Sidebar

[Fenloh]

Hi @all,

right now we are experimenting with some Graphics and Panels. We like to put a graphic on top of the sidebar, but whatever we have tested so far we can either get teh graphic right and are not able to use the buttons on the side anymore (though we can see them), or we can use the Buttons but not see them, because the Frame Graphic of the panel is drawn over them.

How can we get a graphic Layer between the desctop and the buttons?

Any Ideas?

Fenloh

[Moon Wizard]

Can you just replace the previous graphic used for the sidebar?

Cheers,
JPG

[Fenloh]

Hi moon_wizard,

We have tried that, but did not get it to work, since the Graphic for the Sidebar is a irregular. We also like to put some Graphics on the board that are unique, without interfering with other controls. The Background is cut and put together in a strange way and i do not understand how to change that (neither does our Graphicsguru). We do not want the Graphic of the Background itself to be very large.

I also must admit that i do not understand why it acts so strange when we put a panel there. The code we used is similar to the code of the Dicetower. Create a windowclass with a generic control that has a frame and call it via the "panel". It looks nice, and the buttons seem to be on top. We will probably move it to the end of the List.

We did have a lot of trouble with the Graphics for the Background, Frames and Icons, especially when the Graphics were scaled. Dicerolls were getting slower, up to the point where a roll took several secons with "screenshots" of the rolling Dice following each other. We used some larger graphics and its running smooth again now. Is there anything that we should bear in mind, when working on the graphics?

Fenloh

[Moon Wizard]

For the desktop, you should just be able to replace the sections of the desktop image that you want to replace, unless you are trying to place a graphic instead of a background.

The frames are defined by specifying regions for the following sections: upper left corner, top edge, upper right corner, left edge, center, right edge, lower left corner, bottom edge and lower right corner. There is also an optional decal region.

When the frame is used to generate an image, the associated region is drawn to fill the window or control space using the correct frame regions. If the region to be filled for the window or control is larger than the region specified for that portion of the frame, then the image will be tiled to fill the remaining space.

I have found that small frame graphics cause significant graphic delays in the rendering, possibly due to the tiling calculations. When creating frame graphics, I try to target the frame graphic to be slightly larger than the average size of the window or control it will be applied to, and never less than half the size.

Cheers,
JPG

[Fenloh]

The Problem is though, that the Tiles are being added on from the left, and not from the Right.

Main Part = 1234 (1234 resembles a length x divided in 4 Parts)
Side bar = 5

it looks like
123412341235

but it should look like

234123412345

We tride with negative Numbers, but it always puts the Tiles togehter from left to right, instead of right to left. And because of that the Background does not fit correctly to the Sidebar when it needs to be tiled.

And again there is the Barrier of the language... I hope it is understandable

Fenloh

[Moon Wizard]

Maybe a picture would help clarify? Can you post a snapshot of the image, and the code for your frame definition?

The tiling should be occurring in this format:

TL.................TE (tiled H)..........TR
LE (tiled V)......C (tiled V/H).........RE (tiled V)
BL..................BE (tiled H)...........BR

where
TL = top left corner (not tiled)
TE = top edge (tiled horizontally)
TR = top right corner (not tiled)
LE = left edge (tiled vertically)
C = center (tiled horizontally and vertically)
RE = right edge (tiled vertically)
BL = bottom left corner (not tiled)
BE = bottom edge (tiled horizontally
BR = bottom right corner (not tiled)

Thanks,
JPG

[Fenloh]

Hi Moon_wizard
,
this is the Framedefinition. It is hard to see on the picture i have, but i try to get one from exo where you can see what happens. The only problem we have is that all tiles are always clamped on the top left side and then being tiled to the right. If the can bei snapped on to the right and being tield to the left it would be perfect.



<framedef name="desktop">
<bitmap file="graphics/frames/desktop.png" />
<middle rect="0,0,255,400" />
<right rect="255,0,100,400" />
<decal rect="0,0,0,0" />
</framedef>

Fenloh

[Fenloh]

It is really hard to get a picture that shows the problem. The Problem that the Tiles are always tiled from left to right still exists. Maybe you can add something, that you can have them tiled from right to left.

Another Question came up for the Sidebar. We tried to get some OnHover Effects to run there, but i cannot find the Control where they are positioned on. The Icons themselves only have a normal and a pressed state.

The next Question, also from our Graphicsguru was about the ability to use gifs, expecially moving gifs. Is there a Chance to implement them somehow?

best regards,

Fenloh

[Fenloh]

Hi again,

our Graphicsguru says, that this is what he wants to do. That is the Way he would like the Background graphics to behave in FG.


background-image: url(image.png) ;
background-repeat: repeat ;
background-position: top right ;

Fenloh

[drahkar]

FG already does that. Everything within the confines of middle gets tiled.

(I'm speaking in reference to the CSS above)

[Fenloh]

Hi, drakhar,

correct, but the tiles are being put on the desktop from left to right, not from the right side, to the left side.

If you have a Background sidebar, that is not cut straight down, then you will have a problem, because the Tile that closes directly to the Background will almost always be cut of on the wrong position. The Background that we use does not have one sole color, but has a strukture on it. It just looks crappy if it is cut somewhere in the middle. All other tiles fit, just not that one line between the sidebar and the middle part. If the Desktop would be tiled from right to left, that would not happen.

Currently we try to put a panel there, but we are not as succsessful as we hoped :(. But it just takes some time and we will get to the bottom of the problem.

Fenloh