Text Objects

Here is where all the text objects are listed. Selecting an object ID will display that objects properties for editing

Text ID

Here is where you define the ID for the object. The ID is the string that is used to reference the ID in code. The ID can be anything but must follow these two rules:

• IDs can not have spaces (underscores "_" are a good alternative)
• no two objects can have the same ID

Also, when you edit an object ID, the changes are immediatly shown in the object list

Text Font ID

Here is where you define the ID of the font that the text will be displayed in. You can either enter the ID manually or, if there is a font data file loaded, select the ID from the drop-down list

Text Content

Here is where you define what the text will say. You may use spaces and any special characters, even quoutation marks

Text Position

Here is where you define the x and y position of the text

Text Clip

If you need to confine the text to a certain amount of space then use this. The width and height settings are in pixels. Text will not extend past the width (it will word wrap) or the height (any text left when the max height is reached will not be displayed).

Text Delay

You can use this to create flashing text. Set the delay (the rate at which the text will flash) in milliseconds and check Repeat. If you just want the text to appear or dissapear for a set amount of time, set that time in milliseconds and leave Repeat unchecked.

Text Options

You can center text, although this really only works well for text that has no clip window. Centering text centers it around the x and y position you gave in Text Position. You can also control the initial visibility of the text by checking and unchecking the Visible box

Text Type

Here you can choose from three text types. Normal text is static text. Input text allows you to edit the text by clicking on it. Select text allows you to select the text by clicking on it (a box will appear around the text). All three text types support text clipping.

Text Point

This is the size of the text. Common point sizes are 8, 10, 12, 18, 32, 64, etc although in reality the point size can be any numerical value from 1-999.

Text Colors

Here you can define both the foreground and background colors of the text using RGB values. The foreground is the actual text color, while the background is the area around the text. Note that while you can match the background color of the text to the current background, text is currently not transparent.

Text Styles

Here you can format the text. Selecting Normal will uncheck all the other check boxes. You can, however, select Underline, Italic, and Bold all at once (selecting any of these will uncheck Normal)

Selection Image

Selection images are what are used to create selection boxes. Basically they are a large box image and when text is selected, that large box image is chopped down to fit the text. Therefore make sure that the box image is large enough for text selection. This combo box takes an ID of an image object. You can either enter it manually or, if an image data file is loaded, select the ID from the drop-down list