marco@damrod.McRCIM.McGill.EDU (Marco Petroni) (12/18/90)
Hello out there! I was wondering if anyone would please help me with
a little problem that I have in developping a PM application.
I am developping an application in PM which is to have the look and feel
similar to a spread sheet with rows and columns of data. The rows and columns
should be similar to text entry fields where the user can type in data.
Now, what I want to do is to be able to select an entire row, or column
or, groups of rows or columns at a time. Additionally, I would like to
be able to display the selected rows or columns of the "spread sheet"
as being highlighted, say, in reverse video.
I have been thinking of a number of different possibilites:
1) A conventional PM list box with text fields.
- Selected items in a list box do get highlighted in reverse video,
but can one make a 2-D grid in a list box? (None of the literature
mentions 2-D grids in list boxes).
2) A dialog window with a 2-D grid of text entry fields.
- PM does not seem to allow you to set the colors of an individual
(or many for that matter) text entry field object(s).
3) Defining my own object class (similar to what Petzold does with
the square button)
- Probably the best and only way of doing this, but I haven't jumped
into the details yet.
My question is, has anyone ever tried any of these ideas or have
any further information? Any input is welcome.
Thanks!
Marco...
--
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- Marco Petroni -- McGill Research Centre for Intelligent Machines (McRCIM)
McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
INTERNET/BITNET: marco@larry.mcrcim.mcgill.edu or marco@mcrcim.mcgill.ca
UUCP: ...!mcgill-vision!marco
----------------------------------------------------------------------------ie15@vaxb.acs.unt.edu (12/24/90)
In article <1990Dec17.173811.4382@thunder.mcrcim.mcgill.edu>, marco@damrod.McRCIM.McGill.EDU (Marco Petroni) writes:> > I am developping an application in PM which is to have the look and feel > similar to a spread sheet with rows and columns of data. The rows and columns > should be similar to text entry fields where the user can type in data. > Now, what I want to do is to be able to select an entire row, or column > or, groups of rows or columns at a time. Additionally, I would like to > be able to display the selected rows or columns of the "spread sheet" > as being highlighted, say, in reverse video. > > I have been thinking of a number of different possibilites: > > 1) A conventional PM list box with text fields. > - Selected items in a list box do get highlighted in reverse video, > but can one make a 2-D grid in a list box? (None of the literature > mentions 2-D grids in list boxes). > > 2) A dialog window with a 2-D grid of text entry fields. > - PM does not seem to allow you to set the colors of an individual > (or many for that matter) text entry field object(s). > > 3) Defining my own object class (similar to what Petzold does with > the square button) > - Probably the best and only way of doing this, but I haven't jumped > into the details yet. Any way you do it a window full of controls is bad news. Way too slow and a resource management problem for OS/2. Programmer guidelines say an app shouldn't have more than 100 windows created at once, a simple 10x10 spread sheet would reach that too quickly. I wrote a sample spread sheet which had an array of entry fields in the client area thinking how easy it was, but too many windows can get created. I friend of mine tried subclassing the listbox control to make what he called a 'multi-columned listbox'. This would set individual fonts, colors, handle cross-hair grids, etc. By the time he was finished the subclassing was so deep he started over. The best approach would be to clone EXCEL which has 1 data entry entry-field at the top and the bottom 90% of the client area is merely GpiCharStrAt() calls to write the data out in row/column format. With mouse control a GpiBox() can be drawn around the text to simulate a cursor-bar-selector for individual cells. As the the box is moved around the client area the cells' contents is echoed in the main-entry-field for editing. If you want the user to be able to "enter right into the cells' then move a single entryfield around the client area shadowing WM_MOUSEMOVES and WM_BUTTON1DOWNS. WinSetWindowPos() will work for that. To set the entryfield's colors use the WinSetPresParam() API only available in OS/2 1.2 and up. VOID SetEntryF( hwnd hwndEF) { LONG color; color =CLR_BLUE; WinSetPresParam( hwndEF, PP_BACKGROUNDCOLORINDEX, sizeof( LONG), &color); color =CLR_YELLOW; WinSetPresParam( hwndEF, PP_FOREGROUNDCOLORINDEX, sizeof( LONG), &color); } ... for instance. These are briefly mentioned in the IBM Programmers Guide on pages 13-2 and 13-3. If you handle all of the end-presentation of the data thru the client window you can easily support nice font touches like italics and underline that entry fields won't. wisdom and fun, Ken Tabor OS/2 Graphics Guru in Training IE15@UNTVAX.BITNET IE15@vaxa.acs.unt.edu