[scribus] Baseline Offset

[Gregory Pittman]

On 05/14/2013 09:08 PM, amruginn-scribus at yahoo.com wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I've been searching the mailing list archives, and the interwebs, to identify a solution to my problem.
>
> I'm creating a PDF document using Scripter, with the script being generated from a C++ program. I'm creating a lot of table'd data, and eventually will be putting borders around the cells.
>
> With that in mind, I was using version 1.3.8 on a PCLinuxOS machine which was slower than the second machine I'm now trying to work on which is running Linux Mint (LMDE 2013.03) and 1.4.0 (I also grabbed 1.4.2.). The script works fine in both versions with the Linux Mint machine being faster, obviously.
>
> My dilemma is that I was using baseline offset of -15% for my text boxes which gave a nice vertical centering of sorts. (I read the posts and wiki entry regarding vertical centering and realize that shouldn't be managed in a DTP.) As well, baseline offset is something I can define in a Scribus Template document's character styles, and then use that style in my Scripter script.
>
> In the 1.3.8 version, the baseline offset works as desired, but when I move to 1.4.0 (and 1.4.2) the baseline offset needs to be a huge number to do anything, and then it goes beyond the size of the box. (Assume 8pt font, 10pt box, and baseline offset goes -60%, and the text doesn't show up.)
>
> I notice that the First Line Offset (maximum ascent, font ascent, or line spacing) sort of works if I use font ascent, unfortunately, that isn't something I can set in Scripter nor a character style. Therefore, it's not a practical solution for me.
>
> Is this a bug now, or was it a bug then, and not working as-designed? I'm also attempting to compile the recent (and eventually historical) source but I have some dependencies I haven't loaded, to see if I can either identify it, or add a solution for my needs.
>
>
Maybe I don't understand what you're doing, but it seems a rather clumsy 
way to center vertically.

Here is a fragment from a script I wrote to center text vertically in a 
frame by adjusting the Top text distance value. This is the logic part 
that centers the text in the frame. It requires fixed linespacing to 
work properly.

         lines = scribus.getTextLines(textbox)
         distances = scribus.getTextDistances(textbox)
         linespace = scribus.getLineSpacing(textbox)
         dimensions = scribus.getSize(textbox) # (width, height)
         if (scribus.textOverflows(textbox, 1) > 0):
             scribus.messageBox('User Error', "This frame is already 
overflowing", scribus.ICON_WARNING, scribus.BUTTON_OK)
             sys.exit(2)
         newtopdist = (dimensions[1] - linespace * lines)/2
scribus.setTextDistances(distances[0],distances[1],newtopdist,distances[3],textbox)
         scribus.moveObject(-4,0,textbox)
         scribus.moveObject(4,0,textbox)

The last 2 lines compensate for a display problem in Scribus. If they're 
not there you may not see the text shifted as it should. It's only a 
display problem, since if you save your document and reload, you see the 
text shifted. I also noted that if you move the frame, the text moves in 
the display to where it should be, so the script has a built-in shift, 
then unshift to manage the same thing.

Greg