Bernard Bout

Ultra Simple Buttons with GDI+X

bbout — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 12:45:00 GMT

Not another set of buttons you might say. Actually I developed these buttons for a POS app a while back and finally got round to posting them.The buttons are simple to use with all properties you need to set in the Favourites tab. oFontName - The name of the font to uselShowBell - This gives a bell shape to the gradient. Basically it changes the style of the button. See the image below.nButtonColour1nButtonColour2 - The 2 colours that will be used for the button when nButtonType = 4. Use the colour...(read more)

The Fastest Lightbox Ever

bbout — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 11:27:00 GMT

In one of my previous posts I described a Lightbox class that was Activex friendly.The old post is here: VFP Lightbox Class - Now Activex FriendlyUnfortunately because of the logic used in the class, for large "busy" forms with a large number of objects, it caused a couple of seconds delay before the lightbox was displayed and even then on slower computers the screen update was noticeably slow.So I had another look at the logic of the previous version and threw away most of the code. The result is...(read more)

Beautify your Application Desktop

bbout — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 09:34:00 GMT

Been a while since I posted anything.Came across a desktop image when browsing the other day and saw this application desktop. It looked doable in VFP so I got stuck in and this is the result.The class is based on the GDI+X classes from the VFPX site and requires VFP9 SP2 or you will not get transparency. I kept the class simple with few properties to set but that can be easily changed by anyone because the source is included. All the properties are self explanatory.So just create a form with a nice...(read more)

GDI+X Pad gets an update with added functionality and tutorial

bbout — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 11:47:00 GMT

After some testing and additional functionality programmed in, I have decided to release this new version of the GDI+X Pad - v1.35. There are a number of enhancements to it, to enable it to be easier to use, which I will list here: 1. The Error handler was changed to the older conventional On Error from the Try...Catch style because Try...Catch was unable to process certain errors and threw up nesting errors. The Error handler now handles improper code statements correctly. 2.The image...(read more)

Update to GDI+X Pad

bbout — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 12:34:00 GMT

Just a note to whoever reads this blog and downloaded the GDI+X Pad. that the post has been updated. The download has also been updated to v 1.12.Please check this link for the update and new download: http://weblogs.foxite.com/bernardbout/archive/2009/04/14/8096.aspx...(read more)

Introducing the GDI+X Pad

bbout — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 15:18:00 GMT

Many times when trying out the GDI+X classes I have had to create a form and then type out the code and run the form to see the results. Another problem I have had is looking up sample code to see how things are done. I have always wanted an easier way to manage this. Note: Post has been updated with some new info. See below. Also the download is now V1.2 The GDI+X Pad is a Visual Foxpro 9 Sp2 application where you can type in your GDI+X code to see how it looks immediately,...(read more)

Creating the VFP Base Classes with GDI+x - The 3D Option Buttons

bbout — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 15:23:00 GMT

Following on from my previous post about creating check boxes completely with GDI+x I decided to try something a bit different and create a 3D Option Button set with colour schemes. What follows is about this class as well as how to set it up and also to create your own colour schemes, in addition to the ten schemes included.Important:The GDI+X classes that are used in this class use Functions in system.app that are fixed and you will get errors if you use the release version. As pointed out by Cesar,...(read more)

Creating the VFP Base Classes with GDI+x - The Checkbox

bbout — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 14:06:00 GMT

A reader on my blog posted - why don't I create other base controls with GDI+x so I thought I'd give it a shot. This post is about recreating the VFP Base classes using pure GDI+ and the GDI+x classes to achieve neat looking base classes. When I say "Base Class" I mean with VFP intrinsic ability to bind fields to controls. So while not all PEM's available in the Checkbox have been implemented the two most important have been - DataBinding using the ControlSource and of course sprucing up the UI experience.After...(read more)

White Butttons are not that bad looking after all

bbout — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 12:06:00 GMT

Been working off and on, on a set of, believe it or not, White buttons using GDI+x So far they have come out pretty good looking. May complete them one day and post them. What do you think? Unfortunately because of the amount of junk mail being generated from the weblog I have switched off comments. Please post your comments, if any, at www.foxite.com...(read more)

Decorating a Grid with GDI+

bbout — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 12:14:00 GMT

Many times I have seen where there are grid controls that have an image as their background. Now in VFP while it is not too difficult to display images in the grid, you just cannot get the effect as below. avior:url(#ieooui) } But with a little ingenuity and some technique this effect as above is certainly possible. That's where GDI+ comes in. To achieve this you need the GDI+x classes found on VFPX and the imgcanvas class. Create a new class and base it on the imgcanvas...(read more)

VFP Shape Tips & Techniques

bbout — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 08:18:00 GMT

Here are a couple of tips for getting things done with your classes using the Shape control. With a listbox control, you have to actually click on it before any row is selected. If, for any reason you wanted to be able to just move your mouse over it and have a row selected, you will find that you cannot achieve this with the plain control. That is because this behaviour is not native. But given that you may want this specific effect, and remember that this technique can be used for other controls...(read more)

Don't let VFP's CLEAR ALL command scare you

bbout — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 10:24:00 GMT

When developing, how many times have you had to issue a CLEAR ALL in the command window only to find your objects and other settings also were cleared?...(read more)

Transparent Forms with VFP Revisited with GDI+x

bbout — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 14:14:00 GMT

More than 2 years ago I started blogging on getting VFP to have transparent windows. No, not the fully transparent ones, but the Vista like ones, where the window is transparent but the contents, including form objects, are opaque. This was my first post as proof of concept: http://weblogs.foxite.com/bernardbout/archive/2006/06/15/1838.aspx and from proof of concept to the "real" thing http://weblogs.foxite.com/bernardbout/archive/2006/08/16/2261.aspx with the technique described in detail here...(read more)

Glow-In-The-Dark Buttons with GDI+X

bbout — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 10:09:00 GMT

The GDI+x Samples have a form that displays a "Halo" for text. So taking that idea I adapted it for these glowing buttons. To use these buttons you will need the GDI+x classes on the VFPX site. http://www.codeplex.com/Wiki/View.aspx?ProjectName=VFPX&title=GDIPlusX Click on the link on this page that says Latest Release of GDIPlusX and download the latest stable release. Do not download the Beta as that is not complete and may not work properly. I havd also posted a tutorial on how to...(read more)

Interesting Animated Background Effect for Forms

bbout — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 09:41:00 GMT

Most of you have seen the effect of the Vista dialogs where the background of the form appears to move whe the form is moved. While difficult to describe, it is easy to see and even easier to implement for your forms. Obviously if you have Vista, then you already have the animated background effect. So this post is aimed at those of us who have upgraded to and still use XP. This effect is achieved with just 2 lines of code as you will see. Click on either of the images below to view it at full...(read more)