Strange popup menu with image

Hay all,

If you try to add images to a form menu using the common API calls to do that it works nicely. Now if I make another menu and I set it's visiblity to false so i use it only as a popup menu, the menu icons simply vanish!! they disapear. I think I understand what is going on. I think that whenever the menu is invisble and visble again it redraws itself, and thus erases the icons that were there (this is just my guess, i could be wrong about this)...

I searched for long time on this forum and found nothing. How do you do this? How do you add menu items to a popup menu without problems? I am able to add menu images to my form's menu just fine, I need to do the same for the popup.

I have tested that whenever you set the visbility of any menu item to false and back to true the menu image disapears.

any help will be greatly appreciated :)

Okay so the menu itself is invisible, and you have specified images from an imagelist?
And you're using the PopupMenu method to display the popup ?

Yes,

See it works perfectly as a normal form menu when I sent the visibility to true. As soon as I set it to false and back to true then the images are gone!

Also, I tried keeping it always visbile, it works that way as expected as a popup menu! But that's not what I want, because the menu is not suppose to be part of my form (just a popup) and if i keep the visbility to true then it's part of my form :)

I appreciate any help. I am sure if you try this yourself you will find the same thing!

I'm not sure if this will work and I'm sure there is probably a better way of doing it, but could you place your menu on a second form, leave it visible and call it from your first form?

Hi Koya

Well, I acctually had the same problem with the menu.
I just set the caption of the root menu to "" or space (I don't remember ;)) and enabled=false. This will disable the menu for the form but you can use it as popupmenu.

good luck

regards,
xdream

The problem is not how to display a popup menu, bu how to display one with images for it's menu items :|...

There should be a way, or how else do other programs do it?

Are you setting the visibility property on all the sub menu items or
just the top level?

Just the top one.

The bug is (or the problem is) when you set the visibility to false for any menu item and it has an image associated with it, the next time you set the visbility of that same menu item to true, the image is gone (i think because Windows redraws the menu tiem whenever it appears again!). So how do you keep the image there!

This problem occurs specially fi you are making popup menus where you set the visibility of the top level menu to false so it won't be part of your form menu and yet can be used as a popup menu.

the menu still popups, i am getting the menu, just without the images. That is the problem.

SO in conclusion, the Visible property for a menu item screwes things up if the menu has an image.

That's all I am trying to say. Hope to get some suggestions.

I have some code at home that I draw the images on the menus using APIs and subclassing. I will see if I do the same as you if
the issue occurs or not. If t works correctly I will post for you.

Thank you. I always put images on a menu using a few API calls, but never subclassing anything :)

I will have a look at yours. Thank you again

Attached is a sample of what I suggested above. There should be a better way, but this seems to work.

did you look at Xdream's post (below) and tried what he said?

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Xdream
Hi Koya

Well, I acctually had the same problem with the menu.
I just set the caption of the root menu to "" or space (I don't remember ;)) and enabled=false. This will disable the menu for the form but you can use it as popupmenu.

good luck

regards,
xdream

---

That is what I have always done, I don't see his point.... I tried it anyways, I think he didn't understand my point. In either way, i tried it, no success

Hi Koya

I just checked how I "solved" the problem within my application (popupmenu on systemtrayicon with pictures).

1. Create a normal menu with caption, visible=true, enabled=true
2. Put this code to the Form_Load event:

Code:

---

mnuPopupTray.Caption = ""
mnuPopupTray.Enabled = False

---

3. set menu images

this works for me. I'm using this code for the images:

Code:

---

'sub - set menu icons
Public Sub subSetMenuIcons()
    On Error Resume Next
   
    Dim I As Byte
    Dim hMenu As Long
    Dim hSubMenu As Long
    Dim menuID As Long
   
    With frmMain

    'frmMain
        hMenu = GetMenu(.hwnd)
       
        'mnuMenu
            hSubMenu = GetSubMenu(hMenu, 0)
           
            'mnuMenuSettings
            menuID = GetMenuItemID(hSubMenu, 0)
            Call SetMenuItemBitmaps(hMenu, menuID, vbNull, .imgLst.ListImages(1).Picture, .imgLst.ListImages(1).Picture)
           
            'mnuMenuHide
            menuID = GetMenuItemID(hSubMenu, 2)
            Call SetMenuItemBitmaps(hMenu, menuID, vbNull, .imgLst.ListImages(2).Picture, .imgLst.ListImages(2).Picture)
           
            'mnuMenuExit
            menuID = GetMenuItemID(hSubMenu, 4)
            Call SetMenuItemBitmaps(hMenu, menuID, vbNull, .imgLst.ListImages(3).Picture, .imgLst.ListImages(3).Picture)
....

---

tell me if it doesn't work.

regards

hay,

thank you for your reply. This is exactly what I am doing. Exactly, even the same code almost. But mine doesn't work.

Where are you calling the "subSetMenuIcons()" method from? I am calling it from the form_load() maybe it should be somewhere else just for that!!

thank you.

Don't be so hard with your code ;) it's working - but not for invisible popupmenus...

well: I'm calling the subSetMenuIcons in form_load as well, just in the order of my latest post. It's working for my popupmenu:

frmMain.PopupMenu mnuPopupTray, , , , mnuPopupTrayRestore

did you try it this way round?

...here my form_load:

Code:

---

'frm - LOAD
Private Sub Form_Load()
    On Error Resume Next
   
'MOUSE
    Screen.MousePointer = vbHourglass
   
'READ SETTINGS
    Call subReadSettings
   
'INIT FORM
    Me.Caption = App.Title & "  -  by Xdream Production"
    mnuPopupTray.Caption = ""
    mnuPopupTray.Enabled = False
   
'check for another instance
    If App.PrevInstance = True Then
        MsgBox App.Title & " is already running!", vbCritical + vbOKOnly + vbMsgBoxSetForeground + vbApplicationModal
        Call subUnloadAppl
        Exit Sub
    End If
   
'LOOK
    Call AddOfficeBorder(cmdSetTime.hwnd)
    Call AddOfficeBorder(cmdSetTimer.hwnd)
    Call AddOfficeBorder(cmdReset.hwnd)
    Call AddOfficeBorder(cmdStart.hwnd)
    Call AddOfficeBorder(cmdStop.hwnd)
    Call AddOfficeBorder(cmdApply.hwnd)
    Call AddOfficeBorder(cmdExit.hwnd)
    Call AddOfficeBorder(txtTimer(0).hwnd)
    Call AddOfficeBorder(txtTimer(1).hwnd)
    Call AddOfficeBorder(txtTimer(2).hwnd)
    Call subSetMenuIcons
   
'ADD SYSTRAY ICON
    With typNID
        .cbSize = Len(typNID)
        .hwnd = Me.hwnd
        .uId = vbNull
        .uFlags = NIF_ICON Or NIF_TIP Or NIF_MESSAGE
        .uCallBackMessage = WM_MOUSEMOVE
        .hIcon = Me.Icon
        .szTip = App.Title & " " & App.Major & "." & App.Minor & "." & App.Revision & ", Build " & strBuilt & vbNullChar
    End With
    Call Shell_NotifyIcon(NIM_ADD, typNID)
   
'APPLY SETTINGS
    Call subGenerateTopmostForm(frmMain.hwnd, True)
    Call subApplyFormPosition
    Call subApplyOptions
    Call subApplyActionImg(frmMain.imgIcon)
   
'INIT VARS
    'form animation
    With typFrmMainFormAnim
        .bitVisible = True
        .lngFormMaxWidth = Me.Width
        .lngFormMaxHeight = Me.Height
        .lngFormMinWidth = 4200
        .lngFormMinHeight = 100
    End With
   
    'others
    bitInetCheck1 = True
    bitInetCheck2 = True
    bitInetCheck3 = True
    lngCounter = 0
    intNowCountDownHour = 0
    intLastCountDownHour = 0
   
    bitUdnHMSChange = False
    bitUdnMaxReached(0) = False
    bitUdnMaxReached(1) = False
    bitUdnMaxReached(2) = False
    bitUdnMinReached(0) = False
    bitUdnMinReached(1) = False
    bitUdnMinReached(2) = False
   
    bitLogbookErr = False
    bitInetWarning = False
   
'LOGBOOK
    Call subWriteLog("****************************************", True, False)
    Call subWriteLog("Applikation initialised...", False, True)
   
'INIT OBJECTS
    Call cmdStop_Click
    Call chkInet_Click
   
'COMMAND
    Call subApplyCommand(Command)
    'Call subApplyCommand("reboot;time;10;10;10;0;1;1;")
   
'MOUSE
    Screen.MousePointer = vbDefault
       
    If Err Then
        Call MsgBoxErr(Err.Number, Err.Description)
    End If
End Sub

---

I thank you again.

I have the same order of code, except:

"mnuPopupTrayRestore" what is that? I ony supply one parameter for the popupmenu method. Do I need this extra parameter?

thanks a again. You've been a great help

you're welcome :)

the additinal parameter is for defining a default menu item (viewed as bold) for the user. It's not neccessary for the popupmenu.

is it working now?

regards

no it isn't working. I don't know why. If I remove the enabled=false from my form_load, it shows up fine with the images, if i put it back then it shows the popup menu without the images! this is really strange!

Hay all,

I dont know what the hell, the trick did it. I was initalizing something in the wrong order, i changed that last night because i was trying different things and i didn't set it back. now I noticed that and your trick actually worked! nice thank you :) I tried that before but I wasn't too sure it was going to work and it actually didn't, but since you told me that yours worked, I knew I could make it work somehow using the same idea, I kept at it until I got it :)

thank you again.
I wonder if there is another way out there, because I could still click on the "blank" menu but i can't see what's in it since it's disabled :) oh well. not very professionaly but works!

Well that's great if it is working now! :) I was really wondering why it didn't before.

I don't know how you could do it otherwise, maybe we find another (not cheated :p) solution...
btw: how do you solve the problem with the pictures background? As far as I remember you need to insert a static bitmap and everybody who has another windows-color setting will still see the bitmap background (just as a square).

For everybody who likes to play around with menu pictures, here is an example.

Regards,
Xdream

hay,
sorry, I have no idea. I never tried inserting an image in the background. I will play with it maybe next week and will let you know if I come up with anything functional :)