_tabs

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Sets one or more tab stops for output from the ? and ?? commands.

Syntax

_tabs = <expC>

<expC>

The list of column numbers for tab stops. If you set more than one tab stop, the numbers must be in ascending order and separated by commas. Enclose the entire list in quotation marks. You can specify fractional numbers for <expC> to position output accurately with a proportional font.

Default

The default for _tabs is an empty string ("").

Description

Use _tabs to define a series of tab stops. If _wrap is true, dBASE Plus ignores tab stops equal to or greater than _rmargin.

When you direct output to the printer, dBASE Plus maps each character according to the coordinate plane, a two-dimensional grid. The coordinate plane is divided into character cells whose widths depend on the value of _ppitch. See the table in the description of _ppitch, which lists _ppitch values. The height of each character cell is determined by the size of the font.

If you change the value of _tabs, dBASE Plus takes the current value of _ppitch into consideration when calculating the cell width of the coordinate plane. This happens regardless of whether you're printing with proportional or monospaced fonts.

If you send a tab character, CHR(9), with ? or ??, dBASE Plus expands it to the amount of space required to reach the next tab stop. If the tab character you send is past the last tab stop, dBASE Plus ignores it, displaying output starting in the current column.