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**FormatLine( **//line //[//, line number //]// //**), PROTECTED, VIRTUAL**

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| **FormatLine** | A virtual placeholder method to format text. |
| //line// | The label of the STRING variable containing the text to reformat. |
| //line number// | An integer constant, variable, EQUATE or expression that contains the offset or position of the line of text being formatted. If omitted, FormatLine operates on the current line. |

The **FormatLine **method is a virtual placeholder method to reformat text prior to display at runtime.

**Implementation:**

The FormatLine method is a placeholder for derived classes. It provides an easy way for you to reformat the text prior to display. The GetLine method calls the FormatLine method.

**Example:**

** INCLUDE('ABASCII.INC')                     !declare ASCIIViewerClass**

**MyViewer   CLASS(AsciiViewerClass),TYPE     !derive MyViewer class**

**FormatLine  PROCEDURE(*STRING),VIRTUAL      !prototype virtual FormatLine**

**           END**

**Viewer    MyViewer,THREAD                   !declare Viewer object**

**AsciiFile   FILE,DRIVER('ASCII'),NAME('MyText'),PRE(A1),THREAD**

**RECORD       RECORD,PRE()**

**Line          STRING(255)**

**             END**

**            END**

** CODE**

** !program code**

**MyViewer.****FormatLine**** PROCEDURE(*STRING line)  !called by ASCIIViewerClass**

** CODE**

** line = line[1:5]'  '&line[5:55]             !reformat the text**

**See Also:**

[[getline  return line of text .htm|GetLine]]