DataExchange for many variables - c++

I'm new to MFC and creating basically a "preferences" tool. This of course means that there is a lot of input from the user. I have several "pages", each filled with a combination of text boxes and combo boxes, and I'm trying to figure out the best way to execute the DoDataExchange methods for each dialog class.
Of course, I could just go one by one, within each class for the different dialogs, but there must be a better/faster way. I really don't want to have to write hundreds upon hundreds of DDX_... lines to set up my variables.
Any ideas? I could class them out and then just use a for-loop to pull the variables from an array or list, but I'm not sure how to do that with CWnd and stuff.

Just use the wizard, it will automatically map the variable name to the dialog: right click on the dialog and Add variable, no need to write them manually.

Related

C++ Windows Forms:: Get TabControl Instance from Control (or from anywhere else, if possible)?

I have a TabControl in my Form and a few tools that enable the user to add new tabs in runtime, to delete them, to rename them and to save the whole thing. Of course, starting the program again will load the Tabs again. Each tab also contains a TextBox which will also be saved and loaded.
The next thing I wanted to add was the option to add a tab which contains other tabs.
So basically, I create a TabPage which doesn't contain a TextBox like the other tabs do, but instead contains another TabControl.
At the Time of creation I add one "SubTab" inside the "SubTabControl", but I want to be able to access this TabControl later and add more Tabs to it.
This has been really difficult for me. Any suggestions on how I can create a variable amount of TabControls and still be able to access them individually (to access each of their tabs)? I tried arrays but I couldn't get it to work and I also tried using GetNextControl to return the TabControl as a Control-Type object. This worked up to the point where I wanted to add more Tabs. Unfortunately, the returned object was of type Control, so I couldnt use the functions limited to TabControl.

PopUp Menus in a custom GUI API?

I have made my own GUI API for games. One assumption that must be made is the user may want to use a derived version of a Widget I have made.
An example of how I dealt with this with ToolTips is, the user allocates a new ToolTip and sets a global one for the GUI. Ex: getGui().setToolTip(customToolTip);
The GUI then calls toolTip->show() when necessary. The problem with menus in general is that you can have many of them appearing at a given time.
I also would hate to have the user implement an interface:
PopUpFactory::createPopUp()
PopUpFactory::destroyPopup()
How is this usually dealt with? Who or how is the memory also managed for these?
There is always the option of limiting to something like 9 nested menus and have the user set an array of 9 PopUps but that seems messy.
Thanks

Unlimited number of checkboxes

I wonder how to create mechanism which create new checkbox below previous when you click on button. Number of checkboxes are unlimited.
I don't think that table of objects work well, so I think about implementation in list of objects.
Any suggestions?
Here is what I would do:
Create an event for clicking that button (let's call it OnBtnClick)
Use a vector/list to hold all the checkboxes
When OnBtnClick is called you do:
create a checkbox with the desired position and size and make sure it receives an unique id (this will help you differentiate between checkboxes when they are clicked/checked/etc).
add the checkbox to the list (to get its status: checked or not checked)
add the checkbox to the desired window, the parent window (though this may happen automatically when you create it)
if you want to add an event for the added checkbox you should check the manual of your GUI framework (you will probably use the same event handler for all checkboxes and treat them separately based on their id)
Depending on the GUI framework used the bottom details may vary but the idea remains the same. I did this with wxWidgets, QT and MFC but I don't know which framework you use. You should be able to find code samples for each framework.
What would you do with unlimited number of check boxes - confuse the user? So, that he/she wouldn't attempt to use it again? Bad idea, as you can guess now.
You may (should) limit the number of check boxes (or better, limit the number of controls on form/dialog). IMO, more than 10-12 CBs would be cumbersome for the end user. Therefore, better idea is to have all of them on dialog/dialog-resource, and make all of them invisible/disabled. When user does some action, make them visible/enabled - so that end user may do something with it.
Still demand N number of CBs, where N is not determined beforehand? Then you may have checkboxes under Combo box, or use check-boxes under List Control. List Control already hosts this feature, but for CBs under Combo, you may need to write your own class.See this article as an example.

create a scrollbar in a submenu qt?

I have a map application and a submenu which has dynamically added objects (i.e. points on a map) added to the submenu, depending on the layer that is loaded. I have the ability to hide each individual objects (i.e. a point) by clicking on the corresponding submenu item. Is there any way to organize the submenu? When there are a lot of points (i.e. 100) the entire submenu takes up the screen. Can I add a scrollbar to a submenu? I looked in the documentation, but couldn't find anything that support this feature.
From this bug report I was able to find out that you could do the following:
submenu->setStyleSheet("QMenu { menu-scrollable: 1; }");
Works like a charm.
There is no such possibility as far as I know.
Maybe you shouldn't use a sub menu for this but prefer a menu entry that show a Point manager GUI of your own which would have a QListWidget displaying all your points items.
I'm aware that this solution will break a (big?) part of your code but I don't see anything else.
I think you may be able to get the effect you want by creating and using your own QStyle subclass (via QApplication::setStyle()), and overriding the styleHint virtual method to return 1 when the StyleHint parameter passed in is SH_Menu_Scrollable. At least, that works for me when I create large QMenu objects and show them as popup menus.... It may also work for QMenus attached to the menu bar, but I havent tried that.
Whilst it is possible by subclassing the QMenu class to create a custom widget and going from there you're better off looking at a better way to display that information. You'll save yourself time and it'll be much easier for your users to not have to scroll through a big list of items in a small area.

Making a game in Qt regarding GUI windows

I've been wanting to program a simple game with a simple GUI using Qt (Its will be a VERY simple game, nothing fancy). What I've been wondering is, how can I create multiple windows and display them when needed? For an example, a battle screen and an inventory screen. The user should only see one of them, but should be able to access the other one when needed. I was using stacked widget but I'm not sure if that's the proper way. Also, is it better to design the windows in the designer or to code them?
A StackWidget certainly would accomplish what you want to do. The reason why it is not always used for this kind of thing, is that it all the screens are pre-created at the beginning and always exist. This means it takes a little longer to initialize, and you are using more resources than you need at any one time
But as you are saying, if this is a simple game, then I don't see a big problem with it. Just as easily, you could also, create an empty layout and swap the inventory and game panels as needed.
Add my vote to everyone else suggesting to use the designer. It is so much easier to manipulate layouts, actions, and such using the designer then through code.
You can see the Designer manual here
So this is what I would suggest:
Create your "battleScreen.ui" - which is the designer file for your battle screen and everything in it, and then create your "inventory.ui". Both of these could be QWidgets, or QFrames, or whatever makes sense.
Then create your "Game.ui" which will be your QMainWindow.
In your Game main window, you can then add your QStackWidget, and place your inventory, and battle screens in the stack widget.
If you don't know how to do that...
1) drag a QWidget into your form (into the stack widget)
2) select the new QWidget and right-click.
3) Select "Promote to..."
4) Fill out the information to promote the QWidget to your inventory class
Promoted Class Name: The name of your inventory class
Header File: The header file of your inventory class
5) Click add
6) Click Promote.
Hope that helps.
Since I'm not sure what your goals are I can't advise whether or not the stacked widget is appropriate but I think you can accomplish quite a lot using the designer and style sheets. If you need to code some parts of the GUI, you can always drop in a place holder widget and either replace it with coded items or make them children of the place holders.
A general answer for a general question:
Use the Designer to create your windows; hide and show the auxiliary windows as needed.
Use a flow manager class to manage the visibility of a related set of windows.
The stacked widget is useful for managing a button/icon whose appearance changes based on state; the different representations live in the stack.