On Oct 12, 2006, at 10:01 AM, Mark Nutter wrote:
What do you folks think? Good idea? Prefer one to the other? Never use custom controls? Once I get some feedback I'll see about posting this as an official feature request.
There is another method of doing this. You can create an engine that creates these control elements on the fly by reading descriptions that stored in a file or database. You then create an editor that allows you to move these components around the same control panel space and it updates the descriptions that will be used by the main program.
It's a little more work up front but, in the long run, it's much more flexible than doing it in RB because you can change the layout without recompiling. If you allow the editor to create control elements from scratch rather than pickling from pre-designed control elements, you have a very flexible system. A lot depends on how often you do things like this and also how complicated the simulation is.
On that note, if the device you are simulating has a lot of controls, especially if they are graphic, you may want to consider creating them with RB3dSpace, because then you will leverage the graphics acceleration that is built into all computers. It's done by using bit maps as 3d objects that are stacked in the Z axis: panel background, gauge background, needles, gauge cover, etc.
I wrote a series of installments in my Topographic Apprentice column in REALbasic Developer Magazine (which you must subscribe to - it's a super source of info) on this very subject last year.
HTH, Joe -- Joseph Nastasi Pyramid Design - a software development firm http://www.pyramiddesign.us Voice 609 601-0814 Fax 609 601-0815 Products: A-OK! The Wings of Mercury http://www.aokwom.com A-OK! Spacecraft Simulation System - http://www.aoksss.com FTP Suite for REALbasic - http://www.ftpsuite.com _______________________________________________ Unsubscribe or switch delivery mode: <http://www.realsoftware.com/support/listmanager/> Search the archives of this list here: <http://support.realsoftware.com/listarchives/lists.html>
