Bubble Help

Hope someone can shed some light on this one for me please...

The bubble help produced by %th is normally centred below the button. If the button is close to the left hand edge of the screen then the text is moved to the right so that it is visible. Unfortunately this shift does not happen to buttons on the right hand side of the screen. Could this be implemented please?

The %ib format gives a more modern look to buttons / icons and is very simple to develop. Is it possible to have the tooltips / bubble help as per %th?

Try using [ms_style] with %th. This also works with %ib as in the following sample...

WINAPP
integer winio@,ctrl
ctrl = 1
i=winio@('%th[ms_style]&',ctrl)
i=winio@('%ca[Image bar]%sy[3d]&')
i=winio@('%bd&',0.0D0,0.0D0,0.5D0,1.0D0)
i=winio@('%mn[File[Exit]]&','EXIT')
i=winio@('%?3ib[flat][Cut][Copy][A very long help string for Paste...]', &
 'cut/Cut',4,'CONTINUE','copy/Copy',4,'CONTINUE', 'paste/Paste',4,'CONTINUE')
end
RESOURCES
cut BITMAP 'cut.bmp'
copy BITMAP 'copy.bmp'
paste BITMAP 'paste.bmp'

Thanks for the quick reply Paul,

I'll pass it onto the guys to try.

Watch this space...

Paul, thanks for the feedback. Several issues arise.

To use ? there is a need to define the [flat] or [coloured] or [] option.

When using ? in a vertical toolbar the area taken by the help string thereafter loses the image of the adjacent icon.

Further, when the vertical toolbar is say on left hand side of screen then by invoking a drop down menu item the area taken by this also loses the images of the icons underneath. Only by activating the (now hidden) icons will they re-appear.

Have there been any advances in icons having their own flyout lists ?

Steve,

If you don't want [flat] or [coloured] then you have to have [] because the help string can't be the first [] ...

I have found the same issue with losing or corrupting icon images that are covered in part by the help. The answer seems to me to be to window_update@ somewhere, possibly on a timer loop setting the time with %dl (delay).

You can make your own fly-out list by using %ib or %tb buttons in their own window. Here are the characteristics:

  i=winio@('%ww[no_caption, volatile,fixed_size]&')
  IA=WINIO@('%sy[3d_thin,no_border,toolwindow]&')

(I'm not sure now about 3d_thin, but it doesn't matter). Volatile makes it go away if some other control gains the focus. You obviously need to position it correctly.

Now some help for me please? I have been using 24x24 icons with %ib and they space out nicely. The curved button bars in Office 2003 (match WinXP style) appear to be 26 pixels high, and I've drawn some 26x26 icons to use with %tb to gain the same curved bar effect. Fine on my 1280x1024 desktop screen. On my 1680x1050 laptop screen alternate 1-pix and 2-pix gaps appear. Is there an optimum icon size? What is the spacing algorithm?

Lozzer,

%bh and %th DO work with %ib.

Both,

I find on my machine(s) that %th looks nice, but the outline on %bh looks coarse and clumsy. I hadn't realised the issue with the right hand side of the screen, thanks.

Eddie

For some screen resolutions the desktop is scaled. It is probably this scaling that gives the effect that you describe. Users usually get a warning to avoid resolutions that do not scale well. I am not sure that the programmer can do much about this (neither the ClearWin+ user nor me trying to tweek the ClearWin+ code).

Steve: If there are still problems when using %th[ms_style] can you post some sample code and I will look at it as soon as I can.

Paul,

I'd find it helpful to know what precisely is meant by 'scaled'. Certainly, a 1680x1050 widescreen display is nowhere near as pretty as it ought to be given the pixels (under XP), and this may also be the result of 'scaling'. I have the impression that Vista does a better job for widescreens.

Does Clearwin attempt to push the %tb icons hard up against each other? Even knowing this would be helpful, i.e. that the gaps were coming in because of Windows, not Clearwin.

I put up a %gd, and came to the conclusion that a row of %tb icons weren't set out on the character grid.

I will put several icons in the same %tb command, and see if they butt together. LATE NIGHT FINAL .... they do!

It was odd but consistent that the gaps alternated 1 and 2 -pixels.

I wish that I could post images - a pixture is easier than a description.

Eddie

I am only guessing here but I was implying that the desktop is scaled as it is copied from memory to the screen. Both are in pixel form but not necessarily proportional. Hence some screen resolutions look ugly.

There is nothing special about the way in which the toolbar is formed. The images are simply abutted one after another. I guess, if you look close enough, the distortion will be seen in the images as well as between them.

I had lots more tries, but this is the result. I managed to string four 26x26 icons together in a row, and they butted up against one another. (NEW.. to CLOSE.. in the following). When I put a narrower icon to the left of them to simulate the 'left end' (LE) and one to the right of them (RE), gaps appeared. I wanted the LE icon not to have any help. Eventually I rolled it in to the same winio@. Here is the command:

  i=winio@('%6?tb[File ops][New][Open][Save][Close][Files]&',
 &          'LE','LE','LE',ianswer)
 &          'NEW_ON','NEW_ON','NEW_DOWN',ianswer,
 &          'OPEN_ON','OPEN_ON','OPEN_DOWN',ianswer,
 &          'SAVE_ON','SAVE_ON','SAVE_DOWN',ianswer,
 &          'CLOSE_ON','CLOSE_ON','CLOSE_DOWN',ianswer,
 &          'RE','RE','RE',ianswer)

The icons don't distort. I have done a screen grab, imported it into Paint and counted the pixels! The icons look square. I only get rid of the gap if I made LE 26x26 like the other icons. If I do that - no gap. When I untangle NEW, OPEN etc into separate winio@'s, the alternate 1 and 2 pixel gaps return. I can make them go away by making my icons alternately 27 and 28 pix wide. Then they don't work on a 4:3 aspect ratio screen.

I'b be quite happy to have multiple sets of icons for 2 or maybe 3 screen resolutions, but it simply gets overwhelming after that, and how, short of trying dozens of combinations, does one get the right ones each time?

Eddie

We seem to have strayed from %ib to %tb as this thread has progressed. I can take a look at the code for %tb but not during the next 10 days or so.