Introduction
I created this tiny clock program, which supports custom skins, for my brother.
Anyone who wants to add a new skin can create a skin directory in /Theme/*.
![2.jpg](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==)
Background
The code is written based upon Windows layered window and GDI+.
In the source code, you will find the GDIPluszH.h file which is provided here and also the CXml
classes which are provided here.
How to Add a New Skin
Each type of skin is placed under the /Theme/ directory.
To add a new skin, just create another sub-directory in /Theme/, which includes the image files and configuration file.
The image files are:
- dial.png
- hourNeedle.png
- minuteNeedle.png
- secondNeedle.png
And the configuration file is setting.xml.
There is a sample for the setting.xml:
="1.0"="UTF-8"
<skin>
<dial>
<filename>dial.png</filename>
<centerX>200</centerX>
<centerY>206</centerY>
</dial>
<hourNeedle>
<filename>hourNeedle.png</filename>
<centerX>14</centerX>
<centerY>176</centerY>
</hourNeedle>
<minuteNeedle>
<filename>minuteNeedle.png</filename>
<centerX>14</centerX>
<centerY>176</centerY>
</minuteNeedle>
<secondNeedle>
<filename>secondNeedle.png</filename>
<centerX>14</centerX>
<centerY>194</centerY>
</secondNeedle>
</skin>
The configuration file indicates the rotate center points of the dial and the needles.
Others
You can download the source code from the link at the top of this article.
There is no need to explain more about the code because it is very easy. Moreover, there are several articles on The Code Project which explain the LAYERED window. I cannot do better.
History
- 5th November, 2008: Initial post