not return a value.

tableRowFooter method

PI: tbfootr

Used to indicate the beginning and end of any table footers.

tableRowFooternum
Parameters	intnum If num is non-zero then this marks the start of the footer, and when zero it indicates that the footer will stop at the end of the current row. (Footers must be complete rows). The footer row(s) will be inserted whenever the table breaks a column/page. If num is 2, then it marks the start of the footer in the normal way, but the footer row(s) will only be inserted when the table breaks, and will be skipped when encountered otherwise.
Returns	void. This method does not return a value.

tableRowHeader method

PI: tbheadr

Used to indicate the beginning and end of the table headers.

You can change headers mid-way through the table. As well as redefining headers mid-way through the table, you can also remove existing headers, without defining new ones. To do this use num=-1, and then either specify a level as normal or specify level=-1 to clear all levels.

tableRowHeadernumlevel
Parameters	intnum If num is non-zero then this marks the start of the header, and when zero it indicates that the header will stop at the end of the current row. (Headers must be complete rows). The header row(s) will be re-inserted whenever the table starts a new column/page. If num is 2, then it marks the start of the header in the normal way, but the header row(s) will only be inserted when the table restarts, and will be skipped when encountered otherwise. intlevel You can have multiple levels of headers, by using several calls to this method and specifying a level for each, from 1 to 5. This lets you have up to 5 headers running concurrently. When the table starts a new column/page, all of the headers will be inserted in order, from 1 to 5. In addition, you can change headers mid-way through the table. When used in conjunction with levels, you will only override the specified level. Thus you could have a main header on level 1, and sub-headers on level 2 that change for each section of the table. If a change of header occurs, whilst inserting headers, then the new header will be used.
Returns	void. This method has no return value.

tableRowStart method

PI: tbrstrt

Will start a new row within the table, breaking the current line if necessary. The only time that this command is ignored, is right at the very start of a table, or just after a column break or page break, so you can happily include a tableRowStart at the beginning of every row.

tableRowStartrow
Parameters	fTableRowrow This row object specifies settings for the new row and defaults of its cells.
Returns	void. This method does not return a value.

tableStart method

PI: tbstrt

Signifies the start of a new table.

tableStarttablepreamblename
Parameters	fTabletable The given table object allows you to set up parameters for the table, the columns and the default cell properties. Stringpreamble This optional parameter allows inserting a string of processing instructions literally into the preamble of the new table. Stringname This optional parameter allows giving a name to a table. See table 'name' property for more details. This method of giving a name to a table will override the 'name' property, if given previously.
Returns	void. This method does not return a value.

texEnd method

Terminates the current TeX formula.

texEnd
Parameters	None
Returns	void. This method does not return a value

texStart method

This method starts a new TeX formula. Depending on the first parameter, the formula is formatted inline or as its own block. An fTeX object may optionally be specified to set the TeX properties.

texStartblocktex
Parameters	booleanblock If false, the new TeX formula is formatted within the current paragraph. If true, it is formatted as its own block. fTeXtex If specified, this objects sets the properties for the new TeX formula.
Returns	void. This method does not return a value

write method

Insert text at the current formatting position. The text is output as-is and no further processing is performed on its contents.

writestring
Parameters	Stringstring The string to be inserted at the current formatting position.
Returns	String. The string that was inserted.