docs » hs.styledtext

This module adds support for controlling the style of the text in Hammerspoon.

More detailed documentation is being worked on and will be provided in the Hammerspoon Wiki at https://github.com/Hammerspoon/hammerspoon/wiki. The documentation here is a condensed version provided for use within the Hammerspoon Dash docset and the inline help provided by the help console command within Hammerspoon.

The following list of attributes key-value pairs are recognized by this module and can be adjusted, set, or removed for objects by the various methods provided by this module. The list of attributes is provided here for reference; anywhere in the documentation you see a reference to the attributes key-value pairs, refer back to here for specifics:

To make the hs.styledtext objects easier to use, in addition to the module specific functions and methods defined, some of the Lua String library has been reproduced to perform similar functions on these objects. See the help section for each method for more information on their use:

In addition, the following metamethods have been included:

Note that due to differences in the way Lua determines when to use metamethods for equality comparisons versus relative-position comparisons, ==/~= cannot compare an object to a Lua string (it will always return false because the types are different). You must use object:getString() ==/~= string. (see hs.styledtext:getString)

API Overview

API Documentation

Constants

defaultFonts
Signature hs.styledtext.defaultFonts
Type Constant
Description A table containing the system default fonts and sizes.
Notes
Source extensions/styledtext/internal.m
fontTraits
Signature hs.styledtext.fontTraits -> table
Type Constant
Description A table for containing Font Trait masks for use with `hs.styledtext.fontNamesWithTraits(...)`
Source extensions/styledtext/internal.m
lineAppliesTo
Signature hs.styledtext.lineAppliesTo
Type Constant
Description A table of values indicating how the line for underlining or strike-through are applied to the text.
Notes
Source extensions/styledtext/internal.m
linePatterns
Signature hs.styledtext.linePatterns
Type Constant
Description A table of patterns which apply to the line for underlining or strike-through.
Notes
Source extensions/styledtext/internal.m
lineStyles
Signature hs.styledtext.lineStyles
Type Constant
Description A table of styles which apply to the line for underlining or strike-through.
Notes
Source extensions/styledtext/internal.m

Functions

convertFont
Signature hs.styledtext.convertFont(fontTable, trait) -> table
Type Function
Description Returns the font which most closely matches the given font and the trait change requested.
Parameters
  • font - a string or a table which specifies a font. If a string is given, the default system font size is assumed. If a table is provided, it should contain the following keys:
    • name - the name of the font (defaults to the system font)
    • size - the point size of the font (defaults to the default system font size)
  • trait - a number corresponding to a trait listed in hs.styledtext.fontTraits you wish to add or remove (unboldFont and unitalicFont) from the given font, or a boolean indicating whether you want a heavier version (true) or a lighter version (false).
Returns
  • a table containing the name and size of the font which most closely matches the specified font and the trait change requested. If no such font is available, then the original font is returned unchanged.
Source extensions/styledtext/internal.m
fontFamilies
Signature hs.styledtext.fontFamilies() -> table
Type Function
Description Returns the names of all font families installed for the system.
Parameters
  • None
Returns
  • a table containing the names of every font family installed for the system.
Source extensions/styledtext/internal.m
fontInfo
Signature hs.styledtext.fontInfo(font) -> table
Type Function
Description Get information about the font Specified in the attributes table.
Parameters
  • font - a string or a table which specifies a font. If a string is given, the default system font size is assumed. If a table is provided, it should contain the following keys:
    • name - the name of the font (defaults to the system font)
    • size - the point size of the font (defaults to the default system font size)
Returns
  • a table containing the following keys:
    • fontName - The font's internally recognized name.
    • familyName - The font's family name.
    • displayName - The font’s display name is typically localized for the user’s language.
    • fixedPitch - A boolean value indicating whether all glyphs in the font have the same advancement.
    • ascender - The top y-coordinate, offset from the baseline, of the font’s longest ascender.
    • boundingRect - A table containing the font’s bounding rectangle, scaled to the font’s size. This rectangle is the union of the bounding rectangles of every glyph in the font.
    • capHeight - The cap height of the font.
    • descender - The bottom y-coordinate, offset from the baseline, of the font’s longest descender.
    • italicAngle - The number of degrees that the font is slanted counterclockwise from the vertical. (read-only)
    • leading - The leading value of the font.
    • maximumAdvancement - A table containing the maximum advance of any of the font’s glyphs.
    • numberOfGlyphs - The number of glyphs in the font.
    • pointSize - The point size of the font.
    • underlinePosition - The baseline offset to use when drawing underlines with the font.
    • underlineThickness - The thickness to use when drawing underlines with the font.
    • xHeight - The x-height of the font.
Source extensions/styledtext/internal.m
fontNames
Signature hs.styledtext.fontNames() -> table
Type Function
Description Returns the names of all installed fonts for the system.
Parameters
  • None
Returns
  • a table containing the names of every font installed for the system. The individual names are strings which can be used in the hs.drawing:setTextFont(fontname) method.
Source extensions/styledtext/internal.m
fontNamesWithTraits
Signature hs.styledtext.fontNamesWithTraits(fontTraitMask) -> table
Type Function
Description Returns the names of all installed fonts for the system with the specified traits.
Parameters
  • traits - a number, specifying the fontTraitMask, or a table containing traits listed in hs.styledtext.fontTraits which are logically 'OR'ed together to create the fontTraitMask used.
Returns
  • a table containing the names of every font installed for the system which matches the fontTraitMask specified. The individual names are strings which can be used in the hs.drawing:setTextFont(fontname) method.
Notes
  • specifying 0 or an empty table will match all fonts that are neither italic nor bold. This would be the same list as you'd get with { hs.styledtext.fontTraits.unBold, hs.styledtext.fontTraits.unItalic } as the parameter.
Source extensions/styledtext/internal.m
fontPath
Signature hs.styledtext.fontPath(font) -> table
Type Function
Description Get the path of a font.
Parameters
  • font - a string containing the name of the font you want to check.
Returns
  • The path to the font or nil if the font name is not valid.
Source extensions/styledtext/internal.m
fontsForFamily
Signature hs.styledtext.fontsForFamily(familyName) -> table
Type Function
Description Returns an array containing fonts available for the specified font family or nil if no fonts for the specified family are present.
Parameters
  • familyName - a string specifying the font family to return available fonts for. The strings should be one of the values returned by the hs.styledtext.fontFamiles function.
Returns
  • a table containing an array of available fonts for the specified family. Each array entry will be a table, also as an array, in the following order:
    • a string specifying the font name which can be used in the hs.drawing:setTextFont(fontname) method.
    • a string specifying the basic style of the font (e.g. Bold, Italic, Roman, etc.)
    • a table containing one or more strings specifying common names for the weight of the font. ISO equivalent names are preceded with "ISO:". Possible values are: 
         `{ "ultralight" }`
   `{ "thin", "ISO:ultralight" }`
   `{ "light", "extralight", "ISO:extralight" }`
   `{ "book", "ISO:light" }`
   `{ "regular", "plain", "display", "roman", "ISO:semilight" }`
   `{ "medium", "ISO:medium" }`
   `{ "demi", "demibold" }`
   `{ "semi", "semibold", "ISO:semibold" }`
   `{ "bold", "ISO:bold" }`
   `{ "extra", "extrabold", "ISO:extrabold" }`
   `{ "heavy", "heavyface" }`
   `{ "black", "super", "ISO:ultrabold" }`
   `{ "ultra", "ultrablack", "fat" }`
   `{ "extrablack", "obese", "nord" }`
    • a table specifying zero or more traits for the font as defined in the hs.styledtext.fontTraits table. A field with the key _numeric is also set which specified the numeric value corresponding to the traits for easy use with the hs.styledtext.convertFont function.
Source extensions/styledtext/init.lua
loadFont
Signature hs.styledtext.loadFont(path) -> boolean[, string]
Type Function
Description Loads a font from a file at the specified path.
Parameters
  • path - the path and filename of the font file to attempt to load
Returns
  • If the font can be registered returns true, otherwise false and an error message as string.
Source extensions/styledtext/internal.m
validFont
Signature hs.styledtext.validFont(font) -> boolean
Type Function
Description Checks to see if a font is valid.
Parameters
  • font - a string containing the name of the font you want to check.
Returns
  • true if valid, otherwise false.
Source extensions/styledtext/internal.m

Constructors

ansi
Signature hs.styledtext.ansi(string, [attributes]) -> styledText object
Type Constructor
Description Create an `hs.styledtext` object from the string provided, converting ANSI SGR color and some font sequences into the appropriate attributes. Attributes to apply to the resulting string may also be optionally provided.
Parameters
  • string - The string containing the text with ANSI SGR sequences to be converted.
  • attributes - an optional table containing attribute key-value pairs to apply to the entire hs.styledtext object to be returned.
Returns
  • an hs.styledtext object
Notes
  • Because a font is required for the SGR sequences indicating Bold and Italic, the base font is determined using the following logic:
      • if no attributes table is provided, the font is assumed to be the default for hs.drawing as returned by the hs.drawing.defaultTextStyle function
      • if an attributes table is provided and it defines a font attribute, this font is used.
      • if an attributes table is provided, but it does not provide a font attribute, the NSAttributedString default of Helvetica at 12 points is used.
  • As the most common use of this constructor is likely to be from the output of a terminal shell command, you will most likely want to specify a fixed-pitch (monospace) font. You can get a list of installed fixed-pitch fonts by typing hs.styledtext.fontNamesWithTraits(hs.styledtext.fontTraits.fixedPitchFont) into the Hammerspoon console.
Source extensions/styledtext/init.lua
getStyledTextFromData
Signature hs.styledtext.getStyledTextFromData(data, [type]) -> styledText object
Type Constructor
Description Converts the provided data into a styled text string.
Parameters
  • data - the data, as a lua string, which contains the raw data to be converted to a styledText object
  • type - a string indicating the format of the contents in data. Defaults to "html". The string may be one of the following (not all formats may be fully representable as a simple string container - see also hs.styledtext.setTextFromFile):
    • "text" - Plain text document.
    • "rtf" - Rich text format document.
    • "rtfd" - Rich text format with attachments document.
    • "simpleText" - Macintosh SimpleText document.
    • "html" - Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) document.
    • "word" - Microsoft Word document.
    • "wordXML" - Microsoft Word XML (WordML schema) document.
    • "webArchive" - Web Kit WebArchive document.
    • "openXML" - ECMA Office Open XML text document format.
    • "open" - OASIS Open Document text document format.
Returns
  • the styledText object
Notes
  • See also hs.styledtext.getStyledTextFromFile
Source extensions/styledtext/internal.m
getStyledTextFromFile
Signature hs.styledtext.getStyledTextFromFile(file, [type]) -> styledText object
Type Constructor
Description Converts the data in the specified file into a styled text string.
Parameters
  • file - the path to the file to use as the source for the data to convert into a styledText object
  • type - a string indicating the format of the contents in data. Defaults to "html". The string may be one of the following (not all formats may be fully representable as a simple string container - see also hs.styledtext.setTextFromFile):
    • "text" - Plain text document.
    • "rtf" - Rich text format document.
    • "rtfd" - Rich text format with attachments document.
    • "simpleText" - Macintosh SimpleText document.
    • "html" - Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) document.
    • "word" - Microsoft Word document.
    • "wordXML" - Microsoft Word XML (WordML schema) document.
    • "webArchive" - Web Kit WebArchive document.
    • "openXML" - ECMA Office Open XML text document format.
    • "open" - OASIS Open Document text document format.
Returns
  • the styledText object
Notes
  • See also hs.styledtext.getStyledTextFromData
Source extensions/styledtext/internal.m
new
Signature hs.styledtext.new(string, [attributes]) -> styledText object
Type Constructor
Description Create an `hs.styledtext` object from the string or table representation provided. Attributes to apply to the resulting string may also be optionally provided.
Parameters
  • string - a string, table, or hs.styledtext object to create a new hs.styledtext object from.
  • attributes - an optional table containing attribute key-value pairs to apply to the entire hs.styledtext object to be returned.
Returns
  • an hs.styledtext object
Notes
  • See hs.styledtext:asTable for a description of the table representation of an hs.styledtext object
  • See the module description documentation (help.hs.styledtext) for a description of the attributes table format which can be provided for the optional second argument.
Source extensions/styledtext/internal.m

Methods

asTable
Signature hs.styledtext:asTable([starts], [ends]) -> table
Type Method
Description Returns the table representation of the `hs.styledtext` object or its specified substring.
Parameters
  • starts - an optional index position within the text of the hs.styledtext object indicating the beginning of the substring to return the table for. Defaults to 1, the beginning of the objects text. If this number is negative, it is counted backwards from the end of the object's text (i.e. -1 would be the last character position).
  • ends - an optional index position within the text of the hs.styledtext object indicating the end of the substring to return the table for. Defaults to the length of the objects text. If this number is negative, it is counted backwards from the end of the object's text.
Returns
  • a table representing the hs.styledtext object. The table will be an array with the following structure:
    • index 1 - the text of the hs.styledtext object as a Lua String.
    • index 2+ - a table with the following keys:
      • starts - the index position in the original styled text object where this list of attributes is first applied
      • ends - the index position in the original styled text object where the application of this list of attributes ends
      • attributes - a table of attribute key-value pairs that apply to the string between the positions of starts and ends
      • unsupportedFields - this field only exists, and will be set to true when an attribute that was included in the attributes table that this module cannot modify. A best effort will be made to render the attributes assigned value in the attributes table, but modifying the attribute and re-applying it with hs.styledtext:setStyle will be silently ignored.
Notes
  • starts and ends follow the conventions of i and j for Lua's string.sub function.
  • The attribute which contains an attachment (image) for a converted RTFD or other document is known to set the unsupportedFields flag.
Source extensions/styledtext/internal.m
byte
Signature hs.styledtext:byte([starts], [ends]) -> integer, ...
Type Method
Description Returns the internal numerical representation of the characters in the `hs.styledtext` object specified by the given indicies. Mimics the Lua `string.byte` function.
Parameters
  • starts - an optional index position within the text of the hs.styledtext object indicating the beginning of the substring to return numerical values for. Defaults to 1, the beginning of the objects text. If this number is negative, it is counted backwards from the end of the object's text (i.e. -1 would be the last character position).
  • ends - an optional index position within the text of the hs.styledtext object indicating the end of the substring to return numerical values for. Defaults to the value of starts. If this number is negative, it is counted backwards from the end of the object's text.
Returns
  • a list of integers representing the internal numeric representation of the characters in the hs.styledtext object specified by the given indicies.
Notes
  • starts and ends follow the conventions of i and j for Lua's string.sub function.
Source extensions/styledtext/init.lua
convert
Signature hs.styledtext:convert([type]) -> string
Type Method
Description Converts the styledtext object into the data format specified.
Parameters
  • type - a string indicating the format to convert the styletext object into. Defaults to "html". The string may be one of the following:
    • "text" - Plain text document.
    • "rtf" - Rich text format document.
    • "rtfd" - Rich text format with attachments document.
    • "html" - Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) document.
    • "word" - Microsoft Word document.
    • "wordXML" - Microsoft Word XML (WordML schema) document.
    • "webArchive" - Web Kit WebArchive document.
    • "openXML" - ECMA Office Open XML text document format.
    • "open" - OASIS Open Document text document format.
Returns
  • a string containing the converted data
Source extensions/styledtext/internal.m
copy
Signature hs.styledtext:copy(styledText) -> styledText object
Type Method
Description Create a copy of the `hs.styledtext` object.
Parameters
  • styledText - an hs.styledtext object
Returns
  • a copy of the styledText object
Source extensions/styledtext/internal.m
find
Signature hs.styledtext:find(pattern, [init, [plain]]) -> start, end, ... | nil
Type Method
Description Returns the indicies of the first occurrence of the specified pattern in the text of the `hs.styledtext` object. Mimics the Lua `string.find` function.
Parameters
  • pattern - a string containing the pattern to locate. See the Lua manual, section 6.4.1 (help.lua._man._6_4_1) for more details.
  • init - an optional integer specifying the location within the text to start the pattern search
  • plain - an optional boolean specifying whether or not to treat the pattern as plain text (i.e. an exact match). Defaults to false. If you wish to specify this argument, you must also specify init.
Returns
  • if a match is found, start and end will be the indices where the pattern was first located. If captures were specified in the pattern, they will also be returned as additional arguments after start and end. If the pattern was not found in the text, then this method returns nil.
Notes
  • Any captures returned are returned as Lua Strings, not as hs.styledtext objects.
Source extensions/styledtext/init.lua
getString
Signature hs.styledtext:getString([starts], [ends]) -> string
Type Method
Description Returns the text of the `hs.styledtext` object as a Lua String
Parameters
  • starts - an optional index position within the text of the hs.styledtext object indicating the beginning of the substring to return the string for. Defaults to 1, the beginning of the objects text. If this number is negative, it is counted backwards from the end of the object's text (i.e. -1 would be the last character position).
  • ends - an optional index position within the text of the hs.styledtext object indicating the end of the substring to return the string for. Defaults to the length of the objects text. If this number is negative, it is counted backwards from the end of the object's text.
Returns
  • a string containing the text of the hs.styledtext object specified
Notes
  • starts and ends follow the conventions of i and j for Lua's string.sub function.
Source extensions/styledtext/internal.m
gmatch
Signature hs.styledtext:gmatch(pattern) -> iterator-function
Type Method
Description Returns an iterator function which will return the captures (or the entire pattern) of the next match of the specified pattern in the text of the `hs.styledtext` object each time it is called. Mimics the Lua `string.gmatch` function.
Parameters
  • pattern - a string containing the pattern to locate. See the Lua manual, section 6.4.1 (help.lua._man._6_4_1) for more details.
Returns
  • an iterator function which will return the captures (or the entire pattern) of the next match of the specified pattern in the text of the hs.styledtext object each time it is called.
Notes
  • Any captures (or the entire pattern) returned by the iterator are returned as Lua Strings, not as hs.styledtext objects.
Source extensions/styledtext/init.lua
isIdentical
Signature hs.styledtext:isIdentical(styledText) -> boolean
Type Method
Description Determine if the `styledText` object is identical to the one specified.
Parameters
  • styledText - an hs.styledtext object
Returns
  • a boolean value indicating whether or not the styled text objects are identical, both in text content and attributes specified.
Notes
  • comparing two hs.styledtext objects with the == operator only compares whether or not the string values are identical. This method also compares their attributes.
Source extensions/styledtext/internal.m
len
Signature hs.styledtext:len() -> integer
Type Method
Description Returns the length of the text of the `hs.styledtext` object. Mimics the Lua `string.len` function.
Parameters
  • None
Returns
  • an integer which is the length of the text of the hs.styledtext object.
Source extensions/styledtext/internal.m
lower
Signature hs.styledtext:lower() -> styledText object
Type Method
Description Returns a copy of the `hs.styledtext` object with all alpha characters converted to lower case. Mimics the Lua `string.lower` function.
Parameters
  • None
Returns
  • a copy of the hs.styledtext object with all alpha characters converted to lower case
Source extensions/styledtext/internal.m
match
Signature hs.styledtext:match(pattern, [init]) -> match ... | nil
Type Method
Description Returns the first occurrence of the captures in the specified pattern (or the complete pattern, if no captures are specified) in the text of the `hs.styledtext` object. Mimics the Lua `string.match` function.
Parameters
  • pattern - a string containing the pattern to locate. See the Lua manual, section 6.4.1 (help.lua._man._6_4_1) for more details.
  • init - an optional integer specifying the location within the text to start the pattern search
Returns
  • if a match is found, the captures in the specified pattern (or the complete pattern, if no captures are specified). If the pattern was not found in the text, then this method returns nil.
Notes
  • Any captures (or the entire pattern) returned are returned as Lua Strings, not as hs.styledtext objects.
Source extensions/styledtext/init.lua
removeStyle
Signature hs.styledtext:removeStyle(attributes, [starts], [ends]) -> styledText object
Type Method
Description Return a copy of the `hs.styledtext` object containing the changes to its attributes specified in the `attributes` table.
Parameters
  • attributes - an array of attribute labels to remove (set to nil) from the hs.styledtext object.
  • starts - an optional index position within the text of the hs.styledtext object indicating the beginning of the substring to remove attributes for. Defaults to 1, the beginning of the object's text. If this number is negative, it is counted backwards from the end of the object's text (i.e. -1 would be the last character position).
  • ends - an optional index position within the text of the hs.styledtext object indicating the end of the substring to remove attributes for. Defaults to the length of the object's text. If this number is negative, it is counted backwards from the end of the object's text.
Returns
  • a copy of the hs.styledtext object with the attributes specified removed from the given range of the original object.
Notes
  • starts and ends follow the conventions of i and j for Lua's string.sub function.
Source extensions/styledtext/internal.m
rep
Signature hs.styledtext:rep(n, [separator]) -> styledText object
Type Method
Description Returns an `hs.styledtext` object which contains `n` repetitions of the `hs.styledtext` object, optionally with `separator` between each repetition. Mimics the Lua `string.rep` function.
Parameters
  • n - the number of times to repeat the hs.styledtext object.
  • separator - an optional string or hs.styledtext object to insert between repetitions.
Returns
  • an hs.styledtext object which contains n repitions of the object, including separator between repetitions, if it is specified.
Source extensions/styledtext/init.lua
setString
Signature hs.styledtext:setString(string, [starts], [ends], [clear]) -> styledText object
Type Method
Description Return a copy of the `hs.styledtext` object containing the changes to its attributes specified in the `attributes` table.
Parameters
  • string - a string, table, or hs.styledtext object to insert or replace the substring specified.
  • starts - an optional index position within the text of the hs.styledtext object indicating the beginning of the destination for the specified string. Defaults to 1, the beginning of the objects text. If this number is negative, it is counted backwards from the end of the object's text (i.e. -1 would be the last character position).
  • ends - an optional index position within the text of the hs.styledtext object indicating the end of destination for the specified string. Defaults to the length of the objects text. If this number is negative, it is counted backwards from the end of the object's text. If this number is 0, then the substring is inserted at the index specified by starts rather than replacing it.
  • clear - an optional boolean indicating whether or not the attributes of the new string should be included (true) or whether the new substring should inherit the attributes of the first character replaced (false). Defaults to false if string is a Lua String or number; otherwise defaults to true.
Returns
  • a copy of the hs.styledtext object with the specified substring replacement to the original object, or nil if an error occurs
Notes
  • starts and ends follow the conventions of i and j for Lua's string.sub function except that starts must refer to an index preceding or equal to ends, even after negative and out-of-bounds indices are adjusted for.
Source extensions/styledtext/internal.m
setStyle
Signature hs.styledtext:setStyle(attributes, [starts], [ends], [clear]) -> styledText object
Type Method
Description Return a copy of the `hs.styledtext` object containing the changes to its attributes specified in the `attributes` table.
Parameters
  • attributes - a table of attribute key-value pairs to apply to the object between the positions of starts and ends
  • starts - an optional index position within the text of the hs.styledtext object indicating the beginning of the substring to set attributes for. Defaults to 1, the beginning of the objects text. If this number is negative, it is counted backwards from the end of the object's text (i.e. -1 would be the last character position).
  • ends - an optional index position within the text of the hs.styledtext object indicating the end of the substring to set attributes for. Defaults to the length of the objects text. If this number is negative, it is counted backwards from the end of the object's text.
  • clear - an optional boolean indicating whether or not the attributes specified should completely replace the existing attributes (true) or be added to/modify them (false). Defaults to false.
Returns
  • a copy of the hs.styledtext object with the attributes specified applied to the given range of the original object.
Notes
  • starts and ends follow the conventions of i and j for Lua's string.sub function.
Source extensions/styledtext/internal.m
sub
Signature hs.styledtext:sub(starts, [ends]) -> styledText object
Type Method
Description Returns a substring, including the style attributes, specified by the given indicies from the `hs.styledtext` object. Mimics the Lua `string.sub` function.
Parameters
  • starts - the index position within the text of the hs.styledtext object indicating the beginning of the substring to return. If this number is negative, it is counted backwards from the end of the object's text (i.e. -1 would be the last character position).
  • ends - an optional index position within the text of the hs.styledtext object indicating the end of the substring to return. Defaults to the length of the objects text. If this number is negative, it is counted backwards from the end of the object's text.
Returns
  • an hs.styledtext object containing the specified substring.
Notes
  • starts and ends follow the conventions of i and j for Lua's string.sub function.
Source extensions/styledtext/internal.m
upper
Signature hs.styledtext:upper() -> styledText object
Type Method
Description Returns a copy of the `hs.styledtext` object with all alpha characters converted to upper case. Mimics the Lua `string.upper` function.
Parameters
  • None
Returns
  • a copy of the hs.styledtext object with all alpha characters converted to upper case
Source extensions/styledtext/internal.m