Simple Animation ?

[Keith Hubert]

Hi All,

I recently saw an application (not Alpha) where the Date and Time field changed every 10 seconds. This I know can be done in alpha, but data did not simply change, the new value Slid over the old value.

That is why I regard it as being animated, it was not just a simple change that could happen in the blink of an eye, that you might not even notice the change. It was because the field moved it caught my eye.

Is there a simple way to animate controls on a form?

[Steve Wood]

Re: Simple Animation ?

It was probably done in Flash. Here are two links to Flash clocks. The second one sounds more like what you described where it changes on a user-defined interval.

http://www.istockphoto.com/file_sear...ghtboxID=21362

http://www.allworldsoft.com/software...zone-clock.htm

[Keith Hubert]

Re: Simple Animation ?

Hi Steve,

I dont think that is what I was looking for.

What I had in mind was two calculated fields Time=time() and Date=date().

They would be in the same position on the form but instead of just switching between the two conditionally, each one would slide over the other periodically.

That does raise the question, how do you use Flash on a desktop form?

[Lance Gurd]

Re: Simple Animation ?

Have a look at this Keith, may help
http://msgboard.alphasoftware.com/alphaforum/showthread.php?t=22925&highlight=elevator

[gmeredith17]

Re: Simple Animation ?

Keith,

Just a thought. No idea if it would work but could you use the ontimer event of the form set at 10 seconds or whatever period you think is suitable.

Have the two fields as you have suggested but have one hidden to the right.

When the ontimer event occurs show the hidden field with the updated time. Using its object properties you could move it to the left by changing the x cordinates in a for next loop with a suitable step size to give a smooth animation effect.

Once it is over the first field you can make the first field hidden and change its position to the right. You would need a flag variable to know which field needed to be moved each time.

I'm sure there is a lot more to it than that but it could be a starting point.

Geoff

[Keith Hubert]

Re: Simple Animation ?

Hi Lance,

This looks interesting, I shall have to play around with the code a bit, when I press Fifth Floor, the Elevator goes Down. But at least it is moving!!

[Keith Hubert]

Re: Simple Animation ?

Hi Geof,

Thanks for your suggestion, that looks like an interesting project to keep the grey cells ticking over.

I shall start just by making a field move, without strings.

[gmeredith17]

Re: Simple Animation ?

Keith,

I had a little play with this but my xbasic skills are somewhat crude. I have attached a db that alters the width of the fields in an ontimer event. I don't think it is quite what your looking for but does give an example of the ontimer event and object properties being changed in a for next loop. The blank field has its fill colour set to blue but you could change it back to white if preferred.

Geoff

[Keith Hubert]

Re: Simple Animation ?

Hi Geoff,

That is very neat. It is really amazing what can be done in Alpha with a little Xbasic.

Thank you very much.