star trek controles

[Matt McGuire]

this may sound stupied (maybe not for any trekies out there) has any one ever thought about making a set of controls that mimic the looks of the controls in star trek. buttons (rounded) that could strech by the user to hold other information, slider bars that some what look like progress bar, etc. this would realy look cool espicaly on a touch screen computer.

-matt mcguire

All you'd really need to do is make an image that looks like the button and put the code in the images click() event.

I've thought about it before but never did it though...

[kedaman]

You can ask me, because i have just that trekky control that you need. I've done it by removing some regions on each corner. It's not ready yet but if you're willing to work on it for me, i'll give you the source.

[Matt McGuire]

thanks kedaman, but i don't think i should add on another project just yet. i was just wondering if anyone had built any. the controles on star treck seem rather user frendly (after getting use to them though). I think it would make a realy trick windows mask- ah, but i tend to daydream a little to much(like has anyone thought to make a vb compiler for other OS?, another question another day).

stupied question of the day (i sometimes fill in @ the helpdesk at work):
caller: "my computer says it has a virus, but i havent been able to find a file called virus. were should i look?"
me: "what does your virus scanner say?"
caller: "Virus scanner?"

[Sam Finch]

I'm in no way a Trakkie so I have no Idea what trekkie controls look like, I'm working on some new user controls though, they would be like the normal ones but look a lot cooler, they would look sort of like half spheres, atatched to either end of a cylinder, then cut this in half and lay it on a page(get the shape I'm talking about) which go flat when you click them, that's the command button anyway, I've got some other ideas for a load of cool controls around this theme, anyone got any other good Ideas ?

[kedaman]

My trek control have a color and a caption and have four corners that can be cut round both eliptically convex and concave, in your own radius. Cutting it in different ways,, you can make it look like different trek buttons. Have no mouseup/down effect, enter or exit, but thats easy to implement.

Matt matey no problems already have a set of button controls that do what ya want.

Email me and will send back the ocx's. Don't have them at this site, is Friday so probably a couple of days before l send them back

Live long and prosper..........

controls? you can change them? how do you even go about that? I am new to programming, and I know I still have a lot of learning to do in the code department, but being able to change the way buttons look, and such would be great. Is it too complicated to explain here? If not, some instructions ( or a link towards instructions ) would be appreciated.

[kedaman]

Building your own button is simple, but changing the regions (making parts of it transparent) needs some useful apis like setwindowrgn, getwindowrgn and combinergn. To make your own rgns you need to use createrectrgn, createpolygonrgn or createellipticrgn

[Frans C]

My problem with these things is mostly not the code. It's the graphics for them. The ones I make look like ****.

[kedaman]

Then have the user to select the graphix to the button!

[Sam Finch]

I wouldn't say making your own buttons was easy, If you're new to programming you might want to get the hang of coding some stuff first(I'm not sure how new you are) look at VB to the right of the screen there should be a window called Project- Project1. Right click on this and select add...usercontrol Change it's backcolour so you can see it and close the window, in your objects toolbar there's a new Icon, you can draw your new usercontrol on the form like a button, as many times as you like (it's faily boring at the moment, just a red block) Play around with this.

Frans C In my view the key to getting your buttons to look good is to keep them simple. Mine are drawn completly in code, there's nothing on the usercontrol itself, they are symetrical and fairly low key, you don't want to make them look too complicated unless you have artistic tallent(I don't, look I can't even spell tallent)

[kedaman]

I'm working on a button with a mouse-enter and exit effect like in internetexplorer

[Matt McGuire]

hey Jethro, have you used your controls in any of your apps or released them into the comunity yet. i know of a couple of hard core trecks out there, that would dump money into apps thats resemble star treck consoles, even if it is just a word processor, or some sort of control panel.

-matt

I would love to get my hands on that control, (the internet explorer mouse-enter, mouse-exit control) If your gonna send that out for free, please mail a copy my way...

Thanks...

Matt,

Yeap have released on a couple of products. Also have a specialised email app for a client and use the control on that, even allowing the end user to modify screen view from a dozen or so combinations of the control.

As l stated the ocx was sent to me from a friend in Argentina, and is free and in the public domain. At least in Argentina. The only problem is that the txt files are in French.

Any wants it, l have it on the hard disk of this P.C.

Regards.

[kedaman]

I'm not working on the mouseover control right now but i will have it soon, when i've set up my new homepage

[Matt McGuire]

Jethro,
could'nt find your e-mail to request those controles, have you got a link or could you send them to me [email protected] i'm interested.

-matt

Frans C

For the graphics of the control. All you need is a solid blue, yellow, white colour. I don't think the Graphics would be hard.

[Matt McGuire]

thanx Jethro i got the controles, now i just need to make time to play with them

-happy coding,
matt

Yeap have twenty or so controls sitting on my harddisk in the office, which l am meant to evaluate. But my Boss, (the she creature from hell...hmmm...only joking Kim if you read this...and what about a raise), keeps giving me new assignments. Have just completed a rewrite of a word/excel merge from an insurance app, am about three weeks from completing this project. And get this....now have to finish an Excel dump utility, find time to study for 70-100, and work on a team writing a complete app from scratch for a Ceramics company........ And they said vb was a RAD with plenty of time to learn

Still am learning heaps Oh well the industry hasn't really changed for developers from the old DOS days.....