Topic: clean up the formatting of a MTEXT string

[domenicomaria]

I need to clean up the formatting of a MTEXT string

For example, I have this string
"{\\Q15.00;DOUBLE BED\nperimeter 31.37336 m\narea 61.14046 m2\nvolume 550.26412 m3\nlateral surface 282.36021 m2\nheight 9.00000 m}"

 and I want to get this list of strings as a result:
("DOUBLE BED" "perimeter 31.37336 m" "area 61.14046 m2" "volume 550.26412 m3" "lateral surface 282.36021 m2" "height 9.00000 m3")

I know (even if it's too tiring to try to understand it) Lee Mac's LM:UNFORMAT function ...
... but it also removes the "\n" characters that I need to divide the string into many sub-strings

It returns :
"DOUBLE BED perimeter 31.37336 m area 61.14046 m2 volume 550.26412 m3 lateral surface 282.36021 m2 height 9.00000 m"

while i need :
"DOUBLE BED\nperimeter 31.37336 m\narea 61.14046 m2\nvolume 550.26412 m3\nlateral surface 282.36021 m2\nheight 9.00000 m"

...

any suggestion ?

thank you

[Marc'Antonio Alessi]

Do you need:
("DOUBLE BED" "perimeter 31.37336 m" "area 61.14046 m2" "volume 550.26412 m3" "lateral surface 282.36021 m2" "height 9.00000 m3")
or
"DOUBLE BED\nperimeter 31.37336 m\narea 61.14046 m2\nvolume 550.26412 m3\nlateral surface 282.36021 m2\nheight 9.00000 m"

?

[Marc'Antonio Alessi]

Code: [Select]

(ALE_String2List
  (vl-string-left-trim
    "{\\Q15.00;"
    (vl-string-right-trim
      "}"
      "{\\Q15.00;DOUBLE BED\nperimeter 31.37336 m\narea 61.14046 m2\nvolume 550.26412 m3\nlateral surface 282.36021 m2\nheight 9.00000 m}"
    )
  )
  "\n"
)
==> ("DOUBLE BED" "perimeter 31.37336 m" "area 61.14046 m2" "volume 550.26412 m3" "lateral surface 282.36021 m2" "height 9.00000 m")


; Marc'Antonio Alessi, Italy
;
; Function: ALE_String2List
;
; Version 1.00 - November 2001
;
; Description:
;   convert a string into a list
;
; Arguments:
;   InpStr = string [STR]
;   CarDlm = delimiter [STR] 1 character
;
(defun ALE_String2List (InpStr CarDlm / SttPos EndPos TmpLst)
  (setq
    CarDlm (ascii CarDlm)   SttPos 0
    EndPos (vl-string-position CarDlm InpStr)
  )
  (while EndPos
    (setq
      TmpLst (cons (substr InpStr (1+ SttPos) (- EndPos SttPos)) TmpLst)
      SttPos (1+ EndPos) EndPos (vl-string-position CarDlm InpStr SttPos)
    )
  )
  (reverse (cons (substr InpStr (1+ SttPos)) TmpLst))
)\

[domenicomaria]

The problem is not converting a string into a list of strings given a delimiter...
(I wrote my STR>STR-LST routine ...)

the format of a Mtext string may be more complex

It doesn't always start with "{\\Q15.00;"

and may internally contain many special characters to remove...

take a look to Lee Mac's LM:UNFORMAT function
and you will discover that the problem is more complex

[VovKa]

if you don't want to modify original Lee's code, then do a temporary substitution with vl-string-translate before unformating and undo it afterwards

p.s. don't use \032 as a substitution character

[Marc'Antonio Alessi]

>> I know (even if it's too tiring to try to understand it) Lee Mac's LM:UNFORMAT function ...
>> ... but it also removes the "\n" characters that I need to divide the string into many sub-strings

(UnFormat2 "{\\Q15.00;DOUBLE BED\nperimeter 31.37336 m\narea 61.14046 m2\nvolume 550.26412 m3\nlateral surface 282.36021 m2\nheight 9.00000 m}" T)
==>                           "DOUBLE BED\nperimeter 31.37336 m\narea 61.14046 m2\nvolume 550.26412 m3\nlateral surface 282.36021 m2\nheight 9.00000 m"

Code: [Select]


(defun UnFormat2 ( str mtx / _replace rx )
; LM:UnFormat original code by Lee Mac modified in ***
    (defun _replace ( new old str )
        (vlax-put-property rx 'pattern old)
        (vlax-invoke rx 'replace str new)
    )
    (if (setq rx (vlax-get-or-create-object "VBScript.RegExp"))
        (progn
            (setq str
                (vl-catch-all-apply
                    (function
                        (lambda ( )
                            (vlax-put-property rx 'global     actrue)
                            (vlax-put-property rx 'multiline  actrue)
                            (vlax-put-property rx 'ignorecase acfalse)
                            (foreach pair
                               '(
                                    ("\032"    . "\\\\\\\\")
                                    (" "       . "\\\\P|\\t") ; *** ex (" "       . "\\\\P|\\n|\\t")
                                    ("$1"      . "\\\\(\\\\[ACcFfHLlOopQTW])|\\\\[ACcFfHLlOopQTW][^\\\\;]*;|\\\\[ACcFfHLlOopQTW]")
                                    ("$1$2/$3" . "([^\\\\])\\\\S([^;]*)[/#\\^]([^;]*);")
                                    ("$1$2"    . "\\\\(\\\\S)|[\\\\](})|}")
                                    ("$1"      . "[\\\\]({)|{")
                                )
                                (setq str (_replace (car pair) (cdr pair) str))
                            )
                            (if mtx
                                (_replace "\\\\" "\032" (_replace "\\$1$2$3" "(\\\\[ACcFfHLlOoPpQSTW])|({)|(})" str))
                                (_replace "\\"   "\032" str)
                            )
                        )
                    )
                )
            )
            (vlax-release-object rx)
            (if (null (vl-catch-all-error-p str))
                str
            )
        )
    )
)

[It's Alive!]

How did you get the \n in the MText? Isn’t it supposed to be \P ?

[domenicomaria]

How did you get the \n in the MText? Isn’t it supposed to be \P ?

someone gave me a DWG that contains MTEXTs that contain "\n"

[It's Alive!]

Ah, hate when that happens 

[domenicomaria]

Marco, thank you.

Your modified Lee's code works well,
because you eliminated the removal of "\n"

ciao

[domenicomaria]

if you don't want to modify original Lee's code, then do a temporary substitution with vl-string-translate before unformating and undo it afterwards

p.s. don't use \032 as a substitution character

I don't understand what you want mean ... sorry!

[kozmos]

if you don't want to modify original Lee's code, then do a temporary substitution with vl-string-translate before unformating and undo it afterwards

p.s. don't use \032 as a substitution character

I don't understand what you want mean ... sorry!

If you want to keep "\n" that Lee's fucntion will remove, you can translate it into a particular character (such as \007, you can not use \032 because it is already used in Lee's function) before passing the content string into Lee's function, after that, you can translate \007 back to "\n". By doing this, you no need to modify Lee's function.

Sure you can modify Lee's function to remove "\n", it will also work.

[domenicomaria]

@KozMos
ok
thank you !

[Lee Mac]

I'm pleased that the function is proving useful 

[JGA]

Thanks for sharing.

[BIGAL]

My $0.05
Edit mtext replace "\n" with "-"
Strip mtext re Lee-mac
Parse to list "-" re Lee-mac. ie use 45 is "-"

Code: [Select]

; thanks to Lee-mac for this defun
;renamed to suit delimeter value in this case -
(defun csv->lst45  ( str / pos )
(if (setq pos (vl-string-position 45 str))
    (cons (substr str 1 pos) (csv->lst (substr str (+ pos 2))))
    (list str)
    )
)

[xdcad]

Code - Auto/Visual Lisp: [Select]

1. Command: (XD::MTEXT:UNFORMATSTRING (entlast))
2. ("agafsg34" "fsfga" "ggggggg")
3.  

Code - Auto/Visual Lisp: [Select]

1. (defun XD::Mtext:UnformatString (mtxt / data)
2.   (defun groupbykey (lst / tmp out)
3.     (setq
4.       lst (vl-sort lst
5.                    (function (lambda (x1 x2) (> (car x1) (car x2))))
6.           )
7.     ) ;_sort
8.     (setq tmp (list (cdar lst) (caar lst))) ;_first
9.     (foreach item (cdr lst)
10.       (if (= (car item) (last tmp))
11.         (setq tmp (cons (cdr item) tmp))
12.         (setq out (cons (reverse tmp) out)
13.               tmp (list (cdr item) (car item))
14.         )
15.       )
16.     )
17.     (cons (reverse tmp) out) ;_last
18.   )
19.   (if (setq data (xdrx-mtext-fragments mtxt))
20.     (progn
21.       (setq data (mapcar '(lambda (x)
22.                              (list (cadr (cadr (assoc "kLocation" x)))
23.                                    (car (cadr (assoc "kLocation" x)))
24.                                    (cadr (assoc "kTextString" x))
25.                              )
26.                            )
27.                           data
28.                   )
29.             data (reverse (groupbykey data))
30.       )
31.       (mapcar
32.         '(lambda (x) (apply 'strcat x))
33.           (mapcar '(lambda (x) (mapcar 'cadr x)) (mapcar 'cdr data))
34.       )
35.     )
36.   )
37. )

[It's Alive!]

@xdcad
You can also add something like this as a utility to strip mtext formatting

Code - C++: [Select]

1.         //.formatted string
2.         AcValue acval(val);
3.         acutPrintf(acval.format(AcValue::kIgnoreMtextFormat));
4.  

[xdcad]

@xdcad
You can also add something like this as a utility to strip mtext formatting

Code - C++: [Select]

1.         //.formatted string
2.         AcValue acval(val);
3.         acutPrintf(acval.format(AcValue::kIgnoreMtextFormat));
4.  

Thank you, I'll try

[xdcad]

@xdcad
You can also add something like this as a utility to strip mtext formatting

Code - C++: [Select]

1.         //.formatted string
2.         AcValue acval(val);
3.         acutPrintf(acval.format(AcValue::kIgnoreMtextFormat));
4.  

Code - Auto/Visual Lisp: [Select]

1. Command: (setq a (xdrx-mtext-unformat a))
2. "agafsg34\r\n\r\n\nfsfga\r\n\r\n\nggggggg"
3. Command: (xdrx-string-regexps "[^\\r\\n]+" a)
4. ("agafsg34" "fsfga" "gggggggg")

Code - C++: [Select]

1. int MTextUnformat()
2. {
3.         resbuf* rb = ads_getargs();
4.         if (!rb)
5.         {
6.                 return RSRSLT;
7.         }
8.         AcDbObjectId id;
9.         const TCHAR* str = NULL;
10.         if (rb->restype == RTENAME)
11.         {
12.                 if (acdbGetObjectId(id, rb->resval.rlname) == eOk)
13.                 {
14.                         AcDbMText* pMtext;
15.                         if (acdbOpenObject(pMtext, id, kForRead) == eOk)
16.                         {
17.                                 str = pMtext->contents();
18.                                 pMtext->close();
19.                         }
20.                 }
21.         }
22.         else if (rb->restype == RTSTR)
23.         {
24.                 str = rb->resval.rstring;
25.         }
26.         else {
27.                 return RSRSLT;
28.         }
29.         AcValue acval(str);
30.         ads_retstr(acval.format(AcValue::kIgnoreMtextFormat));
31.         return RSRSLT;
32. }

[JohnK]

@xdcad
While passing by I noticed your function and had a few quick questions.

Code - C++: [Select]

1. int MTextUnformat() {                                   // Add function header!!
2.         // MTextUnformat
3.         // Unformats a text string. ...
4.         //
5.         // ARGS:
6.         //
7.         // RETURNS:
8.         resbuf* rb = ads_getargs();
9.         if (!rb) {
10.                 return RSRSLT;
11.         }
12.         AcDbObjectId id;
13.         const TCHAR* str = NULL;
14.         if (rb->restype == RTENAME) {                   // Should you consider
15.                                                         // a separate function
16.                                                         // to replace nested
17.                                                         // if's below?
18.                 if (acdbGetObjectId(id, rb->resval.rlname) == eOk) {
19.                         AcDbMText* pMtext;
20.                         if (acdbOpenObject(pMtext, id, kForRead) == eOk) {
21.                                 str = pMtext->contents();
22.                                 pMtext->close();
23.                         }
24.                 }
25.         }
26.         else if (rb->restype == RTSTR) {                // Should this be IF?
27.                 str = rb->resval.rstring;
28.         }
29.         else {                                          // Is this ELSE needed? -i.e. checked already.
30.                 return RSRSLT;
31.         }
32.         AcValue acval(str);
33.         ads_retstr(acval.format(AcValue::kIgnoreMtextFormat));
34.         return RSRSLT;
35. }
36.  

[dwaschnia]

low iq version

Code - Auto/Visual Lisp: [Select]

1. (defun c:uform ( / l len en start i ss x )
2.   (setq len (entlast))
3.   (setq en (car (entsel)))
4.   (command "_copybase" "_non" "0,0" en "")
5.   (command "_pasteclip" "_non" "0,0")
6.   (command "_explode" (entlast))
7.   (setq start (entnext len))
8.         (setq ss (ssadd))
9.         (while start
10.                 (setq ss (ssadd start ss))
11.                 (setq start (entnext start))
12.         )
13.   (repeat (setq i (sslength ss))
14.     (setq l (append l (list "\\P")))
15.     (setq l (append l (list (vla-get-textstring (setq x (vlax-ename->vla-object (ssname ss (setq i (1- i)))))))))
16.     (vla-delete x)
17.   )
18.   (vla-put-textstring (vlax-ename->vla-object en) (apply 'strcat (reverse (cdr l))))
19. )

[xdcad]

@xdcad
While passing by I noticed your function and had a few quick questions.

Code - C++: [Select]

1. int MTextUnformat() {                                   // Add function header!!
2.         // MTextUnformat
3.         // Unformats a text string. ...
4.         //
5.         // ARGS:
6.         //
7.         // RETURNS:
8.         resbuf* rb = ads_getargs();
9.         if (!rb) {
10.                 return RSRSLT;
11.         }
12.         AcDbObjectId id;
13.         const TCHAR* str = NULL;
14.         if (rb->restype == RTENAME) {                   // Should you consider
15.                                                         // a separate function
16.                                                         // to replace nested
17.                                                         // if's below?
18.                 if (acdbGetObjectId(id, rb->resval.rlname) == eOk) {
19.                         AcDbMText* pMtext;
20.                         if (acdbOpenObject(pMtext, id, kForRead) == eOk) {
21.                                 str = pMtext->contents();
22.                                 pMtext->close();
23.                         }
24.                 }
25.         }
26.         else if (rb->restype == RTSTR) {                // Should this be IF?
27.                 str = rb->resval.rstring;
28.         }
29.         else {                                          // Is this ELSE needed? -i.e. checked already.
30.                 return RSRSLT;
31.         }
32.         AcValue acval(str);
33.         ads_retstr(acval.format(AcValue::kIgnoreMtextFormat));
34.         return RSRSLT;
35. }
36.  

=============

Code - C++: [Select]

1. else if (rb->restype == RTSTR) {                // Should this be IF?
2.                 str = rb->resval.rstring;
3.         }

Supports two types of parameters, one is the MTEXT entity name, and the other is a formatted string

=============

Code - C++: [Select]

1. else {                                          // Is this ELSE needed? -i.e. checked already.
2.                 return RSRSLT;
3.         }

If it is not an entity name or a string, other parameters given to the function will not be processed and will exit directly.

[xdcad]

Code - C++: [Select]

1. int MTextUnformat()
2. {
3.         //param:
4.         // 1:mtext entity name
5.         // or
6.         // 2:formatted string
7.         // t or nil: t return list,
8.         //           nil return unformatted string
9.         resbuf* rb = ads_getargs();
10.         if (!rb)
11.         {
12.                 return RSRSLT;
13.         }
14.         AcDbObjectId id;
15.         const TCHAR* str = NULL;
16.         bool bRetList = true;
17.         if (rb->restype == RTENAME)
18.         {
19.                 if (acdbGetObjectId(id, rb->resval.rlname) == eOk)
20.                 {
21.                         AcDbMText* pMtext;
22.                         if (acdbOpenObject(pMtext, id, kForRead) == eOk)
23.                         {
24.                                 str = pMtext->contents();
25.                                 pMtext->close();
26.                         }
27.                 }
28.                 else {
29.                         return RSRSLT;
30.                 }
31.         }
32.         else if (rb->restype == RTSTR)
33.         {
34.                 str = rb->resval.rstring;
35.         }
36.         else {
37.                 return RSRSLT;
38.         }
39.         rb = rb->rbnext;
40.         if (rb && rb->restype == RTT)
41.         {
42.                 bRetList = false;
43.         }
44.  
45.         AcValue acval(str);
46.         const TCHAR *str1 = acval.format(AcValue::kIgnoreMtextFormat);
47.         if (bRetList)
48.         {
49.                 XdRbList strArr1;
50.                 if (XdGeUtils::XDRegExpS(str1, _T("[^\r\n]+"), strArr1, 14, true, true))
51.                 {
52.                         strArr1.toLisp(0, 1);
53.                 }
54.         }
55.         else {
56.                 ads_retstr(str1);
57.         }
58.         return RSRSLT;
59. }
60.  

Code - Auto/Visual Lisp: [Select]

1. Command: !str
2. "a{\\fMS UI Gothic|b1|i1|c0|p34;\\C32;\\c2648525;gaf}sg34\\Pfsf{\\L\\Oga\\P}ggggggg"
3. Command: (xdrx-mtext-unformat str)
4. ("agafsg34" "fsfga" "ggggggg")
5. Command: (xdrx-mtext-unformat str t)
6. "agafsg34\r\n\r\n\nfsfga\r\n\r\n\nggggggg"
7.  
8. Command: (xdrx-mtext-unformat (car (entsel)))
9. Select object: ("agafsg34" "fsfga" "ggggggg")
10.  
11. Command: (xdrx-mtext-unformat (car (entsel)) t)
12. Select object: "agafsg34\r\n\r\n\nfsfga\r\n\r\n\nggggggg"
13.  

[JohnK]

---->%

=============

Code - C++: [Select]

1. else if (rb->restype == RTSTR) {                // Should this be IF?
2.                 str = rb->resval.rstring;
3.         }

Supports two types of parameters, one is the MTEXT entity name, and the other is a formatted string

=============

Code - C++: [Select]

1. else {                                          // Is this ELSE needed? -i.e. checked already.
2.                 return RSRSLT;
3.         }

If it is not an entity name or a string, other parameters given to the function will not be processed and will exit directly.

You and I have very different coding styles. I was only trying to point out that most times you can eliminate the if-else-ifelse construct. Most of my code looks like this (I make a lot of small single use functions which preform specific things). I cannot keep all those nested if statements straight, myself.

Code - C++: [Select]

1. //-------------------------------------------------------------------
2. // process_path
3. // This function will decide whether a file is a regular file or a
4. // directory and pass it to the proper function for handling.
5. //
6. // ARGS
7. //  char* directory     :   Path of a file
8. //
9. // RETURN
10. // void
11. //-------------------------------------------------------------------
12. void process_path(char *path) {
13.   /* Process files as files, directories as directories, and skip
14.    * everything else. */
15.   struct stat sbuf;
16.   if (stat(path, &sbuf)) {
17.     perror("Failed to open directory");
18.     return;
19.   }
20.   if (S_ISREG(sbuf.st_mode)) {
21.     process_file(path);
22.   }
23.   if (S_ISDIR(sbuf.st_mode)) {
24.     process_directory(path);
25.   }
26. }

[It's Alive!]

From a performance perspective,
if , else if , else may be faster because the compiler can build a jump table instead of having a bunch of branches

It’s not so pretty from a code readability perspective. I tend to use a switch statement for checking ints, it’s fast and its pretty. 
I would use a smart pointer for AcDbMText

[kdub_nz]

I would use a smart pointer for AcDbMText

Is it possible that a lot of this code was generated before smart pointers were available ??
[added]
. . . and the code base is probably used for multiple acad versions
[/added]

Would this be a case of "it's not broken so don't fix it" ?
or are there discernable advantages ?

[xdcad]

I would use a smart pointer for AcDbMText

Is it possible that a lot of this code was generated before smart pointers were available ??
[added]
. . . and the code base is probably used for multiple acad versions
[/added]

Would this be a case of "it's not broken so don't fix it" ?
or are there discernable advantages ?

yes, autocad 2004-2024
vc7-vs2022

[It's Alive!]

I would use a smart pointer for AcDbMText

Is it possible that a lot of this code was generated before smart pointers were available ??
[added]
. . . and the code base is probably used for multiple acad versions
[/added]

Would this be a case of "it's not broken so don't fix it" ?
or are there discernable advantages ?

Good questions

I don’t know when AcDbObjectPointer was added to ARX. I’m guessing that it’s been in forever.
If it’s not in ARX2000, it’s just a header…

Code - C++: [Select]

1. AcDbObjectPointer<AcDbMText> pMtext (id, AcDb::kForRead);

This line tells the reader:
A, the pointer is guaranteed to be an object derived from AcDbMText.
B, that the object is guaranteed to be closed, even if there’s an exception.

Would this be a case of "it's not broken so don't fix it" ?

This is a newly created function, you’re in the code, might as well improve it

Of course, it’s not my project, just my opinion

[kdub_nz]

This is a newly created function, you’re in the code, might as well improve it

ahh, yes good point.


wait, wouldn't one of the old compliers spit the dummy ??

[It's Alive!]

This is a newly created function, you’re in the code, might as well improve it

ahh, yes good point.


wait, wouldn't one of the old compliers spit the dummy ??

It would have to be a pre 1991compiler, I think that's when templates were introduced
I just checked though, it's in ARX2002..  so that's good enough for AutoCAD 2000. I don't have an R14 SDK

[kdub_nz]

I don't have an R14 SDK

Not many people would, I'd think