All Focal Point text tags are surrounded by brackets: [ ]. Most of the tags require both a start and an end tag, but a few of them does not require an end tag. See table below for more details.
The way of formatting text is important when integrating with other applications. Depending on the application used to display the text, the Focal Point text tags may be translated to another markup language, e.g. HTML, or simply removed to display text without formatting. Of course, anything in between is also possible. Integrations that want to take advantage of text formatting in Focal Point text attributes need to be able to interpret the different formatting tags supported by Focal Point.
Tag | Meaning | End tag required |
---|---|---|
B | Bold | Sí |
I | Italic | Sí |
U | Underlined | Sí |
S | Strike through | Sí |
H1 | Heading level 1 | Sí |
H2 | Heading level 2 | Sí |
H3 | Heading level 3 | Sí |
H4 | Heading level 4 | Sí |
H5 | Heading level 5 | Sí |
H6 | Heading level 6 | Sí |
PRE | Preformatted text | Sí |
ADDRESS | Address | Sí |
STRONG | Strong | Sí |
OL | Ordered list | Sí |
UL | Unordered list | Sí |
LI | List item | Sí |
BLOCKQUOTE | Block quote | Sí |
URL | Hyperlink | Sí |
P | Paragraph | No |
HR | Horizontal rule | No |
[URL]http://www.ibm.com/[/URL]
[URL=IBM]http://www.ibm.com/[/URL]
The alternative format in the example above would hint to the tool that renders the text that the link title IBM should be displayed instead of the link itself. If the tool that renders the text has no way of displaying a clickable link, it is recommended that the link is displayed instead of the title.
Some clients would just remove the tags and render the text without formatting, which is also OK. However, if the text is sent back and forth between Rational Focal Point and another tool, both tools must handle the tags in the same way for formatting information to be retained.