6.0

4
PlanetPress Talk Basics
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At this point you might want to introduce other commands into the code, or modify some commands and
verify the changes produce the result you expect. Or perhaps you want to create a new data selection that
starts in the middle of the data page and extends over several lines to see how PlanetPress Talk handles
multi-line data selections.
PlanetPress Talk Terminology
The PlanetPress Talk Language Reference uses the following terms:
setstyle(&Default)
Set the style for the data selection to the default style
margin(0,0.167)
Set the offset for the text, relative to the top left of the object.
rmoveto(stringwidth(' '),0)
Move the pen forward the width of the data selection. Here, the
purpose of this line is to set a bounding box that appears around the
data selection object in the document design window. The
bounding box does not print but is a visual cue that keeps the object
visible even when its contents are empty.
rmoveto(neg(stringwidth(' ')),0)
Move the pen backward the width of the data selection. This resets
the pen to its position prior to executing the previous command. It
ensures the previous command does not alter the position of the
data selection.
show(@(1,1,12))
Display the text that appears from columns 1 through 12 on line 1
of the current data page.
What terms does the PlanetPress Talk Language Reference use?
Term: Is:
command A generic term that encompasses operators, functions, procedures, condition structures,
and loop structures.
expression A piece of PlanetPress Talk code that includes at least one command and is at most one line
in length. For example:
&area := (&width * &height)
statement A single line of PlanetPress Talk code. For example:
define(&max, integer, strtoint(@(1,1,4)))
script or
program
A sequence of one or more lines of PlanetPress Talk code, executed sequentially. For
example the following script draws a filled shape:
moveto(1,1)
lineto(1.5,2)
curveto(1,1,1,3,0.5,2)
closepath()
stroke()
Command: Tells the document to: