Re: Font metrics in AFPDS?

[CRPence <CRPbottle@xxxxxxxxx>]

On 18-Mar-2015 17:42 -0500, James H. H. Lampert wrote:
> <<SNIP>>  determine the set-width of a
> character string, in the font in which it is presented.
>
> There are numerous fields that have too little space on the page to
> accommodate the full field length, in which I'm applying variable
> horizontal scaling, based on the RPG %LEN(%TRIM()) of the field.
> They'd work a lot better if I could calculate the horizontal scaling
> from the actual set-width.
>
> One of those fields, in addition, is one where it would be nice if,
> for values that take up less than the available space even without
> horizontal scaling, I could accurately center the value (which of
> course can't be done without knowing the set-width.
>
> Surely I'm not the first one in this position?

  FWiW, I recall very clearly that there was at least one prior topic 
[maybe a language-specific forum] here discussing how one might 
determine the width of a given string using a proportional font.  I 
recall mostly, because there was a second discussion within a year or 
two for which I had thought to direct the author to the prior topic that 
had offered information about obtaining the width information for a 
string [from an effective API call], but upon re-reading the original 
discussion I could not find any such implication... as if perhaps I had 
imagined the possibility :-( or perhaps I had followed up on some 
tidbits offered whereupon I stumbled-on but did not post any followup 
reply about what I had found.?.?  I feel somewhat less daft for having 
thought that there was an API, after finding a comment in a reply to 
"Vern... I had a vague recollection of an API that would retrieve the 
font widths also." from 
<http://archive.midrange.com/midrange-l/201309/msg00235.html>


<https://www.google.com/search?q=%22width%22+%22font%22+%22variable%22+site%3Aarchive.midrange.com>

<http://archive.midrange.com/midrange-l/201309/msg00221.html>
Centering with proportional font

<http://archive.midrange.com/midrange-l/200308/msg00857.html>
center/line wrap w/variable width fonts

AFP Variable Width Font Text Alignment -- RPG400-L  (unanswered)

<http://archive.midrange.com/rpg400-l/200605/msg00071.html>
Print overlay -- RPG400-L

  From that search, another topic that may be of interest, if changing 
the font to achieve desired results:
<http://archive.midrange.com/midrange-l/200907/msg00853.html>

  Within the thread of the first message linked above [under the web 
search] are the following two messages which look at least somewhat 
promising with regard to an API-like approach:

<http://archive.midrange.com/midrange-l/201309/msg00253.html>
"... QGYOLAFP might be the API you were thinking of to interrogate font
widths. Never used it myself, but format HPCS0100 might be the one.
<http://pic.dhe.ibm.com/infocenter/iseries/v7r1m0/index.jsp?topic=%2Fapis%2Fqgyolafp.htm>"

<http://archive.midrange.com/midrange-l/201309/msg00236.html>
"...
Looking at the Java
documentation the getLayout method of TextMeasurer returns a TextLayout
object. And TextLayout has a getBounds method that returns a Rectangle2D.

<http://docs.oracle.com/javame/config/cdc/opt-pkgs/api/agui/jsr209/java/awt/font/TextLayout.html>
<http://docs.oracle.com/javame/config/cdc/opt-pkgs/api/agui/jsr209/java/awt/font/TextMeasurer.html>"