Re: lynx-dev lynx and tables, looking for more information...

[Duncan Simpson]

<stuff snipped>

The table layout code I have likes entries in ASCII format seperated by \n in 
appropiate places. It uses this informaition to draw the table line by line, 
from left to right. Tables wider than the screen are not a problem. It has 
been well tested to work nicely by some M$ word tables.
 
> If I understand you right, you have some code for tables but it would
> require a "function to render something with a given width" that would
> be supplied by the Lynx code.  I assume with "render into" you mean 
> everything including line breaking logic..

Yup, right. It would also have to be willing yto render the body of the table 
twice; the first time the table layout logic works out what width the columns 
want and how wide a table that means. The second pass specifies actual widths 
if required so it fits nicely.

Subtables should be easy enough if this code was well integrated, all that 
needs to happen is a request to render the included text with width x. I guess 
the same code could be adapted to layout frames, albeit with implications 
about where the "real work" of the code appears.

>Unfortunately, there is no such
> function currently in the Lynx code.  Splitting text into lines is done
> in the simplest case (no relevant markup that affects line breaking) in
> GridText.c or, in more complex cases, in HTML.c in cooperation with
> GridText.c functions; but all this uses a global variable LYcols for the
> available width (which is the full screen width), there are no provisions
> for "rendering" into smaller columns of text.
> 

This is bad news, should I wait for it to change? I have plenty of "real work" 
and word2x stuff to be getting on with in the mean time. I just thought some 
re-inventing that particular wheel was silly (the source file is 300 lines of 
C++, which could be quickly turned into C).

-- 
Duncan (-:
"software industry, the: unique industry where selling substandard goods is
legal and you can charge extra for fixing the problems."