Hi, Each time I create a new windows forms application, the resource file that I get was app.rc. How to create and set a .resx as the resource file on my application? Thanks

I'm trying to binary serialize a 2D array using [Serializable] and ISerializable. In Special constructor for deserialization, I can't deserialize my array. I don't know what the type in info->GetValue("something", ??Type::typeid). This is my code :

[Serializable]
private ref class SerializedArrayClass : public ISerializable
{
public:
array<array<float>^>^ jaggedArray;
array<float, 2>^ genericArray;
// Matrix is my other class
Matrix^ matrixArray;

int width;
int height;
int nElement;

// Constructor
SerializedArrayClass(int width, int height)
{
	this->width = width;
	this->height = height;
}

// Init those 3 arrays
InitArray()
{
	// ...
}

protected:
// Special Constructor for deserialize
SerializedArrayClass(SerializationInfo^ info, StreamingContext context)
{
this->width = safe_cast<int>(info->GetValue("width", int::typeid));
this->height = safe_cast<int>(info->GetValue("height", int::typeid));

	// this is where the problems begin
	this->jaggedArray = safe\_cast<array<array<float>^>^>>(info->GetValue("jaggedArray", ??::typeid));
	this->genericArray = safe\_cast<array<float, 2>^>>(info->GetValue("genericArray", ??::typeid));
	this->matrixArray = safe\_cast<Matrix^>(info->GetValue("matrixArray", ??::typeid));
}

public:
// For serialize
virtual void GetObjectData(SerializationInfo^ info, StreamingContext context)
{
info->AddValue("width", this->width);
info->AddValue("height", this->height);
info->AddValue("jaggedArray", this->jaggedArray);
info->AddValue("genericArray", this->genericArray);
info->AddValue("matrixArray", this->matrixArray);
}
}

What is the correct Type for 2D array and Matrix object? Thanks,

Thanks for your reply, Actually I want to make a 2D matrix class that doesn't just limited in one type (ValueType) only so that I can create a Matrix<float> or Matrix<int> depending on what I need. I thought that generic is the most appropriate and also the simplest solution but it turns out that I was wrong.

Anybody? :(

I'm still learning about generics so I create a generics function like this :

generic<class T> where T : ValueType
T Process(T val)
{
val = val * 15;
return val;
}

and called float a = Process<float>(10.0), but then I got " error C2296: '*' : illegal, left operand has type 'T' " in the line val = val * 15;. Then I try a simpler method like this :

generic<class T> where T : ValueType
T Process()
{
T val = 15;
return val;
}

Called float a = Process<float>() and I still got "error C2440: 'initializing' : cannot convert from 'int' to 'T' " in the line T val = 15; What is the correct way to use generics? Thanks in advance

After searching on the internet, the possible solution that come out is by using TabPage.DrawToBitmap, put the bitmap in a PictureBox, set the position of PictureBox to the same location of TabPage, and fade it. The code is below :

System::Void tabControl1_SelectedIndexChanged(System::Object^ sender, System::EventArgs^ e)
{
alphaBlend = 250;
repaint = true;

// set TabPicture visibility, location, and size
TabPictureBox->Visible = true;
int posX = tabControl1->Location.X + tabControl1->TabPages\[tabControl1->SelectedIndex\]->Margin.Left + 1;
int posY = tabControl1->Location.Y + tabControl1->ItemSize.Height + 1 + 
	tabControl1->TabPages\[tabControl1->SelectedIndex\]->Margin.Top;
TabPictureBox->Location = System::Drawing::Point(posX, posY);
TabPictureBox->Size = tabControl1->TabPages\[tabControl1->SelectedIndex\]->Size;

// set Bitmap
TabBitmap = gcnew Bitmap(tabControl1->TabPages\[tabControl1->SelectedIndex\]->Width, 
	tabControl1->TabPages\[tabControl1->SelectedIndex\]->Height);			
tabControl1->TabPages\[tabControl1->SelectedIndex\]->DrawToBitmap(TabBitmap,
		Rectangle(0, 0, tabControl1->TabPages\[tabControl1->SelectedIndex\]->Width, 
			tabControl1->TabPages\[tabControl1->SelectedIndex\]->Height));

while (alphaBlend > 0)
{				
	alphaBlend = alphaBlend - 25;
	TabPictureBox->Refresh();
}

TabPictureBox->Visible = false;
repaint = false;

}

System::Void TabPictureBox_Paint(System::Object^ sender, System::Windows::Forms::PaintEventArgs^ e)
{
if (repaint)
{
if (TabBitmap != nullptr)
{
Bitmap^ temp = gcnew Bitmap(TabBitmap);
Graphics^ bitmapGraphics = Graphics::FromImage(temp);
if (alphaBlend < 0) alphaBlend = 0;
SolidBrush^ greyBrush = gcnew SolidBrush(Color::FromArgb(alphaBlend, Color::White));
bitmapGraphics->CompositingMode = CompositingMode::SourceOver;
bitmapGraphics->FillRectangle(greyBrush, Rectangle(0, 0, TabBitmap->Width, TabBitmap->Height));
e->Graphics->CompositingQuality = CompositingQuality::GammaCorrected;
e->Graphics->DrawImage(temp, 0, 0);
}
}
}

The problem is that each time I select the tabPage, my CPU usage spike to 70 - 80% and the fading effect is kind of slow. Is there any solution to fix it so that I can draw the bitmap faster and with minimum CPU usage (less than 50%)? Thanks.

What is the equivalent window style for FormBorderStyle.Fixed3D, FormBorderStyle.FixedSingle, FormBorderStyle.FixedDialog, FormBorderStyle.SizableToolWindow and FormBorderStyle.FixedToolWindow? The only one I know is WS_THICKFRAME for FormBorderStyle.Sizable.

Saksida Bojan wrote:

this.SetStyle(ControlStyles.SupportsTransparentBackColor | ControlStyles.DoubleBuffer, true);

It seems that SetStyle only applied in client area. I can't make the non-client area transparent. Any suggestion?

Thanks a lot for your help. I will try your suggestion

Saksida Bojan wrote:

for painting try look into OnPaint event or you can even ovverride

I thought if I paint form's border with a transparent-shadow background (using png file), it will not become transparent unless I set the main form transparent too. And how to paint the shadow into the border which is located in non-client area?

When you say override CreateParams, did you refer to the main form's CreateParams? But then, where do I draw the png image files into?. Sorry, but I'm new in this so I'm still confused.

Thanks for the reply, I'm using Windows XP, so I think there are no WS_ for AERO.

I have a form and a png image file (with a transparent shadow in its border) and what I want is to make a drop shadow effect on the form. I know there are CS_DROPSHADOW solution for this, but I think it doesn't look too good. So I create a "fake" form using CreateWindowEx (via DllImport), and draw the png image file into the fake form.

void CreateFakeForm()
{
WNDCLASSEX wndClsEx = new WNDCLASSEX();
wndClsEx.Init();
wndClsEx.style = CS_VREDRAW | CS_HREDRAW;
wndClsEx.lpfnWndProc = m_DefWndProcDelegate;
wndClsEx.cbClsExtra = 0;
wndClsEx.cbWndExtra = 0;
wndClsEx.hInstance = GetModuleHandle(null);
wndClsEx.hIcon = IntPtr.Zero;
wndClsEx.hIconSm = IntPtr.Zero;
wndClsEx.hCursor = IntPtr.Zero;
wndClsEx.hbrBackground = IntPtr.Zero;
wndClsEx.lpszClassName = m_WndClsName;
wndClsEx.lpszMenuName = null;

        bool success = RegisterClassEx(ref wndClsEx) != 0;

        UInt32 dwExStyle = WS\_EX\_LAYERED |
            WS\_EX\_TRANSPARENT |
            WS\_EX\_NOACTIVATE |
            WS\_EX\_LEFT;
        UInt32 dwStyle = WS\_VISIBLE | WS\_OVERLAPPED;
        
        FakeWndHandle = CreateWindowEx(dwExStyle
            , m\_WndClsName
            , null
            , dwStyle
            , X
            , Y
            , PngImg.Width
            , PngImg.Height
            , MainFormHandle
            , IntPtr.Zero
            , GetModuleHandle(null)
            , IntPtr.Zero
            );

}

The problem is my fake form always in the topmost position. Is there a way to put the fake form behind the main form? In other words, how do I set z-order between the main form and the fake form so that the fake form placed at the bottom of the Z order? How to hide the fake form whenever the main form minimized or maximized, and move or resize the fake form whenever the main form moved or resized? Thanks.

Thanks a lot Navaneeth, you have help me solve those two problems!! Pheww.. I kinda confused at first because of this circular dependency problems, but it's has clear now.

N a v a n e e t h wrote:

By constructor injection, I meant to pass the first form's object to second form via constructor. Something like

Form2(Form1^ form1) // First form's object is injected through constructor
{
// keep the form1 object for future use
}

But Form1 already include Form2.h (in my case Form1 act as a "parent" form, and instantiate Form2). So I think I can't declare Form2 (Form1^ form1) and keep the form1 object, like you have mentioned above, because I need to include Form1.h inside Form2.h, and that will give me this "fatal error C1014: too many include files : depth = 1024". Or maybe I don't need to include Form1.h inside Form2.h? Thanks

Thanks for your quick reply, Navaneeth!! And now, the delegate thing is works perfectly!! I has been searching a lot about this in the internet without a result and now it's solved! Thanks a lot Navaneeth!! :thumbsup: I dunno if my question is beyond the topic, but can I ask about another thing? this is about the answers that Navaneeth wrote

N a v a n e e t h wrote:

Because you are instantiating a new instance in the child form. You need to pass the main form's instance to child form (through constructor injection or some setter methods).

constructor injection? I'm still a beginner in C++, so I'm barely hear about this. When you say constructor injection, is it something like dependency injection? I'm googling it in the internet, and this is that came up. Correct me if I was wrong, but from what I read in Internet, this dependency injection can be done using a container (??), created by third party developer (they mentioned something about pico container and others). It can not be done by .NET itself? I'm still confused :confused:

Hi, I have a problem to pass some data between forms. Let's say I have 2 form, FormMain and FormChild, FormChild will be called from FormMain. What I want to do is simple. Whenever I change the textBox1's text in FormChild, the textBox1's text in FormMain will also contain the same text. After googling for a while, I got 2 solution : by using a delegate or directly instantiate FormMain in FormChild. Both solution unfortunately is in C#, so I need to convert it first. Well, I thought at first that there will be no problem at all to convert it, but that is just plain wrong. Both of the solution I get is just give me some error. Here is the converted source code 1.using delegate in Form Main.h :

#include "Form Child.h"

namespace Delegates {

public delegate void AddTextChangeDelegate(String^ item);

public ref class FormMain : System::Windows::Forms::Form
{
public:
	FormMain()
	{
		formChild = gcnew FormChild();
	}

// declare as global variable	
private:
	FormChild^ formChild;

private: 
	System::Void button1\_Click(System::Object^  sender, System::EventArgs^  e)
	{			
		formChild->AddTextChangeCallback = gcnew AddTextChangeDelegate(&this->AddTextChangeCallbackFn);
		formChild->Show();
	}

private:
	System::Void AddTextChangeCallbackFn(String^ str)
	{
		textBox1->Text = str;
	}
};

}

in Form Child.h

namespace Delegates {

public ref class FormChild : System::Windows::Forms::Form
{
// declaring delegate, and get "error C2143: syntax error : missing ';' before '^' "
// the compiler seems doesn't recognize this
public:
	AddTextChangeDelegate^ AddTextChangeCallback;

// user click add button and the delegate executed
private:
	System::Void btnAdd\_Click(System::Object^ sender, System::EventArgs^ e)
	{
		AddTextChangeCallback(textBox1->Text );
	}

};

}

2. directly instantiate FormMain the solution I get (in C#) is just simply declare FormMain as a global variable in FormChild, then exposed the textBox in FormMain as a public. But when I do the same thing in C++, the compiler give an error "error C2143: syntax error : missing ';' before '^' ". so probably I just need to include the Form Main.h in Form Child.h, which give me another error "fatal error C1014: too many include files : depth = 1024" (is it because both form include each other's header?, so that is like making some cyclic dependency thing? I'm not sure why). After googling once more, I found that it is st

Does anyone know how to read frame types from mpeg file? I want to know if this frame is frame I, P or B Some source code would be appreciated Thanks