Readme for VB Shaped Form Creator (VBSFC)

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WalkThrough 10 step easyguide thingy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This was requested, so I am putting it in. 90% of you won't need this, so
don't bother reading it if you don't.
10 steps to a Shaped Hello World example
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1: Load VB Shaped form creator.
2: Draw your shape. For example, stick an oval so that it just touches the top
and left of the drawing area. You can put it elsewhere if you want, but it is
only wasting space.
3: Save it as a form. Put it somewhere you will remember.
(optional step --
3b: Export it as a bitmap. Put it in the same place as the form
--)
4: Load VB. You should start with a blank project.
5: Remove the Form1 file (as we will not use it)
6: Add a file to the project. In VB4 this is done by right clicking on the pro
ject box and choosing "Add File". Select the form you saved in step 3.
7: Show the form (if not shown already)
(optional step --
7b: Set the form's "picture" property to the picture you exported in step 3b.
This gives you
a guideline as to what bits of the form are displayed when it is run.
--)
8: Put a label control and a button contol on the form. Change the label capti
on to nothing, and the button caption to "Press Me" (or similar). If you have d
one the optional steps, then you can make sure that both controls are within the
coloured area (red by default), then remove the form's picture (as we don't nee
d it any more).
9: Double click the "Press Me" button to set code. Type into the sub the line:
label1.caption = "Hello World"
10: Run the project. You will be told that you have not specified a startup fo
rm, and asked to do so. Specify the "ShapedForm" form, and run the project.

ChangeLog:
~~~~~~~~~~
Update: 08/11/03
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Minor bugfixing update to version 7.03. Changes are:
Improved Zoom Window stability - it shouldn't disappear after minimizing any mo
re, and should always be topmost.
Colour indicator on Edge Tracer should become enabled properly now.
Export as bitmap, Copy as bitmap and show preview will warn if there are no sha
pes in the file.
Update: 04/10/03
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Small update time, to version 7.02. Changes are:
 Added a Clear All Shapes button (when in Edit mode).
Added a Clear Trace button to the edge tracer, to allow retracing of the same i
mage without reloading it.
NOTE: If you are upgrading from a previous version of VB Shaped Form C
reator you may have to reset
your Edge Tracer toolbar to see this
Zoom Combo bug fixes. It shouldn't duplicate values now, and should work prope
rly.
Bugfix for the mouse not being active over the customize dialog in certain situ
ations
Stability improvements to the zoom window
Titlebar caption should always refresh properly when opening a new file now
Bugfix for certain situations where the VBSFC executable would remain running a
fter it appeared to exit.
Bugfix for not being able to find the help file under certain conditions.
Other minor bugfixes.

Update: 17/08/03
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wow, now that was a long time since the last update! Anyway, a new version of
VBSFC has finally been relased - version 7.0. This new version features the
following new features:
Full C# support (Saving, Reading and Modifying C# .net forms).
Improvements to the UI and usability issues
Many other bug fixes and small improvements where requested, such as Flip
Polygon buttons.
I also have converted to a newer version of the ActiveBar toolbar control which
is more stable than the previous one.

Update: 29/5/00
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Version 6.2 released. This version fixes the bug which produces code with the
'! and the data line separated. It also fixes the bug when opening forms which
have OCX controls on them.
Update: 6/5/00
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Version 6 released. This version includes a FormAnimator utility which can be
used to produce animated shaped forms.
Other features added:
A "Preview" feature which shows the background image clipped to the current
 shape. This makes it easy to see what the form will look like when it is
generated.
A "Copy as Bitmap" function which copies the current shape to the clipboard as
a bitmap, ready to be pasted into an image editing app to produce a background
image.
Extra Save Formats:
A binary Data File format. This contains just the shape information, and is
therefore a smaller file than an entire generated form. Example code for
reading data files is included, which should be a simple matter to translate
into other programming languages (which support the Windows API calls) to
produce shaped forms for them.
A Delphi Form file format. This produces Delphi .pas and .dfm files which can
be added to a delphi project. The delphi code produced by this feature can be
considered Alpha test, as my Pascal skills are minimal to none. Format is
Delphi 2, and subject to limitations:
Cannot Modify Forms (sorry, I don't know enough Delphi format for this).
Cannot display form or control positions when opening a form. Not
really a problem, considering the above limitation.
Does not perform any validation on form files opened.
Is not TwipsPerPixel aware. I don't know how to do this without the Screen
object in VB, or even whether it is a problem for Delphi. A "Scale"
property looked intersting, though...
It does, however, size the form correctly, make it borderless, and allow full
window drag in the same way as as the VB generated forms.
A C++ Source file format. This produces C++ .cpp and .h files which can be
added to a C++ project to apply a shape to an existing window. It does not
create a shaped window; it only produces the code which can then be used to
apply a shape to a window. See the help file for a step by step guide on how
to use the code to give a window a shape.
Bug Fixes:
If VBSFC is exited whilst in Edit Mode it will no longer start next time in
Edit Mode.
Switching to the Numerical Editor will now hide the Zoom Window.
Possible bug when displaying the Tip Of The Day window identified, and
workaround built in - a /NoTipWindow parameter switch has been added.
Update 29/8/99:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Version 5.9 released. This version fixes another couple of bugs and adds a new
Edge Tracer method. This is more of a shape-fill rather than an edge-trace, as
it fills the bitmap with rectangles to build up the shape, rather than outlining
it with polygons (Thanks to Chad for the idea). This may be less efficient, but
if a particular bitmap is proving troublesome for the other two methods, then
select this option. (Find it by pressing the "Options" button in the Edge Tracer
window).
Update 9/6/99:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Version 5.8 released. This version adds a tip of the day, copy and pasting for
shapes in the editor, and some minor bug fixes. Also includes command line
parameters, mostly for debugging. If you are having trouble running VBSFC then
try any combinations of the command line parameters /NoZoomWindow and
/NoSubclassing.
Update 20/2/99:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Version 5.6 released. This version adds a floating zoom window. It also allows
you to drag and drop files onto the drawing area to open them.
Update 11/2/99:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Version 5.5 released. The major change for this version is the new interface,
but apart from that there have been many other minor changes:
Features Added:
Shapes can be selected in the graphical editor by clicking on them.
A Paste Background Bitmap command has been added.
The Edge Tracer has a Clear Area command added.
The Edge Tracer has also had a Paste Bitmap command added.
The Edge Tracer is now a non-modal resizable minimizable whateverable window.
An Add All button has been added to it. And the interface completely redone.
When opening a form an outline of it, and all the controls on it, is displayed.
If you try to save over an existing file it will ask you if you want to modify i
t instead.
Warnings are given before any action that would cause you to loose the current s
hape if not saved.
Improvements:
The recently opened files history list no longer displays the full path, but a
shortened path, with the full path appearing in the status bar when the mouse i
s
over it.
The grid runs about a million times faster (moved it into API drawing, rather th
an
VB's incredibly slow line or point methods)
When resizing the form, the shape is now repainted (if you opened a form larger
than
the window, it will now be displayed if you enlarge the window)
What's This? help has been improved
More settings are saved (I can't remember which, but I think pretty much everyth
ing
gets saved now...)
In the Graphical editor, it is now possible to drag one side of an object past i
ts
other side, as when drawing.
When the right mouse button is clicked (in TwoClick mode, not for Polygons) the
shape started is cancelled.
When in ClickDrag mode, if a size 0 shape is drawn (a click rather than a drag),
it is ignored.

Bug Fixes:
Trying to save or modify a form when there is nothing to save no longer produces
 an error.
Cancelling a modify when prompted to replace exisiting information no longer pro
duces
an error when next opening a file.
Reset All Settings twice no longer produces an error.
Other stuff :) Probably anything that was wrong with it in previous versions is
n't
now, but if it is, let me know and I will fix it.

Update 10/12/98:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Version 4.0 released. This is the first version to be compiled under
Visual Basic version 6. As such, it now requires the VB6 runtimes to run.
The major change for this version is the addition of the Graphical Editor.
This feature allows you to use the mouse to edit the shapes drawn, including
adding, removing and moving polygon points. For more information, see the
Graphical Editor section of the help file. Other changes include tooltips and
What's This? help for all controls, an "Add All" command for the edge tracer
(Shift+"Add"), and a couple of minor bug fixes. The code produced has also
been modified. The forms are now resizable (handling the resizing manually),
and the 64K limit VB imposes on functions is bypassed. For more details, see
the Code Produced section of the help file.
Please note, this is my first attempt with VB6, and although it has been in
beta for a longer than usual time, to try and weed out all the bugs, it is
always possible one slipped through. If you email a bug report to me at the
address given at the end of this docmuent, I will fix it and see to it you are
informed of the fix when it is done.
Update 9/11/98:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Version 3.1 released. Fixes a bug with the file history list that could
sometimes crash the program on exit. Corrects spelling of Transparent
(was transparant) throughout program and documentation. Also adds command
line handling, so files can be associated with it, or it can be placed on
the send to menu, or have files dropped onto its executable, or shortcut
to it. Also adds scaling to the forms created so that if the user has a
different Screen.TwipsPerPixel setting (i.e. if they have 'Large Fonts'
turned on, or something similar), the shaped form is scaled too. Please
note that this will not automatically scale the background picture of a
form (if any exists). If you wish to do this, may I suggest you use some
lines of code in the form load procedure similar to:
Me.Show
Me.AutoRedraw = True
Me.PaintPicture Me.Picture, 0, 0, Me.ScaleWidth, Me.ScaleHeight
Me.AutoRedraw = False
(This is taken from Reversi, the sample program provided on the website.)
Update 31/10/98:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Version 3.0 released. File New now clears background bitmap. Modifying
a form which already contains region information does not now duplicate
declarations (unless they have been modified by the user). A Recently
Used Files list of the last 3 files opened or saved has been added to the
File menu. There is new edge tracing algorithm (the old one is still
available as an option). There is now an Auto try-again (optional) which
searches for the best trace without requireing the user to press the Try
Again button. There is now also Grid and Snap support.
Update 24/9/98:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Version 2.3 released, with Undo/Redo support and VB5 form creation. Edge
Tracer command has been moved to the "Tools" menu.

Update 3/9/98:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Version 2.2 released, with improved Edge Tracing algorithm, which includes "Try
Again" button.

Update 9/1/98:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Version 2 released, with Edge Tracing command. See help file for details.

Disclaimer:
~~~~~~~~~~~
This software is provided on an "as is" basis. Nothing should go wrong,
but if it does, it is not my fault. You use this software at your own risk.

License:
~~~~~~~~
This program is licensed for non-commercial use only. If you intend to sell
your program, I think it is only fair you pay for mine (only 30$). See
"Registration" in the help file for details on how to register online or by
mail.

Edge Tracer Issues:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The new algorithm (default) corrects some issues with the old one. The old
algorithm was reported to produce a trace which would not cover the last
line and row of pixels on the right and at the bottom, so for example an
triangle with a 1 pixel wide outline would show the outline of only one side
once traced. The new algorithm corrects this fault, but again, it is not
perfect. With the new algorithm sometimes one or two background pixels find
their way into being included in the traced area. This is not usually a
problem, but I have included the old algorithm as an option just in case.
Manual Uninstallation:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you have installed VBSFC using the installer, use the Add/Remove programs
icon in the control panel, and select VB Shaped Form Creator. Otherwise, or
if this item does not appear, then run VBSFC and choose "Remove All Settings"
from the "Help" menu. This will remove all the programs registry entries.
You can then delete the VB Shaped Form Creator folder, and any other files you
may have installed manually (such as Actbar2.ocx or the VB 6 Runtimes)
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Thank you for reading this document.

Email the author at: AlexV@ComPorts.com

VB Shaped Form Creator website: www.byalexv.com/VBSFC.html
Other programs by the same author: www.byalexv.com