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Can you change Alpha Workspace Appearance?

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    Can you change Alpha Workspace Appearance?

    Is it possible to change the looks of the Alpha Workspace on which our forms etc. are placed ?
    Standard it is colored grey, I would like to have a background picture placed there.
    Does anyone know if this can be done?

    Kind regards,

    Marcel

    #2
    RE: Can you change Alpha Workspace Appearance?

    Marcel

    You can always use a bitmap as a form background. In form properties, select backdrop. You can change the color or apply a bitmap.

    Jerry

    Comment


      #3
      RE: Can you change Alpha Workspace Appearance?

      Hi Jerry,

      Yes, I know how to change the form background. But what I would like to do is change the looks of the workspace where the form is placed upon. (Hard to describe..). You know the space that is normally grey.
      Would that also be possible?

      Greetings,

      Marcel

      Comment


        #4
        RE: Can you change Alpha Workspace Appearance?

        Marcel,

        I'm not fully clear on the "workspace" you are referring to but have you investigated the "Styles" on your settings? Many aspects of the display which are grey under the "Alpha Five Default" style will be different upon switching to a different style.

        Steve

        Comment


          #5
          RE: Can you change Alpha Workspace Appearance?

          Hi Steve,

          Yes, I know. I am having trouble defining what I mean here. Let me put it this way: I mean the space that shows up when Alpha is loaded, but not yet any database.
          At that moment you are directly grinning at it.
          As it also runs in the runtime application, it would be nice if that had the same background as my forms, just a bit more transparant though.
          Could I attach an image to it in any way ?

          Greetings,

          MArcel

          Comment


            #6
            RE: Can you change Alpha Workspace Appearance?

            I think he is refering to the Main Alphafive window. Where all the forms opens on top of it. I doubt we can change or customize that.

            Comment


              #7
              RE: Can you change Alpha Workspace Appearance?

              Hi Claudio,

              Yes that's what I meant. Why didn't I say that ?
              Maybe can it be changed on start-up ?

              Greetings,

              Marcel

              Comment


                #8
                RE: Can you change Alpha Workspace Appearance?

                Marcel,

                There is no way to do what you ask, however, you might want to look at this thread. It should give you some good work around ideas.

                http://msgboard.alphasoftware.com/alphaphorum/read.php3?sortby=lastreply&direction=desc&num=11&id=55083&thread=54893#MSG54893

                Scott

                Comment


                  #9
                  RE: Can you change Alpha Workspace Appearance?

                  Marcel,

                  As far as I know, it can't be changed. I'm glad you mentioned that, though. It would be nice to customize one's working environment since we spend so much time there. So, here I go...

                  If* it is easy to "fix", could ver. 6 include a background color change?

                  Peter

                  *Damn the feature creepers!
                  (guys like me :)
                  Peter
                  AlphaBase Solutions, LLC

                  [email protected]
                  https://www.alphabasesolutions.com


                  Comment


                    #10
                    RE: Can you change Alpha Workspace Appearance?

                    Marcel

                    While that background can't be changed, there are ways around it in a completed application. One, you can open all forms maximized, which is what many developers do. Two, you can simulate maximized on any or all forms using window_position("fill", "fill"). This is what I do with an opening menu form. It fills the A5 window space and is always open. All other forms open on top of this form. If they are not set to fill the window, the menu is shomn in the background. You could just open a form on startup that is only a background and set it to fill the window.

                    Jerry

                    Comment


                      #11
                      RE: Can you change Alpha Workspace Appearance?

                      It is not possible to do this in V5.
                      In V6 it will be possible.
                      Here is an extract from the V6 documentation describing how to do it.







                      New Page 1


                      col.whs1 {width: 100%;}
                      tr.whs2 {x-cell-content-align: top;}
                      td.whs3 {width: 100%; padding-right: 10px; padding-left: 10px;}
                      ol.whs4 {list-style: decimal;}
                      -->





                      Creating Wallpaper for Your Application
                      What is "Wallpaper"
                      When you run Alpha Five and you have not maximized the child windows, you see
                      a gray background behind each open window. This gray background is the
                      application "wallpaper". Alpha Five lets you design your own wallpaper by
                      specially configuring a form to be shown as the wallpaper.
                      Creating Wallpaper
                      Alpha Five Version 6 feature allows you to enhance the presentation of your
                      application. You can now create "wallpaper� for your Alpha Five application.
                      The

                      "WINDOW".ZORDER() method, in combination with other Alpha Five features,
                      allows you to use a form (as the background for your application) that:


                      contains an image (or images)

                      contains links to URLs

                      contains an ActiveX control, such as an Internet browser

                      or any combination of the above

                      The technique is simple.


                      After designing your "wallpaper" form, make the form fill
                      the MDI client area without maximizing it.
                      Place the following statement in the form's OnActivate
                      event.








                      topparent.window_position("fill","fill")




                      To keep the form at the bottom of the stack when you open
                      other windows and click on the wallpaper form, add the following statement
                      to the form's OnDeactivate event.








                      topparent.zorder("bottom")




                      Modify the form's properties by right clicking on the
                      form and selecting Properties ...

                      Select the Form tab and check
                      Hide status bar.

                      Select the Window tab and
                      uncheck all of the Window style options.

                      Set the Frame style to
                      "Dialog". Save your results.

                      Supported By
                      Alpha Five Version 6



                      Comment


                        #12
                        RE: Can you change Alpha Workspace Appearance?

                        So now we actually got to see something of V6....
                        Looks good.
                        Makes me think though, that the same trick could be done in V5.
                        Why not make a form with the desired background, have it stretched out to the max of the background and leave it open just there, open the other forms just above it and....voila!
                        Now see if it will work in the real world...

                        Regards,

                        Marcel

                        Comment


                          #13
                          RE: Can you change Alpha Workspace Appearance?

                          As I already thought: it can be done.

                          Create a form, go to properies.
                          Go to the tab 'Window'.

                          Remove the marks for sizeable, system menu, has caption, minimize button and maximize button. Frame style to 'tool'.
                          On the tab 'backdrop' mark use bitmap in tile mode. Chose the right image file.

                          Set an event on OnActivate. Using action scripting chose 'position window', then mark the box 'Size the window so that it fills the Alpha Five client area' and you are ready to go !

                          Regards,

                          Marcel

                          Comment


                            #14
                            RE: Can you change Alpha Workspace Appearance?

                            Marcel

                            If you look at the code created, you are doing exactly the same as what I suggested, which is creating a non-maximized form that fills the window.

                            Jerry

                            Comment


                              #15
                              RE: Can you change Alpha Workspace Appearance?

                              Hi Jerry,

                              I will check that. Point is , that I am not too strong in xbasic code yet, I live on action scripting.

                              But reading enough stuff from guys like you will get me there in the end...

                              Good that it works. In this way you can customize your application even more.

                              Kind regards,

                              Marcel

                              Comment

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