Custom Labels for Multiple Intersections

[gwport]

PREFACE

Current Gowrite versions (2.3.41 or latest stable versions before)
allow custom labels for multiple intersections but it can be very hard
to discover this great feature. Therefore let me explain how to use
it.


WHAT IS A LABEL?

It is a (short) character sequence written onto an intersection,
regardless of being empty or having a black / white stone on it. You
can enter any character sequence of your choice but more than three
characters of normal size might not fit well. Characters can be upper
case letters, lower case letters, hiragana, digits or punctuation
marks. E.g., I find it very useful to put a question mark onto
intersections with unclear status. The special markup signs triangle,
square, cicle, cross are not characters for the purpose of labels.


SELECTING SEVERAL INTERSECTIONS

For putting the same label onto several intersections simultaneously,
it is a necessity to know how to mark / select them. One convenient
way is to right-click more and more single intersections while holding
the CTRL key. It is also possible in this CTRL + right-click manner to
add rectangular selected parts of the board by CTRL + right-clicking
on an intersection and then dragging the mouse to mark a (or an
additional) rectangle of intersections. When it has the right scope,
lift the right mouse button and the intersections in that rectangle
are added to the selection. Lift also the CTRL key when finished with
forming your selection of intersections. They need not be connected.
Dragging might not work when you start marking a selecting rectangle
on an intersection with a stone. In that case, construct your dragging
from another direction. In some cases, you might wish to unselect all
intersections before selecting new ones: Right-click once or, if
necessary, twice on an unselected intersection (while not pressing
CTRL).


NEXT LABEL FIELD

Another required tool is the right window's part following the phrase
"Next label:". You need to understand how it works. Firstly let me
denote what is there:

Next label: [ ]\/

o Increment [<<] [<] [>]

The box right of the "Next label:" phrase looks like a pure drop-down
box. This it is not! Rather it is a combination of a drop-down box and
an editing field for entering a (short) line of text! Double-click
into that field and enter your currently desired label. Otherwise the
current label is the one currently appearing there. When applying
labels to intersections, the applied label is the currently shown text
in that "Next label:" field.

If you want to specify every next label manually or apply the same
label several times, then unmark the Increment checkbox. If you want
automatically increasing labels, then mark the Increment checkbox. Do
either before applying a label to more intersections. The following
characters are incremental: lower case letters, upper case letters,
digits, (presumably) hiragana. Punctuation marks are invariant to
increments. Digits start from 0 and increase as natural numbers.
Letters are increased alphabetically on a letter-digit basis while
keeping the number and position of letters in a text constant. Upper
case letters build a sequence and lower case letters build another
sequence. Example: Zy, Zz, Aa, Ab... (But the detail of that overflow
behaviour might be subject to change.)

[<<] goes to the first letter / digit of an incremental type, if
applicable. [<] goes one step back and [>] one step forwards.

So what you really need to know is to enter your desired current label
into the field and to (un)mark the Increment checkbox. First enter a
label, then apply it.


APPLYING A LABEL

You have, in any procedural order, already selected the right
intersections, entered the right text into the "Next label:" field and
(un)marked the Increment checkbox. Now you apply the label to the
selected intersections by this command:

CTRL L


REMAKRS

Intersections already having a label are not overwritten by a new
label. If you want to have a new label there, either modify it by
double-clicking onto the single intersection or remove prior labels by
selecting their intersections and using the Remove Marks button. For
applying a label to intersections, (currently) it appears to be
immaterial which tool in the tool buttons window is being selected,
although the programmer suggests the OK/? tool to be active. It is
more convenient though that this is not required because one just does
what is needed: selecting intersections or applying to intersections.