Many primary commands support selection criteria based on the highlight color of selected text. Rather than repeat these details in each command syntax diagram, whenever the parameter color-selection-criteria appears, the following operands can be used.


This means you can choose to find character strings based on whether they are, or are not, displayed in one or more specific colors.


Color operands are used primarily on FIND and CHANGE commands. Just as you have a choice whether you want to just find data or change it, you have a choice as to whether you just want to look for data in some given color, and/or if you want to change its color. Note that finding vs. changing the color of your data is performed independently of finding or changing the contents of your data. 


This ability gives you the most flexibility, because the two actions are not dependent on each other. That is, you can change the color of text using a FIND command, or you can use a CHANGE command to alter the data contents of strings that were found to be of some color without also changing that color. It's up to you how you want to manage the color of your data.


Be aware that space characters in a file are ordinary data, and can have a color associated with them. For example, if you issue a command like FIND "ABC DEF" RED, the string will only be found if the entire string is RED, including the space in the middle. See Shifting Data for information on how this can affect Data Shifting commands involving spaces with nonstandard colors.


Note: Color selection means that you are searching for data that either does, or does not, exist in some particular color. Color selection occurs when you use a "simple" color name like RED, or a "negative" color name like -RED


When you use a color name with a + plus sign, like +RED, it means you want to change the color of any data you are working with. See the next section, Color Change Request Specification, for more information on how to do this.


Note: Color selection criteria and a color change request can often be combined in the same command, but not in all cases. Refer to the syntax of the particular command you are interested in to see which color operands, if any, are supported. Specific color operands are supported only where it makes logical sense to do so.



Standard Color Names


Throughout this description various color names are used. There are 15 fixed color names (BLUE, GREEN, YELLOW, RED, BLACK, NAVY, TEAL, VIOLET, ORANGE, GRAY, LIME, CYAN, PINK, MAGENTA and WHITE). These are all specified in Options -Hilights. (You are free, if you so choose, to have the standard color name RED actually display purple on the screen, or for BLUE to display gray, but for most users that would be very confusing). 


All names are used in the same way.


As well as the names described above, there are also:


SOLID and STD


where STD means the standard Foreground / Background colors you have chosen for Text in the Schemes tab of SPFLite Global Options

and SOLID means the search string data is entirely of one color, which may be any of 15 available colors.



Syntax



[ colorname ]  [ STD ] [ SOLID ]  ...


   |

  

[ -colorname ] [ -STD ] [ -SOLID ]  ...





Operands


color-names

You may specify any one of the defined color names. A color name causes a search for text that consists entirely of the named color. For example, F "ABC" RED means find the string "ABC" only if it is entirely RED. 


You cannot combine "simple" and "negative" color names on the same command.


-color-names

You may specify any one of the defined color names. When color names are entered with a prefix character of - it it means to locate text that does not not consist entirely of the named color. For example F "ABC" -RED would look for ABC only when ABC is not entirely RED.


You cannot combine "simple" and "negative" color names on the same command.


SOLID

If SOLID is included in the request, it means the found string must be entirely highlighted in one color. For example, F "ABCD" SOLID would find the string "ABCD" only if it is found entirely one color, without regard to what particular color that might be.  A string ABCD highlighted half RED and half BLUE would be ignored because it's not one "solid" color.


SOLID is a request to search for a string entirely in one color, including STD. 



-SOLID

If -SOLID is included in the request, it means the found string must not be entirely highlighted in one color. For example, F "ABCD" -SOLID would find the string "ABCD" only if it is found only partially colored, or colored in more than one color, like ABCD.



Description


The following examples should help. They are shown using a FIND command, but color selection criteria applies to many of the Primary commands:


FIND "ABC" 1 10 BLUE


Find string "ABC" in columns 1 to 10 only if highlighted in BLUE.

That is, find ABC


FIND "DEF" .110 .120 GREEN


Find string "DEF" on lines 110 thru 120 only if highlighted in GREEN.

That is, find DEF


FIND "GHI" SOLID


Find string "GHI" anywhere in the file if it is highlighted in any single color or in the default standard color.


FIND "JKL" -BLUE


Find string "JKL" in the file as long as it is not highlighted entirely in BLUE.

That is, if the string is colored as JKL it will not be found; otherwise it will be found.



Additional Criteria


Many of the primary commands provide additional selection abilities (like X or NX, U or NU operands) which work in conjunction with the normal action of the line range operands described above. Check the detailed description of the individual primary command.

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