Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!apple!apple.com!rmh
From: rmh@apple.com (Rick Holzgrafe)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hypercard
Subject: Re: Using group
Message-ID: <11030@goofy.Apple.COM>
Date: 30 Oct 90 22:01:30 GMT
References: <90302.144024Q8N@psuvm.psu.edu>
Sender: usenet@Apple.COM
Organization: Apple Computer, Inc.
Lines: 48

I won't quote, but Q8N@psuvm.psu.edu (Scott D. Camp) wants to copy text 
from various fields into a destination field, preserving the source 
fields' text styles and also adding the 'group' style to portions of the 
copied text. He complains that
    put bg fld "index name" & return into bg fld "index"
does not copy the text style, only the text; and that there is no 
(obvious) way to add a style, only to replace styles.

All this is correct, and here are the work-arounds I found. (Anyone got 
any better ones?)

To copy styles as well as text, you must use "doMenu Copy" and "doMenu 
Paste", along with "select" to specify what to copy and where to paste. 
This requires a userLevel of at least 4 ("Authoring") so (if your stack is 
for general use) be prepared to get and save the current userLevel, set it 
to 4, do your work, then restore the old userLevel. This method is 
unsatisfactory because it is slow, and because it cannot be used on a 
locked stack (cut and paste operations are forbidden on locked stacks) but 
it works otherwise.

To add a style to text, without destroying its existing styles, you must 
do it one character at a time (probably in a loop, but I'll skip the loop 
and show just the code for dealing with one character):

    put the textStyle of char foo of bg fld fum into itsStyle
    if itsStyle does not contain "group" then
      put "group" into item ((the number of items in itsStyle) + 1) of 
itsStyle
      set the textStyle of char foo of bg fld fum to itsStyle
    end if

The reason is that the response to "the textStyle of" a string is 
sometimes (maybe always) "mixed"; only asking about one char at a time 
guarantees a useful answer. Note that uninterrupted runs of chars styled 
"group" always count as a single group, even if the group styling was 
added piecemeal. (And forgive the off-the-cuff HyperTalk, it may be 
incorrect but I hope the point is clear.)

Again, this is unsatisfactory because it is slow; but it works.

Hope this helps.

==========================================================================
Rick Holzgrafe              |    {sun,voder,nsc,mtxinu,dual}!apple!rmh
Software Engineer           | AppleLink HOLZGRAFE1          rmh@apple.com
Apple Computer, Inc.        |  "All opinions expressed are mine, and do
20525 Mariani Ave. MS: 3-PK |    not necessarily represent those of my
Cupertino, CA 95014         |        employer, Apple Computer Inc."