Best way to draw a rectangle around a control (TShape hides behind)

by: Geert_GruwezPosted on 2009-05-04 at 23:54:22ID: 24302086

why not use a bevel control ?
and then just set the bevel visible property when hovering to true

by: Geert_GruwezPosted on 2009-05-05 at 00:11:21ID: 24302168

this may be an interesting Q for you :
http://www.experts-exchange.com/Programming/Languages/Pascal/Delphi/Q_20485107.html

by: Geert_GruwezPosted on 2009-05-05 at 00:17:17ID: 24302192

and this too:
http://www.experts-exchange.com/Programming/Languages/Pascal/Delphi/Q_20869595.html

by: Geert_GruwezPosted on 2009-05-05 at 01:35:39ID: 24302521

i used that uHoverHook unit to create a sample with 2 bevels and 3 buttons ...

unit Unit1;
 
interface
 
uses
  Windows, Messages, SysUtils, Variants, Classes, Graphics, Controls, Forms,
  Dialogs, StdCtrls, ExtCtrls, uHoverHook, ComCtrls;
 
type
  TForm1 = class(TForm)
    Panel1: TPanel;
    Panel2: TPanel;
    Button1: TButton;
    Button2: TButton;
    Button3: TButton;
    Bevel1: TBevel;
    Bevel2: TBevel;
    procedure FormCreate(Sender: TObject);
    procedure FormDestroy(Sender: TObject);
  private
    fHover: THoverHook;
    procedure HoverMouseOver(Sender: TObject; Shift: TShiftState; X,
      Y: Integer);
    procedure OnHoverEnter(Sender: TObject);
    procedure OnHoverLeave(Sender: TObject);
  protected
    procedure WndProc(var Message: TMessage); override;
  public
  end;
 
var
  Form1: TForm1;
 
implementation
 
{$R *.dfm}
 
procedure TForm1.FormCreate(Sender: TObject);
begin
  //fHover := THoverHook.Create(HoverMouseOver, True);
  fHover := THoverHook.Create;
  fHover.OnMouseMove := HoverMouseOver;
  fHover.StartHook;
  fHover.AddToHook(Button1);
  fHover.AddToHook(Button2);
  fHover.AddToHook(Button3);
end;
 
procedure TForm1.HoverMouseOver(Sender: TObject; Shift: TShiftState; X,
  Y: Integer);
begin
  Bevel1.Visible := (Sender = Button1) or (Sender = Button3);
  Bevel2.Visible := (Sender = Button2);
end;
 
procedure TForm1.FormDestroy(Sender: TObject);
begin
  FreeAndNil(fHover);
end;
 
procedure TForm1.WndProc(var Message: TMessage);
var X: TObject;
begin
  inherited WndProc(Message);
  if (Message.Msg = CM_MOUSEENTER) or (Message.Msg = CM_MOUSELEAVE) then
  begin
    X := ControlAtPos(Mouse.CursorPos, False, True);
    if Message.Msg = CM_MOUSEENTER then
      OnHoverEnter(X)
    else
      OnHoverLeave(X);
  end;
end;
 
procedure TForm1.OnHoverEnter(Sender: TObject);
begin
end;
 
procedure TForm1.OnHoverLeave(Sender: TObject);
begin
  Bevel1.Visible := False;
  Bevel2.Visible := False;
end;
 
end.

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by: rfwoolfPosted on 2009-05-05 at 14:19:57ID: 24309268

Hi Geert

The bevel solution is unideal because Bevels are not transparent. Of course you could put the bevels behind the buttons, but that is unideal in my case because I have some buttons that fit exactly onto a panel.

I am not sure why everyone is obsessed with 'hovering' in those links you gave me - I can just use the MouseEnter and the MouseLeave events for buttons to detect when the mouse is hovering over the button and when it is not.

And so again it looks like my best solution is to draw on the form's canvas, but that is creating a huge headache because of the titlebar and border!!

Aurrrghh.

by: EddieShipmanPosted on 2009-06-04 at 10:08:46ID: 24549098

There is a set of controls written by an ex-colleague calle Res-cue controls. They have this capability and you can
learn how he does it and do it with your own controls. I can attach them if you'd like...

by: EddieShipmanPosted on 2009-06-04 at 10:14:40ID: 24549142

From his help file:
"The Focus Technology is a powerful programming technique that allows developers to give a visual cue when a control receives focus. No more searching for the control that has focus, our Focus Technology draws a rectangle around the control that has focus and can even change the Font attributes of a label for the control. Developers are given the flexibility to change the appearance of the rectangle by providing many properties that can be altered such as spacing, color, 3D, etc. In addition, we provide events for when a focus rectangle and label are about to be painted or removed from the screen so that developers can provide other visual cues to the user as to which control has focus.

Another powerful feature of our Focus Technology is the ability to use this technology on any TWinControl. Thats right, you dont have to replace your current controls in your application to use the great feature. Simply place a TrscMasterFocus component on a form and select the controls that you want to have this capability. It is as simple as that."

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Best way to draw a rectangle around a control (TShape hides behind)

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