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Ivar - 29 Jun 2004 08:47 GMT

Hi all.

I need a little bit of help, I can't seem to find what I'm looking for.
The background of the form is a tiled picture filling the whole form. I
would like to be able to put a picturebox on the form where one colour of
the picture in the box is transparent, so that the tiles on the form show
through it.
I think I'm looking for a sub that has two args, (picBox As PictureBox,
Colour as Long).
I've found a few examples of making forms transparent, or making pictures
appear transparent as long as the container form is one colour. But making a
part of a PictureBox Transparent on a multicoloured form is escaping me.

Thanks for any Ideas.

Ivar

Reply to this Message

J French - 29 Jun 2004 09:49 GMT

>Hi all.
>
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
>appear transparent as long as the container form is one colour. But making a
>part of a PictureBox Transparent on a multicoloured form is escaping me.

I think you would be better off using a UserControl rather than a
Picturebox

Try this:
1) Open a new Project
2) Project/Add UserControl - New UserControl
3) Put a Commandbutton on the UserControl
4) Paste in this :-
Option Explicit

Private Sub Command1_Click()

AutoRedraw = True
BackColor = vbWhite
BackStyle = 0 ' Transparent
' ---
ScaleMode = vbPixels
FillColor = vbBlue
FillStyle = vbFSSolid
' ---

CurrentX = 0
CurrentY = 0
Circle (20, 20), 20, vbBlue
' ---
MaskPicture = UserControl.Image
MaskColor = vbWhite
' ---
CurrentX = 20
CurrentY = 20
Print "Hullo"

End Sub

5) Close UserControl ( Ctl F4 )
6) Place UserControl on Form
7) Run and click Commandbutton

Basically the UserControl is very similar to a Picturebox
- but it also has a MaskPicture and MaskColor

HTH

Reply to this Message

Ivar - 29 Jun 2004 11:41 GMT

Hi J.

Yep, I agree I would be better off using a UserControl, I tried your example
and all works well. Trouble is - this is a modification of someone else's
app, and if you knew how much work would be involved in converting all those
PictureBoxes (plural) to user controls I'm sure you would have sympathy for
me
Is there an easier way to do it with the existing controls
These PictureBoxes are in 6 or 7 control arrays and have a small Rectangular
bmp picture of an oval image (75 of them). each corner of the bmp is Grey, I
would like the grey to be transparent and still be able to use the HDC
property of the PictureBox. Although this app is not a game, it works like a
card game, with the PictureBoxes being dragged around the screen.

Thanks a lot

Ivar

> Try this:
> 1) Open a new Project
[quoted text clipped - 35 lines]
>
> HTH

Reply to this Message

Mike Williams - 29 Jun 2004 12:01 GMT

> These PictureBoxes are in 6 or 7 control arrays and have a small
> Rectangular bmp picture of an oval image (75 of them). each corner
> of the bmp is Grey, I would like the grey to be transparent and still
> be able to use the HDC property of the PictureBox. Although this
> app is not a game, it works like a card game, with the PictureBoxes
> being dragged around the screen.

Why exactly do you need to use the hDC property of the Picture Box? What
else are you doing? Please explain *exactly* what it is your app needs to do
(in as much detail as possible) and we'll come up with a solution for you.

Mike

Reply to this Message

Ivar - 29 Jun 2004 12:29 GMT

OK, here we go!
This app has been made very graphical, and apart from the little grey
triangles in the pictureboxes all looks very good. The events in the
pictureboxes used is MouseDown, MouseMove and MouseUp.
The App is part of the front end of a database, and records are updated etc
depending on where a picturebox is dragged from and dropped to, that bit all
works well.
But: The pictures in the PictureBoxes Change alot, and they fade from one
picture to the other using the AlphaBlend API
They also resize themselves according to the screen resolution, and resize
the picture (stored in resource file) using StretchBlt.
They also use the line method, vbDstInvert in the PaintPicture Method and
the print method so that text appears over the top of the picture.

It's one of those little annoying things, this whole app works and looks
very good dispite my extensive mods and additions, just those little grey
triangles that are clearly visible just slightly spoils what in every other
way is a good peice of work.

I was hoping for that magic little sub that could make those little grey
triangles dissapear.

Thanks for your help

Ivar

> Why exactly do you need to use the hDC property of the Picture Box? What
> else are you doing? Please explain *exactly* what it is your app needs to do
> (in as much detail as possible) and we'll come up with a solution for you.
>
> Mike

Reply to this Message

J French - 29 Jun 2004 13:06 GMT

>Hi J.
>
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
>property of the PictureBox. Although this app is not a game, it works like a
>card game, with the PictureBoxes being dragged around the screen.

A UserControl does have a hDC - only you have to expose it.

I suggest that you back up thoroughly
- move the App to another HD or directory - preferably machine
- and then slaughter it

Best to do it in the morning after a couple of over strength cups of
coffee.

From reading further down the thread, it is obvious that the App was
mis-designed in the first place
- by somebody who did not know about UserControls
- or it was originally written in VB4 or lower

If you back up carefully then you can do no damage

Also, you can make a UserControl look and behave just like a
Picturebox - so after a few tests, the initial functional conversion
will only require a text editor on the raw .FRM files.

Do a few gentle tests to make sure you understand what is going on
(eg: create a fake Picturebox)

Then go for 'slash and burn'
- it is the only way to break out of a 'corner'

Reply to this Message

Ivar - 29 Jun 2004 13:37 GMT

Hi J & Mike

The old app was writtn in VB6 3 or 4 years ago, and was in severe need of
an update. I never met the person who wrote it, but he knew what he was
doing, but just had no interest in little grey triangles. (each to their
own).

So here's my plan.

Go Home, sit at home PC with Coffee, fags and the door shut
Design a user control that will internally duplicate the functions that
happens to the pictureboxes in the program.
Backup original program, put new usercontrol in place of pictureboxes and
name it with the old picturebox names then run app.
End result will be either:
People will stop asking me about those little grey triangles, app will look
better, I will be a hero and the sun will shine.
OR
Lump in throat, smoke even more fags, get depressed, post more to the
thread, reminisce about old career not being that bad after all.

Thanks everyone

Ivar

> A UserControl does have a hDC - only you have to expose it.
>
[quoted text clipped - 21 lines]
> Then go for 'slash and burn'
> - it is the only way to break out of a 'corner'

Reply to this Message

J French - 29 Jun 2004 14:25 GMT

<snip>

>So here's my plan.
>
>Go Home, sit at home PC with Coffee, fags and the door shut
>Design a user control that will internally duplicate the functions that
>happens to the pictureboxes in the program.

<snip>

Mostly I advocate caution when coding

- in this case (subject to rigorous backing up)
... just hack it (obviously after a prototype exercize)

Best of luck - it is unpleasant, but occasionally necessary

Feedback would be interesting
- others years from now might stumble on this thread

Reply to this Message

Randy Day - 29 Jun 2004 22:36 GMT

> Hi all.
>
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
> appear transparent as long as the container form is one colour. But making a
> part of a PictureBox Transparent on a multicoloured form is escaping me.

Look into the BitBlt API call and Masking:
http://www.vbaccelerator.com/home/VB/Tips/Mask_Images/article.asp

> Thanks for any Ideas.
>
> Ivar

Reply to this Message

Ivar - 30 Jun 2004 14:34 GMT

Cheers Randy, but not what I was looking for. The link shows how to make
some of a picture "Appear" to be invisible, but not actually be invisible.
not good if anything is behind the picbox or the form has images.
I did the job, using a user control to act very similar to a PictureBox, and
all works and looks good. Trouble is - I didn't get paid for that bit of the
prog update, I had to do it at home for love. And there was erindoors
telling me there are more important things in life than little grey
triangles. What does she know.

Thanks all

Ivar

> Look into the BitBlt API call and Masking:
> http://www.vbaccelerator.com/home/VB/Tips/Mask_Images/article.asp

Reply to this Message

Michael B. Johnson - 30 Jun 2004 16:28 GMT

- snip -

>all works and looks good. Trouble is - I didn't get paid for that bit of the
>prog update, I had to do it at home for love. And there was erindoors
>telling me there are more important things in life than little grey
>triangles. What does she know.

A job well done - you deserve your feeling of satisfaction! Relish it,
your work might just be re-used in the future - things often have a
way of growing beyond their original scope. And now you've added yet
another tool to your arsenal of techniques. :-)

Who is erindoors anyway, and will she ever come understand the value
of fine work?

>Thanks all
>
>Ivar
>
>> Look into the BitBlt API call and Masking:
>> http://www.vbaccelerator.com/home/VB/Tips/Mask_Images/article.asp

_______________________
Michael B. Johnson

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VB Forum / General 2 / June 2004

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