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Blogging about support in Developer Express.

July 2006 - Posts

  • Are you a big fan of XML/HTML tags? Now you can add formatting to your Support Center posts

         
    The Developer Express Support Center has recently been improved.  Now it supports some formatting tags, which we use in our Knowledge Base.  This feature is available to you, as a user of our Support Center.

    1. If you wish to change the font style of some phrase in your question, you can easily do this by surrounding text with the <italic></italic> and/or <bold></bold> tags.  For example, this text:
        "Hey guys, are you kidding?  Your solution <bold>does not work</bold> either!"
    Will appear on the web page like this:
        "Hey guys, are you kidding?  Your solution does not work either!"

    Another example:
        "I really don't have a clue about what you mean by saying <italic>"This is the designed behavior"</italic>..."
    Will appear as:
        "I really don't have a clue about what you mean by saying "This is the designed behavior"..."

    You can apply both tags to the same phrase so it's displayed in italics and bold:
    <bold><italic>Now the question is</italic></bold>  ...
    Now the question is  ...

    2. You can insert Internet hyperlinks inside a <link href="..."/> tag.  In this case, other users will be able to follow the link when reviewing your question and our answer in the Support Center.  Here are two examples:

    A) To replace an URL with words or a phrase, use a pair of <link href="..."></link> tags:
    <link href="http://www.devexpress.com/Products/NET/WinForms/XtraReports/Index.xml">Here</link> you say that XtraReports causes terrible headaches...
    Here you say that XtraReports causes terrible headaches...

    B) To make an URL clickable use a single <link href="..."/> tag.  Please notice the slash before the right angle bracket, which closes the link tag:
    <link href="http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/1t3y8s4s.aspx"/>
    http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/1t3y8s4s.aspx

    3. You can separate code snippets from question text with the <code lang="language_name"></code> tags which enable programming language syntax to be highlighted according to the specified language.  The supported values for the lang parameter are:
      vb       - Visual Basic.NET
      cs       - C#
      delphi   - Delphi
      cbuilder - C++Builder
      c        - C++
      vb6      - Visual Basic
      html     - HTML
      xml      - XML
      js       - JavaScript?
      vbs      - VBScript
      sql      - SQL

    Here is an example:
    <code lang="vb">
    Private Sub GridView1_CustomDrawCell(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As _
        DevExpress.XtraGrid.Views.Base.RowCellCustomDrawEventArgs) Handles GridView1.CustomDrawCell
        If e.Column.FieldName = "Photo" Then
            ' I want to paint a picture here.  How do I?
            e.Graphics.DrawImage(PictureBox1.Image, New Point(0, 0))
        End If
    End Sub
    </code>

    In this case, it will appear similar to this code block:
    Private Sub GridView1_CustomDrawCell(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As _
        DevExpress.XtraGrid.Views.Base.RowCellCustomDrawEventArgs) Handles GridView1.CustomDrawCell
        If e.Column.FieldName = "Photo" Then
            ' I want to paint a picture here. How do I?
            e.Graphics.DrawImage(PictureBox1.Image, New Point(0, 0))
        End If
    End Sub
    

    Notes
    1. If you misspell tags or forget to include a closing tag, they will appear as plain text in a Web browser without changing any formatting.  The current version of the Support Center does not allow you to modify the text of a question, which you've already submitted.
    2. Our e-mail notifications are currently sent as plain text.  You will see formatting tags instead of formatted text.
    3. Currently, tags should be entered manually if you wish to use them.  Perhaps, we will create an advanced editor for the Support Center in the future...  I just wanted to disclose this "undocumented feature" now, as you can start using it right away.  Hopefully, it will make it even easier for you to get your message across to us.
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