Editors API: API description

The API exposes the functionality through which user can create, configure and manipulate editors. The API description will be covered through the main use cases of various editor types.

Use cases

1. Constructing plain text editors
   • Constructing plain text editors from resource file
   • Constructing plain text editors from resource file
2. Performing basic plain text manipulation through CEikEdwin based editors
3. Constructing global text editors and rich text editors
   • Constructing global text editors and rich text editor from resource file
   • Constructing global text editors and rich text editor from resource file from code
4. Performing advanced text manipulation
   • Using selection
   • Specifying global format
   • Specifying local format
   • Inserting embedded objects
5. Setting and getting the cursor position in CEikEdwin based editors
6. Manipulating editing properties of CEikEdwin based editors
   • Input mode and case
   • Special character tables
   • Numeric key maps
   • Miscellaneous properties
7. Using clipboard in CEikEdwin based editors
8. Observing events from CEikEdwin based editors
9. Constructing numeric editors
   • Constructing numeric editors from resource file
   • Constructing numeric editors from code
10. Retrieving the content of a numeric editor
11. Constructing secret editors
12. Retrieving the content of a secret editor
13. Constructing MFNE editors
    • Constructing from resource file
    • Constructing from code
14. Retrieving the content of a MFNE editor

API class structure

All S60 editors are either derived from CEikEdwin or CEikMfne. Text editors, numeric editors belong to the firs category and multi-field numeric editors belong to the latter.

CEikEdwin is the generic Symbian OS editor for text. It supports scrollable windows, embedded objects, FEP interactions, clipboard operations. CEikEdwin can handle plain text, global text and rich text. They are represented by CPlainText, CGobalText and CRichText classes respectively. They form a derivation chain in this order. CPlainText is used for storing unformatted text. CGlobalText facilitates the use of one global format that is valid throughout the full length of the text whereas with CRichText user can add format modifiers at any position of the text flow. Rich text also supports object embedding. Embedded objects are represented in rich text by CPicture-derived objects.

Note that CEikEdwin itself is capable of handling global text or rich text however it is advised that developers use derived CEikGlobalTextEditor and CEikRichTextEditor classes respectively when dealing with such contents. When discussing the Plain Text Editor we actually mean discussing all functionality of CEikEdwin that is relevant for creating and manipulating plain text. CEikEdwin’s capabilities go much beyond that those will be covered when discussing its two subclasses CEikGlobalTextEditor and CEikRichTextEditor.