TealInfo User's Manual

Introduction

Thank you for trying TealInfo, the powerful information database and reference application for PalmOS.

This archive contains the following files:

Program files: TEALINFO.PRC The TealInfo program file

MKTLINFO.EXE The TealInfo folio creation utility

TPSETUP The TealInfo easy-installer (for Windows)

Document files: INFODOC.PDF This manual in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format

INFODOC.HTM This manual in HTML format (sans images)

INFODOC.PRC This document in TealDoc format

Sample folios: SALESTAX.PDB Sales Tax Calculator folio

TIPS.PDB Tip Calculator and Guide folio

METRICON.PDB Metric converter folio

TODOLIST.PDB Handy, configurable to-do list folio

PHONEBK.PDB Handy, configurable phone book folio

INFOREF.PDB Reference folio for folio development

INFOREF.TXT Source text file for reference folio

Bonus folios:

USPOSTGE.PDB US Postage rates folio

8BALL.PDB Magic fortune-telling folio

BMI.PDB Body-Mass Index calculator folio

ELEMENTS.PDB Periodic table of elements folio

RGBTOY.PDB Color selection tool

PINOUTS.PDB Folio of common computer connector pinouts

Download other folios for free from www.tealpoint.com

Installation

Windows:

Use the TealPoint setup installer by double clicking on the TPSETUP.EXE installer program, and following the on screen prompts.

Other Systems:

Use the Palm Installer (Quick Install) to install the program file TEALINFO.PRC. It will appear on the Palm Computing device after the next HotSync.

This manual is also provided in this archive as the PalmPilot document INFODOC.PRC, which can be viewed with our application TealDoc.

Instructions on how to use the Palm installer are in the Palm Handbook that came with your Pilot, PalmPilot, Visor or WorkPad.

Folios Files:

To use the program, you'll also need to install some folio files, available on the TealPoint website at www.tealpoint.com MemoWare (www.memoware.com).

Included in this archive are a few sample reference folios. Use the Palm Installer to install these files.

See the section 'Included folios' below for more information.

Use TealInfo to open and read interactive documents called “folios”. TealInfo Folios are like mini applications, displaying data in tables, lists, and windows that are linked together with advanced user interface elements such as outlines, images, forms, hyperlinks and popup lists.

Folios can be downloaded from the ever-growing library of available titles (most are free), or created from scratch using a text editor and the command-line utility MkTlInfo. Folios can be easily created with the included tools and a text editor, but build powerful screens that look and feel like custom applications.

Advanced developers can use TealInfo to create their own reference tools, calculators, and mini applications, all with no programming.

Using the Program

TealInfo is easy to use, and consists of two basic interface screens, the Folio List Screen and the Folio Browsing Screen.

The Folio List screen lists the folios installed on the handheld, and allows you to move and manage them.

The Folio Browsing screen, on the other hand, displays an interface defined by the folio that you have opened for viewing.

Chapter 2 – Managing Folios

The Folio List Screen, appears when you first run TealInfo. On it is a list of all the installed folio files in the current category.

Folios

Tap on a listed folio to open or modify it. T o select which action is performed, tap on the corresponding action-selection buttons at the bottom of the screen before clicking on an entry in the list. By doing this, you can open the folio, rename it, change its category/location, or delete it permanently from memory.

Images

You can also perform similar operations with TealPaint-format image files by changing the "Info" pick-list at the bottom right from “Folios” to "Pic". These picture databases are sometimes bundled with folios to be used as source imagery for the folio. If you choose to “open” a picture database, TealPaint will automatically be started if it is installed on your organizer. You'll need to manually load up the correct image database, however.

Menus

The following functions are accessible from the Folio List screen using the system menu button in the silk-screened Graffiti writing area or device status bar:

Backing up files

During HotSync, the Palm Desktop program automatically maintains a backup of files that have their PalmOS “backup bit” set. Files backed up in this way can be restored if you lose power to your handheld.

The Backup All in List menu turns on the backup bits for folios listed in the current category. This forces the folios to be backed up into your backup directory each time you HotSync. Choosing Backup None in List, on the other hand, resets all the bits to zero. After HotSyncing to back your files, you'll probably want to reset the bits, or the Palm HotSync system will scan the file looking for changes every time you HotSync, slowing down your HotSync sessions.

Setting Preferences

The following options can be set under the "Preferences" menu item.

Alphabetize Folio List

By default, the folio list is sorted alphabetically. You can turn off this feature to increase response time if you have many folios installed.

Check Folio Version

By default, TealInfo will automatically check the version numbers of any folios you open, warning you if any were made with a newer version of TealInfo. You can turn off this feature, but note that you may encounter unpredictable results running newer folios with an older copy of TealInfo should the new folios require features not supported in your version.

Hide Folios Starting with ~ (tilde)

In certain applications it may be desirable to create a series of interlinked folios where some of the sub folios are hidden from view and only accessible from other folios. To do this, name the folios starting with a tilde character (~) and set this option in preferences.

Run in Grayscale Mode

When set, this option runs TealInfo in grayscale mode on a monochrome handheld instead of the default black and white mode. When color TealPaint images are displayed in folios with this mode on, they are automatically converted to shades of gray. TealInfo support a four-shade grayscale mode on basic PalmPilot models and a 16-shade grayscale models running OS 3.3 or higher.

Remember Last Category

When set, TealInfo remembers the last category you were viewing and returns to it the next time to run the program. Otherwise, the current category is reset to “All” each time you return.

Remember Last Device

When used with external storage cards, TealInfo returns to the last device visited each time you visit the program. When this option is turned off, TealInfo always starts in RAM.

External Media Devices

TealInfo supports reading folio files directly from external storage cards.

NOTE: Supported devices include the Sony Memory Stick, Palm SD/MMC cards, and both the Compact Flash (CF) and SD/MMC slots on HandEra organizers. In addition, support has been added for Portable Innovation MemPlug Springboard modules and Kopsis Engineering’s add-on VFS library.

When a card is detected, an extra row of icons will appear along the top of the Folio List Screen. On the left are the device icons, used to select the current card or location to list files. The first icon is the memory icon, and is followed by one numbered card icon for every expansion card found. Most devices will support at most one external storage card, and will thus only have one card icon. The HandEra 330 and Tapwave Zodiac handhelds, however, can support two simultaneous data cards; so two card icons can be present if both slots are occupied.

To show the files on an external card, simply tap on the corresponding card icon. External file devices support a hierarchical folder system, which replaces the Palm category system. Thus, the “category” selector in the upper right corner disappears and is replaced with a “folder” button when an external card is selected. The “Beam” button also disappears, as files can only be beamed directly from internal memory.

If sub-folders are present in the current folder, simply tap on them to move “down” into the sub-folder to see its contents. To the right of the device icons is a display showing the current directory on the card, followed by two folder navigation buttons. Use the first parent icon to move up one level to the folder that contains the current folder. Tap on the last root icon to move all the way back up to the topmost folder.

Managing Files

To copy or move files between categories in RAM, or to move them between RAM and an external card or between folders on the same card, tap on the Mov pushbutton and tap on the name of the file to move or copy. Either the RAM File Manager or Card File Manager window will open, depending on your current device.

RAM File Manager

The RAM file manager allows you to change the category of a Folio stored in RAM. If the expansion device supports VFS, then you can also copy or move the file to the external card. When either option is selected, the file is moved to the last card and sub-folder viewed.

NOTES: The MemPlug system software does not support the VFS-standard interface for moving of files between Card and RAM, so the move-to-card options will not be available when directly accessing a MemPlug device.

Also, Sony CLIE handhelds running older versions of PalmOS, moving files is permitted; copying files outside the standard “MSSONY” folder, however, is not. Sub-folders can be made and used within the MSSONY folder however.

Card File Manager

The card file manager window is similar to the RAM File Manager, except that the list of categories is replaced with a list of folders in the current location.

A current (.) entry in the list indicates that you want to copy a file into the listed location. If the current location is not the Root of the card, then additional parent (..) and root (\) folders also appear in the list. These folder entries allow you to select a location in which to copy or move the selected file. To change the current location, double-tap on the folder entry.

On VFS-systems, Move to RAM and Copy to RAM options appear. To move or copy a file, select the target location in the folder list and tap on the move or copy button.

An additional three buttons for creating, deleting, and renaming folders is also present in the card file manager. These three options can also be reached by tapping on the folders button on the Folio List screen. Care should be used when deleting folders, because if non-folio files are present in the folder, they will not be listed in TealInfo and can be accidentally deleted. Some VFS implementations will delete a folder even if it is not empty, while others will simply not delete the folder.

NOTE: Move operations are not supported directly by the MemPlug system software. Also, the Sony CLIE version of VFS does not support copying files outside the MSSONY folder. Lastly, only Palm-format files can be copied or moved to RAM. Text files and other non-palm files cannot be stored in RAM.

Chapter 3 – Browsing Folios

When you open a folio for browsing, you are brought to the folio-browsing screen, whose interface depends on the folio. The one common element is the close button in the upper right corner of most folios, but some may override this button as well. In any case, you can always close a folio and return to the Selection Screen by selecting the Close menu item.

Menus

Details

The Details window allows you to set two parameters for the current folio. The Backup bit determines whether the file is backed up during each HotSync, while the Private item determines whether the file is listed in the folio Section screen when private records are globally hidden in the Palm security settings.

Checkmark All / Checkmark None

Sets or clears, respectively, all entries in presently shown CHECKMARK and CHECKLIST items. Use this to quickly reset or set a commonly used task list, for instance.

Folio Controls

TealInfo folios can have many interface elements already familiar to PalmPilot owners. These include:

Lists

Vertical lists of selectable elements, scrollable with a scroll bar if there are too many selections to fit on one view.

Tables

Tables resemble lists, but display information on a grid. While lists can contain columns that look similar to tables, tables allow the selection of a single rectangle in the grid, while lists always select the entire row.

Windows

Freely wrapping scrolling text windows

Checkboxes

Lists with selectable boxes for each item

Popup Lists

Fields that show the current selection but pop up a selection list when you click on them.

Edit fields

Regions where you can click inside and enter or edit text. Unlike the system equivalent, these may take on more advanced formatting when not being edited.

Outlines

Like lists, but featuring an outline-like tree hierarchy, subsections of which can be collapsed (hidden) or expanded (shown) under user control. To expand or contract an outline item, tap on the control triangle next to the item name.

Popup Windows

Pushbuttons that bring up a window of text when tapped.

Goto Buttons

Buttons that open up another folio, if present, Doc files in TealDoc, Movie files in TealMovie, or open databases in other supporting applications.

Print Buttons

Buttons which output textual data or report to a supported printing through the program TealPrint.

Images

Picture imbedded in a folio or stored from TealPaint image databases

Popup Images

Pictures that display themselves when a button is tapped

Animations

Page-flipped images, providing simple cycling animation.

Cycling Text

Windows with changing text messages for warnings or advertising messages.

Passwords

Ability to ask for passwords when entering a folio for security or registration purposes.

Hyperlinks

Specially marked text that you can tap on to jump to other folios or popup windows, pictures, and lists.

Object Linking

Ability to link the contents or behavior of a window, image, or list to the current selection of one to eight other lists, outlines or checkboxes.

Chapter 4 – Using Included Folio Files

A number of folios are included with TealInfo. These are just a small sample of the folios available. A huge library of additional folios is available for free download online from tealpoint.com.

METRICON

A metric conversion folio. Choose conversion type and units from the popups at the top of the folio to display an appropriate conversion table.

SALESTAX

A simple calculator for sales taxes from 3-11% in ¼ percent increments. Choose your tax rate from the popup and pre-tax subtotal in the list on the left.

TIPS

A simple tip calculator, choose the pre-tax total from the left to calculate an appropriate tip. Also includes a helpful tip guide giving general guidelines for common situations.

USPOSTGE

A US postage calculator which calculates USPS First class, Priority Mail, and Express Mail postage, as well as international letter postage including Canada and Mexico.

BMI

Calculate your Body Mass Index (BMI), an indicator for weight status in adults. This tool supports both Imperial English and Metric units and includes a handy chart to evaluate your results.

ELEMENTS

Data from Periodic Table of Elements, including symbol, atomic number, atomic weight, and valence. Also includes simple popup graphic table.

PINOUTS

Pinout reference tables for PC cards, devices, and connectors. Includes pin designations, connector types, and pin assignments. Updated to include USB, Cat-5 Ethernet, and connector diagrams.

8BALL

Answer any of life's questions (the yes/no ones, anyway) with this magical artifact of 70's era technology.

RGBTOY

Preview the simple RGB colors supported by TealInfo 4.0's new drawing functions. Also demonstrates interactive sliders and drawing in TealInfo.

INFOREF.PDB

This folio provides a useful quick reference for building TealInfo folios. It lists the FIELD and STYLE tags supported by each TealInfo object. Chose an object type from the popup list at the top of the folio. Its corresponding FIELDS and TAGS will appear in the windows below.

TODOLIST.PDB

A handy to-do list folio. Click on the 'Edit' button to insert your own entries. Unchecked items appear on lines preceded by a minus (-), while checked-off items are preceded by plus (+) signs. A line with neither symbol will simply appear as an un-checkable label. To load more than one copy of this folio, rename the original folio on the Folio Selection Screen and use the Palm Install tool to install the TODOLIST.PDB file again.

PHONEBK.PDB

A handy phone book folio. Click on the 'Edit' button to edit the current page of phone number entries. Use a single tab stroke to separate data intended for each nine and the 'return' stroke to separate lines. Change the list of categories using the 'categories' button, entering each category on a separate line.

Chapter 5 – Downloading More Folios

Countless other folios are available for free download from TEALPOINT.COM. A sampling of a few popular titles include:

World Reference

Folio of very useful information about countries and cities around the world. Lists city, longitude, latitude, time zone, and phone prefix.

Area Codes

Look up Area codes by code both forwards and reverse by region. Covers current US area codes and special prefixes.

Horoscope

A complete overview of the 12 zodiac signs in the Zodiac. Get personality profiles, favored elements, ruling planets, chosen stone and lucky colors, all in one handy folio.

Anniversary Gifts

Folio to help keep track of what to get your spouse on a given anniversary. Returns both modern and traditional themes for anniversary gifts given the correct number of years.

Conversion Factors

A large collection of conversion factors for various units.

ASCII Character Sets

This folio shows the following ASCII character sets: DOS, WIN (Windows-32 Ariel), POS (Palm OS font 0)

JavaScript Reference

Reference for JavaScript 1.2 object properties, methods, and events.

Craps Odds

The odds for different bets on a Craps table, and the result of any given roll on each bet.

Ham Radio UHF/VHF Band Plan

A handy folio for Ham Radio hobbyists, listing the allocated VHF and UHF frequencies from 60 Meters to 10.5 Ghz.

Immunization Guide

An immunization guide with information on the 1999 AAP immunization schedule, plus info on each of the vaccines. It now has the year 2000 American Academy of Pediatrics immunization recommendations. For more info, visit the Pediatric Pilot Page at http://www.keepkidshealthy.com/pedipilot.html.

ICD-9 Diagnosis Codes

Demo of the commercial folio STAT ICD-9 Coder. Also available at http://www.statcoder.com/ICD9/icd9.zip.

Lab Values

Common medical lab values for hormones, fluids, etc. It can be used by MD's, EMT's, nurses, or anyone attempting to read their medical chart.

Dirt/Stone Construction Calculator

An invaluable construction calculator that computes the volume of dirt or weight of sand, stone, gravel, crusher run, or rip rap needed to fill a specified area to a required depth. A must for architects, contractors, or other construction professionals. Supports both Imperial and Metric units.

Compressible Flow

Compressible flow tables for both 1-D isentropic flow and 1-D normal shock flow. This folio should be a useful reference for engineers and scientists working in the field of compressible gas dynamics.

F1 GrandPrixInfo

A main folio and sub-folios for TealInfo giving information on teams, circuits, drivers and current championship standings for the current Formula 1 season. The sub-folios contain information on the history of results for Grand Prix races and the drivers' and constructors' championships; driver, team and circuit details.

Airports

Folio listing worldwide airports, their location and abbreviation.

Chapter 6 – Creating New Folios

Like TealDoc files, TealInfo folios are created first as text files that then get converted to a pilot-recognizable format using a conversion program. For TealInfo folios, the MkTlInfo conversion tool is included for this purpose.

Compiling a Folio

On a PC, run MkTlInfo from a DOS box with the following format:

MKTLINFO <input text file> <output .PDB file> <folio title> <image database>

If any of the file names or titles has spaces, they should be enclosed in quotes. The image database (optional) is the name of a TealPaint image database in the current folder to insert into the folio to be used as an embedded source of imagery.

You can also run MkTlInfo without arguments and you’ll be prompted to input the necessary file names.

Additional Resources

TealInfo Dev Kit

If you're planning to make your own folios, we recommend downloading the TealInfo Dev Kit, available on our web site. It contains sample source text files and documentation to help in making folios, as well as a folio decompiler for reverse-converting unprotected folios.

Previewing Folios

When making a folio, you'll no doubt need to quickly preview changes, particularly when positioning on-screen objects. We recommend using POSE, the Palm OS Emulator, or the Palm Simulator, both available at Palm's web site http://www.palm.com. This program simulates a Palm organizer on your computer desktop, allowing you to nearly instantly load new version of a folio for quick previewing.

Source File Format Overview

Defining Objects

MkTlInfo takes plain text files with the following basic format: Objects are defined by a line with the name of the OBJECT, followed by lines containing FIELDS describing the object. Each field is followed by one or more VALUES on the same line, though TEXT fields may have VALUES on subsequent lines as well. VALUES can be numbers, expressions, keywords, or quoted text, depending on the type of FIELD.

(OBJECT1) (ID)
(FIELD1) (VALUE1A) (VALUE1B...)
(FIELD2) (VALUE2A) (VALUE2B...)
...

(OBJECT2) (ID)
(FIELD1) (VALUE1A) (VALUE1B...)
(FIELD2) (VALUE2A) (VALUE2B...)
...

where (OBJECT) is a keyword defining an on-screen interface element such as a list, label, or button, and (FIELD) is the name of an adjustable parameter for that object. Each (FIELD) is followed by one or more values, depending on the particular (FIELD). Refer to the appendix for a full listing of supported objects and how to define them.

Comments

Comment lines are indicated with a pound (#) sign. Any lines beginning with a ‘#’ are ignored by the folio converter.

Example

This example creates a simple form with one scrolling object:

#
# This is a simple scrolling list
#

LIST

X 10
Y 20
W 140
H 130
TEXT "The Man Trap"

"Charlie X"
"Where No Man Has Gone Before"
"The Enemy Within"
"Mudd's Women"
"What are Little Girls Made of?"
"The Naked Time"

STYLE HRULE
FONT 1

Advanced Features

Placing Objects

Coordinate System

Objects are placed on screen using x,y coordinates relative to the upper left corner of the browsing window. They are placed in PalmOS “standard” coordinates, which map a range of values 0 to 160 in either direction in a standard square screen. Objects have an x,y position and a width and height, which you set using the following tags:

X Y W H

Coordinates of the current object (must be defined on a previous line to be used)

BX BY BW BH

Coordinates of the current object's activation button

Relative Coordinates

When placing objects in a folio, you’re not limited to using just numbers. You can use simple math expressions and can even define an object's coordinates relative to another object, making them easy to align or move as a group. To help do so, numerical values can be entered as simple math expressions, and a number of predefined symbols can be used in the expressions, substituting for numbers:

PREVX PREVY PREVW PREVH

Coordinates of the previous object

PREVBX PREVBY PREVBW PREVBH

Coordinates of the previous object's activation button

Example:

For instance, to define a column of checkmark objects, one might write:

CHECKMARK

X 10
Y 15
W 100
H 12
TEXT "One"

CHECKMARK

X PREVX
Y PREVY+12
W PREVW
H PREVH
TEXT "Two"

SPECIAL NOTE: mathematical expressions used for coordinate positioning currently supports five operators: addition (+), subtraction (-), multiplication (*), division (/), and modulus (%). Expressions are evaluated strictly from left to right, currently ignoring any mathematical precedence rules. Thus, 2+3*5 is evaluated as 25, not 17.

Specifying Default Filenames

Three special tags exist which don’t affect the contents of the folios directly, but rather are used to pass parameters and file names to MkTlInfo, so they don’t have to be specified every time the folio is compiled.

PNTFILE

While images for IMAGE and POPIMAGE objects can remain as separate TealPaint databases, it's often more convenient to ship a folio as a single file with the images imbedded inside. An entire TealPaint image database can be included inside a folio with PNTFILE tag. For example,

PNTFILE PICTURES.PDB

will imbed the image database "Pictures.pdb" (should be in the current folder) into a created folio. Any references to the picture database by IMAGE or POPIMAGE objects should then use the name of the folio as it appears on the PalmPilot instead of the image database name. Only one picture database can be imbedded in a folio.

OUTFILE and OUTNAME

MkTlInfo supports the use of special tags in the source file to pre-specify output and database (as seen on PalmPilot) file names. This latter name is especially important if the database is required to have a specific name because it's referred to by links from other folios or from internal references to imbedded TealPaint images.

Examples:

OUTFILE MYFOLIO.PDB
OUTNAME "My little folio"

Adding Inline Font and Underline Styles

TealInfo supports changing fonts and underlining inside a body of text for a WINDOW or POPWINDOW object. Other objects may be less predictable. Font changing is done via HTML-like tags imbedded with the text of the object. For best results, font and underline tags should not bridge lines of the text. For example:

TEXT

"This is some <$FONT=1>bold</$FONT> text."
"This is some <$UNDERLINED>underlined</$UNDERLINED> text."

The <$FONT> tag selects a font, while the </$FONT> tag reverts it back to the original font. Unlike HTML, tags of the same type cannot be nested, so a </$FONT> tag will always revert back to the original font, even if preceded by two <$FONT > tags.

Note that the original font defined in the object definition governs the spacing of text in a TealInfo object. Thus, you usually don't want to change fonts to one taller than the original font, or subsequent text lines will clip that text.

Adding Inline Hyperlinks

You can also insert hyperlinks in text to open a named folio or activate a named button to pop up a window or picture. For example:

TEXT

"Just tap <$LINK="My Folio"><$LINK="My Index Folio">here</$LINK> to go to the index folio."
"Just tap <$LINK="Info"><$LINK="Info">here</$LINK> to show more information."

The link text can be the name of a folio to open or the name of a button to activate. The actual text of the button should be included, not the button object’s name in the source file. Note that you can place the button entirely off-screen by using large coordinates (such as BX=200 BY=200), leaving the hyperlink as the only way to activate it.

Creating Scrolling objects

TealInfo supports scrollable, oversized, text and image objects. The oversized width of text objects are defined by creating columns wider than the objects, while heights are defined by the number of lines of content. Image widths and heights are defined by their source imagery. To create a horizontally scrolling WINDOW object, use the TABS field to create a column wider than the object itself.

WINDOW

X 10

Y 10

W 50

H 50

TABS 75

TEXT

"This is an example of a text window with" \

"horizontal scrolling"

Text objects appear with on-screen scrolling bars. In addition, for both types of objects, mapping the hardware up/down scrolling buttons can do scrolling and/or combinations for the four application launch buttons to vertical and/or horizontal movement. This is done using one of the BUTTON_SCROLL style flags.

By mapping scrolling behavior to different buttons for different objects, some folios can be made which operate largely pen-free.

Linking Objects

LINK fields are one TealInfo’s most powerful features. They allow you to control one object with another, and are typically used to create category pick lists and similar controls.

Adding a LINK field to an object allows that object to take on alternate contents depending on the current selection (value) of one or more other objects. For instance, to make a WINDOW object take on different contents depending on the selection of a category LIST, you add a LINK object to the WINDOW, passing it the name of the LIST object that controls it. For clarification purposes, we refer to the controlled object as the “child” and the controller object as the “parent”. A child object links back to each of its parents.

Defining alternate contents in child

The child object should contain multiple TEXT fields, each with different content. By linking that object to other objects, the actual TEXT block used will depend on the selections of the controlling objects.

Naming parent objects

To link to a parent, first identify the objects you're linking-to by giving each of them a unique ID name (with no spaces) following the object tag. For instance, the following identifies a list object as a parent object called 'choice_list'.

LIST choice_list
X 5
Y 5
...

Linking to parent objects

Then, refer to this parent object in the child object using the LINKS tag

WINDOW info

LINKS choice_list

TEXT "text one"

TEXT "text two"

TEXT "text three"

A child object can only be linked to parent objects that appear before it in a source file. The child object must also have enough TEXT fields defined for it to handle all of the possible selections of its parents.

Calculating which TEXT object is used

The TEXT field that is actually used at any given moment is determined by the current selections of all of its parents, multiplied out using the formula (example for 3 objects):

index = ((valueA * maxB) + valueB) * maxC + valueC

where maxA,maxB,and maxC represent the respective number of selections parent objects A, B, and C can take on. This guarantees that for any combination of valueA, valueB, and valueC, a unique TEXT object will be selected. In this example, you must have (maxA * maxB * maxC) number of TEXT fields defined to cover all the possible values of the three parent objects.

Simple Example:

LIST id_difficulty

X 90
Y 15
W 60
H 100
TEXT

"Easy"
"Hard"

LIST id_speed

X 10
Y 15
W 60
H 100
TEXT

"Off"
"Slow"
"Med"
"Fast"

WINDOW

X 10
Y 120
W 140
H 20
LINKS id_difficulty id_speed

TEXT "This is Easy and Off"
TEXT "This is Easy and Slow"
TEXT "This is Easy and Med"
TEXT "This is Easy and Fast"
TEXT "This is Hard and Off"
TEXT "This is Hard and Slow"
TEXT "This is Hard and Med"
TEXT "This is Hard and Fast"

Using parent objects that are also children

The above example assumes that any combination of the parent objects will create a unique index number for the child object to lookup. It works because the maximum value of each of the two parent objects is a fixed number. This can break down, however, if one of the parent objects is itself a child object, and can thus change contents to different TEXT blocks with different number of lines.

If the contents of a parent can change, the math will not come up predictably if it is not the first item linked, because its maximum value will be variable, and more than one combination of selections can end up with the same index. This commonly occurs when trying to chain two category selectors together when the second “sub” category can have a different number of values depending on the selection of the first category. If a WINDOW object tries to link to both category selectors, it can’t index to the correct entry because the maximum value of the subcategory can change.

LINKS category sub

index = (value_of_category * max_of_sub) + value_of_sub

To keep this from happening, we add a MAXVAL tag to the subcategory parent object. The MAXVAL tag tells TealInfo to use a fixed (non-changing) value when calculating the index of any children linking to that parent.

Place the MAXVAL tag in the definition of objects that are both a parent and a child. Set MAXVAL equal to the largest maximum value it will ever have with any TEXT object it contains. Then in the child object that links to it, add extra blank TEXT objects as if that parent object really did have that many choices.

Complex Example:

# List of continents (category)

LIST continents

TEXT

"Europe"
"Asia"

"North America"

# List of countries (sub category, links to continents)

# Add MAXVAL here because our maximum value can change

LIST countries

LINKS continents

MAXVAL 3

TEXT

"England"
"France"
"Germany"

TEXT

"India"

TEXT

"United States"

"Mexico"

# List of countries (links to both continent and country)

WINDOW locations

LINKS continents countries

TEXT "London, Devonshire"
TEXT "Paris"
TEXT "Hamburg, Colon, Frankfurt"

TEXT "New Delhi"
TEXT ""
TEXT ""

TEXT "Houston, Seattle, Ukiah"
TEXT "Mexico City, Mazatlan"
TEXT ""

For more info on how to do multiple dependencies, download our TEALINFO DEV KIT for examples.

Using Text Resources

Text Resources allow a folio to minimize duplicated text by allowing multiple objects to point to a common text block. They also allow you to place more text in an object. Due to PalmOS limitations, an object cannot contain more than 64k of text or data, including all TEXT objects it needs. By using text resources, objects can contain point to multiple text resources, each of which can contain up to about 64k of text.

Defining a text resource

Using a TRES tag, define an object with a single TEXT field. Be sure to give the TRES object a unique ID.

Referencing a text resource

To use a text resource, replace an object’s text with the text resource ID preceded by an '@' (at sign). Do not enclose it in quotes

Example

TRES id_notfound

TEXT "Sorry, no information is available about this device."

WINDOW

X 5
Y 14
W 80
H 100
LINKS id_device id_class
TEXT "4-5 Miles"
TEXT "3 Miles"
TEXT @id_notfound
TEXT @id_notfound
TEXT "15 Miles (estimated)"

NOTE: a TRES object add about 50 bytes of overhead, so space savings will only occur with text of sufficient length, but text resource still allow easy editing of commonly-used text.

Creating Password-Protected Folios

When creating a commercial folio, you may wish to use some of TealInfo's security features to keep your folio from being illicitly copied, decompiled, or used. As a first step, you can use the PASSWORD tag to lock the folio to a keyword. You can set up the keyword to be required to open the folio, or only if someone tries to decompile it. With the former option, using a numerical keyword or one that is not easily remembered, can keep the folio from being casually copied by someone unless they keep the keyword with them.

As a second level of protection, you create a custom version of the folio for every customer, using a key they wouldn't want to give out, like their credit card number.

Finally, if you collect the customer's HotSync user name, you can create a folio keyed to only work with their PalmPilot using the PASSWORD tag with the LOCKOUT style option but an empty ("") TEXT field. See the TealInfo Object Reference in the Appendix for more information.

Using TealInfo for Forms Applications

With a little work, TealInfo can be used for simple forms applications using POPEDIT, EDITWINDOW, POPLIST, CHECKLIST, and CHECKMARK objects. For the latter three objects, the REGISTER style flag is typically used to keep any choices permanent. To make EDITWINDOW changes permanent, the EDITWINDOW text must be stored in a separate TRES block,

To load the data back to the desktop, the folio “backup” option should be set in the details dialog for the folio. The folio will then be copied back to the user’s Palm backup folder on HotSync. At that point, the folio decompiler “UntlInfo” (in the TealInfo Dev Kit) can be used to convert the folio back to text format suitable for parsing by a database script or converter program.

Future versions of TealInfo may include tools to help make such forms functionality available to general users and other non-programmers.

Using MATH Objects

One of the most powerful features of TealInfo is ability to create and use MATH objects. MATH objects display the results of a mathematical expression, which can combine data from other objects and their selections. MATH objects can be displayed or themselves be used as values for other MATH objects or LINK fields.

Expressions

Mathematical expressions can be specified in simple, intuitive form. They are currently evaluated strictly from left to right. Thus, the expression:

1+2*3

will evaluate to 9, instead of 7, which follows the accepted convention of performing multiply operations before additions and subtractions. To avoid confusion, parentheses should be used to specify left-to-right order when mathematical precedence would normally dictate otherwise.

(1+2)*3

The parentheses will be ignored, but this will maintain compatibility with future versions of TealInfo that may add support for both parentheses and precedence.

RPN Notation

Complex equations can also be specified using RPN (Reverse Polish Notation) popularized by HP calculators. The benefit of RPN is that it can evaluate any equation from left to right order without parentheses. While this document cannot go into a full explanation or tutorial of using RPN, the concept is simple:

RPN operates on the concept of a list of numbers, commonly called a “stack”. When a number appears in an RPN expression it is simply added to the stack. When an operator (such as + or -) appears, it simply pulls the last two items off the stack, performs math on them, and places the result back onto the stack.

In evaluating a “normal” math expression (like 1+1), we normally start with a number, store it in our minds, then add an operator, remember it too, and then wait until we get another number to evaluate the expression. With complex expressions, we end up saving a whole bunch of numbers and operators and the order to evaluate them along the way to getting an answer.

RPN is much more efficient because you only store numbers. Operations occur immediately when you get the operator, so it’s much more efficient. The operators appear in the order you would normally evaluate them, not the order they appear in the expression.

Some “standard” expressions translate to RPN as follows:

1+2 becomes 1 2 +

(1+2) -3 becomes 1 2 + 3 -

1+(2-3) becomes 1 2 3 - +

(1+2)-(3+4) becomes 1 2 + 3 4 + -

Operands

The numbers that appear in an expression, the “operands”, can simply be constant numerical values such as 1, 2, 3.1415, or .000007.

Operands can also be the name of another object, preceded with an ‘@’ sign or an ‘#’ sign. If the object is a LIST or other selectable object, the ‘#’ sign will return the current “value” (selected line number) of the object, substituted in for its name. The ‘@’ sign will instead return the value of the object’s text. If the object is a WINDOW, EDITWINDOW, other non-selectable object, or even another MATH object, then the object’s current TEXT is evaluated as an expression itself and the result inserted into the current MATH object’s expression. For LIST objects, the value of the current selection is used. For instance, a simple tip calculator could include:

TEXT “( @tip_rate * 0.01 + 1.0 ) * @sub_total”

Operators

MATH objects support a number of mathematical operators, including:

Floating Point Math

Addition (+)

Subtraction (-)

Multiplication (*)

Division (/)

Integer Math (fractional parts of operators are ignored)

Modulus (%) – A%B is the leftover part after repeatedly subtracting B from A

Comparison (return 1 if true, 0 if false)

Greater-Than (>)

Less-Than (<)

Greater-or-Equal (>=)

Less-or-Equal (<=)

Equal (==)

Not-Equal (!=)

Logical (returns 1 if true, 0 if false)

Logical And (&&)

Logical Or (||)

Logical Xor (^^)

Bit Math

Bitwise And (&)

Bitwise Or (|)

Bitwise Xor (^)

Special

Truncate Digits (\) – truncates a number to a specified decimal place

Round Digits (:) – similar to truncate, but rounds up or down to the nearest result

Duplicate on Stack ($) – for RPN math only, duplicates the last entry on the stack

RPN Example

With a little ingenuity, MATH operators can be used to create some very neat folios. For instance, suppose you want to have a tip calculator which forces a 20% tip if the party is 6 or more people. The following RPN expression could take advantage of comparison operators to calculate a grand total in a tip calculator.

TEXT “@tiprate @numpeople 6 < * 20 @numpeople 6 >= * + .01 * 1.0 + @subtotal *”

@tiprate @numpeople 6 < *

The first operand of this expression just places the tipping rate on the stack. Then it compares the number of people into the party. Remember that comparison operators evaluate to 1 if true, 0 if false. Since this result is then multiplied with the tipping rate on the stack, it has the effect of zeroing out the total if 6 or more people are present.

20 @numpeople 6 >= * +

The next section, starting with “20”, does the exact opposite. It evaluates to 0 if less than 6 people are present, or 20 otherwise. The two resulting products are added together, so the result is a rate of “tiprate” if fewer than 6 people are present or 20 otherwise. This is then multiplied by .01 to get a percentage, and added to 1 and multiplied with the subtotal to get the grand total.

Indexing

When using the ‘@’ symbol to reference text values in LIST and TABLE objects, the current selection is normally used to index to the corresponding line or cell of the LIST or TABLE. Using brackets ( [ ] ), a specific entry can be manually specified instead. This allows LIST and TABLE objects to be used as convenient storage objects for lists of numbers used in calculations. The brackets should immediately follow the object name, with the index value enclosed by the brackets. For example,

@choice[1]

@choice[2]

@choice[3]

reference the first three items in a LIST named “choice”. Interestingly,

@choice[#choice]

is equivalent to

@choice

Parameters

Sometimes, it is useful to re-use a mathematical expression defined in a referenced MATH object, but with one or two of the numbers changed from use to use. In these instances, curly braces ( { } ) can be used to pass extra values into the MATH object to be used in evaluating the expression.

In the referencing MATH object, curly braces are added after the referenced object name, containing one or more values separated by columns. The values are then read from within the referenced MATH object using the special symbols $1, $2… etc.

For instance if a math object called “calc_tax” contains the following formula (rate/100+1)*subtotal:

TEXT “$2 100 / 1 + $1 *”

It can be used to calculate the totals for different subtotal/tax combinations:

TEXT “@calc_tax{21.95,6.5}”

Notes: Parameters can only be used in undisplayed referenced objects. As these objects expect and use parameters, they must be hidden using a blank PAGES tag, as their value without parameters is undefined. Also, when used in combination with indexing, parameters and their associated curly braces must come after the indexing square brackets, not before.

Special Notes

Math objects can also be used as sources for LINKs to other objects. When referenced as a LINK, only the integer portion (the part left of the decimal point) of the number is used. When referenced from an expression in another Math object, however, the full value is used.

Using DRAW Objects

DRAW and POPDRAW objects let you draw graphics onto a rectangular area of the screen with a series of simple graphic commands. Graphics generated this way can be much more space efficient that bitmap graphics, and can also vary according to user selections when combined with MATH objects.

DRAW object commands appear in a TEXT block with one command per line. Lines beginning with a ‘#’ sign are ignored.

The following simple example draws a holiday greeting on the screen.

DRAW

X 10

Y
20

W 140

H 110

TEXT

"FCOLOR 212"

"DLINE 40 90 70 20"

"DLINE 70 20 100 90"

"GLINE 100 90 40 90"

"FCOLOR 161"

"DRECT 60 60 7 7 3"

"DRECT 70 30 4 4 3"

"GRECT 50 80 7 7 3"

"GRECT 80 70 6 6 3"

"FCOLOR 255"

"DRECT 65 90 10 4 0"

"DFRAME 10 10 120 90 5 3"

"DCHARS 1 30 40 Season's Greetings"

See the appendix for a full list of valid commands.

Commands can also accept references to external objects in place of numerical or text parameters. Use the ‘#’ sign followed by the object name to insert an object’s current selection number into a drawing command, or ‘@’ followed by the name to insert it’s current text.

Appendix A – MkTlInfo Object Reference

This appendix lists the screen objects and properties recognized by MkTlInfo in making custom TealInfo folios. More comprehensive references and examples can be found in the TealInfo Developer’s Kit, found on the developer’s section of the TealPoint web site.

Basic Display Objects

WINDOW

Description:

A basic screen object, WINDOW objects define a rectangular region of the screen that contains text. The text automatically wraps lines of text if necessary, and supports vertical or horizontal scrolling and optional columns and grid lines. Text in WINDOW objects can be viewed, but not be edited or selected.

Required Fields:

X Y W H TEXT

Optional Fields:

PAGES STYLE FONT TABS LINKS CYCLE DELAY COMPRESS

Supported Styles:

VERT_RULE HORIZ_RULE INVERTED NO_BORDER BOLD_BORDER ALIGN_RIGHT ALIGN_CENTER ALIGN_LEFT_START ALIGN_RIGHT_START ALIGN_CENTER_START ALIGN_LEFT_END ALIGN_RIGHT_END ALIGN_CENTER_END NO_SCROLL MASK_BUTTON_SCROLL

Notes:

A WINDOW holds a block of text that automatically word-wraps if longer than one line. Normally, to take advantage of this feature, paragraphs should be defined as one continuous line. As MkTlInfo only supports a 4000 character long line, this is typically done by appending individual lines with a continuation mark (\) at the end of lines. See the TealInfo field reference below for more information.

Columns and line rulings are supported, allowing the display of the text in tabular or columnar layout. To do so, use the TABS field to define the width of individual columns, and enter multiple quote-delimited chunks of data on each line, or separate the text for each column on a line using tab characters imbedded in the text. The VERT_GRID and HORIZ_GRID fields can be used to add grid lines to the columns. When VERT_GRID is defined, columns are treated as spreadsheet-like cells, and data is truncated if necessary to fit within each column. When omitted, columns are treated like tab-stops in a word processor. Text may overflow into neighboring columns; tab characters simply advance to the next column.

By default, column entries are left justified. The ALIGN_CENTER and ALIGN_RIGHT styles can override this justification in all columns. In turn, the ALIGN_RIGHT_START and ALIGN_RIGHT_END, ALIGN_CENTER_START and ALIGN_CENTER_END styles can be used to set alternate justification for only the first or last columns.

Since text in a window is not selectable, WINDOW objects have no “current value” and thus cannot be used as the target of a LINK field in another object. They can themselves LINK to other objects, however, and this is a common use of WINDOW objects. For instance, by defining multiple TEXT fields and using the LINK field to target, say, a LIST object, the window can be used to display different data depending on the current selection of the LIST object.

POPWINDOW

Description:

A scrollable, auto-wrapping text window that comes up when a trigger button is pressed.

Required Fields:

X Y W H BX BY BW BH BTEXT TEXT

Optional Fields:

PAGES STYLE FONT TABS LINKS BFONT COMPRESS

Supported Styles:

VERT_RULE HORIZ_RULE INVERTED BOLD_BORDER ALIGN_RIGHT ALIGN_CENTER ALIGN_LEFT_START ALIGN_RIGHT_START ALIGN_CENTER_START ALIGN_LEFT_END ALIGN_RIGHT_END ALIGN_CENTER_END NO_SCROLL MASK_BUTTON_SCROLL FILLED SQUARE_BUTTON

Notes:

A variation on WINDOW objects, most of a POPWINDOW object is normally hidden. Only a small trigger button defined by BX, BY, BW, and BH is shown on screen. The button resembles a standard PalmOS text button. A BTEXT field defines its label. When tapped, the window appears, and stays on screen until tapped to dismiss it.

LABEL

Description:

A simple text label.

Required Fields:

X Y TEXT

Optional Fields:

PAGES STYLE FONT COMPRESS

Supported Styles:

INVERTED ALIGN_CENTER ALIGN_RIGHT

Notes:

LABEL objects are drawn so that the upper-left, upper-right, or upper-center of the text is aligned at the designated coordinate. Text is not wrapped and cannot scroll.

RECT

Description:

A bare graphic rectangle, either filled or not, used as a graphic embellishment

Required Fields:

X Y W H

Optional Fields:

PAGES STYLE

Supported Styles:

FILLED ROUND_BORDER BOLD_BORDER

IMAGE

Description:

Displays a graphic in TealPaint image format or subrectangle of an image in the specified rectangle

Required Fields:

X Y W H SX SY DATABASE RECORD

Optional Fields:

PAGES STYLE LINKS CYCLE DELAY

Supported Styles:

NO_BORDER BOLD_BORDER BUTTON_SCROLL

Notes:

The bounding box for the image must be a multiple of 8 pixels wide. SX and SY define the offsets into the source image from which to grab the subrectangle. SX must also be a multiple of 8 pixels wide, and the source image must not be wider than 160 pixels.

DATABASE defines the name of the image database. It is case sensitive and must match the name of the Image Database as it appears in TealInfo or TealPaint. The image can also be tacked onto the end of the TealInfo folio using MkTlInfo. If the image is appended in this way, then DATABASE should hold the name of the folio instead. Note that the image will fail to draw if the folio is renamed.

RECORD defines the image number of the database to use. The first image in a database is image 0.

To create simple page flipping animation, set the CYCLE parameter equal to the number of frames of animation. TealInfo will step forward through the image databases, looping from image RECORD to image RECORD+CYCLE-1, stopping between from frames by an amount specified by DELAY, in tenths of a second.

POPIMAGE

Description:

A popup-window displaying a TealPaint image or subrectangle of an image.

Required Fields:

BX BY BW BY BTEXT X Y W H SX SY DATABASE RECORD

Optional Fields:

PAGES STYLE LINKS CYCLE DELAY BFONT

Supported Styles:

VERT_RULE HORIZ_RULE INVERTED NO_BORDER BOLD_BORDER ALIGN_RIGHT ALIGN_CENTER FILLED ALIGN_LEFT_START ALIGN_RIGHT_START ALIGN_CENTER_START ALIGN_LEFT_END ALIGN_RIGHT_END ALIGN_CENTER_END NO_SCROLL MASK_BUTTON_SCROLL BUTTON_SELECT STROKE_FIND REGISTERL

Notes:

This object has the same image and usage restrictions as an IMAGE object. As a small bonus feature, however, color or grayscale images shown in a full-screen POPIMAGE objects will appear in 16 grey levels on a Palm V-style display (Palm V, Visor), even under OS 3.1, which does not otherwise support the 16-shade mode.

Interactive Selection Controls

LIST

Description:

A scrollable vertical list of selectable text items, supporting optional columns and vertical and horizontal ruled lines.

Required Fields:

X Y W H TEXT

Optional Fields:

PAGES STYLE FONT TABS LINKS DEFAULT MAXVAL COMPRESS

Supported Styles:

Notes:

LIST objects are interactive elements. While they are defined and used like WINDOW objects, text does not automatically word-wrap, and any line in the LIST can be highlighted by the user by tapping on it.

This gives the LIST a current numerical “value” ranging from zero (the first item) to the number of items in the list (minus one). This value can be used as an operand for expressions in MATH objects, or change the contents of other objects that have LINK fields referring to us.

The entries in a LIST are specified using multiple-lines of text in a TEXT field. Each line specifies a separate entry in the list. If the LINK field is used to link the object to another object’s value, multiple TEXT fields can be used to define changing contents for the LIST.

POPLIST

Description:

A scrollable, selectable item list triggered by popup button, resembling the PalmOS category selector

Required Fields:

X Y W H TEXT BX BY BW BH

Optional Fields:

PAGES STYLE FONT TABS LINKS DEFAULT MAXVAL BFONT COMPRESS

Supported Styles:

Notes:

The trigger button for POPLIST objects resemble standard PalmOS category selectors. They show the text of the current selection with a triangular trigger symbol. They should be sized wide enough to fit the widest text line to be drawn without truncating the text.

TABLE (New in 4.0)

Description:

Nearly identical to LIST objects, TABLE objects bring up a scrollable, selectable list of text items. Columns defined by the TABS field, however, are required. Unlike a LIST, which selects an entire row of items at a time, TABLE objects allow the selection of single cells within the object. A TABLE object with a single column is equivalent to a LIST object.

Required Fields:

X Y W H TEXT TABS

Optional Fields:

PAGES STYLE FONT LINKS DEFAULT MAXVAL COMPRESS

Supported Styles:

Notes:

The current “value” of a TABLE object corresponds to the current highlighted cell. Cells are numbered starting at zero from left to right and then top to bottom.

POPTABLE (New in 4.0)

Description:

A pop-up version of the TABLE object, POPTABLE objects bring up a Table when their trigger buttons are tapped. The trigger buttons show the contents of the current cell.

Required Fields:

X Y W H TEXT BX BY BW BH TABS

Optional Fields:

PAGES STYLE FONT LINKS DEFAULT MAXVAL BFONT COMPRESS

Supported Styles:

VERT_RULE HORIZ_RULE INVERTED BOLD_BORDER ALIGN_RIGHT ALIGN_CENTER
ALIGN_LEFT_START ALIGN_RIGHT_START ALIGN_CENTER_START ALIGN_LEFT_END ALIGN_RIGHT_END ALIGN_CENTER_END NO_SCROLL MASK_BUTTON_SCROLL BUTTON_SELECT STROKE_FIND FILLED REGISTER SQUARE_BUTTON

Notes:

The trigger button shows the name of the currently selected item, and BX BY BW and BH define its bounds. X, Y, W, and H define the bounds of the table the trigger brings up. The button bounds must be large enough to contain the longest cell in order for it to draw correctly.

OUTLINE

Description:

A scrollable, selectable, hierarchical item list, this object shows a list of data in outline tree form, where subsections of the tree may be collapsed and hidden from view when desired.

Required Fields:

X Y W H TEXT

Optional Fields:

PAGES STYLE FONT TABS LINKS DEFAULT MAXVAL COMPRESS

Supported Styles:

HORIZ_RULE INVERTED NO_BORDER BOLD_BORDER NO_SCROLL MASK_BUTTON_SCROLL BUTTON_SELECT STROKE_FIND REGISTER

Notes:

Similar to standard LIST objects, OUTLINE objects show a list of selectable text items. Unlike a LIST, however, the items are displayed like an outline tree with items, sub-items, and sub-sub-items. Subsections can be hidden or shown by tapping on control triangles next to items in the outline.

To define an outline list's contents, create a multi-line TEXT field, preceeding lines with one or more '>' or '<' characters to define it's level in the tree. Root items are bare. Subitems to root entries are preceeded by one '>', sub-items to sub-items are preceeded by '>>', etc. If the item in the list should appear initially when the folio is first opened, then use a '<' character instead of a '>'. The '<' character forces the control on the previous line to default to the open state.

To set up an OUTLINE object for horizontal scrolling, use a TABS field with a single value specifying the virtual width of the scrolling area in pixels. OUTLINE objects not not otherwise support columns.

The following example sets up an OUTLINE object with three levels of items:

OUTLINE

X 10
Y 20
W 100
H 120
TEXT "Restaurants"

"Hotels"
"Taxis"
"Museums"
">Art"
">Nature"
">>Marine"
">>Land"
"Nightclubs"
">Nice"
">Seedy"

POPOUTLINE (New in 4.0)

Description:

A POPOUTLINE object is pop-up version of an expanding OUTLINE object. When popped up, outline branches can be opened up or collapsed by tapping on standard outline control triangles. When tapping elsewhere on a line the list is selected and the popup window is closed.

Required Fields:

X Y W H BX BY BW BH TEXT

Optional Fields:

PAGES STYLE FONT TABS LINKS DEFAULT MAXVAL BFONT BTEXT COMPRESS

Supported Styles:

HORIZ_RULE INVERTED BOLD_BORDER NO_SCROLL MASK_BUTTON_SCROLL BUTTON_SELECT STROKE_FIND REGISTER FILLED SQUARE_BUTTON

Notes:

See Outline objects for instructions on defining levels in a POPOUTLINE object.

where:

<editname> is the name of the EDITWINDOW object to affect

<mode> is either a colon “:” (immediate mode) or semicolon “;” (delayed mode).

<action> is either a plus “+” (add), equals “=” (replace), minus “-“ (subtract), or number sign “#” (calculator key action).

<text> is the new text

In “immediate” mode, other screen objects which depend on the entry are immediately refreshed to reflect the new text. In “delayed” mode, the text is entered, but only the EDITWINDOW object itself is redrawn. Other objects such as on-screen math objects are not redrawn in delayed mode.

The “add” action appends text to the end of the specified EDITWINDOWs current contents, while the “replace” action replaces it entirely. The “subtract” action ignores any passed text and simply deletes the last character from the EDITWINDOW. The last action, the “calculator” action, acts either like “add” or “replace” action depending on whether a calculation is pending. If one has yet to be flushed out (due to entry using delayed-mode key presses, it adds the specified text. Once calculated, the next press replaces the contents.

Common applications include:

Calculator-style entry buttons (delayed calculation)

TARGET “@number;#1”

TARGET “@number;#2”

TARGET “@number;#3”

Backspace

TARGET “@number;-”

Enter/Calculate key (note the empty text to add)

TARGET “@number:+”

Clear key (sets contents to nothing)

TARGET “@number:=”

Filling a form field

TARGET “@gender:=female”

TARGET “@gender:=male”

New to 4.20: If TARGET text is used with no target object (TARGET “a”), then the character(s) specified will be entered into the general input stream, simulating a user entering the characters by hand. If another object has the STROKE_FIND style set, it will respond to the character, allowing INPUT objects to change the current selection in an external LIST object to an entry whose first letter matches the indicated letter.

Data Processing Controls

POPMERGE (New in 4.0)

Description:

Similar to POPWINDOW objects, POPMERGE objects bring up scrollable, auto-wrapping text windows when a specified trigger button is pressed. The contents of the windows, however, can contain text from various other windows, fields, and objects, both hidden and shown. These are “merged” into the text of the final window to produce the combined output

Required Fields:

BX BY BW BH BTEXT TEXT

Optional Fields:

PAGES X Y W H STYLE FONT TABS LINKS BFONT COMPRESS

Supported Styles:

Notes:

The text appearing in a POPMERGE popup is defined using a TEXT field in the expected way. Placeholders for text pulled from other objects are inserted using the ‘@’ symbol followed by the name of an object to be included. Often, the source objects are hidden objects controlled by user selections. Sample text might look like:

TEXT “Madame sees your @problem difficulty will get much @prediction today!”

PRINTMERGE (New in 4.0)

Description:

A PRINTMERGE object combines text from separate objects, but instead of displaying it in a pop up window, the text is sent to TealPrint for print out on a supported printer. This allows folios to output form documents, summaries, or receipts based on user inputs and selections.

Required Fields:

BX BY BW BH BTEXT TEXT

Optional Fields:

PAGES STYLE LINKS BFONT COMPRESS

Supported Styles:

FILLED SQUARE_BUTTON

Notes:

TealPrint must also be installed on the handheld for PRINTMERGE objects to be functional. When selected, a PRINTMERGE object will bring up a standard TealPrint printer dialog to confirm print options prior to sending the text to the printer or spooler.

MATH (New in 4.0)

Description:

A math object is a simple window displaying the numerical result of a calculation. Evaluated expressions can contain references to the current (zero-based) selection of objects with a current “value” such as lists, outlines, and tables. They can also evaluate numbers or expressions found in static objects such as windows, other math objects, and other objects that cannot be selected.

Required Fields:

X Y W H TEXT

Optional Fields:

PAGES STYLE FONT LINKS DECIMALS DIGITS COMPRESS

Supported Styles:

INVERTED NO_BORDER BOLD_BORDER ALIGN_RIGHT ALIGN_CENTER

Notes:

MATH objects are one of the most complex and ambitious TealInfo objects. They show the result of a calculation as a floating-point number. To use one, a mathematical expression (equation) is specified with a TEXT field, but the result of the evaluation of the expression is what gets displayed. The number displayed can be rounded off to a number of decimal points to the right of the decimal point using the DECIMALS field, or padded with zeroes on the left to a total number of digits using the DIGITS field.

Mathematical expressions can be specified in simple, intuitive form. They are currently evaluated strictly from left to right, and in “standard” or RPN (Reverse Polish Notation) order. See the chapter “Using MATH Objects” for more information and examples on using MATH objects.

Operands

The numbers that appear in an expression, the “operands”, can simply be constant numerical values such as 1, 2, 3.1415, or .000007.

Operands can also reference another object, preceded with ‘@’ or ‘#’ signs. If the object is a LIST or other selectable object, the ‘#’ (number sign) can be used to insert the current “value” of the object, which is the number of the current selection starting at zero. The ‘@’ sign is similar, except that is inserts the numerical value of the current text, which must be either numerical or a mathematical expression itself.

If the object is a WINDOW, EDITWINDOW, other non-selectable object, or even another MATH object, then the object’s entire TEXT block is evaluated as an expression and the result inserted into the current MATH object’s expression. For a LIST object, only the text of the current selection is used. For instance, a simple tip calculator could include:

TEXT “( @tiprate * 0.01 + 1.0 ) * @subtotal”

Operators

MATH objects support a number of mathematical operators, including:

Floating Point Math

Addition (+)

Subtraction (-)

Multiplication (*)

Division (/)

TealInfo User's Manual

Table of Contents