source: tags/arb_5.1/HELP_SOURCE/oldhelp/input_mask_format.hlp

#Please insert up references in the next lines (line starts with keyword UP)
UP      arb.hlp
UP      input_mask.hlp

#Please insert subtopic references  (line starts with keyword SUB)
SUB     commands.hlp
SUB     parser.hlp
SUB     regexpr.hlp


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#************* Title of helpfile !! and start of real helpfile ********
TITLE           User mask syntax description

OCCURRENCE      In all user mask files.

DESCRIPTION

        This document describes the syntax of user masks (*.mask files)

            <mask-file>         ::= <id-line>
                                    [<parameter-line>]+
                                    '@MASK_BEGIN'
                                    [<mask-layout-line>]+
                                    '@MASK_END'

            <id-line>           ::= 'ARB-Input-Mask'<cr>

            <parameter-line>    ::= '@'<parameter-name>'='<value><cr>
            <parameter-name>    ::= name of the parameter (i.e. 'ITEMTYPE')
            <value>             ::= the value of the parameter (depends on parameter)

            <mask-layout-line>  ::= <widget>[','<widget>]*
            <widget>            ::= <widget-name>'('<widget-parameters>')'
            <widget-name>       ::= name of the widget (i.e. 'EDIT')
            <widget-parameters> ::= <widget-parameter>[','<widget-parameter>]*

            <widget-parameter>  ::= <numeric-parameter> | <text-parameter>
            <numeric-parameter> ::= [0-9]+
            <text-parameter>    ::= "text"

            <cr>                ::= a newline character


        Parameter lines:

            <parameter-name>        mandatory?  allowed <value>s
            ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
            ITEMTYPE                yes         'Species', 'Organism', 'Gene' or 'Experiment'

            TITLE                   no          the title of the window

            X_SPACING               no          x-spacing between mask elements (default: 5)
            Y_SPACING               no          y-spacing --------- " --------- (default: 3)

            EDIT                    no          0|1 (1 => show edit/reload buttons)

        Known Widgets:

            Format of the following descriptions:

                   <widget> "description"
                   description of <widget-parameters>


            TEXT(text) "prints text to window"

                <text>         mandatory; Text appearing

            NEW_SECTION() "starts a new section"

            TEXTFIELD(label,db-path,width) "a text input field"

                <label>        mandatory; Label appearing in front of input-field
                <db-path>      mandatory; path-name of the database entry (i.e. 'full_name' or 'ali_23s/data')
                <width>        mandatory; width of input field (1..n)

            NUMFIELD(label,db-path,width[,[min],[max]]) "a numeric input field" Note: all in [ ] is optional

                <label>        mandatory; <like above>
                <db-path>      mandatory; <like above>
                <width>        mandatory; width of input field (1..n)
                <min>          optional; minimum (leave empty for no minimum)
                <max>          optional if <min>; maximum (leave empty for no maximum)

            CHECKBOX(label,db-path,checked) "a checkbox"

                <label>        mandatory; <like above>
                <db-path>      mandatory; <like above>
                <checked>      mandatory; 0 or 1 (value is used if database entry is missing)

            RADIO(label,db-path,default,orientation[,radio-def]+) "a radio button field" Note: [ ]+ means: must occur once, may occur repeated

                <label>        mandatory; <like above>
                <db-path>      mandatory; <like above>
                <default>      mandatory; 1 .. n (which radio button is active if database entry is missing)
                <orientation>  mandatory; H,V,X,Y (horizontal or vertical)

                <radio-def> ::= <text>,<db-value>
                                or
                                <text>,'ALLOW_EDIT',<width>,<db-value>

                                <text>        mandatory; text showing up in window
                                <db-value>    mandatory; text used as database content

            OPENMASK(button-label,mask-name) "a button opening another mask"

                <button-label> mandatory; Label appearing on button
                <mask-name>    mandatory; User-Mask to activate

            CHANGEMASK(button-label,mask-name) "same as OPENMASK but closes current mask"

            WWW(button-label,url-srt) "a button to open an URL in the web-browser"

                <button-label> mandatory; Label appearing on button
                <url-srt>      mandatory; ACI/SRT expression which creates an URL (script runs on current item)

            ID(id) "assign an identifier to the last element"

                <id>           mandatory; a unique identifier

            GLOBAL(id,default) "declare a global variable (visible in ALL masks)"

                <id>           mandatory; a unique identifier
                <default>      mandatory; default value for variable

            LOCAL(id,default) "declare a local variable (only visible in CURRENT masks)"

                <id>           mandatory; a unique identifier
                <default>      mandatory; default value for variable

            SCRIPT(id,aci)     "declare a script"

                <id>           mandatory; a unique identifier
                <aci>          mandatory; the script itself (" has to be written as \")

            SHOW(label,idref,width) "display/edit a variable or script"

                <label>        mandatory; Label appearing in front of input-field
                <idref>        mandatory; name of an existing identifier
                <width>        mandatory; width of display textfield

            ASSIGN(dest,source,button-label) "a button to assign value of 'source' to 'dest'"

                <dest>         mandatory; ID of destination (may be a variable, a named field, etc.)
                <source>       mandatory; ID of source (variable, named field, script, etc.)
                <button-label> mandatory; text appearing on button


        Examples for Widgets:

            TEXTFIELD(   "Name   ",  "full_name" , 50  )
            TEXT("Publication:")
            TEXTFIELD(   "Author ",  "author" ,  40  )    ID(AUTHOR)
            TEXTFIELD(   "Title  ",  "title" ,  40  )
            TEXTFIELD(   "Journal",  "journal" ,  30  )

            TEXTFIELD(   "Remark ",  "remark2" ,  50  )

            CHECKBOX(   "Checked ",  "checked" ,  0  ) TEXTFIELD("by","checked_by",8)