ControlsExDevice library

[agraham]

A very small counterpart to my ControlsExDesktop library. It provides a DateTimePicker control and an InputBox for getting user input. It will also work on the desktop if needed but ControlsExDesktop has both of the included controls now. Needs .NET 2.0 as DateTimePicker is not in .NET 1.0.

Help file and demo included.

EDIT :- updated to version 1.1 - see post below

EDIT :- Desktop dummy library added

EDIT :- Version 1.2 posted - see post below

EDIT :- Version 1.3 posted - see post below

EDIT :- Version 1.4 posted - see post #31

EDIT :- Version 1.5 posted - see post #37

EDIT :- If you haven't already seen it be aware of this pitfall Cs0234

[agraham]

Rapid update to version 1.1 to include a Notification control as requested by sahoopes. Also includes an IconList to support the Icon property of the Notification control.

[sahoopes]

WOW! Can't thank you enough for this!

[agraham]

Version 1.1 of ControlsExDevice will no longer run on the desktop due to the presence of the Notification object. Posted in the first post is a dummy desktop equivalent containing a dummy Notification object to enable development on the desktop.

[alfcen]

Andrew, you made my days for quite a while
The date/time picker, notification bubble and the input box
are awesome enrichments to B4PPC which truly benefits from
increasing professional look and feel plus shorter code.
Thanks so much for the hard work!
No doubt, the entire forum is celebrating you.
Cheers
Robert

[alfcen]

Hi Andrew,
Still having lots of fun with your library
Two very minor issues I came across:

1. The input object is not VGA-aware (cosmetic issue)
2. Can't get the time zone displayed

dtpick.Format=8
    dtpick.CustomFormat="MMM dd, yyyy HH:mm:ss (tt) zzz"

And perhaps a wish if I may,

Is is possible to add Screen.Width and Screen.Height returning the
dimensions of the physical screen, irrespective of form dims and optimized
or legacy compiled applications? The idea is to query the device for VGA
or QVGA displays.

Cheers
Robert

[agraham]

Hi Robert

1. The input object is not VGA-aware (cosmetic issue)

I'm afraid that is .NET/OS issue I can do nothing about.

2. Can't get the time zone displayed

I copied the Custom Date Format part of the help from my ControlExDesktop help and that in turn I got from the .NET DateTime object custom formatting help. It looks like the DateTimePicker control, for some reason, only implements a sub-set of the formats available. The good news is that, although undocumented, the B4PPC DateFormat() & TimeFormat() functions support most of those formats including time zone (on the desktop at least, I haven't tried the device) because they both use a .NET DateTime object. Actually they are really the same function and both return identical results when given the same format strings. DateFormat() is not restricted to date formats and TimeFormat() is not restricted to time formats! Have a play

Is is possible to add Screen.Width and Screen.Height returning the
dimensions of the physical screen, irrespective of form dims and optimized
or legacy compiled applications? The idea is to query the device for VGA
or QVGA displays.

Yes, I was going to polish the library a bit so I will add this.

[agraham]

Version 1.2 posted in first post.

A Notification object on the desktop now shows a message box and fires events to emulate what happens on the device.

A StatusBar control is added, but is of limited functionality (device limitation) showing a single line of text.

A Display object is added that lets the height and width of the screen in pixels be determined.

[alfcen]

Shame on me. You are doing all this whilst I had a drink in a pub to your good health

I will have a play shortly with the update, and let you know. Sounds exciting,
the undocumented features hidden in the data and time formats as well.
Can't tell you often enough, you're a bloody legend, mate.

Hicks
Robert

[alfcen]

Hello again, Andrew,

Display.width and height return the form dimensions, not the screen's.
Specifically, I am running a non-optimized compiled application (pixel doubled)
in a VGA device. Display.Width returns 240 while there are 480 physical
pixels. Hmm, I'm beginning to believe that this job can't be done by a library.
Probably, this information is stored in the registry in device vendor specific locations.

BTW, the help file topics Display and Status Bar have the same contents.

Sorry, indeed, for no better feedback. You spend so much time in devotion
for this forum. I am really happy with the library as it is.

Cheers
Robert