[Gambas-user] _DrawWith Me ? trying to view custom controls in the IDE

[Bruce Steers]

On Sat, 20 Feb 2021 at 06:42, Bruce <adamnt42 at gmail.com> wrote:

> On 20/2/21 3:13 pm, Bruce Steers wrote:
> > I'm chugging away chewing on making a custom control.
> >
> > I call it Tickbox
> > It's a CheckBox but uses a picture for the tick and can set text to left
> or
> > right.
> >
> > My discovery though that's a bit naff...
> > Unless i add the control to gb.form and compile it in it's not very good
> to
> > use.
> >
> > I'm sure you know what i mean.
> > _DrawWith works great for a copy of an existing control in displaying it
> > but not a new one.
> >
> > something like _DrawWith = "Me" would be good.
> >
> > If i copy the class into gb.form source folder and compile it then works
> > all as expected.
> >
> > The 2 attached snapshots is what i refer to. one shows the control as a
> > class but in the normal gambas, te other where i've added the control to
> > gb.form.
> >
> > Is there nothing can be done to get the custom controls visible?
> > i've had to make a branch and have a custom gb.form to work with and keep
> > installing/reinstalling just to get the control useable (in the IDE).
> > the control works and shows fine when i launch the app, it's just the IDE
> > won't play ball :(.
> >
> > Thanks for any pointers if i'm missing something.
> >
> > BruceS
> >
> >
> >
> > ----[ http://gambaswiki.org/wiki/doc/netiquette ]----
> >
>
> I doubt it. We had a go some years back and it proved to be not worth
> the effort. The way the Form Designer handles DrawWith I now cannot
> recall. Most times we just use the nearest enclosure box to give some
> idea as to the custome control content. YMMV but giventhe "elasticity"
> of the form designer vs the form as displayed at runtime I found more
> value in getting the control's "working code" right rather then how it
> looks in the form designer.
>

Darn it.
i may have to delve into the _DrawWith code myself and see if i can have
any revelations.
can't help but think there must be a way...
Had a hunt through the code ...
Seems to run through CDocumentation.class and CComponent.class, i guess
hardcoded to use the default dirs in /usr and not get all the info from
project dir (just the icon).
this is worth more investigation/study i think. would be a certain upgrade
with gambas if the IDE could get DrawWith info from the project dir and
render custom controls properly as you create them.
I'm thinking along the lines of being able to set _DrawWith = "TickBox" for
my TickBox.class and the IDE finding TickBox in the project dir and work
from there. (much like it does with _Properties Const string)

Thinking is one thing though ,, doing is going to be a challenge that I
foresee a day or 2 disappearing for me lol
Thanks for the info bruce :)


Nonetheleless it's good to see someone else that wants a left labelled
> checkbox. We also have a left labelled radiobutton. I don't know how or
> why the idea of right labelling these things became a "design standard"
> but ISMTT! (Work that one out by yourself).
>

to be fair it was somebody else's suggestion on here "a good place to start
is make a checkbox with left handed text"
seemed a fair suggestion and a good point that checkboxes only put text on
one side.
then i took a shine to the idea of also being able to use any custom or
stock image for the check.

Just would be nice to see it in the ide without having to integrate it into
gb.form
I made a new component gb.form.bonus in /comp and installed it but that
didn't work with DrawWith either, only option i got is gb.form it seems.

Benoit , any views / interest in getting this feature working, or is it
like many of my other thoughts that would be a simple change that turn out
to actually be a hugely complicated change?
Would be a boost in the custom control creation department i think.

Many thanks
Wishing well
BruceS
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