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Once bitten twice shy, I dont really want a long term relationship for now.
I'll write a suicide note on a hundred dollar bill - Dire Straits
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Post suggestions about the library here please.
Roger Allen
Sonork 100.10016
Were you different as a kid? Did you ever say "Ooohhh, shiny red" even once? - Paul Watson 11-February-2003
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Is it includes all the bells and whistles like the ones included in the Chris Sells Genghis project?
Never take a problem to your boss unless you have a solution.
This signature was created by "Code Project Quoter".
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I figure that we essentially wanna make this like a really good clone of the Office XP / VS.NET interfaces. So for example merging Menu Commands, Toolbar Buttons and Keyboard Accelerators into a universal """Command""" thingy. So each command can be manifested as anywhere around the app.
Also I figure that it would be nice to design a really versatile docking system just like in VS.NET. It may be a bit too complex to be extend MFC on that one... especially given the problems BCGSoft had doing it (see for yourself at http://www.bcgsoft.com/BCGPro/BCGCBProIntro.htm[^]). Moreover it would be really cool if we could make our library compatible with MFC but not dependant on it...
*¨¨`)
¸¸.·´ ¸.·*¨¨`)
(¸¸.·* ¸ .·*
¸¸.·*
(¸¸.~~> Joel Holdsworth.
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Joel Holdsworth wrote:
So for example merging Menu Commands, Toolbar Buttons and Keyboard Accelerators into a universal """Command""" thingy. So each command can be manifested as anywhere around the app.
Most definitely.
BTW, I have a commandbar about 1/4 done.
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God." - Jesus
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." - Mahatma Gandhi
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I'd like to see some non-standard controls like a
1) radio dial/wheel,
2) dockable slide panels/drop down lists,
3) maybe a door control,
4) book pages control,
5) a control like the flexible PowerBuilder datawindow,
6) a sticky-note control or undockable thumbtacks (stick a note anywhere on the window and move it anywhere),
7) a rolodex control,
8) file cabinet control (user can lable outside and drag and drop things in and out)
9) LCD/light panel (every play with a lite-brite?)
10) flip switches (like a light switch)
11) springy dropdown list control (think Slinky, drag end down then release and it springs up)
12) slot machine lever control
We also need the standard stuff too.
just trying to think way out-side the box 
Jason Henderson My articles
"The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter." - Winston Churchill
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1) radio dial/wheel,
definitely!
6) a sticky-note control or undockable thumbtacks (stick a note anywhere on the window and move it anywhere),
definitely!
Jason Henderson wrote:
4) book pages control,
Hmmm... sounds like an extended owner-drawn panel to me.
7) a rolodex control,
owner-drawn tabs?
Good ideas!
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God." - Jesus
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." - Mahatma Gandhi
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Jason Henderson wrote:
3) maybe a door control
If I may ask, what exactly is a "door control"?
Jason Henderson wrote:
12) slot machine lever control
Ahh, I can see it now: JasonHendersomGamblingUnlimited.com. 
Paul Watson
Bluegrass
Cape Town, South Africa
Chris Losinger wrote:
i hate needles so much i can't even imagine allowing one near The Little Programmer
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Paul Watson wrote:
If I may ask, what exactly is a "door control"?
Think of it as the opposite of those cool vs.net sliding panels. You would open the door to read what's behind it and then close it to read what's on the door.
I didn't say I had it all figured out. 
Paul Watson wrote:
Ahh, I can see it now: JasonHendersomGamblingUnlimited.com.
He he he.
UGLY to draw the slots, and an app framework to code in, plus defect tracking for... well I don't know what i'd use it for... but, i'll use all of these projects to start my gambling empire!!!
Jason Henderson My articles
"The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter." - Winston Churchill
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Paul Watson wrote:
If I may ask, what exactly is a "door control"?
I saw a good one in ChomaZone; a rather elderly screensaver at http://grc.com/chroma.htm . Don't be put off by it's rather unsophisticated exterior... There are several really good controls that should be cloned as soon as possible. And it had this thing where advanced settings were covered by a sliding door!!
*¨¨`)
¸¸.·´ ¸.·*¨¨`)
(¸¸.·* ¸ .·*
¸¸.·*
(¸¸.~~> Joel Holdsworth.
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Joel Holdsworth wrote:
advanced settings were covered by a sliding door!!
Bingo!
Jason Henderson latest CPP news
"If you are going through hell, keep going." - Winston Churchill
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Suggestions for controls (highly unlikely that we'll do them all, though).
STANDARD
treeview
listview
listbox
combobox
fontcombo
ip address box
masked edit control
property page
grid control
button
toolbar
rebar
commandbar
richedit control
MDI tabs
chart
date picker
calendar
(marquee)
slider
tab page
explorer treeview
explorer listview
progress bar
syntax highlight numbered text control
property grid
statusbar
updown
NON-STANDARD
scrollable viewport
monthview
ruler
commandbar
treelistview
listbar (outlook-style)
toolbox listbar
clock
dial
range picker
skinnable popup - for balloons, etc.
data navbar
collapsible panel
color picker bar - functionality is like scrollbar
color palette
color picker gradient - round, square, etc
auto-complete textbox
image-calendar
time-scheduler
topiclist
imagelistview
appbar
wizard ctl
advanced message box
analog meter control
peak-meter
number ticker (like odometer)
colorcombo
lcd display
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God." - Jesus
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." - Mahatma Gandhi
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Having more or less identify the controls to do, should we also create a standard design of those controls? e.g. round-edge list controls, tree controls, buttons, etc.
Can they allow transparent backgrounds? The drawing style of controls? i.e. How would the controls look? Flat with thick borders? or 3d with thin ones?
Also, are we going to build these controls from scratch  or deriving them from some of mfc class or whatever? 
Just some of my thoughts.
Weiye, Chen
When pursuing your dreams, don't forget to enjoy your life...
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I personally like thin borders, or fancy ones. But as I mentioned below, I want owner-drawing to be built in from the start.
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God." - Jesus
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." - Mahatma Gandhi
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I was thinking that these controls should be totally skinnable. There would have to be a default "non-skin" of course, but something along the lines of this recent article: CSkinProgress[^]
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![Rose | [Rose]](https://codeproject.global.ssl.fastly.net/script/Forums/Images/rose.gif) standard way of owner-drawing controls:
interface IDrawingHandler
method MeasureItem
method DrawItem
method MeasureElement
method DrawElement
property Parameters
...etc
standard base for items in a control - something like this:
interface IItem
property OwnerContol
property Text
property ImageIndex
property Selected
interface IHierarchialItem : IItem
property Parent
property Children
property NextSibling
property PrevSibling
....etc - you get the idea.
(BTW, these could be abstract classes instead.)
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God." - Jesus
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." - Mahatma Gandhi
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Just a thought - wouldn't it be nice if we could just type:
:property: for a property icon
:method: for a method icon
:class: for a class icon
...etc? That's how I have things in MS Word.
*J Dunlap heads off to the Suggestions forum*
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God." - Jesus
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." - Mahatma Gandhi
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I just realised that we need to answer some more funamental questions. Like what are we going to write this library for... MFC? ATL/WTL? COM? or just pure Win32?
I think we also need to make a decision on whether this project is going to be just a big bag of controls, or whether we're gonna make Control-Bar based advanced UI stuff. Or better still a bit of both!! As in BCGControlBar.
*¨¨`)
¸¸.·´ ¸.·*¨¨`)
(¸¸.·* ¸ .·*
¸¸.·*
(¸¸.~~> Joel Holdsworth.
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Well, we had originally talked about doing it in more than one language. (BTW, I'm a C# guy myself.)
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God." - Jesus
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." - Mahatma Gandhi
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I hope you don't mind me butting in on your project, but here's my wishlist:
It seems to me that any project of this nature is going to require a front-end form designer. Why not start with that first. God only knows I could really use a lean and mean form designer. I don't need all that code generation crap, either--control creation, parameter setting, event handlers. I just want something that lets me SPECIFY the damn GUI, not code it. For some reason Microsoft has found it absolutely necessary to muddle specification with implementation. Idiots.
Minimum things:
1. the graphical representation of the control comes from some formal specification, including how it can be sized;
2. the properties of the control (thus necessitating a property editor)
Generate an XML file that describes the layout, and pop that into a form generator for whatever language/framework you want.
Marc
Help! I'm an AI running around in someone's f*cked up universe simulator.
Sensitivity and ethnic diversity means celebrating difference, not hiding from it. - Christian Graus
Every line of code is a liability - Taka Muraoka
Microsoft deliberately adds arbitrary layers of complexity to make it difficult to deliver Windows features on non-Windows platforms--Microsoft's "Halloween files"
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I like that idea, but how long would it take to implement?
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God." - Jesus
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." - Mahatma Gandhi
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If I were working on this by myself full time, I'd say no more than 80 hours for a solid framework and definition of basic controls. I tend to approach these things with the KISS principle in mind. It would be nice to have the form designer include a zoomable grid capability and some alignment tools, but that's about it.
Ummm, were you asking me?
Marc
Help! I'm an AI running around in someone's f*cked up universe simulator.
Sensitivity and ethnic diversity means celebrating difference, not hiding from it. - Christian Graus
Every line of code is a liability - Taka Muraoka
Microsoft deliberately adds arbitrary layers of complexity to make it difficult to deliver Windows features on non-Windows platforms--Microsoft's "Halloween files"
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My, wouldn't that be useful for design prototypes of all sorts! If we got it done, that is.
I think we could do it without this, but it would indeed be much nicer if we could use it.
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God." - Jesus
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." - Mahatma Gandhi
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jdunlap wrote:
I think we could do it without this
From one perspective, I disagree. The complaint I've gotten about the AAL is there's no pansy GUI-based designers. The book "Software Development On A Leash" got criticized for that. A book submission that I made on an AAL'ish subject got shot down because the reviewers felt no one would use it if it didn't have an IDE. Sadly, I think something like this has to cater to the masses.
Besides, what could be a better demonstration project for a GUI framework than coding a designer using the framework?
I guess I'm more of a Unix-head than I like to admit.
Marc
Help! I'm an AI running around in someone's f*cked up universe simulator.
Sensitivity and ethnic diversity means celebrating difference, not hiding from it. - Christian Graus
Every line of code is a liability - Taka Muraoka
Microsoft deliberately adds arbitrary layers of complexity to make it difficult to deliver Windows features on non-Windows platforms--Microsoft's "Halloween files"
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