Granny Text Strings
"Granny Strings" are from IDL are supported, so !A will move the pen up, and !N will return to its original level. Over the years support for additional controls has been added, namely some support for HTML, like <br>, and LaTeX is planned.
Color control strings are added which can modify the graphics context. And beyond that, Java/Jython codes can be plugged in which allows any customization.
| Code | Description |
|---|---|
| !A | shift up one half line |
| !B | shift down one half line (e.g. !A3!n-!B4!n is 3/4). |
| !C | newline |
| !D | subscript 0.62 of old font size. |
| !U | superscript of 0.62 of old font size. |
| !E | superscript 0.44 of old font size. |
| !I | subscript 0.44 of old font size. |
| !N | return to the original font size. |
| !R | restore position to last saved position |
| !S | save the current position. |
| !K | reduce the font size. (Not in IDL's set.) |
| !! | the exclamation point (!) |
| !(ext;args) | extension and arguments for the extension, examples follow. |
| !(color;saddleBrown) | switch to color. |
| !(painter;codeId;codeArg1) | Plug-in Java code for painting regions. |
| <br> | newline (see also !c) |
| <b> | bold, </b> returns. |
| <i> | italics, </i> returns. |
A table of example control strings and their rendering follows.
| Label Text | codes used | Rendering |
|---|---|---|
| cm!A2 | !A is shift up |  |
| cm!A2!nSM!BX!n | !n is return, !B is shift down |  |
| Bulk!cFlow | !c is newline |  |
| Bulk<br>Flow | <br> is also newline |  |
| Flow !(color;blue)Positive!(color) !(color;red)Negative!(color) | colors, note no argument returns to default color |
 |
| !(color;SaddleBrown)█!(color) Brown Points | Unicode block used, to show color SVG Colors |
 |
| ΔM Parameter | HTML Entities Table |  |
| ☎ 555-1212 | HTML Entities |  |
| some <b>Bold</b> text | Bold text |  |
Two standard painters are added to all GrannyTextRenderers. The painter;psym or painter;img identify the painter, and the arguments follow.
| Code | Arguments | Description |
|---|---|---|
| !(painter;psym;boxes;size=0.5em) | arg0 is non, triangles, circles, etc size is ems or pts connect is solid,none,or dots lineThick is line thickness. |
Draws a plot symbol at the position |
| !(painter;img;https://autoplot.org/Logo32.png) | arg0 is the image URL arg1 is the size in em or px. |
Draws an image at the position |
An editor provides a GUI method for creating text strings.
These strings are rendered by an object called GrannyTextRenderer, and it allows for custom handlers to be plugged in. For example, you can plug in a code that draws a plot symbol, and then use plot symbols within the strings.
Here is an Autoplot Jython script showing how this is done, see https://github.com/autoplot/dev/blob/master/rfe/sf/625/latexPainter.jy. LaTeXPainter is a GrannyTextRenderer.Painter, which draws content onto the graphics and returns a bounding box showing where the content was drawn. This LaTeXPainter is then created and assigned the painter label "latex", so any time !(painter;latex;...) is found in the string, the painter is called upon to paint the content.
LaTeX rendering is an obvious feature, and is used in both IDL and Python, and has been used in special cases in Autoplot. There is a pure-Java LaTeX rendering engine, so this is quite possible.