Skins

[Nigel Gomm]

this [URL unfurl="true"]https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/01/microsoft-hints-at-coming-sweeping-visual-rejuvenation-of-windows-10[/url] has got me worrying that VFP apps are about to look more dated..... the fact that VFP doesn't honour windows 10 dark mode is already a concern.

If VFP is getting left behind here a custom skin seems inevitable.

Does anyone remember to what the scheme numbers and pair lists in SET COLOR OF SCHEME n refer. Do they still work?


I've had a quick look at foxface and vfpskin2.0.

The screenshots of foxface show scrollbars and the like still in XP theme colours which made me not pursue it further.

And i'm guessing that activeXs (such as codejock's skinframework) will have a hard time with VFP controls?



Any thoughts, experiences or recommendations?

thanks

n

 

[Mike Lewis]

Hi Nigel,

Yes, SET COLOR OF SCHEME still works, although I'm not sure if that will help you as far as the new Windows 10 look is concerned. But it's worth investigating.

For the meaning of the various scheme numbers, see this thread: thread184-864727 - especially the the two posts by user Wgcs (Bill).

Mike



__________________________________
Mike Lewis (Edinburgh, Scotland)

Visual FoxPro articles, tips and downloads

 

[Mike Lewis]

Nigel, you also mentioned Codekock's Skin Control. I don't have any experience of this product, but I would guess it might work with VFP controls. In general, Codejock's ActiveX controls work well in VFP, even though VFP isn't listed under their "supported environments". I suggest you download the eval and give it a try (and report back with the results).

Mike



__________________________________
Mike Lewis (Edinburgh, Scotland)

Visual FoxPro articles, tips and downloads

 

[Nigel Gomm]

Mike,

thanks for that link... i'd been searching for documentation but couldn't find any (and it's about 25 years since i last took an interest in SET COLOR OF SCHEME!).

My hope for set color of scheme is that it will set the colour of scrollbars and the like, as well as menus and window title bars. Then with the controls' .backcolor and .forecolor properties i might be much of the way there.

I tried the codejock download but the trial version gave me a licensing error and i didn't pursue it.... i'll contact them and try and get it going but this is obviously a background project for now.

and, of course, the XP theme mechanism itself may get included in the rejuvenation and i'm worrying unnecessarily.

thanks again

n

 

[Chris Miller]

You inspired me to search for Solutions. I found older articles (2016-2018) talking about a Win32 to Universal Windows App converter, pinting to it:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/desktopappconverter/9nblggh4skzw?activetab=pivot:overviewtab

It's deprecated, but that wouldn't hinder me. I haven't tried, but I guess it only works on Visual Studio Winforms applications.

And the recommendation to use the MSIX packaging tool is pretty cheeky, as that only wraps a silent classic installer into an MSIX package and allows providing such applications in the Microsoft Store, it doesn't change the application itself at all.

Chriss

 

[Nigel Gomm]

how appropriate/useful/interesting would it be if we all posted screenshots here of any UI ideas and tweaks that we've come up with to keep VFP apps looking, er, fresh?

n

 

[TamarGranor]

There have been a number of sessions on this topic at SWFox over the years. It's likely that some of those speakers have posted their papers. You could look for the sessions on the conference website and then search for the papers.

Tamar

 

[Chris Miller]

Well, what I remember mostly was from Bernard Bout and Craig Boyd. I only find a blog post form Craig here:

http://www.sweetpotatosoftware.com/blog/index.php/2006/10/14/vista-s-aero-glass-for-visual-foxpro/

Since Aero was just a shortlived theme type in Windows 7, I would rather not use this anymore. It's always frustrating when you hae to imitate OS looks and even when you managed that it doesn't adapt later. I don't even know what happens in Win10, when you want to make use of the glass effects.

But there are some related projects in VFPX about themed controls and ribbons. Take a look there.

Chriss

 

[Nigel Gomm]

Chris,

i'm familiar with all those you mention..... alas they are all a step backward to an XP/Aero world.

n

 

[vernpace]

Nigel,

Indeed, VFP UI developement is a challenging process that never ends. Years ago, we modified many of our framework base classes (e.g. Page, PageFrame, Container, Form, Grid Header, CommandButton, CommandGroup, OptionButton, OptionGroup, CheckBox, EditBox, ToolBar, Image, etc,) to accomodate GDIPlus effects - screen shots below depict parts of a 10 year old test form. We determined that these designs were not suitable for business applications which is our specialty. Since then, we have adopted a minimalistic, subtle approach to UI design in such a way that clients can't believe it's VFP. Unfortunately, I cannot share screen shots of client applications.

Much of UI design is determined by the "type" of application and it's audience. While Dark mode and GDIPlus effects are good for widget app developement, it may be inappropriate for business applications. However, one thing is for sure: Good UI design is not easy. It requires a lot of work, experimentation and constant tweaking. Also, try not to get caught up in Microsoft "minion" thinking - better to develope your own style - is so much more rewarding.

Ten year old toolbar and test form areas with GDIPlus effects (an example of what NOT to do):

 

[Tom Borgmann]

Hi Nigel,

you might have a look at Doug Hennigs new M$ Office 365 Style ribbon class. It's pretty cool and an xml file is used for coloring so it is rather easy to add or change new and existing styles.

-> [URL unfurl="true"]https://github.com/DougHennig/Ribbon[/url]

HTH

-Tom

https://www.blogger.com/profile/08903165976787522012

 

[Nigel Gomm]

Vernspace,

Yikes.... generally i prefer to leave things to the user's windows settings (give or take) using themes and keep things absolutely standard...... but just worried VFP is getting left (further) behind. Am hoping that VFP not honouring the dark mode setting in win10 is not a harbinger of problems to come.

Tom,
Was never a fan of ribbons but they do seem here to stay - and i may well replace my navigation bar with that.


FWIW my most widely used custom UI component is a replacement for pageframe tabs. Some screens have lots of pages and the tabs were compressed and the captions truncated.

This is it pinned open but it can be collapsed and expanded when the mouse hovers over it. This was created many years ago when some customers still had 1064 x 768 or less.

n

 

[Nigel Gomm]

Tamar,

swfox.net is down so i wasn't able to look there for the UI sessions. Had you anything/one specific in mind?

n

 

[vernpace]

Nigel,

You may want to consider jazzing up your toolbar icons (see below toolbar section). Checkout

https://www.axialis.com.

They have a bunch of very nice sets to choose from and an easy way to implement using the Axialis IconGenerator. We use the Axialis Fluent Pro 2018 set. You can download the Axialis IconGenerator for free and test for free. Axialis offers 70% discounts every other month it seems. Also, we have found that our customers prefer lighter colored borders (not black, but grey) for UI controls such as TextBox, EditBox, ComboBox, etc.

 

[Nigel Gomm]

Vernpace,

Seeing the trend in recent win10 apps i removed the majority of icons from the app a year or two ago (especially treeviews, menus and buttons) and replaced those that remain from the Icons8 collection - deliberately simple and monochromatic.

n

 

[TamarGranor]

I know that a number of sessions over the last few years have addressed UI issues.

Tamar

P.S. Thanks for letting me know the site is down. We'll get it fixed ASAP.