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Using Skins Without MFC

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17 Jul 2001GPL32 min read 233.5K   12K   129   27
A Simple Skinning Library

Sample Image - SkinStyle.jpg

Introduction

SkinStyle is a picture based skin system written in Visual C++/Win32 and loosely based on Cuneyt Elibol's MFC/SkinSys. The major difference is SkinStyle is written without any MFC. Much of the functionality found in SkinSys is not found in this version of SkinStyle.

Contents

  • SkinStyle Source
  • A Simple Example

Download Directories

Once you download and extract the files, you'll see several new folders. Here is what each are used for.

  • Root : The SkinStyle Code
  • SkinTest : An Example Project And Skin

Example

Create a class that inherits from SkinDialog

class KSkinTest : public SkinDialog
{
public:
	// here we are overriding the OnKeyDown member of SkinDialog
	// so the app will exit on ESC
	virtual void OnKeyDown(WPARAM wParam, LPARAM lParam)
	{
		if ( wParam == VK_ESCAPE )
			::PostMessage(m_hWnd, WM_CLOSE, 0, 0);
	}
	// we also override the OnButtonPressed member of SkinDialog
	// to catch the user pushing one of the buttons
	virtual BOOL OnButtonPressed(char *ButtonName);

};

Now lets look at how to handle buttons being pressed...

//
// This member function is called with the name of the button being pressed
//
BOOL KSkinTest::OnButtonPressed(char *ButtonName)
{
	if(strcmp(ButtonName, "BUTTON_EXIT") == 0)
		::PostMessage(m_hWnd, WM_CLOSE, 0, 0);

	else if(strcmp(ButtonName, "BUTTON_MINIMIZE") == 0)
		::ShowWindow(m_hWnd, SW_MINIMIZE);

	else if(strcmp(ButtonName, "YOUR_DEFINED_BUTTON") == 0)
	{
		//
		// Do Something...
		//
	}
	return FALSE;
}

Once you have defined your new dialog class it can be used in WinMain like this

int WINAPI WinMain(HINSTANCE hInst, HINSTANCE, LPSTR lpCmd, int nShow)
{
	KSkinTest win;

	HWND hParent;

	// GetFile is a user defined function that returns a file with the full path...

	char *SkinFile = GetFile(NULL);

	if(SkinFile[0] == 0) 
	{
		GlobalFree(SkinFile);
		return 0;
	}

	// here we create the dialog
	hParent = win.CreateEx("SkinTest", 	// Text in caption
				CW_USEDEFAULT, 	// x coord
				CW_USEDEFAULT, 	// y coord
				hInst, 		// HINSTANCE
				SkinFile);	// full path of skin file

	GlobalFree(SkinFile);
	
	win.SetSticky(true);	// make the dialog sticky

	win.ShowWindow(nShow);	// Show the new dialog
	win.UpdateWindow();	// Update it

	return win.MessageLoop();	// Enter the message loop
}

Skin file format

A Skin file consists of three parts (more to come later)

  • [SCREEN] : This section contains the image files to display
    • Mask : This specifies the mask image for the dialog
    • Main : This specifies the main image for the dialog
    • Down : This specifies the image displayed when a widget is pressed
    • Over : This specifies the image displayed when the mouse is over a sensitive widget
    • Disabled : This specifies the image displayed when the dialog is inactive

  • [BUTTONINFO] : This section contains a numbered list of buttons to display
    • #=BUTTON_NAME,x,y,width,height,TOOL_TIP,FALSE

  • [TEXTINFO] : This section contains a numbered list of labels to display
    • #=TEXT_NAME,FONT,BOLD(TRUE/FALSE),ITALIC(TRUE/FALSE),SIZE,COLOR(long),x,y,width,height,TOOL_TIP

For example:

[SCREEN]
Mask=Mask.bmp
Main=Main.bmp
Down=Selected.bmp
Over=Selected.bmp
Disabled=Main.bmp

[BUTTONINFO]
1=BUTTON_MINIMIZE,4,1,7,8,Minimize,FALSE
2=BUTTON_BABEL,12,425,43,19,Babel Preferences,FALSE
3=BUTTON_EXIT,196,1,7,8,Exit,FALSE
4=BUTTON_STATUS,119,425,25,19,User Status,FALSE

[TEXTINFO]
1=TEXT_STATUS,Courier New,FALSE,TRUE,-8,3496550,136,424,64,6,Offline,User Status

Problems/Bugs

At this stage I am unable to reload skins at run time? This is apparent in the sample app.

Additional Notes

This is by no means a finished product! This is my first attempt at writing a terribly complicated Win32 application library. I wanted something similar to SkinSys in functionality but without the overhead of MFC. There will be bugs and errors! I hope that you find this code useful. If you have any improvements/suggestions, comments/flames, or questions please e-mail me or post here.

License

This article, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The GNU General Public License (GPLv3)


Written By
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Comments and Discussions

 
QuestionVery basic, but works fine Pin
merano8-Jul-12 9:40
merano8-Jul-12 9:40 
Generalnice work! think you! Pin
sfengtfw8-Apr-08 20:14
sfengtfw8-Apr-08 20:14 
GeneralUse that with c# Pin
daniel2023-Mar-08 8:49
daniel2023-Mar-08 8:49 
GeneralThe SKIN "down" doesn't work Pin
mau.deg26-Oct-06 6:59
mau.deg26-Oct-06 6:59 
GeneralRe: The SKIN "down" doesn't work Pin
merano8-Jul-12 9:32
merano8-Jul-12 9:32 
If you create the right Bitmaps you can see it.

1. Copy "selected.bmp" to "over.bmp"
2. Give "selected.bmp" a red touch
3. Give "over.bmp" a yellow touch
4. Edit skin.ini with Down=Selected.bmp and Over=Over.bmp

Seems to work!

In the code you find this:

C++
if (_left_button_down)
     DrawBitmap(hDC, m_Clicked);
else if (_mouse_over)
     DrawBitmap(hDC, m_Over);


Dont worry about:

Class SkinButton defined: Bitmap m_Over, m_Disabled, m_Clicked;
Class SkinDialog defined: Bitmap m_Over, m_Disabled, m_Selected;
GeneralImprovements Pin
Emil - Gabriel4-Oct-06 4:37
Emil - Gabriel4-Oct-06 4:37 
GeneralRe: Improvements Pin
mau.deg22-Oct-06 22:52
mau.deg22-Oct-06 22:52 
GeneralMoving the window. Pin
Death2-Feb-05 9:51
Death2-Feb-05 9:51 
GeneralRe: Moving the window. Pin
John Roark2-Feb-05 10:03
John Roark2-Feb-05 10:03 
GeneralRe: Moving the window. Pin
Death2-Feb-05 10:13
Death2-Feb-05 10:13 
QuestionHow to Skin a Window Pin
Saifadam Pathan21-Apr-04 20:37
Saifadam Pathan21-Apr-04 20:37 
Generalwhy can't resize the dialog Pin
Member 40486829-Sep-03 18:16
Member 40486829-Sep-03 18:16 
GeneralSkinMagic Toolkit Pin
jedyking13-Apr-03 4:56
jedyking13-Apr-03 4:56 
GeneralRe: SkinMagic Toolkit Pin
aiker25-Nov-03 18:00
aiker25-Nov-03 18:00 
QuestionMicrosoft Web Browser Object into DialogBox, without MFC? Pin
Adrian Bacaianu8-Apr-03 20:56
Adrian Bacaianu8-Apr-03 20:56 
GeneralRe: Another way for skinnable application Pin
pinkpanther12-Apr-03 12:48
pinkpanther12-Apr-03 12:48 
GeneralRe: Another way for skinnable application Pin
cooltool13-Apr-03 8:09
cooltool13-Apr-03 8:09 
GeneralRe: Another way for skinnable application Pin
pinkpanther13-Apr-03 8:26
pinkpanther13-Apr-03 8:26 
GeneralRe: Another way for skinnable application Pin
pinkpanther12-Apr-03 12:49
pinkpanther12-Apr-03 12:49 
GeneralRe: Another way for skinnable application Pin
cooltool13-Apr-03 8:07
cooltool13-Apr-03 8:07 
GeneralRe: Another way for skinnable application Pin
cooltool13-Apr-03 8:07
cooltool13-Apr-03 8:07 
GeneralRe: Another way for skinnable application Pin
pinkpanther13-Apr-03 8:26
pinkpanther13-Apr-03 8:26 
GeneralVery good, but there's a bug Pin
Chris Miller23-Aug-02 20:35
Chris Miller23-Aug-02 20:35 
Questionwhy no icon on task bar? Pin
26-Feb-02 17:16
suss26-Feb-02 17:16 
AnswerRe: why no icon on task bar? Pin
Galo Vinueza S.13-Mar-02 17:46
Galo Vinueza S.13-Mar-02 17:46 

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