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F Record - Message
Instead of having a recorder picture displayed in a particular display position on the screen, it is possible to have text. This text is specified via a special Fingering record called a "message' record. Character 5 is an M or W, indicating that this is a Message fingering record.
Format 1 - regular Message records:
FnndMa...a[;bmp=fname]
where
nn = version number (00-99). Number 00 is standard fingering
d = Display Indicator (d, h, r, s, t, w)
d = display
h = hide
r = report-only
s = screen-only
t = text (.txt) report only
w = wordprocessor (.rtf) report only
a...a = any alphanumeric characters
fname = optional external bitmap to load (see Using Bitmaps on F Records.)
The total length of the record should not exceed 200 characters. Otherwise it will truncate without a warning or error condition (see Remarks & Hints).
Example:
F01dmHello, how's it going!
F02dmThis has a bitmap too!;bmp=border1.bmp
The text following the "m" would be displayed in the next recorder positions on the screen. The second record would have a bitmap displayed along with the text.
An empty Message record (e.g. F30dm) will make the screen position blank. This can be useful to create pleasing spacing on the display. Multiple blank records can be used to force a "page" break (by filling up the rest of the positions on the current page with blanks) so more info will be displayed on a separate page.
Even an empty, active text box will overlay a bitmap image in the same position. For this reason, an empty Message record not only leaves the position blank, it also does not even activate the text box. Because of this, one or more empty Message records can be used to position the next record beyond the end of a bitmap that spans more than one position (see F Record - Bitmap)
Note that a blank Message record combined with a bitmap would give the same results as using an F Record - Bitmap. For example, both these records would display a hello bitmap image by itself at the screen position:
f05dbhello.bmp
or
f05dm;bmp=hello.bmp
The Bitmap record is the preferred method because it allows the specification of alternate text to be displayed if the bitmap fails to load.
Text Variables can be used on Message records.
Also see Text Variables for a method for creating linefeeds (line breaks) in your messages.
Format 2 - "Wide" message records:
FnndWa...a[;bmp=fname]
where
nn = version number (00-99). Number 00 is standard fingering
d = Display Indicator (d, h, r, s, t, w)
d = display
h = hide
r = report-only (allowable, but makes little sense - see below)
s = screen-only
t = text (.txt) report only
w = wordprocessor (.rtf) report only
a...a = any alphanumeric characters
fname = optional external bitmap to load (see Using Bitmaps on F Records.)
The total length of the record should not exceed 200 characters. Otherwise it will truncate without a warning or error condition (see Remarks & Hints).
Format 2 Description and Examples
Wide message records were introduced in Version 2.68. They are intended to make large areas of text more readable on the display. With regular M Message records, the text occupies a box on the screen which is roughly equivalent in size to the area occupied by a recorder fingering picture - i.e. long and narrow. The W record's text is displayed in a box that is twice as wide as the regular display area. Plus, the text from it is combined ("concatenated" in techie talk) with the text on a regular M record that follows it.
In other words, a W record should always be followed by a regular M record. The W record signals to the program to display the text in a wide box. It then takes the text from this W record, saves it, and reads in the following M record. It combines the 2 text strings into one long text string and displays the result in the wide box. This combining technique gets around the 200 total character limit that each W and M record has. It also keeps the general formatting scheme of Recorder Digits - one fingering record occupies one screen position. With the W and the following M, we still have 2 fingering records occupying 2 screen positions (in this case, displayed as one wide position).
For example, here are 4 lines from an external file, showing 2 regular M records and then a W and M combination and how they appear on the display (these long lines are wrapped in this Help display. Each record really occupies one long text line.)
Code:
F20dMThis is a demo of the difference between M and W records. First we see 2 regular M records. This first M record occupies long narrow box 1.
F25dMThis second M record occupies long narrow box 2.
F30dWHere is the W record, whose text occupies the top area of this wide box, taking up the space normally taken by 2 separate boxes. It is combined with the text
F35dM from this regular M record that immediately follows the W record, allowing us to get a lot of text into the wide box.
Display:

Rules for Wide Text Boxes
The general rule governing W records is that if an error occurs, the W will be treated as a regular M record - i.e. it will not cause a wide box to be displayed, and it will not combine its text with any following M record, if present.
Error conditions causing a W to be treated as a regular M
The W record must fall in screen box location 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, or 7. It cannot fall in positions 0, 4, or 8 (see F Record - Bitmap for a visual display of these box positions). This is because positions 4 and 8 are at the right edge (so there's no room for a wide box), and position 0 (under the "Standard" area to the left) is separate and also has no room for expansion.
As mentioned above, the W record should be followed by an M record. If a W is not followed by an M record, the W will be treated as a regular M record. This includes a case where there are 2 W records, one after the other. The first W will be treated as a regular M (because it isn't followed by an M). The second will be treated as a W if it is followed by an M.
In the case of an empty W (e.g. F05dW) followed by an empty M, they both will be treated as empty Ms, leaving 2 unactivated, empty text boxes (see above for discussion of empty M records). You can use an empty W followed by an M with data or the opposite - a W with data followed by an empty M. In both these cases, a wide text box will be displayed.
Bitmaps on W Records
A bitmap (;bmp=fname) on a W will be handled just like it is on the M record - causing the bitmap to be displayed as a border positioned at the left side of the box and flowing to the right on the top and bottom (see Using Bitmaps on F Records for a complete description). A bitmap on the following M record will behave normally, but note that it will start in the middle of the wide box - i.e. at the left side of the regular narrow box it would usually occupy. For example:
Using these two 111 x 146 bitmaps (the size of a screen box position plus its borders):

and

and this code:
f01dWThis is a W record surrounded by a 111x146 size bitmap.;bmp=boxfill1.bmp
f05dM And this following M record is also surrounded by a 111x146 size bitmap. If it were the same color as the bitmap on the W, it would display as a seamless border.;bmp=boxfill2.bmp
would result in this display:

Of course, you could also use one bitmap, sized at 222x146, specified on the W record. However, I used different colors for demonstration purposes above. Usually you would want say a blue border all the way around. It would be better to use the one 111x146 blue bitmap twice (on the W and M records) instead of one 222x146 blue bitmap on the W record, because the smaller bitmap takes up less space on disk.