ProGUI V1.38 UI Library (Small Bug Fix)

[ts-soft]

thx for the fixed res-file. works fine and i can test the new stuff

[PrincieD]

no worries

Chris.

[Zach]

I'm having so much fun with the ExplorerBar Gadget, it is like a whole new way to make Menus

Using a sidebar of ExplorerBar Menus, coupled with events to switch the Page # of the PanelEx sitting beside the sidebar, makes it so easy to write fast, simple, interfaces

[PrincieD]

I'm having so much fun with the ExplorerBar Gadget, it is like a whole new way to make Menus

Using a sidebar of ExplorerBar Menus, coupled with events to switch the Page # of the PanelEx sitting beside the sidebar, makes it so easy to write fast, simple, interfaces

Good good there's even more fun to be had once you start editing the ExplorerBar skin you can really make it look like anything you want, limited only by your imagination!

Edit

Crap! I've forgot to document SetExplorerBarSkin(ID.i, Skin.i, ComponentName.s) in the manual and there's no GetExplorerBarSkin() command. I'll fix this in the V1.31 maintenance release coming soon.

Chris.

[Kuron]

I'm having so much fun with the ExplorerBar Gadget, it is like a whole new way to make Menus

Using a sidebar of ExplorerBar Menus, coupled with events to switch the Page # of the PanelEx sitting beside the sidebar, makes it so easy to write fast, simple, interfaces

This feature alone has given me many ideas.

[PrincieD]

I'm having so much fun with the ExplorerBar Gadget, it is like a whole new way to make Menus

Using a sidebar of ExplorerBar Menus, coupled with events to switch the Page # of the PanelEx sitting beside the sidebar, makes it so easy to write fast, simple, interfaces

This feature alone has given me many ideas.

It's great that ProGUI is getting peoples creative juices flowing!

[Zach]

I will say a couple things I noticed that I think need work.

The repainting time needs to be improved, I think. For example if you make an Explorerbar with several groups you can for a splitsecond see them being created/drawn down the length of the bar when your program starts up. Much more noticeable on my Moms netbook, but I still saw it on my desktop machine (3.5Ghz)

Likewise, in testing my menu events to switch PanelEx pages, I used different background colors/themes for them via the built in Integer list. switching pages shows noticeable redraw as the page is being changed.

Also if I don't create a dummy PanelExPage (no gadgets on it etc), but I have other pages, one of which has not been selected yet (since you have to click on the menu), there is a solid black rectangle at 0,0 coordinates (where the page should be displayed). Creating a dummy "blank" PanelExPage solves this, even though I never explicitly call ShowPanelExPage() on that dummy page.

I ran into this problem when attempting to compartmentalized my GUI elements like PanelExPages, into their own separate Procedures I could call, but even when I ditched that code structure the problem remained, and I have code that can demonstrate it, which I will post on the ProGUI forums when I have a free moment.

Likewise I had a situation where my actual function name was being printed onto the ExplorerBar until a page was displayed by a triggered Menu Event..

But my two major gripes are superficial at best, I think, and I will post more in detail over @ PGUI Forums. One involves color "spots" (at top left corner) leftover from switching between panels of different color/theme.

That being said... Anyone looking for a Professional Quality GUI system I strongly urge you to consider ProGUI! I purchased it weeks ago, knowing I wasn't going to be using it much at first because a lot of the features I personally want, are not ready and are for future updates. But Chris is an excellent developer and very professional, and if you support his work by purchasing a license, you WILL receive personal 1-on-1 support (within reason) where possible! Each update so far has brought improvements in functionality and/or bugfixes and I have great faith that Chris will ultimately end up selling the BEST GUI Subsytem for 2D (and possibly 3D) Applications/Games once all the major roadmapped features are developed. I personally can't wait to see what the Direct2D rendering changes will bring (speed, obviously), and I will be set for life once Full Window & Gadget Skinning is implemented.

The most important thing is that Chris listens to feedback and in my experience has no problems making minor/major changes if they are warranted.

[Kuron]

I'm having so much fun with the ExplorerBar Gadget, it is like a whole new way to make Menus

Using a sidebar of ExplorerBar Menus, coupled with events to switch the Page # of the PanelEx sitting beside the sidebar, makes it so easy to write fast, simple, interfaces

This feature alone has given me many ideas.

It's great that ProGUI is getting peoples creative juices flowing!

I may not be a customer, but I do have much respect for the product!

[Poshu]

That being said... Anyone looking for a Professional Quality GUI system I strongly urge you to consider ProGUI! I purchased it weeks ago, knowing I wasn't going to be using it much at first because a lot of the features I personally want, are not ready and are for future updates. But Chris is an excellent developer and very professional, and if you support his work by purchasing a license, you WILL receive personal 1-on-1 support (within reason) where possible! Each update so far has brought improvements in functionality and/or bugfixes and I have great faith that Chris will ultimately end up selling the BEST GUI Subsytem for 2D (and possibly 3D) Applications/Games once all the major roadmapped features are developed. I personally can't wait to see what the Direct2D rendering changes will bring (speed, obviously), and I will be set for life once Full Window & Gadget Skinning is implemented.

The most important thing is that Chris listens to feedback and in my experience has no problems making minor/major changes if they are warranted.

I'd like to +1 this part. I bought progui for it's good looking menu about 1 year ago and I can't survive without it now. Chris professionally handled any of my whiny complaints and it's amazing to see how much ProGUI has evolved. Plus it's source code is a very nice source of informations :3 Definitively a must have for PB application development.

[PrincieD]

The repainting time needs to be improved, I think. For example if you make an Explorerbar with several groups you can for a splitsecond see them being created/drawn down the length of the bar when your program starts up. Much more noticeable on my Moms netbook, but I still saw it on my desktop machine (3.5Ghz)

ahh yes I agree, the PanelEx redraw is considerably faster in the current build now compared to V1.30, I accidentally left an image buffer to GDI+ buffer command in there that was used in the alpha transparency subroutine , so it would be having to copy the whole buffer every frame completely unnecessarily!

As a tip though it's always best to open your app's windows as hidden then create all your gadgets and then show the window once everything is created inside, this way the user never sees anything being created and is a lot quicker to display

Also if I don't create a dummy PanelExPage (no gadgets on it etc), but I have other pages, one of which has not been selected yet (since you have to click on the menu), there is a solid black rectangle at 0,0 coordinates (where the page should be displayed). Creating a dummy "blank" PanelExPage solves this, even though I never explicitly call ShowPanelExPage() on that dummy page.

I think I might need to correct the manual and fix the code there , a PanelEx without a page is just an empty container and always needs at least one page to be created. I'm not quite sure actually what would be rendered without a page lol so I'll need to make it render the parent window's background if no page has been created yet.

But my two major gripes are superficial at best, I think, and I will post more in detail over @ PGUI Forums. One involves color "spots" (at top left corner) leftover from switching between panels of different color/theme.

cool cool I'll check out the bug report in more detail soon.

That being said... Anyone looking for a Professional Quality GUI system I strongly urge you to consider ProGUI! I purchased it weeks ago, knowing I wasn't going to be using it much at first because a lot of the features I personally want, are not ready and are for future updates. But Chris is an excellent developer and very professional, and if you support his work by purchasing a license, you WILL receive personal 1-on-1 support (within reason) where possible! Each update so far has brought improvements in functionality and/or bugfixes and I have great faith that Chris will ultimately end up selling the BEST GUI Subsytem for 2D (and possibly 3D) Applications/Games once all the major roadmapped features are developed. I personally can't wait to see what the Direct2D rendering changes will bring (speed, obviously), and I will be set for life once Full Window & Gadget Skinning is implemented.

The most important thing is that Chris listens to feedback and in my experience has no problems making minor/major changes if they are warranted.

wOo Thank you very much for the kind praise Zach mate!!

I may not be a customer, but I do have much respect for the product!

Thanks Kuron I appreciate that

I'd like to +1 this part. I bought progui for it's good looking menu about 1 year ago and I can't survive without it now. Chris professionally handled any of my whiny complaints and it's amazing to see how much ProGUI has evolved. Plus it's source code is a very nice source of informations :3 Definitively a must have for PB application development.

Thanks mate! I'm just glad it's helping and is useful

Chris.

[PrincieD]

Hi guys!

After some discussion on the ProGUI forums http://www.progui.co.uk/phpBB/viewtopic ... 1&start=10 I've decided to push Direct2D/DirectX rendering to the top of Major Updates list, so this will be coming next

Chris.

[Kuron]

Hi guys!

After some discussion on the ProGUI forums http://www.progui.co.uk/phpBB/viewtopic ... 1&start=10 I've decided to push Direct2D/DirectX rendering to the top of Major Updates list, so this will be coming next

Chris.

Very good news.

I have a couple of comments/concerns, but I will make them privately.

[PrincieD]

Very good news.

I have a couple of comments/concerns, but I will make them privately.

no worries

Chris.

[Zach]

I have started to notice something, and I'm hoping others can comment on this as well, if they have noticed it.

Chris accidentally left an extra Draw command (or some such) in the code, and this results in some slowdown on various things, basically making drawing appear "slower"..

For instance upon startup, you might see your GUI elements "pop up" after a split second, like there is a slow drawing delay, etc.. This is more noticeable on slower machines like netbooks and using the ExplorerBar Gadget..

However I am working on my World Editor and it will have a CRAP TON of TextControlEx (for labels) and StringGadgets (for input), using an ExplorerBar with groups for a Navigation system, and a PanelEx to display different "pages" depending on the entry selected from the ExplorerBar "menu" system.

I've already notice some slowdown on simply exiting the program, where you can see things being destroyed, etc for a split second.. But when I added a PB ComboBox Gadget, now it really seems sluggish upon exit, and I can clearly see the "cleanup" of the GUI components happening across a full 1.0 - 1.5 seconds before the window closes..


Has anyone else seen slowdown -this- severe? Chris can you offer an reassurance about this? It just seems like an awful lot of slowdown for one extra Draw command to be causing?? Even compiled with Debugger Off, it is the same.. Am I freaking out over nothing?

[Poshu]

I've got interface leftover when quitting some fat application using progui, but it load lightning fast here and I've got no slowdown.