HOTSPOT controls

[agraham]

Originally Posted by WZSun

That is a great one... for rectangle hotspot.

Rectangle is the easiest. Attached demo tests also for circular and triangular hotspots. You can code more complicated shapes if needed but I am not sure how valuable that would be for a real application.

Does it work for scrollable panels?

I'd be interested to know how you intended to get a scrollable panel as I didn't think you could do it in B4PPC. That is until now, see this new demo.

@Erel - Could we do with a repository (thread?) somewhere for these easy but useful tricks with the Door library, like this scrollable panel and the HScrollBar on a TextBox?. People who do not have the knowledge of the underlying .NET control properties could browse there for ideas.

[agraham]

Finally an example of hit-testing an arbitrary shape using a Bitmap from the ImageLib library that holds a small bitmap of the tested shape.

[Erel]

Originally Posted by agraham

@Erel - Could we do with a repository (thread?) somewhere for these easy but useful tricks with the Door library, like this scrollable panel and the HScrollBar on a TextBox?. People who do not have the knowledge of the underlying .NET control properties could browse there for ideas.

The best place for these useful tricks is the Code Samples & Tips sub forum.
It doesn't matter too much if the code is using or not using the Door library as long as it is helpful for other users.

[WZSun]

Originally Posted by agraham

Rectangle is the easiest. Attached demo tests also for circular and triangular hotspots. You can code more complicated shapes if needed but I am not sure how valuable that would be for a real application.

Thanks.. will check on it.

I'd be interested to know how you intended to get a scrollable panel as I didn't think you could do it in B4PPC. That is until now, see this new demo.

Why not? I used Scrollbar.dll to attach a panel and make it scrollable.

sb.New1("Form1",0,251,240,18,false)
sb.Maximum = 180
sb.SmallChange = 20
sb.LargeChange = 20
.
.
Sub sb_ValueChanged
Panel10.Left = -sb.Value
End Sub

@Erel - Could we do with a repository (thread?) somewhere for these easy but useful tricks with the Door library, like this scrollable panel and the HScrollBar on a TextBox?. People who do not have the knowledge of the underlying .NET control properties could browse there for ideas.

Yes, I agreed tricks and tips should be stored in a common location so that we can search for it asap, instead of 'finding the needle in a haysack' by browsing through all mails in this forum.

[WZSun]

Agraham's sample demos are great.. but from a beginner's pointof view - it's too complex... if there are multiple objects on multiple forms.. Perhaps it's due to my limited skillsets..

I searched and found this - http://www.codeproject.com/KB/buttons/hotspot.aspx

maybe someone can expand on this to make it Basic4PPC compatible...

[agraham]

Originally Posted by WZSun

Why not? I used Scrollbar.dll to attach a panel and make it scrollable.

That's not quite the same thing. That moves the panel itself which I assume has to be wider and/or higher than the Form, rather than scrolling a large object within the panel.

I searched and found this - http://www.codeproject.com/KB/buttons/hotspot.aspx

You think my demos are too complex compared to this?

[WZSun]

Hi agraham,
You're the expert.. so for me.. I just need a simple control.. will definitely check on yours in more details.. as currently I don't need the hotspots in my current project, although I may need to use them for my next forthcoming project.

I agreed your demos may provide a good workaround.. but not sure I want to go into that direction as coordinates checking are critical. On a serious note, your demos would come handy for more precise checking.. and I like the irregular hotspot you did in demos 2 and 3.. it may come handy for some future games projects...

Right now... for me, a simple 'transparent button' control (acting like a hotspot) is adequate as I can place them visibly on the form... and not worrying about coordinates.

Thought perhaps if Erel can add a 'transparent' option in the Properties of the current Image or Button controls, that will become a hotspot control instantly...

[alfcen]

Hi Andrew,

Thanks to your hotspot sample I got a much clearer view of the Door library.
The AutoScroll property for the panel simplifies code tremendously. So inspired
I also checked your ControlInfo source with which help I found that properties
for the desktop are not necessarily available for the device, such as AutoSize
for the PictureBox (Image control). Sad, but fact.

Your ControlInfo is a great reference, indeed! It saves hours of figuring out
why Door reliant code may not work on devices.

I have slightly redesigned the GUI basically replacing the TextBox with a
ComboBox for Control selection and also rem'd the Message boxes to favour
a Label displaying the parameters. No disrespect intended

You are doing really great in this forum!

Cheers
Robert

[klaus]

Hi Andrew and Robert

Thanks Andrew for the different examples of the use of the Door library which makes it more and more understandable to me.

I am also looking in the ControlInfo source to get information, but were missing a few controls.

I added the controls from the ControlEx library and ListView to list.

Sometimes it is still interesting to have the whole MSDN info.
So I added a direct link to the MSDN web site.

For me also, of course, no disrespect intended.

Update with more controls 2008.05.01

Best regards

[alfcen]

Hi Klaus,
I was hoping that someone would add further controls
You did great on developing this project further.
Tausend Dank and cheers
Robert