topic Re: Ampersand disappearing in GDL

Ampersand disappearing

Bruce — Tue, 14 Sep 2021 07:02:57 GMT

How do I stop the ampersand (&) symbol from disappearing in UI_TOOLTIP text? It appears fine in a UI_OUTFIELD, but not in UI_TOOLTIP.

Re: Ampersand disappearing

Podolsky — Thu, 01 Jul 2021 22:30:39 GMT

Maybe use 'and' instead?

Re: Ampersand disappearing

Bruce — Fri, 02 Jul 2021 00:14:53 GMT

Yes, that had occurred to me...unfortunately space is at a premium in the interface.

Re: Ampersand disappearing

Barry Kelly — Fri, 02 Jul 2021 00:42:55 GMT

Bruce wrote:
Yes, that had occurred to me...unfortunately space is at a premium in the interface.

Tooltips extend beyond the interface window so size should not be an issue - except there is a character limit.
Go past that, there is no warning and the entire interface will just not show.
169 characters by my count.

Other characters show, just not '&' which is interesting.

Barry.

Re: Ampersand disappearing

Barry Kelly — Fri, 02 Jul 2021 00:45:54 GMT

There is a warning if you check script (although the reported line number is wrong).
And is seems the character limit is for the entire script line - not just the tooltip.

Barry.

Re: Ampersand disappearing

Bruce — Fri, 02 Jul 2021 01:08:00 GMT

I see I must provide a bit more context:

I am using a variable that will change between "Primary" and "Primary & Secondary" depending on what the user has selected. This text will appear as a UI_INFIELD column heading, and also as a UI_TOOLTIP. It is the column heading that I don't have space for - hence the use of "&".

Re: Ampersand disappearing

Barry Kelly — Fri, 02 Jul 2021 01:30:41 GMT

Unfortunately '&' will just not show in the tooltip.
Can you have it say "Primary / Primary and Secondary" or "Primary or Primary and Secondary" in the tooltip instead?
The actual interface can still show the exact text you want.

Barry.

Re: Ampersand disappearing

Barry Kelly — Fri, 02 Jul 2021 01:31:52 GMT

But wait!
Something just came to the back of my mind.

You can do it if you use a triple &&&.

Barry.

Re: Ampersand disappearing

Bruce — Fri, 02 Jul 2021 01:33:58 GMT

Thanks Barry. I know in other languages (e.g. VBA) you can double-up the ampersand to make it appear...but apparently not in GDL.

No problem - I'll work my may around that.

Cheers

Re: Ampersand disappearing

Bruce — Fri, 02 Jul 2021 01:36:00 GMT

I replied too soon: so triple it is. Will still not quite work the way I want (for both tooltip & outfield), but that's ok. I'll figure something out

Re: Ampersand disappearing

Barry Kelly — Fri, 02 Jul 2021 03:24:46 GMT

The outfield and the tooltip can be different.

But if you are using a variable instead of a quoted string, you will just need to create a second variable (can be hidden from users) that has the &&&, that will change as you change the original variable.
So as the user changes the original variable, the second will automatically change as well and will be used for the tooltip.

Barry.

Re: Ampersand disappearing

Bruce — Fri, 02 Jul 2021 03:43:04 GMT

Yes, I had considered this. I was hoping to be more efficient with my code. Oh well.

Re: Ampersand disappearing

runxel — Fri, 02 Jul 2021 10:34:50 GMT

You are still on AC22, Bruce?

In 24 everything seems working.

Re: Ampersand disappearing

Bruce — Sat, 03 Jul 2021 06:35:05 GMT

Well that's interesting. I am scripting this part in 23. Just did a quick test in 24, and you're right! The ampersand works fine for tooltips.

Thanks for that!