[scribus] scribus Digest, Vol 24, Issue 1 (custom line types as styles)

[Christoph Bloch]

> On 02/28/2010 10:52 AM, Gregory Pittman wrote:
>   
>> On 02/28/2010 10:02 AM, Gregory Pittman wrote:
>>     
>>> On 02/28/2010 06:25 AM, Christoph Bloch wrote:
>>>       
>>>>> For reasons best known to others, the word Custom does not appear in
>>>>> my drop down box when accessing "Type of Line" via the edit styles
>>>>> (line) menu item
>>>>>           
>>>> Yes, that's exactly my problem. There's a special line type that's not
>>>> predefined, so I have to create it myself using the custom line type. I
>>>> use it a lot, so I'd like to define it as a style.
>>>> Maybe there's a way to define a style from an existing line?
>>>>         
>>> Yes, I was noticing this myself as I was working on documentation for
>>> Lines and Line Styles.
>>> Also, there is only one Custom style when can exist at any one time.
>>>
>>> There is quite an array of predefined styles, maybe even too many. It
>>> might make more sense to have fewer of these, then allow for a number of
>>> customized styles, maybe even starting with one of the predefined,
>>> editing it, then saving as a custom style with a name.
>>>
>>> Meanwhile, I'll have a look at how this is coded in the SLA files. Maybe
>>> there is some trick that could be used.
>>>       
>> Ok, some further information gleaned from the SLA files.
>>
>> 1. You can have more than one Custom line, since the coding for this is
>> inside the <PAGEOBJECT...> tag.
>>
>> 2. The built-in list of line styles are denoted by the PLINEART
>> variable, with the solid line at the top being "1", and so on down the
>> list. Line Styles also use a PLINEART="1", with that type being
>> overridden by the NAMEDLST="" variable, where your line style name goes
>> in those quotes.
>>
>> 3. For Custom lines, there are 2 variables, NUMDASH and DASHS, where
>> NUMDASH refers to the number of colored and transparent spaces you have
>> specified -- you would have to have at least 2, for the dash and then
>> the aftercoming space.
>> Example: I made a 2-dash, 2-space pattern that came out NUMDASH="4"
>> DASHS="8 4 8.2 9.6 "
>>
>> 4. The Style is denoted by the following pattern:
>> <Multiline Name="YourStyleName">
>> <Subline............../>
>> </Multiline>
>> but unfortunately there is only a Dash variable, presumably denoting one
>> of the built-in styles.
>>
>> 5. Now comes the workaround, which you may not like:
>>
>> a. make your Custom line for one line.
>> b. make the rest of your lines using the No Style (or some other) style
>> -- match the color and thickness of your custom line.
>> c. save, then go to the SLA file, replace 'NUMDASH="" DASHS=""' with
>> your custom parameters, such as 'NUMDASH="4" DASHS="8 4 8.2 9.6 "' if
>> you were using my line example, for each line you wish to have this
>> pattern.
>>     
>
> But wait! There's more!
>
> 6. You can also use this to apply your custom line to the border of 
> frames, shapes, etc. If needed, you can go to the Line tab and adjust 
> the Offset for each object you apply this Custom style to.
>
> Greg
Thanks for this workaround. However I think custom line types should be 
included in line types. It seems to me the value 'Dash="0"' is not yet 
used. This could be used in order to activate additional parameters like 
'NUMDASH="4" DASHS="8 4 8.2 9.6 "'

This would look like this:
> <MultiLine Name="line_style_with_custom_line_type">
> <SubLine Color="Red" Shade="100" Dash="0" NUMDASH="4" DASHS="8 4 8.2 
> 9.6 " LineEnd="0" LineJoin="0" Width="3" Shortcut=""/>
> </MultiLine>