Copyright: ABRISOFT ® 1995,1996


Table of Contents
Form Aide OCX (Enhanced) Version 2.0

Introduction

Form Aide OCX (Enhanced) can do the following:

•	Resize controls proportionally to the form when the form is resized

•	Save the last position, size and state of a form

•	Center forms

•	Maintain forms always on top

•	Add a custom option to the system menu

•	Add forms to the tools tray (Windows 95 Only)

•	Capture Plug and Play Events (Windows 95 Only)

Control

Properties

Methods

Events

General

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Properties

AddBarOnSysMenu

AlwaysOnTop

CenterForm

CenterFormFirst

DisplayInToolTray

RememberLastPostion

RememberLastSize

RememberLastState

ResizeControls

SystemMenuCaption

SystemMenuChecked

SystemMenuEnabled


AddBarOnSysMenu

True/False

When this property is set to true a separator bar will be added to the system menu to separate the custom menu option from the others.

The bar will not be added until the menu option is added, and will be removed when the custom menu option is removed.  See the property SystemMenuCaption for details on how to add a custom menu option to the system menu.

If this property is false the custom menu option will not be separated by a bar.

16-Bit                         Yes.
32-Bit                         Yes.


AlwaysOnTop

True/False

This property when set to True makes the form be always on top when loaded.  If you wish to have this form no longer be always on top, you can do so by setting this property to False.

16-Bit                         Yes.
32-Bit                         Yes.


CenterForm

True/False

By setting this property to True, the Form will automatically be centered when loaded.  For MDI children, the form will be centered in relation to the MDI parent. SDI forms and MDI forms are centered in relation to the screen.
Sometimes it is desirable to have the form resized to the user's last size and then centered.  To do this see the property CenterFormFirst

16-Bit                         Yes.
32-Bit                         Yes.


CenterFormFirst

True/False

When this property is True Form Aide will center the form before moving it or resizing it due to the effects of remembering the last position.  Otherwise the control will center the form after the position and size have been adjusted.

16-Bit                         Yes.
32-Bit                         Yes.


DisplayInToolTray

True/False

When this property is set to True, the form icon is added to the tool tray, and the form caption is used as the tool tip.  The control will also be able to capture events that take place in the tool tray.

Setting this property to False removes the form from the tool tray.

16-Bit                         No.
32-Bit                         Yes. (Windows 95 Only)


UseLastPostion
RememberLastPostion,Size and State

True/False

RememberLastPostion -- When this property is set to true, before the form is displayed, the control moves the form to the location the user set last.

RememberLastSize -- When this property is set to true, before the form is displayed, the control changes the width and height of the form to the width and height the user set last.

RememberLastState -- When this property is set to true, before the form is displayed, the control changes the WindowState(Minimized, Maximized, or Normal) to the state the user set last.

16-Bit                         Yes.
32-Bit                         Yes.

Other Information

How the control keeps track of last position, size, and state.


How the control keeps track of last position size
Remembering last position, size, and state.

Form Aide can keep track of the last position, size and windowstate of a form.
The control creates an INI file (if it does not exist already) using the name of your executable file minus the extension.  The INI file will contain the heading Form Aide.
Under this heading an entry is added for each form using the form name.  This entry will have the values needed to restore the last position, size, and state.
Form Aide OCX updates the information each time the form is moved or resized.

Example:

If your application's name is VACATION.EXE (and we are in desperate need of one) the file VACATION.INI is created with the following:

{FormAide]
Form1=100,150,600,400,1
frmHelp=1,1,100,100,1
...

The information is always saved.  However the control only uses this information to restore the form if any of the properties RememberLastPostion, RememberLastSize, or RememberLastState are set to True.


AutoResizeControls
ResizeControls

True/False

This property determines if the control should resize all the controls in a form proportionally to the form each time the form is resized.

Note:  The control automatically resizes all controls.  However, you can prevent Form Aide from resizing certain controls by writing code in one of the events provided.  See the help on events for more information.

16-Bit                         Yes.
32-Bit                         Yes.


SystemMenuCaption

String

This property contains the text used to add a custom menu option to the system menu of the form.
When this property contains text, the menu option will be automatically added to the system menu.  To remove the option, simply set this property to blank.

Note:  For your convinience the menu option can be seen at design-time.

16-Bit                         Yes.
32-Bit                         Yes.


SystemMenuChecked

True/False

This property determines the state of the custom system menu option.
True means the custom system menu option will appear checked.
False means the custom system menu option will appear not checked.

Note: This property can be used to modify the menu at Run-Time after it has been created.

16-Bit                         Yes.
32-Bit                         Yes.


SystemMenuEnabled

True/False

This property determines the state of the custom system menu option.
True means the custom system menu option will appear enabled.
False means the custom system menu option will appear disabled.

Note: This property can be used to modify the menu at Run-Time after it has been created.

16-Bit                         Yes.
32-Bit                         Yes.


Methods

AddToolTray

DeleteToolTray

SaveLastPosition

UpdateToolTray


AddToolTray

This method takes the form's icon and adds it to the Windows 95 Tool Tray. It uses the form caption for the Tool Tip. Whenever the form is in the Tool Tray, the tooltray events are triggered.

Returns:  True is successful. False if failed.  This function always returns false in Windows 3.1 or Windows NT 3.5

Note:  This method is provided in order to add an icon to the tool tray manually.  The icon will be added automatically without using this method if the property DisplayInToolTray is set to true.

16-Bit                         No.
32-Bit                         Yes. Windows 95 only


DeleteToolTray

Removes form from tool tray.

Returns:  True is successful. False if failed.  This function always returns false in Windows 3.1 or Windows NT 3.5

16-Bit                         No.
32-Bit                         Yes. Windows 95 only.


SaveLastPosition

This method causes the control to save the position, size and state of the Form. The information gets saved in an INI file.  The INI file name is obtained from the application name.

Returns: True if succesful. False if failed.

Note:  This method is provided in order to save the last position and state of a form manually.  Form Aide automatically saves this information each time the form is moved or resized.

16-Bit                         Yes.
32-Bit                         Yes.


ChangeToolTray

Refreshes tool tray icon/caption

Returns:  True is successful. False if failed.  This function always returns false in Windows 3.1 or Windows NT 3.5

16-Bit                         No.
32-Bit                         Yes. Windows 95 only


Events

AfterResizeAllControls

AfterResizeControl

BeforeResizeControl

PnPDeviceMsg

PnPDisplayChange

SystemMenuClick

TrayLeftBtnDown

TrayLeftBtnUp

TrayMouseMove

TrayRightBtnDown

TrayRightBtnUp


AfterResizeAllControls

This event is fired after all controls have been resized proportionally to the form.

Note: In some cases some controls need refreshing after the controls are resized. This can be done by writing code in this event.

16-Bit                         Yes.
32-Bit                         Yes.


AfterResizeControl

 (ByVal Selection as Control)

This event ocurrs when each control is resized while resizing controls proportionally to the form.

Note:  In some cases it is desirable to maintain the size of a certain control while allowing the control to be moved proportionally.  You can accomplish that by writing code in this event.

16-Bit                         Yes.
32-Bit                         Yes.


BeforeResizeControl

 (ByVal Selection as Control, Cancel as Boolean)

This event is fired when Form Aide is about to resize a control in the form.
By setting Cancel to true you can stop Form Aide from resizing the current control.

16-Bit                         Yes.
32-Bit                         Yes.


PnPDeviceMsg

(ByVal MsgType as integer, ByVal DeviceType as integer, Cancel as Boolean)

This event is fired when the state of a Plug and Play device has changed.
Some Plug and Play messages allow you to cancel before the device has been changed.  For this reason a cancel parameter has been provided.
Please refer to the Win32 user's guide for more information on Plug and Play.

16-Bit                         No.
32-Bit                         Yes.  Windows 95 only.


PnPDisplayChange

(ByVal BitsPerPixel as Integer, ByVal x as Integer, ByVal y as Integer)

This event is fired each time the screen display has changed in dimensions.
x and y contain the size in pixels of the display.

16-Bit                         No.
32-Bit                         Yes.  Windows 95 only.


SystemMenuClick

This event is fired when the user has clicked on the custom system menu option.
The custom menu option is added to the system menu when the property SystemMenuCaption is modified.

16-Bit                         Yes.
32-Bit                         Yes.


TrayLeftBtnDown

This event is fired when the user presses down on the left mouse button while over the icon of your form in the Windows 95 Tool Tray.

16-Bit                         No.
32-Bit                         Yes. Windows 95 only


TrayLeftBtnUp

This event is fired when the user lets up on the left mouse button while over the icon of your form in the Windows 95 Tool Tray.

16-Bit                         No.
32-Bit                         Yes. Windows 95 only


TrayMouseMove

This event is fired when the user moves the mouse over the icon of your form in the Windows 95 Tool Tray.

16-Bit                         No.
32-Bit                         Yes. Windows 95 only


TrayRightBtnDown

This event is fired when the user presses down on the right mouse button while over the icon of your form in the Windows 95 Tool Tray.

16-Bit                         No.
32-Bit                         Yes. Windows 95 only


TrayRightBtnUp

This event is fired when the user releases the right mouse button while over the icon of your form in the Windows 95 Tool Tray.

6-Bit                           No.
32-Bit                         Yes. Windows 95 only


About ABRISOFT
About ABRISOFT, Inc.

ABRISOFT Inc. is the maker of User Options OCX, Self-Translator OCX and other controls for Visual Basic. ABRISOFT also provides custom programming in Visual Basic and C/C++, and contract technical writing services.

Call for more information or pricing.

Visit our Web site (http://www.abrisoft.com) for product Demos.

Form Aide Enhanced is $89 + S&H and can be purchased directly by calling
1-800-249-8623 or (954) 741-8818 or through the web with our on-line service.

Now you can start using the software right away by running ABRISOFT Unlock.

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ABRISOFT Inc.
4851 NW 103 AVE #55C
Sunrise, FL 33351
PH: (800) 249-8623 or (954) 741-8818


Catalog
Other Products from ABRISOFT, Inc.

Order any of these products by calling:
(800) 249-8623 or (954) 741-8818

ABRISOFT User Options OCX

User Options OCX is a control that allows your users to customize the look of your application at Run-Time, while leaving you in complete control.

ABRISOFT Self-Translator OCX

Self-Translator OCX is a control that allows your applications to speak multiple languages.  Self-Translator maintains localized versions of your software as you run your programs.

ABRISOFT Demo Cop OCX

Demo Cop OCX can turn your applications into demos by limiting their use to a certain number of days, to a certain number of executions, or by setting an expiration date.

Coming soon...

ABRISOFT Source Flow

Source Flow analyzes your code and creates flowcharts that allow you to debug and optimize your programs.


Unlocking a Demo version with ABRISOFT Unlock
Unlocking a Demo version

ABRISOFT Unlock program (included with all demos) can transform your demo into a full version.

Now you can start using Form Aide OCX (Enhanced) right away.

Simply call ABRISOFT, Inc. at (800) 249-8623 or (954) 741-8818 and say that you want to purchase Form Aide OCX (Enhanced). The cost is US $89.00 + S&H.  ABRISOFT accepts Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover.

ABRISOFT will ship the product to you immediately.  At the same time, ABRISOFT will give you a secret code that you use to transform your demo version into a full version.  You can start using the product while you wait for your copy to arrive.

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