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Topic: More buttons (Read 1204 times) |
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nitwit
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Re: More buttons
« Reply #4 on: May 17th, 2010, 5:25pm » |
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I was taught that it didn't matter what the program looks like as long as it did what you wanted.
When you are driving along in your Rolls-Royce you can admire the leather and walnut and listen to the clock but it does not matter what is under the bonnet as long as it does what you want. It could be a Morris Minor engine.
So I can get pushbuttons in other windows and they look as though they act OK. In BBC BASIC the solution lies in MOUSE x%,y%,b% so no problem (and no dialogue box).
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admin
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Re: More buttons
« Reply #5 on: May 17th, 2010, 9:49pm » |
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on May 17th, 2010, 5:25pm, Guest-nitwit wrote:| I was taught that it didn't matter what the program looks like as long as it did what you wanted. |
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Whoever taught you that was completely wrong! The most important thing about an OS like Windows is that by providing a uniform user interface many of the common operations are done in a similar way in most applications.
So when a user wants to know how to do something they don't have to read the manual, because they're already familiar with how to do it from other applications.
Quote:| When you are driving along in your Rolls-Royce you can admire the leather and walnut and listen to the clock but it does not matter what is under the bonnet as long as it does what you want. It could be a Morris Minor engine. |
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Bad analogy. You're not proposing changing the engine, you're proposing swapping the direction indicators with the windscreen wiper controls (I once had to cope with exactly that when I changed my car; these days they're standardised!).
To be specific, your controls won't respond to standard keyboard navigation and shortcuts. Accessibility features, intended to aid those with disabilities, won't work. Your controls won't increase in size when a poorly-sighted user selects 'large fonts'. There are a whole load of things which happen 'under the hood' when you use a dialogue box, which you're probably completely unaware of or have no intention of emulating.
If you're a beginner in Windows programming it's even more important that you do things in the standard way. As you get more experienced you will learn when you can take liberties with the standard GUI and when you can't. You'll also learn how to emulate some of the more subtle features like keyboard navigation if you need to. But to start off with you should do everything 'by the book'.
Richard.
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nitwit
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Re: More buttons
« Reply #6 on: Jun 1st, 2010, 10:17am » |
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I don't really want to learn 'windows' programming. It far too complex and I don't have the time (in any sense). I have 72 (yes I counted them again) programs running quite happily under VirtualAcorn. They use the WIMP and ALL use multiple windows and some use scrolling, files, printing etc etc. However VA or more strictly RISC OS has a couple of major drawbacks. They will never be sorted because there are too few 'developers'. I thought BBC BASIC for Windows might be the answer. Sadly it seems not.
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admin
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Re: More buttons
« Reply #7 on: Jun 1st, 2010, 11:45am » |
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on Jun 1st, 2010, 10:17am, Guest-nitwit wrote:| I don't really want to learn 'windows' programming... I thought BBC BASIC for Windows might be the answer. Sadly it seems not. |
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There are two main ways to use BBC BASIC for Windows. One is to code in 'portable' BBC BASIC, where all the on-screen graphics etc. are created using native BASIC statements like RECTANGLE and PLOT. Such programs will run largely unmodified on most BBC BASIC platforms, and require effectively zero knowledge of "Windows programming".
The other way to use BBC BASIC for Windows is as a language in which to code Windows GUI applications (rather as you might use Visual Basic, C++, Delphi etc.). Programs written that way will only run under Windows, and inevitably require a good understanding of "Windows programming".
This is no different from RISC OS. You can either write a portable (non-Wimp) BASIC program, or you can write a Wimp-based program. The latter requires a good understanding of RISC OS, and will only run under RISC OS (or an emulation).
If you are trying to convert a RISC OS Wimp-based program to a Windows GUI program you must expect to learn a degree of "Windows programming", just as you needed to learn some "RISC OS programming" in order to write the original.
In fact it's considerably easier to write a Windows GUI program than a RISC OS Wimp program, because Wimp programs need a lot of user code to service things like Wimp Poll. In BBC BASIC for Windows the equivalent overhead is done for you 'in the background'.
If you don't want to learn any "Windows programming" your only option is to code your program in native BBC BASIC graphics. The 'look and feel' won't be much like a genuine Windows program, but that may not matter to you.
Richard.
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