Are there any alternatives to the MAKE_STRING callback method for inserting strings in C?I'd like to "label" a gauge bezel without having to write 60 MAKE_STRING functions.There are 30 text labels needed, and the "night version" needs to be RGB 180,180,180 (softer white), so that means 60 bloody callbacks! :(

Bill,I used this function to toggle the pink night lighting on or off:FLOAT64 FSAPI callback2( PELEMENT_STRING pelement){ if ( i != lights_now ) { if ( i == 1 ) { LUMINOUS_IMAGE(pelement->gauge_header->elements_list[0]); LUMINOUS_IMAGE(pelement->gauge_header->elements_list[0]->next_element[0]); REDRAW_IMAGE( pelement->gauge_header->elements_list[0] ); } else if ( i == 0 ) { DELUMINOUS_IMAGE(pelement->gauge_header->elements_list[0]); DELUMINOUS_IMAGE(pelement->gauge_header->elements_list[0]->next_element[0]); REDRAW_IMAGE( pelement->gauge_header->elements_list[0] ); } lights_now = i; } sprintf(pelement->string,"%05.0f", (( 39.37 / 12. ) * pelement->source_var[0].var_value.n)); return 0;}Replace the LUMINOUS_IMAGE and DELUMINOUS_IMAGE statements with pelement->fg_color = RGB(255, 255, 255); and pelement->fg_color = RGB(180, 180, 180);and you should be back down to 30 callbacks.Doug

The only solution I know is to create a DIB section and use the GDI text drawing functions to draw any text you wish, with any color.It is much easier than the MAKE_STRING macro...Eric

>The only solution I know is to create a DIB section and use>the GDI text drawing functions to draw any text you wish, with>any color.>It is much easier than the MAKE_STRING macro...Eric,I tried but failed miserably after spending several hours at it... Do you have a simple, one string example you could share? ;)

Bill,Please send me an email ([email protected]) and we will work it out together ;-)Eric

>Bill,>>Please send me an email ([email protected]) and we will>work it out together ;-)TIA, message sent!

>>Bill,>>>>Please send me an email ([email protected]) and we will>>work it out together ;-)>>TIA, message sent!...and NEVER replied to... ;(

Have you tried the GDI or the GDI+ approach?

There is no difference from drawing any graphics with GDI+The rules are:1) ensure your bitmap is recorded as owner draw (see example in SDK)2) extract the GDI graphics object from the callback (also in example)3) use any string function from GDI+ to draw the string onto the bitmapYou can set aliasing, select the font with a GDI+ font object, and use any of the GDI+ calls for special effects.Tips and tricks you can use with strings rendered as GDI+ over the MAKESTRING macro:a) setup a color transform matrix (allows you to "dim" the display"):( to help with FPS, pre-draw "canned", officialy called "cached" strings so you don't have to draw them all the time. Create bitmaps in memory and draw on them. Once they are created, you can just blit (copy) the images which is a lot faster than drawing from scratch. Just remember that if the user changes resolution and/or lighting in the panel, watch out for side effects (solution, trap these events).c) use sprintf to create any complex string you want - the formatting capabilities of sprintf are amazing).A word of warning: GDI+ impacts frame rates quite a bit, and you may want to refresh the display only so often (I usually do this once per second, or once every 18 callback).Hope this helps,Etienne

Hello Bill,I feel confused because I know I never answered your e-mail, and I apologize for this. Nevertheless, I answered a post explaining a lot of things about string display, where I was also apologizing for not answering your e-mail.I thought it was this thread, but it appears to be another one, and I made a confusion between the two. Sorry for this...In other words, I thought you had read my answer about this problem. If not, I will answer your e-mail soon to give you more info.Please let me know.Eric

>3) use any string function from GDI+ to draw the string onto>the bitmapActually, I have made some progress with this, but what is more than a bit frustrating is that none of the examples given in "Graphics Programming with GDI+" by Mahesh Chand seem to work. This book is part of the "Microsoft .NET Development Series," hence my consternation... :(Graphics graphics(hdc); graphics.SetTextRenderingHint(TextRenderingHintAntiAlias);SolidBrush whiteBrush(Color((255*trans)/100, (255*brt)/100, (255*brt)/100, (255*brt)/100));FontFamily Arial(L"Arial");Font TempTitles(&Arial, 0.085*dim.y, FontStyleBold, UnitPixel);PointF pointF(0.158*dim.x, 0.176*dim.y);graphics.DrawString(L"MKR", -1, &TempTitles, pointF, &whiteBrush);PointF pointF1(0.15*dim.x, 0.245*dim.y);graphics.DrawString(L"MUTE", -1, &TempTitles, pointF1, &whiteBrush);Using "trans" I can control the opacity.Using "brt" I can control the brightness w/o changing the color.The above code works, but according to the reference book I have been attempting to use, this should work, but it does not:SolidBrush solidBrush = new SolidBrush(Color.FromArgb(255, 0, 0, 255));nor does this work:Font verdanaFont = new Font( "Verdana", 10);

>In other words, I thought you had read my answer about this>problem. If not, I will answer your e-mail soon to give you>more info.>Please let me know.Eric, as I recall, I sent you some valuable information in "exchange" for some "tutoring assistance." Hence my concern.

>Actually, I have made some progress with this, but what is>more than a bit frustrating is that none of the examples given>in "Graphics Programming with GDI+" by Mahesh Chand seem to>work. This book is part of the "Microsoft .NET Development>Series," hence my consternation... :(Bill, I just received my copy of the Chand book yesterday. I know little about this, but the examples in the book all use the .NET "managed" code framework and "Windows Forms and Controls", which I think account for the differences, if you're coding "native" (unmanaged), like I am (I'm using the freebie VC++ command line tools.) I can't do a g.Dispose() either, for example...I think that "Windows Forms" consist of additional .dlls that provide the extra functions...I don't know if the answer is to try and configure for managed code and "Windows Forms", or just stick with the GDI+ reference in the MS SDK documentation, but I'm going with the latter for now.Douglas

>I don't know if the answer is to try and configure for managed>code and "Windows Forms", or just stick with the GDI+>reference in the MS SDK documentation, but I'm going with the>latter for now.Hmmm, you may be on to something there. In that case, the Chand book has now become an expensive paperweight, at leastinsofar as gauge work goes.Looking at the top of page 5 I read, "Managed GDI+ classes are defined in System.Drawing and its subnamespaces and reside in the System.Drawing.dll and System.Drawing.dll assemblies."On page 6, I read, "In this book we will be using GDI+ through the namespaces provided by the .NET framework library."Should I ever branch out into writing "stand alone stuff" then it may prove a useful resource... ;)

Hello my dear namesake, *:-*I am interested about how you dim those displays... I am not sure what a matrix actually is (not gotten that far in maths class yet, but should not take longer than ten months from now... ;)), but probably you can expand a bit on your method.Thanks in advance. :-hahEtienne :-wave