[FX.php List] Display text within a static-sized rectangle (foreventual printing)?

[Joel Shapiro]

Thanks Andy and Kevin for the tip on ThickBox.  I'll be checking it out.

Are there any other suggestions out there on how I might solve this  
problem -- or does a GD/image seem like the best solution?

-Joel


On Sep 12, 2006, at 6:43 PM, Andy Gaunt wrote:

> Kevin & Joel,
>
> You may be thinking of the Thickbox which allows most any type of  
> content.
>
> http://jquery.com/demo/thickbox/
>
> Regards
>
> Andy Gaunt
>
>
>> On 13/9/06 11:15 AM, "Joel Shapiro" <jsfmp at earthlink.net> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi all
>>>
>>> OVERVIEW:
>>> I'm looking for creative ways to give immediate feedback to Web  
>>> users
>>> when their text (entered into a textarea) won't fit in its alotted
>>> space on its printed form -- without users having to wait for the
>>> admin to print the form and give it to them -- possibly the next  
>>> day.
>>>
>>>
>>> SITUATION:
>>> I've got a project where users enter text into a textarea on a web
>>> page (FX.php).  There is a word-count limit on the field which works
>>> fine *technically* (i.e. users cannot submit text over the limit).
>>> The text in this field is later printed from FileMaker client by an
>>> admin.  The field prints on a form and has pre-defined dimensions of
>>> approx 2.5" x 4". The problem is that users want to be able to enter
>>> their text differently, e.g. some as a paragraph, some as a list,
>>> some with blank lines, etc, so a word-count doesn't really make that
>>> much difference (e.g. 5 words in a list can take up as much physical
>>> space as 20 words in a paragraph).  And getting all users to only
>>> enter text in one way (e.g. paragraphs only, no lists) is not an
>>> option at this time.  (We'd originally used a character count, but
>>> they preferred word-count)
>>>
>>> One other complication is that some reports are printed in OS X, and
>>> some in Windows XP, so even there there is a discrepancy between how
>>> much text will fit into this text box -- however I'd be happy to
>>> display at least an *approximation* of what the printed form will
>>> look like.
>>>
>>>
>>> OPTIONS EXPLORED:
>>> I've been playing with creating a PDF (via FPDF) to display just  
>>> this
>>> text field within a bordered rectangle.  This seems to work _OK_,  
>>> but
>>> it's certainly not ideal -- opening a new browser window and/or a
>>> PDF-
>>> reader app window, with a message to close the window to continue
>>> editing.  I don't like how it interrupts the UI of: (1) select  
>>> record
>>> to edit; (2) edit record; (3) click to submit changes.  It would be
>>> an additional step (2a) to optionally(?) view an approximation of  
>>> how
>>> the field will print, and then (2b) to close that window and  
>>> continue
>>> editing before submitting (step 3).
>>>
>>> If I could display this in just a small pop-up window, it would be
>>> more acceptable, but that doesn't seem possible since as a PDF it
>>> could open up either in the browser or in a PDF-reader app.  And I
>>> don't want to put the whole form into a PHP-generated PDF, as it's a
>>> large, 2-sided report with very tight text-formatting (and I'm  
>>> lazy).
>>>
>>> Then I thought of maybe creating an image (GD) with the text inside
>>> the sized rectangle -- which probably *could* display in a small  
>>> pop-
>>> up window -- but before I tackle that one, I thought I'd ask for
>>> suggestions.
>>>
>>> Anybody got any for me?
>>>
>>> (And if I use a PDF or an image, how consistent will these be for
>>> users on different browsers, different platforms, etc.?)
>>
>> I would go with the image, as you then avoid running foul of users'
>> preferences (and platfrom differences) for how PDFs are handled in  
>> web
>> pages. Also, you could explore some of the newer JS libraries out
>> there that
>> actually open new content in a dynamically generated layer over the
>> existing
>> page (Lightbox being the most famous example). Most only handle
>> images, but
>> there is one, whose name escapes me at the moment, that can load
>> most any
>> document, including HTML files. This is a much friendlier approach
>> than
>> pop-up windows, and also avoids pop-up blockers too.
>>
>> -- 
>> Kevin Futter
>> Webmaster, St. Bernard's College
>> http://www.sbc.melb.catholic.edu.au/
>>
>>
>>
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