SIMPLE4 – constants, color, expressions

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This rule set demonstrates the use of constants, graphical shading, colors, and expressions to produce explanatory notes in the document. To produce this sample, use this command:

uf101c –i sample1.txt –f simple.rul –r simple4 –p pdf –o client:simple4.pdf

A title header prefixes all rule sets, which is just a unique name enclosed in brackets.

[simple4]

# to use this rule set, you need to FORCE the rule set with the -r option

# or remark (#) out the detect command in the rule sets above.

# This rule set takes the rule set above and improves it by adding

# constants, graphical shading, increases the resolution,

# and adds explanatory text commands for cust # and ship to #.

# Also adds a copy for a packing slip with no prices.

dsn_sample "sample1.txt"

detect 61,5,"~../../.. ......." # invoice date and #

detect 9,11,"~......" # customer code

detect 10,21,"~../../.. ......" # ord date and cust code

Constants are simple text names that are replaced by values later in the rule set. They can be used to simplify maintenance of the rule set, or to make it easier to read. In this example, a series of constants is defined using the const command, and you will find the names referenced throughout the balance of the rule set.

const MAXCOLS=80 # max cols to output

const MAXRCOLS=79 # MAXCOLS-1

const LEFTCOL=.5 # use 1 if empty

const RIGHTCOL=80.5 # use LEFTCOL for symmetry

const MAXROWS=66 # max rows to output

cols MAXCOLS

rows MAXROWS

# copies

const CUSTOMER_COPY=1

const FILE_COPY=2

const PACK_COPY=3

pcopies 3

The dpi setting applies to laser output only, and instructs the printer to produce output at 600 dpi, providing a typically crisper, more professional look. In addition, the gs on command turns on graphical shading mode, so that shade regions and shaded text are rendered as graphical data rather than using pcl's internal, typically coarse, shade macros.

dpi 600

gs on # turn on graphical shading

# enhancement constants

const HSHADE=30

const ISHADE=20

const DSHADE=10

const HFONT=univers,11

const IFONT=univers,italic,10

const DFONT=cgtimes,10

const DBFONT=DFONT,bold

# header section

cbox LEFTCOL,.5,RIGHTCOL,{MAXROWS+.5},5

image 1,1,12,6,"sdsilogo.pcl"

text 1,2,"Company Name",HFONT,14,bold,center,cols=MAXRCOLS

text 1,3,"Company Address\nCompany City, St Zipcode\nCompany Phone",HFONT,12,bold,center,cols=MAXRCOLS

text 1,6,"Web: www.myweb.com\nEmail: sales@myweb.com",HFONT,bold,center,cols=MAXRCOLS

text 1,2,"INVOICE",HFONT,16,bold,right,cols=MAXRCOLS

# invoice # section

cbox 67,4,RIGHTCOL,10,1,crows=6 8,ccols=74::ISHADE

text 68,5,"Date",IFONT

text 68,7,"Invoice",IFONT

text 68,9,"Page #",IFONT

# cut data from old position and place in new

text 75,5,{cut(61,5,8,"")},DBFONT

text 75,7,{cut(71,5,7,"")},DBFONT

text 75,9,{cut(79,5,2,"")},DBFONT

The cbox command shown here uses constants defined above, plus shows the use of color options, which are supported by PDF and color laser output. In this example, the interior is colored in cyan, and the lines are colored in blue. Alternately, RGB hex triplets (such as 800000 for dark red) can be specified using the rgb, scolor rgb, or lcolor rgb options.

# bill to / ship to section

cerase 1,11,MAXCOLS,11 # erase cust#,ship# used later in text commands

cbox LEFTCOL,11,RIGHTCOL,18.5,5,cyan,lcolor=blue,ccols=7::ISHADE 43.5 50::ISHADE

text 2,12,"Sold To",IFONT,center,cols=5

cfont 8,11,40,11,DBFONT,left

cfont 8,12,40,15,DBFONT # sold to address

This text command shows an example of how to use an expression to construct a message using a combination of hard-coded text and information from the data stream. In this example, the phrase "Your customer code is" is concatenated with the data at column 9, row 11, for 6 characters, on each page, and the result is printed at column 9, row 18, using the specifications provided by the constant IFONT, defined earlier in the rule set.

text 8,18,{"Your customer code is "+get(9,11,6)+"."},IFONT

text 45,12,"Ship To",IFONT,center,cols=5

cfont 51,11,80,11,DBFONT,left

text 51,12,{mcut(51,12,30,4,"","Y","Y")},DBFONT

text 51,18,{"Your ship to code is "+get(55,11,6)+"."},IFONT

# ribbon section

cbox LEFTCOL,18.5,RIGHTCOL,22.5,5,lcolor=blue,crows=20.5::ISHADE:cyan,ccols=9 18 25 65

# special internal grid in ribbon box

cbox 29,18.5,65,21.5

cbox 42,18.5,56,21.5

text 1,19,"Order\nNumber",IFONT,center,cols=8

text 10,19,"Order\nDate",IFONT,center,cols=8

text 19,19,"Cust.\nNumber",IFONT,center,cols=6

text 26,19,"Sls\nPrs",IFONT,center,cols=3

text 30,19,"Purchase\nOrder No.",IFONT,center,cols=12

text 43,19,"\nShip Via",IFONT,center,cols=13

text 57,19,"Ship\nDate",IFONT,center,cols=8

text 66,19,"\nTerms",IFONT,center,cols=14

cfont 1,21,8,21,DBFONT,center # order #

cfont 10,21,17,21,DBFONT,center # order date

cfont 19,21,24,21,DBFONT,center # cust #

cfont 26,21,28,21,DBFONT,left # sls prs code

cfont 26,22,64,22,DBFONT,left # sls prs name

cfont 30,21,41,21,DBFONT,center # po #

cfont 43,21,55,21,DBFONT,center # ship via

cfont 57,21,64,21,DBFONT,center # ship date

cfont 66,21,80,22,DBFONT,center # terms

# detail section

if copy PACK_COPY

erase "~\.[0-9][0-9]@62,25,79,56",-6,0,11,1

endif

cbox LEFTCOL,22.5,RIGHTCOL,56.5,5,crows=24.5::DSHADE,ccols=5 10 16 51 55 67

text 1,23,"Qty\nOrd",IFONT,right,cols=4

text 6,23,"Qty\nShip",IFONT,right,cols=4

text 11,23,"Qty\nBkord",IFONT,right,cols=4

text 17,23,"\nItem & Description",IFONT

text 52,23,"\nU/M",IFONT,center,cols=3

text 56,23,"Unit\nPrice",IFONT,right,cols=11

text 68,23,"Extended\nPrice",IFONT,right,cols=12

cfont 1,25,4,56,DBFONT,right # qty ord

cfont 6,25,9,56,DBFONT,right # qty shipped

cfont 11,25,15,56,DBFONT,right # qty b/o

cfont 17,25,50,56,DFONT,left # item # & desc

cfont 52,25,54,56,DBFONT,center # u/m

cfont 56,25,66,56,DBFONT,right # unit price

cfont 68,25,79,56,DBFONT,right # extended

# memo section

font " @1,25,4,56",17,0,60,1,DFONT,left

# watermark

if copy CUSTOMER_COPY,FILE_COPY

text 1,56,"INVOICE",DFONT,120,shade=DSHADE,center,cols=MAXCOLS,fit

endif

if copy PACK_COPY

text 1,56,"PACK SLIP",DFONT,120,shade=DSHADE,center,cols=MAXCOLS,fit

endif

# footer section

cbox 57,57,RIGHTCOL,65,lcolor=red,crows=59 63,ccols=67::HSHADE

text 58,58,"Sales Amt",HFONT

cfont 58,60,66,60,HFONT,left

text 58,61,"Sales Tax",HFONT

text 58,62,"Freight",HFONT

text 58,64.25,"TOTAL",HFONT,bold,14

cfont 68,58,79,65,DBFONT,right,14 # totals

text 2,58,"Customer code as 3 of 9 barcode",IFONT

barcode 2,58.67,{get(9,11,6)},400,14.0,4

Note the use of constants to make this section easier to read.

# copy name section

if copy CUSTOMER_COPY

text 1,65.5,"Customer Copy",HFONT,12,bold,center,cols=MAXCOLS

end if

if copy FILE_COPY

text 1,65.5,"Accounting Copy",HFONT,12,bold,center,cols=MAXCOLS

end if

if copy PACK_COPY

text 1,65.5,"Packing Slip",HFONT,12,bold,center,cols=MAXCOLS

end if

This text line demonstrates the use of multi-line text forced to fit within a certain number of columns. UnForm scans each of the two lines (delimited by the \n character sequence, or it could contain data with line-feed or carriage-return line-feed delimiters) to determine the width, beginning with the point size 12 specified in the command. The size is reduced until both lines will fit within the 20 columns specified with the cols option. Once the correct point size is determined, the lines are spaced normally for that height. For example, if the size required is 8.25 points, then the lines will be spaced 8.25 points apart. If spacing had been set to 1.5, then the lines would be spaced 12.33 points apart.

text 2,62,"This sample message text, which contains\nline breaks, is sized to fit in 20 columns.",cols 20,cgtimes,12,fit,spacing 1