ArtSCII: ASCII Art Editor

by Ryan Soulier

Introduction

I propose to build an ASCII art editor. The editor will enable a user to read in a text file, or create a new text file. The user can then edit the file by typing in text, or using basic paint-like tools to edit the text. This will handle some of the complexities involved in vertically aligning text.

This interface is representative of a direct-manipulation interface. The user is allowed to edit the text in a manner more like actually manipulating graphics. It will also be menu-driven, as well as supporting a simple toolbar. This benchmark is similar to some specialized text editors, but is mostly a hybrid between common text editors and painting programs.

This task is representative of using built-in widgets in a way outside the way they were intended. Using a mouse as an input device to put text is not a usual interface. This will test how extensible a tool might be in supporting creative solutions. I will also be implementing a single-level Undo feature to test how difficult this will be.

Some features of both text editors and paint programs I have left out of this benchmark. I will leave out diagonal lines, or other shapes. This would be more a test of skill in writing an algorithm to draw diagonal lines and circles, rather than testing the interface itself. I will also only support one font style and size, for the same reason. There will also be no insert mode for text entry, only overtype mode. These could be tested in a future benchmark.

Detailed Description

ArtSCII will be implemented in a variety of windowing operating systems. It will be menu-driven, and will have a toolbar. The following sections describe the interface in more detail.

Screen Shot

Menus

The File menu will contain standard commands for files: New, Open, Save, Exit. There will be no support for multiple files. New will create a new, empty file. Open will open an existing text file. Save will save the current file, including extra blanks (this is left as an exercise for future benchmarks). Exit will leave the program.

The Edit menu will contain standard editing options: Undo, Cut, Copy, Paste, Clear.

• Undo will undo the last action performed. I will need to define further what an "action" is and determine how to undo it.
• Cut will only be activated when something has been selected. Cut will remove the selection, and replace it with spaces. It will place it on the system clipboard, with lines separated by carriage returns.
• Copy will do the same, but will not remove the selection.
• Clear will replace the selection with spaces.
• Paste will paste the contents of the clipboard (if it is text), and leave it selected.

Tool Bar

The tool bar will allow the user the quickly select one of seven tools to use. The tools are: Box selection, eraser, brush, text, box, filled box, line. There will also be two other fields for the user to input the character to use when painting. One field will be the horizontal character, and the other will be the character used for vertical lines.

• Box selection with allow the user to draw a box to select a group of text. The text will become highlighted in an appropriate manner (implementation left to the tool). The edit commands can then be used to cut and copy the text. The text can also be dragged from the current location and dropped onto a new place on the document.
• Eraser will allow the user to remove characters by dragging the eraser over top of them.
• Brush will put the solid character wherever the mouse is dragged.
• Text will allow overprint typing
• Box will draw the outline of a box when the mouse is dragged and released. It will use the horizontal character for the top and bottom, and the vertical character for the sides.
• Filled box will do the same as box, except the inside will be filled with the solid character.
• Line will allow either vertical or horizontal lines to be drawn. Each line direction will use it’s respective character.