DataWindow Reference
Position

Description

Determines the line and column position of the insertion point or the start and end of selected text in a RichTextEdit control.

Applies to

Syntax

PowerBuilder

band rtename.Position ( long fromline, long fromchar {, long toline, long tochar } )

Return value

Returns the band containing the selection or insertion point. The returned value is a value of the Band enumerated datatype (Detail!, Header!, or Footer!).

Usage

Position reports the position of the insertion point if you omit the toline and tochar arguments. If text is selected, the insertion point can be at the beginning or the end of the selection. For example, if the user dragged down to select text, the insertion point is at the end.

If there is a selection, a character argument can be set to 0 to indicate that the selection begins or ends at the start of a line, with nothing else selected on that line. When the user drags up, the selection can begin at the start of a line and fromchar is set to 0. When the user drags down, the selection can end at the beginning of a line and tochar is set to 0.

Selection or insertion point

To find out whether there is a selection or just an insertion point, specify all four arguments. If toline and tochar are set to 0, then there is no selection, only an insertion point. If there is a selection and you want the position of the insertion point, you will have to call Position again with only two arguments. This difference is described next.

The position of the insertion point and end of selection can differ

When reporting the position of selected text, the positions are inclusive -- Position reports the first line and character and the last line and character that are selected. When reporting the position of the insertion point, Position identifies the character just after the insertion point. Therefore, if text is selected and the insertion point is at the end, the values for the insertion point and the end of the selection differ.

To illustrate, suppose the first four characters in line 1 are selected and the insertion point is at the end. If you request the position of the insertion point:

rte_1.Position(ll_line, ll_char)

Then:

If you request the position of the selection:

rte_1.Position(ll_startline, ll_startchar, ll_endline, ll_endchar)

Passing values to SelectText

Because values obtained with Position provide more information than simply a selection range, you cannot pass the values directly to SelectText. In particular, 0 is not a valid character position when selecting text, although it is meaningful in describing the selection.

Examples

This example calls Position to get the band and the line and column values for the beginning and end of the selection. The values are converted to strings and displayed in the StaticText st_status:

integer li_rtn
long ll_startline, ll_startchar
long ll_endline, ll_endchar
string ls_s, ls_band
band l_band
 
// Get the band and start and end of the selection
l_band = rte_1.Position(ll_startline,ll_startchar, ll_endline, ll_endchar)
 
// Convert position values to strings
ls_s = "Start line/char: " + String(ll_startline) + ", " + String(ll_startchar)
ls_s = ls_s + " End line/char: " + String(ll_endline) + ", " + String(ll_endchar)
 
// Convert Band datatype to string
CHOOSE CASE l_band
      CASE Detail!
         ls_band = " Detail"
      CASE Header!
         ls_band = " Header"
      CASE Footer!
         ls_band = " Footer"
      CASE ELSE
         ls_band = " No band"
END CHOOSE
ls_s = ls_s + ls_band
 
// Display the information
st_status.Text = ls_s

This example extends the current selection down 1 line. It takes into account whether there is an insertion point or a selection, whether the insertion point is at the beginning or end of the selection, and whether the selection ends at the beginning of a line:

integer rtn
long l1, c1, l2, c2, linsert, cinsert
long l1select, c1select, l2select, c2select
 
// Get selection start and end
rte_1.Position(l1, c1, l2, c2)
// Get insertion point
rte_1.Position(linsert, cinsert)
 
IF l2 = 0 and c2 = 0 THEN //insertion point
      l1select = linsert
      c1select = cinsert
      l2select = l1select + 1 // Add 1 to end line
      c2select = c1select
 
ELSEIF l2 > l1 THEN // Selection, ins pt at end
      IF c2 = 0 THEN // End of selection (ins pt)
         // at beginning of a line (char 0)
         c2 = 999 // Change to end of prev line
         l2 = l2 - 1
      END IF
 
      l1select = l1
      c1select = c1
      l2select = l2 + 1 // Add 1 to end line
      c2select = c2
 
ELSEIF l2 < l1 THEN // selection, ins pt at start
      IF c1 = 0 THEN // End of selection (not ins pt)
         // at beginning of a line
         c1 = 999 // Change to end of prev line
         l1 = l1 - 1
      END IF
      l1select = l2
      c1select = c2
      l2select = l1 + 1 // Add 1 to end line
      // (start of selection)
      c2select = c1
 
ELSE // l1 = l2, selection on one line
      l1select = l1
      l2select = l2 + 1 // Add 1 to line
      IF c1 < c2 THEN // ins pt at end
         c1select = c1
         c2select = c2
      ELSE // c1 > c2, ins pt at start
         c1select = c2
         c2select = c1
      END IF
END IF
 
// Select the extended selection
rtn = rte_1.SelectText( l1select, c1select, &
      l2select, c2select )

For an example of selecting each word in a RichTextEdit control, see SelectTextWord.

See also

SelectedLine

SelectedStart

SelectText