* New text clipping option

[LornaCraig]

The list of new features in v 7.0.19 includes the following:

There is a new text clipping option with diagrams. Defaults to clipping at box level. Is accessed by clicking “Margins & Tabs” on the Text tab of diagram options.

Does anyone know what this does? The Help info for Margins and Tabs has not been updated and my experiments have not enlightened me!

[sbell95]

Lorna, could it be related to the item above:

Fixed a bug which meant that text could be chopped off at the bottom of a box in a diagram window, in certain circumstances

Something to do with text overflow in boxes in certain circumstances which can now be controlled with options?

[LornaCraig]

Sarah, you might be right. But if they have fixed the bug, why does the user need to do anything? And how?
If the new options are part of the bug fix I think CP need to explain what they do. A brief update to the Help files is needed.

[Jane]

The help update may have been missed. Just log the omission to support, so they can pass it on to the developers.

It is to do with how much space is kept at the bottom of the box where it is full of text and how much white space is retained.

[LornaCraig]

Thanks Jane, I'll log the lack of 'Help' with CP.

[tatewise]

Unfortunately, forgetting to update the Help is a regular occurrence that I have reported on several occasions but rarely gets actioned. So I've given up reporting them. There are even discrepancies between the program Help and the online Help.
Moan over!

[Mark1834]

In CP’s defence, I’ve had a number of “discussions” over the years regarding elements of the help (particularly plugin help) and given specifics of where it is ambiguous (or just plain wrong).

These usually result in a revision. Most of the “we have reworked the description of...” comments that come at the bottom of update lists are my tickets!

[LornaCraig]

I logged the lack of 'Help' with CP and they have now replied:

Thank you for pointing that out. We will update the Help in the next release. It will read as follows:

Text Margins
Specify the margins round the text, separating it from the edges of the box in which the text appears.

Tab Width
If the text contains tab characters, text will be moved forward to the next tab position. Tab positions are regularly spaced about 0.75” apart by default, but you can adjust the distance between tabs here.

Text Clipping

The options are:

clip at box
lines within box
clip at margin
lines within margin

These options only have any effect if you resize a box to make it smaller. They determine what happens to the text in that case.

Clip at box (the default) means that the text is truncated at the bottom edge of the box.

Lines within box is the same as clip at box, except that each vertical line is only displayed if it is wholly visible. If a line (or the wrapped portion of a line) would be only partly visible because the bottom half would need to extend below the edge of the box, the line (or the wrapped portion of the line) will not display at all.

Clip at margin means that the text is truncated at the bottom text margin. So, for example, if the bottom margin is 0.05", clip at margin means that the text will be truncated at 0.05" above the bottom of the box.

Lines within margin is the same as clip at margin, except that each vertical line (or wrapped portion of a line) is only displayed if it is wholly visible. If a line (or the wrapped portion of a line) would be only partly visible because the bottom half would need to extend below the bottom text margin, the line (or the wrapped portion of the line) will not display at all.

To resize a box in a diagram, click on the Move button on the diagram toolbar (or click Enable Moving/Resizing on the Diagram menu). When you do this, if you select any of the diagram boxes, the little squares in the corner and edges of the box that mark it as selected (known as 'handles'), will be white instead of blue. Now, if you click-and-drag on any one of these white handles, the box will change size.

Oddly, although thay said that v7.0.19 has fixed an earlier bug where text could sometimes get chopped off at the bottom of a box, I had never had that problem before but I do sometimes see it now. So the 'fix' seems to have generated the problem it was supposed to fix! However the new clipping tool can be used when this happens, even though they say "these options only have any effect if you resize a box to make it smaller". The problem can also be solved by simply making the box bigger, as long as there is room for it in the diagram.

[fhtess65]

I will admit using the term "clipping" for this feature doesn't make things clear. I generally think of clipping in computer terms of being able to clip something out and save it elsewhere, similar to snipping.

Now I've read their explanation, I see what they mean, but still think they might want to think of a more obvious term.

I logged the lack of 'Help' with CP and they have now replied:

<SNIP>

Oddly, although thay said that v7.0.19 has fixed an earlier bug where text could sometimes get chopped off at the bottom of a box, I had never had that problem before but I do sometimes see it now. So the 'fix' seems to have generated the problem it was supposed to fix! However the new clipping tool can be used when this happens, even though they say "these options only have any effect if you resize a box to make it smaller". The problem can also be solved by simply making the box bigger, as long as there is room for it in the diagram.

[NickWalker]

I wonder if cropping would be a better word to use.

[tatewise]

The word CP use in the Help is truncation.

[jelv]

Clipping means to cut a portion out of something to use elsewhere. I was really mystified as to what it was about and wondered what happened or could be done with the clipped text.

Either cropping or truncation work for me, but definitely not clipping.

[fhtess65]

Agreed - cropping or truncation are much more descriptive and makes much more sense.

Clipping means to cut a portion out of something to use elsewhere. I was really mystified as to what it was about and wondered what happened or could be done with the clipped text.

Either cropping or truncation work for me, but definitely not clipping.

[LornaCraig]

I will get back to CP and point out that the term 'clipping' is confusing and suggest that they use 'cropping' instead.

[LornaCraig]

I raised the issue of the word 'clipping' being misleading and they replied :

Please see this page for an example of our use of the term "text clipping": https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/methods-f ... -graphics/

[Mark1834]

Rant alert - help text should be written in plain English for everyday users, not written for geeks in geek language!

[LornaCraig]

Will you tell CP that or shall i?

[fhtess65]

This was going to be my point - regardless of the fact it's technically correct to use the word clipping, if it confuses your users, it's of no help! The site pointed to says it all - geeks for geeks...Many, many users aren't tech savvy, so they want Help documentation that's in plain English.

Rant alert - help text should be written in plain English for everyday users, not written for geeks in geek language!

[LornaCraig]

I mentioned in one of my earliers posts in this thread that

although they said that v7.0.19 has fixed an earlier bug where text could sometimes get chopped off at the bottom of a box, I had never had that problem before but I do sometimes see it now. So the 'fix' seems to have generated the problem it was supposed to fix!

CP have now confirmed that there is a bug (presumably introduced in the process of fixing the previous bug!). It occurs in some, but not all, cases when a picture is displayed at the side of the boxes. They said:

It will be fixed in the next update. The workaround for now is to tick the option "Wrap text round picture (side layout only)" on the Pictures tab of Diagram Options.

Hoping this will be of help to anyone else who notices this problem.