Main Editor

File Menu Edit Menu Size & Color Symbols Tools
New Blank
New Template
Print Options
Replace
WordWrap
Auto Refresh
Auto Keys
Editor Font
Size &Colour
<  >  & and "
More
Body
Image
Sound
Options

The Toolbar

Copy to clipboard Launch Browser External Viewer

Table Editor

Setting up a table Adding text Returning to the main editor
Selecting a Cell Text Alignment Adding Colour to the background
Moving Rows & Columns    


New Blank
Creates a new blank page.

New Template
Creates a new Template. Two templates are available: A "short" version with the minimum Tags required for the HTML to display properly and a "long" version which gives the full standard HTML Tags. Using the Full Template will also cause the Editor to use the full HTML syntax (for example, quotation marks where 'officially' required). Which template is displayed depends on a setting under the
Options menu.

Print Code Window
Prints the HTML source code using the same font as that selected under the
Edit menu for the main editor window.

Print As Plain Text
Prints the source code without the HTML Tags.

Print HTML Window
Prints the full HTML window.

Replace
The Replace button will replace the old text with the new then wait for you to press the Find Next or Replace All button. The Replace All button will replace the text and then move on to the next. The Find Next button will find the next occurance and wait.

[Top]

Word Wrap
This option simply turns on or off the automatic Wordwrap in the edit window. It does not insert any "hard" carriage returns or newlines into the actual code. If you want to limit the line-length when the source code is viewed in a different editor, it is best to leave Word Wrap turned off and use the <Enter> key to insert "hard" carriage returns and newlines where required.

[Top]

Auto Refresh
Normally, as text is typed into the top window, the HTML window is refreshed automatically. As the file becomes larger, the time delay incurred can be excessive. The automatic refresh can be disabled under the Edit menu, at which time the Refresh button on the Toolbar can be used to refresh the HTML page when required.

Auto Keys Quick Reference

" & < > space <br> <p> <li>
Ctrl +
"
Ctrl + & Ctrl + < Ctrl + > Ctrl + [space] Ctrl + Enter Shift + Enter Alt + Enter

[Top]

Auto Keys
Although the characters < > & and " are available on the keyboard, they should not be used in the source code because they have special meanings to HTML.
To include these characters you need to use their "escape sequences" - for example, the escape sequence for the < character is &lt; - If Auto Keys is turned on (the default setting), the Ctrl key may be used in combination with the character key to automatically produce these escape sequences.

Also, HTML code will not display more than one space character so a special character (called a non-break space) is used when extra spaces are required. The escape sequence for this is &nbsp; which may be produced by using Ctrl + Space.

Additionally, the <br> Tag can be produced automatically by using Ctrl + Enter. Using Shift + Enter will generate a <p> Tag and using Alt + Enter will print an <li> Tag which can be useful if you are entering text inside a List Tag.

[Top]

Editor Font
This simply sets the Font style and size that you prefer for the edit window. The Table Editor's
edit window will automatically use the same font.

Size & Color
Unlike the other Tag generating buttons and options, the Size and Color menu items are unusual in that they do not generate complete Tags. Their purpose is to insert the size or colour value into existing Tags. For example, if you have already typed a Tag such as: <font face="Arial"> you can then insert the size and/or colour attributes by positioning the cursor between <font and face and selecting the Size or Color menu items.....
<font color="#00fe80" face="Arial">

[Top]

<  >  & and "
Use these menu items to insert these special characters into the HTML source code. In the case of the " character, if any text is highlighted, " characters will be inserted at both ends of the text. If text is highlighted and the < character is selected, < will be inserted before the text and > will be inserted after it. See also
Auto Keys.

More
For additional symbols which are not available on the UK keyboard, select this option to open a small window displaying all the symbols which are available. Highlight a symbol with the mouse and press the OK button.

Body
Use this option to create a <body> Tag which contains the HTML page's background colour and image. If an existing <body> Tag is highlighted, it will be replaced by the new one.

[Top]

Image
Use this option to place an image on the page. If the image is a jpg type image, its height and width will automatically be included in the Tag.

Sound
Use this option to create a Sound Tag. As the HTML page is refreshed continuously as you type into the editor, you should only select the Test Sound option briefly!

[Top]

Options
Show Button Hints:
Turn on or off the pop-up hints when you hover the mouse over a Toolbar button.

Use Full Template & Syntax: See New Template

Load template at Startup
Determines whether a template is displayed when HtmlEdit is first started.

Use Relative Pathnames
With this opion unchecked, the full absolute file-path will be shown for images and sound files. With the option checked, paths relative to a pre-set Base Directory will be used.

Set Base Directory
Set the Base Directory for relative pathnames.

External Viewer
Use this option to configure the external viewer button.

Default File Extension is *.txt
Some electronic mail programs require their mail files to have a .txt extension. This option will set the 'Save' and 'Open' dialogs to default to .txt instead of .htm.


[Top]

Copy to clipboard
Pressing this button will copy any highlighted text to the Windows clipboard. If no text is highlighted, then all the text will be copied.

Launch Browser
This button will launch the main web browser to view the HTML file. It should only launch one copy of the browser when you press the button a second time. Pressing this button creates a temporary file called lwvgtemp.htm which will be deleted when you exit HtmlEdit.

External Viewer
Pressing this button will launch any external viewer of your choice. The first time you press it, you will be asked to select the viewer. It could be a second web browser or text viewer.Pressing this button creates a temporary file called lwvxtemp.htm which will be deleted when you exit HtmlEdit.

[Top]

Setting up a Table
The Table Editor is opened either by selecting the Table Editor option from the Tools menu or by pressing the Table Editor button on the Toolbar.
Initially, you will see a grid showing two columns across by two rows deep. You can change the number of rows and columns by changing the values in the Edit Boxes on the Table Editor's Toolbar. Either type in the values or use the up/down arrows.

Also on the Toolbar, you can change the width of the Table (represented as a percentage of the total page-width), the thickness of the border surrounding each Cell and the padding and spacing between each Cell. You can also select the overall background colour for the table but individual cells can over-ride this with their own colour.

The Center checkbox centres the Table on the page in both the Table Editor and the main editor. The Body checkbox will cause the Table Editor to show the same background as that in the main Editor.

The Format checkbox will attempt to lay out the code for the Table in a reasonably "tidy" fashion.

The <Full Syntax> checkbox will add all the "official" Tags required by a Table. In practice, many of the Tags can be omitted. Leave this checkbox unchecked if the Table displays properly. This option shouldn't be changed once you have started to enter text into any of the cells otherwise the results are unpredictable.

Once the basic Table layout has been set, you can begin entering text into the Cells.

[Top]

Adding text
Click on one of the Cells in the Grid (the cursor changes to a pointing hand) and the window will change to the Text Entry window. As you type text, it will appear in the HTML Table displayed in the bottom window. (see also
Auto Keys)

It's worth adding a word or two to each Cell to create the general shape of the Table in the HTML window. You will then be able to easily switch from Cell to Cell by clicking in the HTML window. (see next section)

[Top]

Selecting a Row or Colum
You can change to a new Row or Column in three ways:

* On the Text Entry Toolbar, change the values in the
  Edit Boxes by typing in new values or using the up/
  down arrows and then pressing Select.
* Press the Grid button on the Toolbar to return to the Grid window, then click on the cell you want to edit. * Click on text in the cell in the HTML window. This only works once the cell has a few characters in it.

[Top]

Text Alignment
The text in the "current" Text Entry window may be aligned in the cell by clicking on the Align control.

Cell Background Colour
Set the colour of the cell background with the Cell Color button.

Moving Rows & Columns
Complete Rows and Columns of text may be shifted by dragging its head or side bar. The text will swap places but any colour and alignment will remain in their original places.

[Top]

Returning to the Main Editor
When you press the green tick the Table will be copied to the main editor and the Table Editor window will close. At this point, the Table will be highlighted in the main editor. If you return to the Table Editor while the table is still highlighted, you will be able to edit the table and return to the main editor (again with the green tick).

If the table is not highlighted a new copy of the table will be added to the main editor when you return. (Hint: You can highlight the text in the main editor any time before you close the Table Editor).

Pressing the red X will return from the Table Editor without transfering the table to the main editor.

[Top]