I was recently looking at some projects, which were word editors, with the best word editor I found using the pen to make the letters, which doesn't look too nice. I thought about using clones for the letters but this would be too restricting and slow to deal with. So why not add a new block called the tell block(Name can be changed). It would display the text like how the say or think block does but with more flexibility. It wouldn't have a tail on it or be linked to a specific sprite. It would then have additional inputs for its position, width, and height while being displayed on the screen. This would eliminate the use of clones or pen to display text on screen which would just be easier for everyone.

Edit(2/12/19): If the height and width of the blocks are not big enough then the text would just overflow into space that can't be seen. This overflow could then be scrolled to see or automatically scroll as more text is added. The overflow would also happen in the x-axis or y-axis but may be too many inputs by then for this to be simple. Scratch needs a better dedicated text system, which could be implemented through extensions if thought too advance for new scratches, to help limit the slow and restrictive process with the current ways to display text dynamically.

Original Blocks:

tell [] at x() y() width() height() ::looks

tell [] for (2) secs at x() y() width() height() ::looks

(Instead of tell it could instead say textbox)



-Multinia-'s idea:

set text style [sans-serif v] :: pen
set text size (12) pt :: pen
set text color [#ABCDEF] :: pen
set text alignment [left v] :: pen
draw text [hello world] at x: () y: () :: pen

These blocks would work within the pen extension a new extension which could be called the text extension. The alignment block is still a ambiguous though with how it would function. @imfh idea is to keep the rendering on an svg layer so no pixelation would occur with the text which would be a must if projects are to run across multiple devices and screens.


Supporters

1. DrKat123
   
2. Mrcomputer1
   
3. Scratcher1002
   
4. Zekrom01
   
5. powershack
   
6. 1004587
   
7. Sheep_tester
   
8. JonathanSchaffer
   
9. buurmas
   
10. stickfiregames
    
11. Charles12310
    
12. Robby_Blue
    
13. CoolPenguin10
    
14. LuckyLucky7
    
15. -Multinia-
    
16. coder2045
    
17. VFDan
    
18. VFDan
    
19. –Explosion–
    
20. jeffyTheKodeKing
    
21. RadiusGames46
    

That is quite complicated. Beginners may find it hard to understand, and workarounds are possible.
no support

awesome-llama wrote:

That is quite complicated. Beginners may find it hard to understand, and workarounds are possible.
no support

But the workarounds are really tedious
And it's not gonna be too complicated for new scratchers.
So support

This could be pretty helpful, but another thing you could do is “draw” your own sprite with text and have it switch costumes. It might still be useful though…

when [Bored v] > (1000000)
if <[Computer_Charge] > [0 ]> then
go to [Scratch v]
    
end

Here is an easy workaround:

... //the sprite should be invisible
go to x: (n1) y: (n2) //replace n1 and n2 with a number
say [Hello!] for (n3) secs //replace n3 with a number
...

80% support, losing 20% due to the above workaround. However, since apparently the text can be resized, I would REALLY like that, so +10% support. Therefore, 90% support.

Zekrom01 wrote:

Here is an easy workaround:

... //the sprite should be invisible
go to x: (n1) y: (n2) //replace n1 and n2 with a number
say [Hello!] for (n3) secs //replace n3 with a number
...

80% support, losing 20% due to the above workaround. However, since apparently the text can be resized, I would REALLY like that, so +10% support. Therefore, 90% support. (be happy to put me in a semi-support list or something)

that is a way around it but there still is the thing that comes off the speech bubble which shows were the sprite is and the width is limited and thanks for the support no matter how much it is

Wetbikeboy2500 wrote:

Zekrom01 wrote:

Here is an easy workaround:

... //the sprite should be invisible
go to x: (n1) y: (n2) //replace n1 and n2 with a number
say [Hello!] for (n3) secs //replace n3 with a number
...

80% support, losing 20% due to the above workaround. However, since apparently the text can be resized, I would REALLY like that, so +10% support. Therefore, 90% support. (be happy to put me in a semi-support list or something)

that is a way around it but there still is the thing that comes off the speech bubble which shows were the sprite is and the width is limited and thanks for the support no matter how much it is

no problem!

Support and:

Zekrom01 wrote:

Wetbikeboy2500 wrote:

Zekrom01 wrote:

Here is an easy workaround:

... //the sprite should be invisible
go to x: (n1) y: (n2) //replace n1 and n2 with a number
say [Hello!] for (n3) secs //replace n3 with a number
...

80% support, losing 20% due to the above workaround. However, since apparently the text can be resized, I would REALLY like that, so +10% support. Therefore, 90% support. (be happy to put me in a semi-support list or something)

that is a way around it but there still is the thing that comes off the speech bubble which shows were the sprite is and the width is limited and thanks for the support no matter how much it is

no problem!

Unfortunately, that won't work to put it on the bottom of the screen because sprites can't go completely off the screen.

Support for something like theres a dropdown menu after the say block:

say [] for (2) secs [bubble v] ::looks

That would be the default text bubble
And you could change it to:

say [] for (2) secs [bottom v] ::looks

Or

say [] for (2) secs [top v] ::looks

Which would show the text either at the bottom or the top.

Also would support a popup text feature

say [] for (2) secs [popup v] ::looks

Wetbikeboy2500 wrote:

Zekrom01 wrote:

Here is an easy workaround:

... //the sprite should be invisible
go to x: (n1) y: (n2) //replace n1 and n2 with a number
say [Hello!] for (n3) secs //replace n3 with a number
...

80% support, losing 20% due to the above workaround. However, since apparently the text can be resized, I would REALLY like that, so +10% support. Therefore, 90% support. (be happy to put me in a semi-support list or something)

that is a way around it but there still is the thing that comes off the speech bubble which shows were the sprite is and the width is limited and thanks for the support no matter how much it is

btw You can actually put me on support since I give 90% support

Support, the workaround is tedious and uses up too much project space, making the project take longer to load. However, I think the blocks should just be simplified to:

switch costume to text [] font [Helvetica v] :: looks

support

I support this. You could also call it “textbox” instead of “tell”, although I admit that's not a verb!

“Say” is handy, but being unable to specify the width means you can't get it to fit in with other elements of the screen the way you want. My use case right now is an adventure game with multiple rooms. I want a text box to display a description of the room. However, I might abandon this whole approach and instead create a sprite in the shape of a text box with different costumes for the different canned texts I want to use.

Support, but I would call it textbox as well.

Support for text displaying. The workaround is very complicated and difficult, and it's not just something like this:

define write (string) at x:(x):y(y) with size: (s)
hide
set size to (s)%
go to x:(x)y:(y)
set [letter v] to [0]
repeat (length of (string))
change [letter v] by (1)
change x by (5)
switch costume to (letter (letter) of (string))
stamp
end

It requires more work than that for a very accurate text engine.

I do think that this should be a pen block instead:

write text [] at x: () y: () with size: () :: pen

Charles12310 wrote:

Support for text displaying. The workaround is very complicated and difficult, and it's not just something like this:

define write (string) at x:(x):y(y) with size: (s)
hide
set size to (s)%
go to x:(x)y:(y)
set [letter v] to [0]
repeat (length of (string))
change [letter v] by (1)
change x by (5)
switch costume to (letter (letter) of (string))
stamp
end

It requires more work than that for a very accurate text engine.

I do think that this should be a pen block instead:

write text [] at x: () y: () with size: () :: pen

Please don’t necropost

fphiladelphia wrote:

Charles12310 wrote:

Support for text displaying. The workaround is very complicated and difficult, and it's not just something like this:

define write (string) at x:(x):y(y) with size: (s)
hide
set size to (s)%
go to x:(x)y:(y)
set [letter v] to [0]
repeat (length of (string))
change [letter v] by (1)
change x by (5)
switch costume to (letter (letter) of (string))
stamp
end

It requires more work than that for a very accurate text engine.

I do think that this should be a pen block instead:

write text [] at x: () y: () with size: () :: pen

Please don’t necropost

Necroposting is fine on the suggestions as long as the recent post is relevant.