I only started using the manifest file technique for displaying XP style controls few days ago, as i wasnt very keen for the xp style, but most people are..
Anyways, 2 problems i faced were:
- Lots of flickering. When i move the mouse around the controls, flickering reaches crazy levels. What is this due to?? And is there anyway it can be more professional?
- Another problem i faced was the focus of the controls. What i mean is that the dotted rectangle that should appear on the controls when i am moving the focus around with the tab key, is simply not appearing. I tried "pure" XP apps, and there seems to be normal focus there (different than win9x, true, but it's dotted and it's there!!).. This problem is at worst for check boxes and option buttons. For regular buttons, there seems to be some kind of a color change on the borders (which is normal, but still missing the dotted focus rect.), so it's "acceptable" for buttons.. But for the other controls, it's horrible.
Any ideas on this matter, and how to solve it??
Thanks .
Last edited by TupacShakur; May 30th, 2006 at 08:37 AM.
"And Now I'm Lika Major Threat, Cause I Remind U Of The Things U Were Made To Forget!" - (2PAC)
"Now They Label Me a Lunatic, Couldn't Care Less, Death or Success is What I Quest, Cause I'm Fearless!" - (2PAC)
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Well, i am using somewhat different code, but i guess with the same purpose (calling the API link to comctl32.dll at form initialization)..
Anyways, i tried the code u posted, but to no avail.. Same problems.
Plus i am sure i am "linked" to the comctl32 dll as the xp styles are displaying, but not efficiently.. And i am sure i saw similar complaints in other threads during my extensive long hours of search in this forum..
So guys, any solution???
"And Now I'm Lika Major Threat, Cause I Remind U Of The Things U Were Made To Forget!" - (2PAC)
"Now They Label Me a Lunatic, Couldn't Care Less, Death or Success is What I Quest, Cause I'm Fearless!" - (2PAC)
" There's a light at the end of every tunnel, just pray it's not a train!! "
Are you using Frames? I believe they require constant redrawing to maintain the XP theme - hence they always have lots of flickering - I've never had this problem with any other control.
Tommy, The 1st link u posted is the same one posted by roach in an earlier post. But anyways, for what it's worth, i followed the described way, step by step, and the same problem..
The 2nd link, well i dont believe my problem has to do with enabling the xp styles at design time, but anyways, i tried and also nothing happened..
Anyways, thx for ur help .
bushmobile, yes, i am using frames, and whenever i use frames, the flickering increases drastically.
Rich2189, sorry, but as bushmobile said, placing the frame inside a picture box does not solve this problem. I even tried it, it doesnt solve it.
"And Now I'm Lika Major Threat, Cause I Remind U Of The Things U Were Made To Forget!" - (2PAC)
"Now They Label Me a Lunatic, Couldn't Care Less, Death or Success is What I Quest, Cause I'm Fearless!" - (2PAC)
" There's a light at the end of every tunnel, just pray it's not a train!! "
placing the frame inside a picturebox does not prevent flickering
I never implied it will prevent flickering, I mean that when option buttons are in a frame when using the maifest they might not display properly. If they do not display properly, embed the frame in a picture box with the controls in the frame.
Rich
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Regarding the focus rectangle problem, well it's taking a rather strange form.
1st, i was working on my Desktop PC. When i tried the whole thing on my laptop, well the focus rect. problem disappeared. Both systems have XP professional SP2.
2nd, and after lots of testing on the Desktop PC, i noticed the following:
- The focus rect. problem occurs whenever i load my app. manually (i click on it, in contrast of it running automatically on startup). I even tried it on both classical windows style, and xp style (the option in the Appearance tab of the Display Properties), and the problem was still there.
- The only time the focus rectangles seem to be normal, regardless of which display style i am using within my XP Desktop PC system, is when my app loads automatically at startup.
Anyways, this problem is strange.. But it's not that serious, as everything seems to be normal on my Laptop (and i expect on other PC's).
As for the flickering problem, well it's still unresolved, so i'll leave this thread open.. Who knows, maybe someone will be able to find a solution !!!
"And Now I'm Lika Major Threat, Cause I Remind U Of The Things U Were Made To Forget!" - (2PAC)
"Now They Label Me a Lunatic, Couldn't Care Less, Death or Success is What I Quest, Cause I'm Fearless!" - (2PAC)
" There's a light at the end of every tunnel, just pray it's not a train!! "
any parts of the frame that are showing will still flicker, so you'd have to have the picturebox covering the entire frame, and then there's no point in using a frame.
swipe the mouse back an forth across the picturebox and frame. The black rectangles and title will flicker - demonstrating that the frame is being repainted.
True if there were nothing on the frame, or you only moved the mouse within the picturebox, then the frame would not flicker - but then what's the point of the frame?
Puting the frame in a picturebox sorts out any style issues.
Actually it is: Adding a picture box inside the frame sorts out any style issues.
So, the controls must be added inside the picturebox, the picturebox must be added inside the frame and the picturebox border must be removed to make it invisible to the user (by default it has the same backcolor than the frame).