What's New in TX Text Control ActiveX 11.0
The following features are new or have been improved in TX Text Control ActiveX 11.0:
- Nested Tables
View and edit complex documents, such as datasheets. All text filters (HTML, RTF, DOC and PDF) have been improved.
Nested Tables
Download RTF [19.06 KB]
Introduced in TX Text Control ActiveX 5.0, tables are a very popular feature of modern word processing applications. Tables are used to present and format tabular data and to create ad hoc page layout formatting.
Text contained within a table can be subjected to all of TX Text Control ActiveX 11.0 vast array of formatting options.
Traditionally, every new version of TX Text Control ActiveX improves table support. TX Text Control ActiveX 11.0 is no exception.
TX Text Control ActiveX 11.0 now supports nested tables (tables within table cells).
Diverse Applications
Download RTF [1.81 KB]
Nesting tables enables end-users to create documents ranging from technical datasheets via complex reports to holiday brochure page layout.
Consider the sample documents to the right. You can click in the screenshots to get a zoomed version and download the RTF file to try out the document for yourself.
Please ensure that you have TX Text Control ActiveX 11.0 installed on your PC before you try to load these documents into you TX Text Control ActiveX 11.0 based application. Failure to have the latest version installed will lead to incorrect layout.
Rich Formatting Options
Download RTF [357.42 KB]
TX Text Control ActiveX 11.0 provides a rich set of formatting options for tables, cells and text contained within table cells.
Tables can be inserted into documents or other tables using the integrated dialog box or directly from program code. Frames and shading can be applied to cells and the cell contents can be formatted using any of TX Text Control ActiveX 11.0's formatting options.
Selecting a font face, setting an indent or setting line spacing, for example, for text within a table cell is performed exactly the same as for text elsewhere in a document.
Cells can contain singular words or figures, entire paragraphs, graphics and even tables.
Table cells can be accessed in a grid-like manner, enabling developers to fill in their contents from a database and perform calculations on the contents of rows and columns.
Multi-level Undo and Redo
In previous versions of TX Text Control ActiveX, only the last action could be undone and redone. Although this was sufficient to implement a simple undo / redo feature, many customers developing high-end, fully fledged word processing applications demanded more.
TX Text Control ActiveX 11.0 now offers multi-level undo and redo.
TX Text Control ActiveX 11.0 records every step taken when an end-user edits a word processing document. At any time, end-users may undo the editing steps that they have taken or redo what they have undone.
Programmers can implement multi-level undo / redo that can be accessed from the menu using the mouse or directly via the keyboard using a shortcut. TX Text Control ActiveX 11.0 returns a string describing the next undo step.
Improved PDF Export
Initially introduced in TX Text Control ActiveX 10.0, PDF export quickly established itself as an essential feature in many TX Text Control ActiveX based applications. For the first time, developers could offer PDF export directly from their program code, without the unnecessary inconvenience of third party plugins and printer drivers.
TX Text Control ActiveX 11.0 introduces several parameters that define what can and what cannot be done with a PDF document.
TX Text Control ActiveX 11.0 now supports Adobe's Password Security settings.
Setting PDF Permissions
From program code, the dialog box to the right (shown here in two states) can be created to allow end-users maximum control over their documents.
End-users can limit access to their PDF files by giving the files passwords and restricting certain features such as printing and editing. When files have restricted features, any tools and menu items related to those features are dimmed in Adobe Reader and most other PDF reading applications.
End-users can specify whether they wish to allow printing of their document and whether the document may be printed in high or low resolution. Similarly, end-users can establish restrictions concerning editing rights of their documents. Editing rights of PDF documents can be set to:
- Insert, deleting and rotating pages
- Filling in form fields and signing
- Commenting, filling in form fields and signing
- Allow all changes, except page extraction
Furthermore, end-users can prohibit the copying of text, images and any other content and whether text access for screen readers should be permitted.
Improved JPEG Export
Although JPEG was originally intended for use in Internet-based applications, it is becoming an ever more popular file format for high-end word processing applications. A JPEG file is encoded by using an adjustable lossy compression approach. This means that to achieve smaller file sizes, image data is actually removed from the image file.
In small doses, the JPEG compression approach can be very effective and efficient. However, in larger amounts, the resulting file will contain noise and undesired artifacts in the image.
JPEG export was originally introduced in TX Text Control ActiveX 9.0 and quickly established itself as a popular feature.
TX Text Control ActiveX 11.0 now supports the setting of:
- JPEG compression quality
- JPEG image resolution
JPEG compression quality
TX Text Control ActiveX 11.0 allows the compression dosage to be set from program code. The greater the amount of JPEG compression applied, the smaller the file size of the image will become. However, this reduction of file size comes at the price of deterioration of image quality.
Sample Images
Consider the following examples:
The image to the left has been saved as a JPEG file, setting the compression at the minimum level. The result is an almost perfect image; however, the file size is a hefty 495 kB. The image to the right has been saved as a JPEG file, setting the compression at the maximum level. The result is a very lossy image; however, the file size is a mere 68 kB.
TX Text Control ActiveX 11.0 allows images to be exported to JPEG files, setting the compression to any value on the range of 0 to 100.
JPEG image resolution
If there are more than 300 dots per square inch, humans cannot detect those dots that are in excess of this threshold. For clear and crisp printing, images at their final size in the layout should be at 300 DPI (400 DPI, if the images include text). It therefore makes sense to take care of all DPI parameterization when a word processing document is saved. Using TX Text Control ActiveX 11.0, this is possible directly from program code.
Sample Images
Consider the following examples:
Improved Ruler Bar
Used to set tabs, indents and hanging indents, the ruler bar can be considered a central feature of all word processing applications. It is one of four components that ship with TX Text Control ActiveX 11.0 and typically appears underneath the button bar.
TX Text Control ActiveX 11.0 now supports a contemporary ruler bar.
The new ruler bar, enclosed in the red rectangle in the screenshot below, can be used to set indentations and tabs:
Indentation Markers
Using the new ruler bar, end-users can set indentation marks to adjust the space between the page margin and paragraphs. Indentations can be set either from the menu or from the new ruler bar.
Defined by the currently set unit of measurement, the indentation marks on the ruler bar can be used to adjust indentations at tenth of inch or twentieth of centimeter intervals. The ruler contains two arrows that meet in the middle: The upper arrow indents the first line of a paragraph; the bottom arrow indents all but the first line. If both arrows are on top of each other, all lines of a paragraph are flush indented.
End-users may adjust the indentation for paragraphs simply by sliding the indentation mark to the desired measurement.
Tab Markers
In TX Text Control ActiveX 11.0, the following tab marker icons have been added to the button bar and the ruler bar:
 | Left tab |
 | Center tab |
 | Right tab |
 | Decimal tab |
 | Right border tab |
TX Text Control ActiveX 11.0 supports five kinds of tabs (left, center, right, decimal and right border). These tabs are illustrated in the box to the left.
The icon to the left of the ruler (in the left red rectangle of the above graphic) indicates the current tab. End-users can click this icon to toggle through the five tabs. The currently selected tab is inserted into the document when an end-user clicks on the ruler bar.
The position of the tab can be changed by putting the pointer over the tab maker, holding the left button down and dragging to the new position. Tabs can be erased by dragging them off the ruler.
