Layer Window Impl on 98
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I have seen several apps on Win98 that use softshape's ActiveSkin ActiveX control. Mostly this control allows people to haev a coherent means for creating skinned 'applications'. It includes one function that allows you to set a transparency level. If you download the control right from softshape you can use the Visual Studio tools to view the interfaces their control provides. There is an app called BoxCard @ http://softini.cjb.net that uses this feature and will let you see it in action I've tried several things briefly to try and implement some transluceny. It is pretty easy to make a translucent menu or dialog as long as it is WITHIN a frame window or something. You can just make owner draw controls that get the parentdc and alphablend the control DC with the parents. This works really well if you have a stable bitmap background. However, this become very hard to do when you have other windows moving around behind a translucent control or you try to do this on the windows desktop. Win2K provides a LayeredWindow to help with this. Does anyone have access to a W2K dev kit that contains this implementation? I check my VC 6 for this but it does not seem to be included. I'd like to see how they did this. I also considered it might be possible to control how windows draws the window, after all - doing this can't befar off from what programs like eFX and WindowBlinds have been doing to change the frame bars on existing windows already. - Eric Any suggestions? I plan on putting all this info together with some other controls I've made and putting it up on the web with source. MFc is nice, but its really easy to think of semi-simple things that are very diffculut to do - like change an image on a static control (w/o hiding an existing one and displaying a new control) Anyways, I'm getting off on a tangent. Please let me know you thoughts or tips. - Eric crahen@buffalo.edu DrCrahen@mad.scientist.com
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I have seen several apps on Win98 that use softshape's ActiveSkin ActiveX control. Mostly this control allows people to haev a coherent means for creating skinned 'applications'. It includes one function that allows you to set a transparency level. If you download the control right from softshape you can use the Visual Studio tools to view the interfaces their control provides. There is an app called BoxCard @ http://softini.cjb.net that uses this feature and will let you see it in action I've tried several things briefly to try and implement some transluceny. It is pretty easy to make a translucent menu or dialog as long as it is WITHIN a frame window or something. You can just make owner draw controls that get the parentdc and alphablend the control DC with the parents. This works really well if you have a stable bitmap background. However, this become very hard to do when you have other windows moving around behind a translucent control or you try to do this on the windows desktop. Win2K provides a LayeredWindow to help with this. Does anyone have access to a W2K dev kit that contains this implementation? I check my VC 6 for this but it does not seem to be included. I'd like to see how they did this. I also considered it might be possible to control how windows draws the window, after all - doing this can't befar off from what programs like eFX and WindowBlinds have been doing to change the frame bars on existing windows already. - Eric Any suggestions? I plan on putting all this info together with some other controls I've made and putting it up on the web with source. MFc is nice, but its really easy to think of semi-simple things that are very diffculut to do - like change an image on a static control (w/o hiding an existing one and displaying a new control) Anyways, I'm getting off on a tangent. Please let me know you thoughts or tips. - Eric crahen@buffalo.edu DrCrahen@mad.scientist.com
You can retrieve the Windows 200 SDK from Microsoft's website. http://msdn.microsoft.com/isapi/msdnlib.idc?theURL=/library/psdk/sdkintro/mainport.htm Here you can find examples and information on them. You can also download the PlatformSDK for January 2000 if you wish too. http://msdn.microsoft.com/downloads/sdks/platform/platform.asp And then Click "Platform SDK Setup" under the Installation Heading. Hope it helps, -Erik ================== The original message was: I have seen several apps on Win98 that use softshape's
ActiveSkin ActiveX control. Mostly this control allows people
to haev a coherent means for creating skinned 'applications'. It includes
one function that allows you to set a transparency level.
If you download the control right from softshape you can use the
Visual Studio tools to view the interfaces their control provides.
There is an app called BoxCard @ http://softini.cjb.net
that uses this feature and will let you see it in actionI've tried several things briefly to try and implement some transluceny. It
is pretty easy to make a translucent menu or
dialog as long as it is WITHIN a frame window or something. You can
just make owner draw controls that get the parentdc and alphablend the
control DC with the parents. This works really well if you have a
stable bitmap background. However, this become very hard to do when you
have other windows moving around behind a translucent control or
you try to do this on the windows desktop.Win2K provides a LayeredWindow to help with this. Does anyone have access to
a W2K dev kit that contains this implementation? I check my VC 6 for this
but it does not seem to be included. I'd like to see how they did this.I also considered it might be possible to control how windows draws the
window, after all - doing this can't befar off from what programs like eFX
and WindowBlinds have been doing to change the frame bars on existing
windows already.- Eric
Any suggestions? I plan on putting all this info together with some other
controls I've made and putting it up on the web with source. MFc is nice,
but its really easy to think of semi-simple things that are very diffculut
to do - like change an image on a static control (w/o hiding an existing one
and displaying a new control) Anyways, I'm getting off on a tangent. Please
let me know you thoughts or tips.- Eric
crahen@buffalo.edu
DrCrahen@mad.scientist.