Skip to content

Text Formatting

The alphasign.text_format module provides builder functions that return embedded control-code bytes for Alpha sign messages.

All functions return bytes and can be concatenated directly:

from alphasign.text_format import color, font, speed
from alphasign.protocol import Color, Font

msg = color(Color.RED) + font(Font.SEVEN_HIGH_STD) + b"Hello!"

Colours

color(c) → bytes

Switch to a named colour.

from alphasign.protocol import Color

color(Color.RED)       # b"\x1C1"
color(Color.GREEN)     # b"\x1C2"
color(Color.AMBER)     # b"\x1C3"
color(Color.DIM_RED)   # b"\x1C4"
color(Color.DIM_GREEN) # b"\x1C5"
color(Color.BROWN)     # b"\x1C6"
color(Color.ORANGE)    # b"\x1C7"
color(Color.YELLOW)    # b"\x1C8"
color(Color.RAINBOW1)  # b"\x1C9"
color(Color.RAINBOW2)  # b"\x1CA"
color(Color.MIX)       # b"\x1CB"
color(Color.AUTO)      # b"\x1CC"

rgb_color(r, g, b, *, shade=False) → bytes

24-bit RGB colour (Alpha 3.0+ only).

rgb_color(255, 128, 0)            # orange
rgb_color(0, 200, 255, shade=True)  # tinted blue

Fonts

font(f) → bytes

Switch to a named font.

from alphasign.protocol import Font

font(Font.FIVE_HIGH_STD)      # b"\x1A1"
font(Font.SEVEN_HIGH_STD)     # b"\x1A3"  (default)
font(Font.TEN_HIGH_STD)       # b"\x1A6"
font(Font.FULL_HEIGHT_STD)    # b"\x1A9"
font(Font.SEVEN_HIGH_CUSTOM)  # b"\x1AX"

Full list in alphasign.protocol.Font.

Speed

speed(level) → bytes

Set display speed (1 = slowest, 5 = fastest).

speed(1)  # b"\x15"
speed(3)  # b"\x17"
speed(5)  # b"\x19"

speed_control(level) → bytes

Alpha 2.0 speed control variant (uses 0x09 prefix).

Character Attributes

attr(name, enabled) → bytes

Toggle a character attribute.

Name Effect
"wide" Wide characters
"dwide" Double-wide
"dhigh" Double-high
"td" True descenders
"fw" Fixed-width
"fancy" Fancy style
"aux" Auxiliary port
"shadow" Shadow characters 
attr("wide", True)   # b"\x1D01"
attr("wide", False)  # b"\x1D00"

Date & Time

date_code(fmt) → bytes

Insert a live date in the specified format.

Format string Example
"mm/dd/yy" 12/25/24
"dd/mm/yy" 25/12/24
"mmm.dd.yyyy" Dec.25.2024
"dow" Wednesday

CTRL_TIME

Constant (b"\x13") — insert the current time.

from alphasign.text_format import CTRL_TIME, date_code

msg = b"Date: " + date_code("dd/mm/yy") + b"  Time: " + CTRL_TIME

Temperature

temperature(unit) → bytes

Insert the current temperature reading (Solar series signs only).

temperature("c")  # Celsius
temperature("f")  # Fahrenheit

Variable References

string_ref(label) → bytes

Embed a STRING file value in a TEXT message.

# In the TEXT message:
msg = b"Temp: " + string_ref("B") + b" degrees"
# Update the value live:
pkt.add(WriteString("22.5", label="B"))

picture_ref(label) → bytes

Embed a DOTS picture inline.

counter_ref(index) → bytes

Display a hardware counter value (counters 1–5).

Animations

animation(anim_type, filename, hold_time) → bytes

Reference a Quick Flick, Faster Flicks, or DOTS PICTURE animation.

anim_type Description
"quick" Quick Flick animation
"faster" Faster Flicks (Alpha 3.0+)
"dots" DOTS PICTURE file 
animation("dots", "LOGO", hold_time=10)  # show LOGO for 1.0 s

Control Code Constants

Constant Value Effect
CTRL_FLASH_ON b"\x071" Start flashing
CTRL_FLASH_OFF b"\x070" Stop flashing
CTRL_NEW_LINE b"\x0D" New line
CTRL_NEW_PAGE b"\x0C" New page
CTRL_TIME b"\x13" Current time
CTRL_WIDE_ON b"\x12" Wide chars on
CTRL_WIDE_OFF b"\x11" Wide chars off
CTRL_SPACE_PROP b"\x1E0" Proportional spacing
CTRL_SPACE_FIXED b"\x1E1" Fixed-width spacing
CTRL_DOUBLE_HIGH_ON b"\x051" Double-high on
CTRL_NO_HOLD_SPEED b"\x09" No-hold speed