Win 3.11 Apps/win311aps.iso/VBTOO/READ.ME

Text File | 1995-05-15 | 16KB | 350 lines

                        MicroHelp VBTools 3

Commercial release date: 08-09-93

This file contains important post release information and changes to the
documentation since the manual was printed.

==========================================================================
BBS Access
----------

Any registered user of VBTools 3 can download the latest version of the
files from our BBS.  The first time you call the BBS, please leave a (C)omment
to the SYSOP by using the "C" command, and leave the name under which the
product is registered as well as your serial number.  We check the BBS at
least twice each business day (morning and afternoon) and will clear you
into the conference as soon as possible.  We cannot give you access to the
BBS until you register the product.

Once you are cleared into the conference, enter "J;VBTOOLS" to join the
conference.  To view the latest files, enter "F;8" once you are in the
conference.  More information about our BBS including the telephone
number is listed in your documentation and in the Windows help file
under "Technical Support".

==========================================================================
Setup and Windows 3.0
---------------------
If you are running Windows 3.0 and you receive a message "Unable to
load LZEXPAND.DLL", all you need to do is copy the LZEXPAND.DLX file from
distribution disk 1 to your WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory as LZEXPAND.DLL and then
restart the Setup program.

==========================================================================
Version 1.x Controls Included for Upward Compatibility
------------------------------------------------------
The following controls are included in version 3 of VBTools for upward
compatibility only. These controls were designed to enhance Visual Basic
version 1.0, but their functionality has been duplicated by features
built into the VB language by Microsoft. If you are still using Visual
Basic version 1.0, or if you are using Visual C++, these controls may be
of use to you:

    MhLine    MhFlip    MhMDI    MhVScroll    MhHScroll    MhTag

==========================================================================
Manual Errata:
--------------
MhDragDrop

Docs should show both params in the event FilesDropped as
INTEGER not as SINGLE. (X as INTEGER, Y as INTEGER)

MhFileList

If you want to set the title for this control in code, you must separate
the columns with a Chr$(9) and follow the last column with a Chr$(9) as
well.


MhOutBox

If you load bitmaps that contain palettes into MhOutBox the GDI will not
release the palettes correctly, taking down GDI resource by 2/10ths of 1%
per run/end cycle.  Microsoft has confirmed this as a known Windows bug
concerning metafiles (which is the storage format used by MhOutBox) and that
it will be fixed in a future version of Windows. (Note: See MSDN CDROM
Article #: Q98268 for further information).  Note: Only bitmaps containing
palettes cause this problem.  Non-palettized bitmaps don't exhibit this.

============================================================================

         Additional MhOutbox Notes / Documentation / Hints

The AutoSize property determines whether an Outbox is fitted to the size of a
picture you load.  If AutoSize and EraseForRead are both TRUE, any previous
contents are discarded and the Outbox is resized to fit the loaded picture.
If AutoSize is TRUE and EraseForRead is FALSE, the loaded picture is
stretched to fill the Outbox.  If AutoSize is FALSE, neither the picture nor
the Outbox is resized.  Resizing an Outbox with AutoSize FALSE will update
the Window extents (WindowExtX & WindowExtY).  Resizing with AutoSize TRUE
will not update the Window extents.

If you increase Window extent properties (by setting WindowExtX & WindowExtY
or by resizing with AutoSize FALSE) and then later decrease the property
values, the control will remember the largest size reached and scale
accordingly.  Size information is reinitialized by a ClearBox (or Clear) or
by loading a picture with AutoSize and EraseForRead both set to TRUE or by a
resize event.  If you write to the Clipboard or a disk Metafile, most
programs will clip and size to the limits of the Window extent properties,
which can miss showing portions of the image you see in the Outbox. Reading
a metafile with EraseForRead FALSE will update the Outbox window values if
the origin or extent read is larger than previously seen.  Remember:
WindowOrg & WindowExt are logical coordinates and ViewportOrg & ViewportExt
are physical coordinates, and the ExtXY values are width and height--not
right and bottom.

The preferred MapMode is Anisotropic and the preferred units are HI_METRIC.
This combination fits best with Clipboard and Metafile conventions.  Most
other MapModes are not valid for the Clipboard.  Treatment of clearing and
backcolor are different for Anisotropic than for other MapModes.  Anisotropic
Clear writes a record to the working metafile that will be adjusted later for
any change in size so the backcolor from the time of the clear will always
fill the Outbox.  Clearing in all other MapModes clears the on-screen Outbox
to the backcolor but doesn't write to the working metafile, so a resize will
lose the backcolor.

Just changing backcolor does not retroactively fill in the background of the
Outbox.  The Outbox will be filled with the backcolor only on a clear or a
read or load of a picture with EraseForRead TRUE.

Only one palette in the working metafile is supported.  The first bitmap with
a palette that is read supplies that palette.  Bitmaps read later will have
their palettes ignored.

Recommended sequence to create an Outbox (metafile) containing several
bitmaps of the same size:  Set AutoSize and EraseForRead both TRUE.
LoadPicture for the first bitmap (if you are using palettes, the palette you
want used for all should be in the first bitmap you load).  If you want to
see the results as you go, resize the Outbox to an area large enough to see
all your bitmaps when each is the same size as the first while AutoSize is
still TRUE.  Set AutoSize and EraseForRead both FALSE.

Repeat:
  Set WindowOrgX and WindowOrgY to values for where to put the upper left
  corner of the next bitmap you plan to use.
  LoadPicture for your next bitmap.
EndRepeat

Resize the Outbox to your final size.  This resizing with AutoSize FALSE will
adjust origins and extents in a way that will allow other applications to see
the whole set of bitmaps if copied through the clipboard or a disk metafile.
Until this resizing, the Window extents have values from the first bitmap that
cause many applications to only show the first bitmap after a paste or read.

To work with bitmaps of different sizes, set AutoSize FALSE after the first
bitmap is read and set WindowExtX & WindowExtY to the size you want each
later bitmap to use just before reading the bitmap.  This allows you to put a
smaller bitmap on top of (in front of) a larger one.  If you don't set the
extents, each bitmap read will stretch to fill the window, completely hiding
any previous images.

Because Outbox is built on Windows Metafiles, it suffers from their
limitations.  Text handling, especially scaling, in metafiles is very weak.
It is almost unusable in most MapModes and only tolerable in Anisotropic and
Text modes.  If you will be doing much work with text, experiment extensively
to determine what sizes on screen and printer you need and what you will get
with various combinations of screen and printer Viewports and Windows.  If
you use ExtTextOut mode 8, what gets written to the working metafile is a set
of one-line ExtTextOut calls with line breaks and text metrics appropriate to
the current display at the time of the ExtTextOut call, so use this carefully.

All the shape properties (Arc, BCircle, BLine, Chord, etc.) take string
arguments of sets of integers separated by at least one space (or comma).

The ColorPrint property determines whether any fill or background colors are
sent to the printer.  When it is FALSE, no color settings go to the printer,
which eliminates all but the outlines of shapes but prevents loss of
readability due to dithering on many monochrome printers.

The EndPage property must be set to trigger the Outbox to write to most
OutContexts except the screen.

Several new properties were added in October 1993:
BrushStyle -- style for color fills; default SOLID.
HatchStyle -- style when BrushStyle is HATCH.
PenStyle -- style for lines; default SOLID.
PenWidth -- default 0; values > 1 cause PenStyle to be treated as SOLID.
BezierSteps -- number of line segments to use in drawing Bezier curves;
               default 32.
PolyBezier -- approximation of NT function; draws a Bezier curve as a series
              of straight lines; requires at least 8 coordinates (starting
              pair + curve count * 3 pair); unlike NT call, use of lines does
              affect current pointer.
The default value of ColorPrint was changed from FALSE to TRUE.

.BrushStyle Property
This property set/returns the style of brush to use when filling a geometric
shape with color.  This property is an enumerated property with the following
values:

0 - Solid
1 - Hollow
2 - Hatched  (.HatchStyle determines hatch pattern)


.HatchStyle Property

The property determines the pattern that is used to fill in geometric shapes
that are drawn into the outbox.  This property is only used if .BrushStyle = 2
(Hatched).  This property is an enumerated property with the following
values.

0 - Horizontal Hatching
1 - Vertical
2 - FDiagonal
3 - BDiagonal
4 - Cross
5 - Diagonal Cross

.PenStyle property

This property set/returns the style of pen used when drawing lines.  This
property is an enumerated property with the following values:  NOTE:  Pen
Width can't be > 1 for this property to take affect.

0 - Solid
1 - Dashed
2 - Dotted
3 - Dash - Dot
4 - Dash - Dot - Dot
5 - Null Pen
6 - InsideFrame (See WIN SDK CreatePen call for further info)

.PenWidth property

This property set/returns the width of pen (in units) used when drawing
lines.  When set to 0 or 1 the .PenStyle property determines the type of
line that is drawn (solid, dashed, etc.)

.BezierSteps property

This property set/returns the number of line segments that are used to
draw a bezier curve using the .PolyBezier property.  The higher the number
of segments the smoother the resolution of the curve.  Note:  This is a
simulation of Bezier Curvers using line segment so each .PolyBezier setting
will actually produce (.BezierSteps) line segments in the metafile.  The
default value of this property is 32 segments.  If you use a low number of
segments then your curve will have a "polygon" look.  Note:  This is the
number of segment per curve.

.PolyBezier

This property is used to define the points to draw a Bezier curve to the
Outbox.  The points consist of StartX, StartY, Control1X, Control1Y,
Control2X, Control2Y, EndX, EndY.  This is for a single curve.  For multiple
curves continue to specify Control1X, Control1Y, Control2X, Control2Y, EndX,
and EndY after the single curve settings.  Each successive curve uses the
previous end points as its start point.  The property appoximates the
Microsoft Windows NT PolyBezier function call with a series of lines.  Note:
Setting this property *does* affect your current pointer (unlike NT).

Example:

Single Curve:
MhOutbox1.PolyBezier = "200 200 2000 2000 4000 0 6000 200"

Multiple Curves:
MhOutbox1.PolyBezier = "200 200 2000 2000 4000 0 6000 200
                         4000 2000 8000 4000 6000 6000"



MhCommonDialog and MDI apps
----------------------------
If you put a MHCOMD.VBX control on a MDI child form, the
CommonDialogOpened custom event for this control will NOT
be fired.  A workaround is to put the control on a non-MDI child
form that is never shown (Visible property set to False).  However,
there are two problems associated with this workaround:

1) The common dialogs will no longer be modal.  For modality you
must disable your MDI form before setting the .Action property,
and renable it immediately thereafter.  You should also set
focus back to the MDI parent since you will probably experience
a focus shift when disabling the form.

2) You will have to unload the non-MDI child form containing the
MHCOMD.VBX "manually" by using the FormName.Unload.  Non-MDI
child forms are not automatically unloaded when you unload the
MDI parent. Failure to unload this form will cause your program
not to terminate and may crash Windows.

If you are NOT using the custom events, then this problem will
NOT effect you.  Simply place the MhCommonDialog control on a
MDI Child form, and use it as documented.

We have reported the problem of the VB events not being fired to
Microsoft, but have yet to receive any information on how to
resolve this conflict.


3-d effects for MhCommonDialog
------------------------------

During testing we found that it was much better for the VB programmer to
provide 3-d effects for all dialogs on a per/programm basis, rather than
trying to do it for each dialog. With that in mind the following information
is provided so that you might give your dialogs (including common dialogs) a
3-d look.

 'CTL3D.DLL routines
  '~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   Declare Function Ctl3dAutoSubclass Lib "ctl3d.dll" (ByVal HANDLE%) As Integer
   Declare Function Ctl3dRegister Lib "ctl3d.dll" (ByVal HANDLE%) As Integer
   Declare Function Ctl3dUnRegister Lib "ctl3d.dll" (ByVal HANDLE%) As Integer
   Declare Function MhGetHInstance Lib "mhrun300.dll" () As Integer
   Dim gHANDLE%

To convert the common dialog sample to 3-d effects add the above
declarations to the form's general declarations section and the
following code segments to the program:

Sub Form_Load ()
 gHANDLE% = MhGetHInstance()
 result% = Ctl3dRegister(gHANDLE%)
 result% = Ctl3dAutoSubclass(gHANDLE%)
End Sub

Sub Form_Unload (Cancel As Integer)
 result% = Ctl3dUnRegister(gHANDLE%)
End Sub

=======================================================================
New Properties
--------------

Connect (Boolean)

Description:  Sets or returns whether lines will be drawn in the tree
that depict the tree structure.

Applies to: MhTree

Usage: [form.]ctlname.Connect = False

Remarks:  The default value is True (-1).

Setting    Description
-------------------
True (-1)    The lines will be drawn to show the tree structure.
False(0)    No lines will be drawn.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------


VC++ users
------------

Class Wizard does not show messages
-----------------------------------
In Visual C++, messages sometimes do not appear in Class Wizard for
VBX controls.  This often happens when loading in our sample programs.
This is a problem with Visual C++, not with our controls (Microsoft
has acknowledged the problem).  If the VBX custom controls were not
explicitly loaded in App Studio using Install Controls the messages will
not show up.  To correct this problem, remove the affected controls from
App Studio and immediately re-install them.  The messages will then
be available in Class Wizard.