UIToolX Quick Start Guide

Like a lot of our customer, we hate reading manuals too. So we created this guide to get you up and running quickly. For details about properties and methods shown in this guide see the online or compiled manuals. This guide is written for those who have a good working knowledge of Visual Basic and have worked with ActiveX controls.

The Example

1. Open an existing project, preferably one of your own. Make sure you have a backup just in case.

2. Add UIToolX to your project. It is listed as "Future Wave Tech, Inc. UIToolX GUI Enhancer" in the Components window.

3. Select UIToolX and go to the Properties window (or even better set them in code in Form_Load) and set the following properties:

AutoAdd = True

EnableColors = True

Enabled = True

MouseOver = True

UI_BackColor = &H00F7F8F9

UI_BorderColor = &H00B59285

UI_BorderStyle = 0 - fwNoBorder

UI_ForeColor = &H0092716A

4. Run it. Your project should now have a XP type look. If not double check the Properties.

5. Lets customize a little bit more. Go to the Code View.

6. Add the following code in the Form_Activate event and insert the following code:

' Substitute the name of one of the controls on your form instead of Command1

UIToolX1.AddControl Command1, fwThinBorder, True, , True, vbRed, vbYellow, vbBlue

7. Run the program again. You should now see that you have a weird looking CommandButton on your form that looks very different (okay, ugly) than the other controls.

The Notes

- In most cases we prefer setting the properties of UIToolX in code. We prefer code since documentation is easier and you can search and replace when using code. It is also easier to implement scheme or style management when the properties are set in code.

- In Step 3 you set the AutoAdd property to True. This tells UIToolX to search the form for controls it can enhance. Only controls that are in the Types collection will be enhanced.

- Also, In Step 3 you will notice that you set the UI_Border, UI_Background and UI_ForeColor properties. These are viewed as Global properties by UIToolX. Every control will be enhanced using these values.

- MouseOver and EnableColors must both be set to True in order to have Colors work properly. MouseOver will detect the position of the mouse and inform UIToolX that it is over a specific control. Whether colors are used once mouse over has detected a control is controlled by EnableColors.

- In Step 6 you used the AddControl method to specify the settings for a specific control, Command1. This will override the Global settings in Step 3. If you leave the fwForeColor parameter blank (i.e. delete vbBlue) the UIToolX will use value of UI_ForeColor. So in other words UIToolX will override any global color settings with values you specify in AddControl.

- If you put the AddControl method in the Form_Load event and have AutoAdd set to True then you must use the UI_Refresh method (UIToolX1.UI_Refresh) before using the AddControl method.