# MSet Instruction Author 10 - Instruction appearance and external utility links Status: **canonical-development** Branch: **MSet 64-bit** Current product: **MSet 2026 by GRAPHICO** Format covered: **MSet 2026 native instruction format 2026.1** ## Purpose This module defines two user-facing authoring capabilities that are part of the current MSet 2026 workflow: - optional per-instruction UI colors, - external web links presented as explicit utility Features. Both capabilities are presentation/workflow concerns. They do not change Feature command composition and they do not change `FormatVersion="2026.1"`. ## 1. Optional Instruction color scheme The current `Instruction` root supports these optional attributes: ```text TextColor BackgroundColor ``` Canonical authoring uses six-digit RGB hex: ```xml ``` The corresponding current DTD declaration is: ```dtd ``` These attributes are optional UI metadata. They are not Bentley named resources and do not set MicroStation element colors. A native instruction with or without them remains format `2026.1`. When valid Instruction colors are present, MSet applies them for that instruction in preference to the per-user appearance fallback. If they are absent, normal user/default appearance remains available. ## 2. Color choice is part of instruction UX A generated instruction may define its own recognizable color pair when the authoring task allows it. The pair should remain readable and should not imitate CAD element symbology semantics. A useful authoring review records the chosen pair explicitly: ```text Instruction appearance TextColor: #203040 BackgroundColor: #E9F2F8 ``` MSet's appearance tool can copy the currently tuned pair in XML-attribute form, so hand-edited and visually tuned instructions use the same representation. ## 3. Runtime-verified external URL action On 2026-08-24, MSet `26.11.0.4` in MicroStation 2026 runtime-tested this exact Final Key-in: ```text $ % "https://www.graphico.sk/mset/ai/" ``` Result: the URL opened successfully in the system/default web browser. Evidence state for the URL-launch pattern is therefore: ```text $ % "https://..." MSet 2026 / MicroStation 2026: runtime-verified by GRAPHICO ``` Historical MSet_Polohopis instructions also contain the same pattern for ZBGIS, CICA, SKPOS, Google Maps, FreeMap, Mapy.cz and product/documentation links. The current runtime test promotes the **URL-launch mechanism**, not every historical URL. ## 4. External links belong on a utility Page For new authoring, web links are normally separated from drawing tools on their own Page. This is a GRAPHICO UX best practice, not a DTD restriction. Example structure: ```xml $ % "https://www.graphico.sk/mset/ai/" $ % "https://zbgis.skgeodesy.sk/mkzbgis/sk/kataster" ``` This keeps the primary CAD Page focused on geometry/text/state workflows and makes external navigation discoverable without mixing it with placement commands. A Page caption such as `Odkazy a pomôcky`, `Web a pomôcky`, or another domain-appropriate equivalent is suitable when it accurately describes the content. ## 5. URL/resource discipline The launch mechanism may be runtime-verified while the destination itself is still an external dependency. The review therefore distinguishes: ```text mechanism evidence: runtime-verified URL destination: explicit/known external dependency ``` A URL supplied by the user, present in a verified package, or otherwise explicitly established for the task is suitable. Internal/private destinations should not be invented. Public destinations chosen by the author should be identifiable and relevant to the instruction purpose. If a URL contains XML-reserved characters such as `&`, XML element text must preserve well-formedness, for example by using `&`. ## Local file, folder and configuration-variable launch boundary The current authoring contract does **not** generalize the verified HTTP/HTTPS form to local targets. Historical packages provide supporting evidence that local documents/folders and environment/configuration variables have been used, but the exact current MSet 2026 behavior still needs targeted runtime verification for: - a local folder path, - a local document/PDF path, - paths containing spaces and their quoting, - a real published Bentley/MSet/Windows configuration variable, - a missing target/error path. Suitable runtime-test candidates include, for example: ```text $ % "C:\Temp" $ % "C:\Temp\Test.pdf" ``` These strings are **test candidates, not canonical production authoring syntax**. Until the exact cases pass current-host runtime tests, report the documentation gap instead of generating a local-launch command by analogy with the verified URL mechanism. ## 6. External actions are valid Feature semantics A Feature is a user action, not necessarily a drawing-tool activation. An external-link Feature therefore passes the same module-06 Semantic / Context Check when: - `Cpt` names the destination/action clearly, - the effective command is the intended `$ % "URL"` launch action, - the parent Group/Page presents it as a utility/link rather than CAD geometry, - no unrelated graphical-state dependency is implied. Graphical baselines such as `co=`, `lc=` or `wt=` do not belong above a link-only Page merely by habit. ## 7. Recommended page separation A compact multi-purpose instruction commonly benefits from this top-level separation: ```text Page: Kreslenie geometry / text / modifiers Page: Odkazy a pomôcky maps / standards / product help / project web resources ``` The second Page is optional. It is recommended when the instruction contains several external links or documents. ## 8. Review checklist For appearance and external utilities, review: 1. `TextColor` and `BackgroundColor` are optional and use canonical `#RRGGBB` form when present, 2. the DTD declares both optional attributes when the XML uses them, 3. `FormatVersion` remains `2026.1`, 4. foreground/background are reasonably readable together, 5. web actions use the runtime-verified `$ % "URL"` pattern, 6. link Features live in a utility-oriented Page/Group rather than being mixed randomly into drawing branches, 7. destination URLs are explicit dependencies and are not fabricated private resources, 8. XML-reserved URL characters are escaped correctly, 9. external-link branches do not inherit irrelevant geometry baseline state. ## Current boundary The current runtime evidence proves opening an HTTP/HTTPS URL through `$ % "..."`. Historical packages also use the same mechanism for local documents and folders, but those path/variable cases retain their own evidence status until separately current-runtime verified. This module does not promote all historical file/folder launch patterns merely because URL launch succeeded.