July 31, 2003Jul 31, 200307/31/03To obtain a proportional scrollbar, you need to tell Windows the minimum and maximum
values covered by the scrollbar, the current scrollbar position, and the size of the
scrollbar thumb (called the “page size”). One annoyance of the way scrollbars are
set up is that the maximum value is attainable.
July 30, 2003Jul 30, 200307/30/03iMin is the lowest-index element which intersects the paint rectangle, so a
simple truncating division produces the desired index.
The formula for iMax can be interpreted two ways. One is that it is the roundup
of the first invisible line. Recall the rectangles are exclusive of the endpoint,
July 30, 2003Jul 30, 200307/30/03Common request:
I want to be able to turn on personalized menus (Intellimenus) when in XP Start Menu mode.
Imagine if Intellimenus were enabled with the XP Start Menu.
You use 5 apps; the rest are not used much. (Studies show that 5 is the typical number of unique applications users run on a regular basis.
July 29, 2003Jul 29, 200307/29/03Observe that we paint all 100 lines in our paint handler, even though most of them
aren’t visible. This is a problem if there are a large number of items, or if painting
an item is time-consuming.
So instead, we optimize our paint cycle so as to paint only the elements which intersect
the paint rectangle.
July 28, 2003Jul 28, 200307/28/03We often get requests like this:
There should be a slider bar somewhere, say on the Performance Tab, that ranges from Novice to Advanced. At the highest level, all the geek settings are turned on. At the Novice level, all the settings for beginners are turned on.
July 25, 2003Jul 25, 200307/25/03Managing scrollbars is not hard in principle. The basic idea is not that difficult,
but there are a lot of small details that need to be ironed out. If you don’t get
the details just right, your program will feel odd in a strange way that you often
can’t pinpoint,
July 24, 2003Jul 24, 200307/24/03I’m going to try to alternate between programming entries (where I actually try to teach something) and random entries (where I get to spout off or go into storytelling mode). So here’s another random entry.
Why does Tweak UI put up a totally incomprehensible error message (“Cannot locate entrypoint GetDllDirectoryW in Kernel32.dll”) when I try to run it on an unsupported OS?
July 23, 2003Jul 23, 200307/23/03Occasionally, there is need to illustrate a point with a full program. To avoid reproducing the boring parts of the program, let’s agree on using the following template for our sample programs.
For expository purposes, I won’t use a C++ class.
July 22, 2003Jul 22, 200307/22/03Short answer: The same reason you turn the ignition key to shut off your car.
Long answer: Back in the early days, the taskbar didn’t have a Start button. (In a future history column, you’ll learn that back in the early days,
July 21, 2003Jul 21, 200307/21/03What are you talking about?
Tweak UI is part of the Windows XP PowerToys. It was recently updated to version 2.10.
What OS is required?
Windows XP Service Pack 1 (or higher) or Windows Server 2003 (all versions). Not supported: Windows XP RTM,
