Center "startup" form?

[jjfcpa]

I'm guessing I've got my code in the wrong place, but I am using the code from the UI_INFO help topic to center the form that loads when starting the application. It's just a simple splash screen.

I created a function called "center_form" that I am calling from the OnActivate event, but I noticed that I can see the form open in the default location, then relocate to the center of the screen.

Should I be calling this function somewhere else besides the OnActivate event?

What if I wanted to use the form.view(), where would I place this function call at? I tried putting it in the OnActivate and got a whole bunch of startup forms opened.

[Keith Hubert]

Re: Center "startup" form?

Hi John,

You can also use the OnInit event. I like to use Action Script and this is the code Alpha creates to centre a form.

'Position window: current window.
dim pObj as p 
'get a pointer to the current window
pObj = topparent.this	

pObj.window_position("Center","Center")

Hope this helps.

[MikeC]

Re: Center "startup" form?

John,
Keith mentions the most prevalent method used, but if wanted, your way could work by opening the form as hidden, position it, then show it. No screen flicker or form movement that way either.

[jjfcpa]

Re: Center "startup" form?

Hi John,

You can also use the OnInit event. I like to use Action Script and this is the code Alpha creates to centre a form.

'Position window: current window.
dim pObj as p 
'get a pointer to the current window
pObj = topparent.this	

pObj.window_position("Center","Center")

Hope this helps.

Thanks Keith. You've got all the right answers today.

[Citadel]

Re: Center "startup" form?

Hi

Just to put a fly in the ointment...

By some strange coincidence, I've been trying to center a startup form today. It all works as described when I use Action Scripting to center the window in the OnInit event, except I'm left with a partly white background on the form where it hasn't refreshed.

Using the refresh window command doesn't help but when I open a second form from the startup form, the startup form immediately displays correctly (repaints).

This occurs using A5v8 A5v9 under XP or Vista.

Any thoughts? Anyone had the same problem?

Alan

[MikeC]

Re: Center "startup" form?

Alan,
What else have you tried? Does activating the form do anything? using Your_Form_Name.repaint(), .refresh_layout(), other ways.....too many variations to put here.

If you can make it repaint via a manual method, then usually you can emulate this with Alpha.

[Citadel]

Re: Center "startup" form?

Hi Mike

Yes, I've tried all three of these in the OnInit and (In desperation) the OnActivate event of the form.

Thanks
Alan

[Raymond Lyons]

Re: Center "startup" form?

Hi Mike

Yes, I've tried all three of these in the OnInit and (In desperation) the OnActivate event of the form.

Thanks
Alan

After the form opens, does hitting the F5 key do anything?

[jjfcpa]

Re: Center "startup" form?

Hi John,

You can also use the OnInit event. I like to use Action Script and this is the code Alpha creates to centre a form.

'Position window: current window.
dim pObj as p 
'get a pointer to the current window
pObj = topparent.this	

pObj.window_position("Center","Center")

Hope this helps.

I tried using this code in the OnInit for my startup form and although it centered it, it also put a rather large white area around the form inside the display window. Very weird. This did not happen using the other code in the OnActivate.

[Citadel]

Re: Center "startup" form?

a rather large white area around the form inside the display window.

Yes, that's exactly what I've been describing.

After the form opens, does hitting the F5 key do anything?

No, Raymond, F5 doesn't appear to do anything, but I have no menus or toolbars in my application (don't know if that makes a difference)

Thanks
Alan

[DVSOL005]

Re: Center "startup" form?

John,

I tried the OnInit code and noticed the white area.
Found a solutions for that:
- Go to Form properties and select backdrop tab
- Tick the Use bitmap box
- Now change display mode to something else like stretch or fit.
- Untick the Use bitmap box.
You will very likely notice that the white area has disappeared.

Anothe thing I noticed that the centering is based on a maximized A5 window. Would be nice that the centering could partly float with the resizing of the A5 window so that the centered form will remain visible.

Regards,

Jo Hulsen

[jjfcpa]

Re: Center "startup" form?

John,

I tried the OnInit code and noticed the white area.
Found a solutions for that:
- Go to Form properties and select backdrop tab
- Tick the Use bitmap box
- Now change display mode to something else like stretch or fit.
- Untick the Use bitmap box.
You will very likely notice that the white area has disappeared.

Anothe thing I noticed that the centering is based on a maximized A5 window. Would be nice that the centering could partly float with the resizing of the A5 window so that the centered form will remain visible.

Regards,

Jo Hulsen

Thanks Jo. Not sure how you figured that out, but it's good to know there is a fix for it.

Right now, I've settled on the form.view() with the "center" option and it's working pretty good.

[Citadel]

Re: Center "startup" form?

Hi All

- Go to Form properties and select backdrop tab
- Tick the Use bitmap box
- Now change display mode to something else like stretch or fit.
- Untick the Use bitmap box.
You will very likely notice that the white area has disappeared.

Jo, thank you for the 'workaround. Works in both A5v8 and A5v9, although to make it work I did have to close the 'Form Properties' dialog after selecting 'stretch' then reopen the dialog and uncheck 'use bitmap.'

Right now, I've settled on the form.view() with the "center" option and it's working pretty good.

John, where and how are you using the form.view() function?

Thank you
Alan

[compuaid]

Re: Center "startup" form?

Here's what I've done based on the info provided earlier in this forum. I created a simple splash screen with menus set to my custom menu, dialog style frames, no popup menus, etc. and then added an Xbasic Autoexec script with the commands:

form.view("splash","modal","splash","center","center")
'Hide the Control Panel.
:controlpanel.hide()

I added the code to hide to control panel so I didn't have to set a startup form in the Database Properties in order to accomplish this.

Make sure that if you do this that on your custom menu that you've assigned to the Splash screen that you include an option to Unhide the controlpanel. I created a Utility menu with an option "Control Panel" that contained the following code:

'Unhide the control panel
controlpanel.show()
controlpanel.Activate()
'Close the form/browse called: Splash
'Close the window
:Splash.close(.f.)

This way I close the Splash screen and open the Control Panel. I based the Splash Screen on a simple table containing fields that I use for storing last login, current user, etc.

[Citadel]

Re: Center "startup" form?

Thank you Brad.

That all makes perfect sense. Excellent.