ActiveX for Signature Pad

[Tom Henkel]

We have purchased a TOPAZ signature pad to use in an ID application. TOPAZ provides the ActivX components for use in other programs. I have placed the ActiveX components onto my form to capture the signature, but noting happens. If I check the properties of the ActiveX object, I can't see where it even addresses the pad.

I will admit that this is all new to me, but it should be a little bit more clear. The sample applications all use charts, which don't really give me much help.

I have and activex link to my video camera for photo capture, and it works just fine. The code is simple and easy to understand. I'm just a bit stuck with the pad.

Any help would be appreciated.

Tom

[Marcel Kollenaar]

Re: ActiveX for Signature Pad

Tom,

Can you provide more information about the pad, url, link, pdf?

Is it a kind of graphical writing device like a Wacom tablet and pen?

Is it connected with USB?

Do you have some code examples?

[Tom Henkel]

Re: ActiveX for Signature Pad

Marcel,

I am at home now, and will post a sample in the morning, but in the meantime, here is the URL.

www.topazsystems.com

Thanks for your interest, and any assistance you can offer.

Tom

[Marcel Kollenaar]

Re: ActiveX for Signature Pad

Tom,

What type of pad do you have.

[Tom Henkel]

Re: ActiveX for Signature Pad

Marcel,

it is a TOPAZ LCD4X3 pad. I have been working on it all day, and have, for the most part, gotten it to work. The key was to get some documentation from TOPAZ and figure out how to fit the code within xbasic.

Once I have finished, I will post the end results so others won't need to go through this insanity.

Tom

[Marcel Kollenaar]

Re: ActiveX for Signature Pad

Ok, I saw a lot of examples on the TOPAZ site. Just had to know which one you bought. But you've figured it out yourself. That's always better and creates a lot of fun :D. I'l wait for your showcase.

[Tom Henkel]

Re: ActiveX for Signature Pad

"Figured it out" may be a bit generous on your part, but thanks, anyway. I'll keep tweaking it until it works well consistantly, then I will post a sample.

Tom

[Steve Wood]

Re: ActiveX for Signature Pad

Once I have finished, I will post the end results so others won't need to go through this insanity.

Figured it out yet? I just bought a Topaz pad, hoped this thread would get me started...

[jkukuda]

Re: ActiveX for Signature Pad

Yes, I too am looking forward to his showcase. Everything I have worked with in active x has been challanging but well worth overcoming.

[Marcel Kollenaar]

Re: ActiveX for Signature Pad

If you know your pad type download the demo/source code in vb6. That is the best possible code to translate into Xbasic.

[Steve Wood]

Re: ActiveX for Signature Pad

Yeah, that's where I'm at and I'll figure it out. Topaz has horrible documentation. The vb examples (as all the other examples) are all incomplete. And even the summary page that shows how to create the object has a Methods that do not exist in the API, and is spelled two different ways in the documentation, neither of which work. But I'll call them on Monday. I have the T-S460-HSB-R pad.

[Cheryl Lemire]

Re: ActiveX for Signature Pad

If you haven't already, I would email Tom and ask him how far he got with his.

[Marcel Kollenaar]

Re: ActiveX for Signature Pad

Yeah, that's where I'm at and I'll figure it out. Topaz has horrible documentation. The vb examples (as all the other examples) are all incomplete. And even the summary page that shows how to create the object has a Methods that do not exist in the API, and is spelled two different ways in the documentation, neither of which work. But I'll call them on Monday. I have the T-S460-HSB-R pad.

I that case I would ask myself if I would use Topaz devices.

[Tom Henkel]

Re: ActiveX for Signature Pad

Sorry I haven't gotten back to this thread.

I did get things working, but not as I would have expected active-x to work. This is probably due to my ignorance, but I needed to have this up and running. It is more of an OLE type of process instead of active-x. The examples in the Alpha samples only showed active-x for charts, not capturing photos or documents. Dr. Wayne's examples weren't much different than the code I produced.

In the attached example, I am capturing an employee's photo and signature, then saving them to .jpg files. Once saved, I display the .jpg in the appropriate place on the form. Not the cleanest, but it suites or need.

This is the code under the "take Photo /capture signature" button.

'Date Created: 24-Aug-2007 02:06:12 PM
'Last Updated: 24-Sep-2007 12:28:34 PM
'Created By  : Thomas Henkel
'Updated By  : Thomas Henkel

ans1 = ui_get_radio("Do you need a Photo, Signature, or Both","both","Photo","Signature","Both")
if ans1 = ""
	ui_msg_box(agency+" Personnel System","Action Cancelled at User Request")
	end 
end if 
if ans1 = "signature"
	goto getsig
end if
tw = ole.create("TwainControlX.Twain")

for i = 0 to tw.devicecount
	if tw.devicename(i) = "Kodak DVC325 Digital Video Camera"
		tw.currentdevice = i
	end if
next i
photostart:
a5.Minimize()

tw.acquire()

a5.Maximize()	

filename = "F:\photo"+chr(92)+alltrim(str(employee->badge_no))+".jpg"
oldfile =  "F:\photo"+chr(92)+alltrim(str(employee->badge_no))+"o.jpg"

if file.exists(oldfile)
	file.remove(oldfile)
end if
if file.exists(filename)
	file.rename(filename,oldfile)
end if
tw.savetofile(filename)
'now resynch to the new file
if .not.file.exists(filename)
	'user hit "cancel" in photo prog
	ui_msg_box(Agency +" Photo Capture","Action Cancelled at User Request")
	file.rename(oldfile,filename)
	goto getsig
end if
'go to external photo editor to crop
if file.exists(filename) then 
	sys_open(filename)
else
	ui_msg_box("Error Opening File","File "+filename+" does not exist.",ui_stop_symbol)
end if 

'Pause the script for a instant until the user interface has finished repainting.
ui_msg_box(Agency +" Photo Capture","Continue?")
'display a message box
f = file.open(filename,FILE_RO_SHARED)
ui_bitmap_load("temp",f.readb(10000000))
f.close()
DIM SHARED varC_result1 as C
heading_string = "Is the Picture OK?"
yes_button_label = "&Yes"
no_button_label = "&No"
cancel_button_label = "&Cancel"
varC_result1 = ui_dlg_box("Photo Confirmation",<<%dlg%
	{region}
	{text=30,1:heading_string};
	{endregion};
	{region}
	{image=temp}
	{endregion};
	{line=1,0};
	{region}
	<*15=yes_button_label!Yes> <*15=no_button_label!No> <15=cancel_button_label!Cancel>
	{endregion};
	%dlg%)
if varC_Result1 = "No"
	ui_msg_box(Agency+" Photo Capture","Please Try Again")
	file.remove(filename)
	file.rename(oldfile,filename)
	goto photostart
  elseif varC_Result1 = "Cancel"
	ui_msg_box(Agency+" Photo Capture","Action Cancelled at User Request")
	end
  else
  	topparent:Bitmap1.bitmap.filename = filename
	parentform.Refresh_Layout()
	
end if
'topparent:Bitmap1.bitmap.filename = filename
'parentform.Refresh_Layout()

getsig:
if ans1 = "Photo"
	end 
end if
dim sigplus1 as P
sigplus1 = ole.Create("SIGPLUS.SigPlusCtrl.1")
restart:
	sigplus1.initsigplus()
	sigplus1.tabletInvisible = .T.
	SigPlus1.ClearTablet()
	SigPlus1.EncryptionMode = 0
    SigPlus1.SigCompressionMode = 0
    SigPlus1.TabletState = 0
    SigPlus1.JustifyMode = 5
    SigPlus1.JustifyX = 10
    SigPlus1.JustifyY = 10
    SigPlus1.DisplayPenWidth = 16
	sigplus1.TabletState = 1
	sigplus1.lcdrefresh(0,0,0,240,128)
	sigplus1.lcdcapturemode = 2
	sigplus1.lcdwritefile(0,2,0,0,240,128,0,"C:\socsvcs\sigblock.bmp")
ans2 = ui_msg_box(Agency+" Signature Capture","Please Click -OK- When Finished Signing",65)
if ans2 = 2
	ui_msg_box(Agency +" Signature Capture","Action Cancelled at User Request")
	sigplus1.cleartablet()
	sigplus1.lcdrefresh(0,0,0,240,128)
	end
end if

if sigplus1.NumberOfTabletPoints() >0
	filename1 = "F:\photo"+chr(92)+alltrim(str(employee->badge_no))+"s.jpg"

	if file.exists(filename1)
		file.remove(filename1)
	end if
	sigplus1.ImageFileFormat=4
	sigplus1.ImageXsize = 450
	sigplus1.ImageYsize = 150
	sigplus1.ImagePenWidth = 16
	sigplus1.JustifyMode = 5
	sigplus1.tabletstate = 0
	sigplus1.WriteImageFile(filename1)
	sigplus1.cleartablet()
	sigplus1.lcdrefresh(0,0,0,240,128)
	'display a message box
	f = file.open(filename1,FILE_RO_SHARED)
	ui_bitmap_load("temp",f.readb(10000000))
	f.close()
	DIM SHARED varC_result as C
	heading_string = "Is the Signature OK?"
	yes_button_label = "&Yes"
	no_button_label = "&No"
	cancel_button_label = "&Cancel"
	varC_result = ui_dlg_box("Signature Confirmation",<<%dlg%
		{region}
		{text=30,1:heading_string};
		{endregion};
		{region}
		{image=temp}
		{endregion};
		{line=1,0};
		{region}
		<*15=yes_button_label!Yes> <*15=no_button_label!No> <15=cancel_button_label!Cancel>
		{endregion};
		%dlg%)
	if varC_Result = "No"
		ui_msg_box(Agency+" Signature Capture","Please Try Again")
		sigplus1.cleartablet()
		sigplus1.lcdrefresh(0,0,0,240,128)
		goto restart
	  elseif varC_Result = "Cancel"
		ui_msg_box(Agency+" Signature Capture","Action Cancelled at User Request")
		end
	  else
	  	topparent:Bitmap2.bitmap.filename = filename1
		parentform.Refresh_Layout()
		end 
	end if
	
  else
  	ui_msg_box(Agency+" Signature Capture","No Signature - Please Try Again")
	sigplus1.cleartablet()
	sigplus1.lcdrefresh(0,0,0,240,128)
	goto restart
end if
end

Attached is the screenshot with my sorry picture on it.

Tom

[Marcel Kollenaar]

Re: ActiveX for Signature Pad

Thanks for the code example.