Re: typesetting to grid in layer with widgets

[Hans Hagen <pragma@wxs.nl>]

At 09:10 11/03/2004, you wrote:

>\setlayer[text][column=3,line=7,x=0.5\layoutcolumnwidth,location=c]{%
>        Diploma awarded to}
>
>
>now, _is_ this the smartest way to do this?

\setlayerframed
   [text]
   [...]
   [framed settings]
   {}

may give you some more control and insight (you can always turn of the 
frame later)

>furthermore, I'd like to allow for input into fields from Acrobat.  I
>have this:
>
>\definefield[CertID][text][CertIDSetup][]
>\setupfield[CertIDSetup][%
>         readonly=no,printable=yes,width=4em,%
>         frame=on,height=8mm,offset=5ex]
>
>\myCenter{3}{11}{Sertifikat Nr. DNV-2004-OSL-PERS-\field[CertID]}
>
>trouble is, the _field_ is aligned to the baseline, whereas I'd like
>the text _of_ the field to be thus aligned.  any suggestiosn?

fields (and text in there) don't have a concept of a baseline 
(unfortunately), so depending on the situation, you may want to lower the text

   \hbox{\lower2pt\hbox{\field[...]}}

and so (i need to look into pdf 1.5 to see if there are better ways now)

>(as a matter of fact, the problem with this approach is that text
>cannot ever be centered becaue TeX need to know the dimensions at
>typesetting time - which isn't known until the user has interacted.  is
>there, say, JavaScript magic that could be done in order to have text
>centered after it has been input?

doesn't align=middle work?

>and on a sitenote,
>
>I'd like to have a frame around the entire page.  Preferably, I'd like
>to be able to place it using numerical coordinates (absolute or
>relative, set to a layer or not).  Is this, or something close to it,
>possible?

i often use metapost for that (see metafun manual)

\defineoverlay[xxx][\useMPgraphic{xxx}]

\startuseMPgraphic{xxx}
   StartPage ;
     draw Page enlarged -3cm withpen pencircle scaled 1cm ;
   StopPage ;
\stopuseMPgraphic

\setupbackgrounds[page][background=xxx]

etc etc

hans