Flash CS3 Documentation

Learning ActionScript 2.0 in Adobe Flash > Working with Text and Strings > Using HTML-formatted text > About supported HTML tags > Text format tag

Text format tag

The <textformat> tag lets you use a subset of paragraph formatting properties of the TextFormat class within HTML text fields, including line leading, indentation, margins, and tab stops. You can combine <textformat> tags with the built-in HTML tags.

The <textformat> tag has the following attributes:

• blockindent Specifies the block indentation in points; corresponds to TextFormat.blockIndent. (See blockIndent (TextFormat.blockIndent property) in the ActionScript 2.0 Language Reference.)
• indent Specifies the indentation from the left margin to the first character in the paragraph; corresponds to TextFormat.indent. Lets you use negative integers. (See indent (TextFormat.indent property) in the ActionScript 2.0 Language Reference.)
• leading Specifies the amount of leading (vertical space) between lines; corresponds to TextFormat.leading. Lets you use negative integers. (See leading (TextFormat.leading property) in the ActionScript 2.0 Language Reference.)
• leftmargin Specifies the left margin of the paragraph, in points; corresponds to TextFormat.leftMargin. (See leftMargin (TextFormat.leftMargin property) in the ActionScript 2.0 Language Reference.)
• rightmargin Specifies the right margin of the paragraph, in points; corresponds to TextFormat.rightMargin. (See rightMargin (TextFormat.rightMargin property) in the ActionScript 2.0 Language Reference.)
• tabstops Specifies custom tab stops as an array of non-negative integers; corresponds to TextFormat.tabStops. (See tabStops (TextFormat.tabStops property) in the ActionScript 2.0 Language Reference.)

The following table of data with boldfaced row headers is the result of the code example in the procedure that follows:

To create a formatted table of data using tab stops:

1. Create a new Flash document, and save it as tabstops.fla.
2. In the Timeline, select the first frame on Layer 1.
3. Open the Actions panel (Window > Actions), and enter the following code in the Actions panel:

   // Create a new text field.
   this.createTextField("table_txt", 99, 50, 50, 450, 100);
   table_txt.multiline = true;
   table_txt.html = true;
   // Creates column headers, formatted in bold, separated by tabs.
   var rowHeaders:String = "<b>Name\tAge\tOccupation</b>";
   
   // Creates rows with data.
   var row_1:String = "Rick\t33\tDetective";
   var row_2:String = "AJ\t34\tDetective";
   
   // Sets two tabstops, at 50 and 100 points.
   table_txt.htmlText = "<textformat tabstops='[50,100]'>";
   table_txt.htmlText += rowHeaders;
   table_txt.htmlText += row_1;
   table_txt.htmlText += row_2 ;
   table_txt.htmlText += "</textformat>";
   

   The use of the tab character escape sequence (\t) adds tabs between each column in the table. You append text using the += operator.

4. Select Control > Test Movie to view the formatted table.

Flash CS3