Code Crunching

Well, I am quite overwhelmed by the amount of positive feedback I've received during the recent days. One of the most frequent questions was whether I would send out previews to select people. In short: no, this would take too much of my time keeping up with the people. So far only two have received the current dev-state. One is going to use them today for a talk about Windows 7 and one person has given me the most valuable input on the latest feature, the Windows Taskbar Previews.

To all others: it's only two more days, you must wait. Sorry for those.

One good comment regarded the logo used in the latest preview, stating Borland Delphi, so I have changed that. In due course I redesigned the Embarcadero Studio logo as EPS file, so if you're interested, I provide it as download. The download contains the EPS file (vector graphic) and a PNG file (bitmap @ 600dpi) for your use. Please, be aware that Embarcadero may be quite alert to how you use it. I can not give you permission to use it, but I guess (hope?) they will be fine with us using it to promote their products within ours. If not, it's your risk to take!

Download file (ZIP, 430kB)

Well, in my last blog post I've asked for your input for getting a preview of WinControls. I am getting pretty well along with the controls and I've wanted to show you a small preview of the Taskbar Windows component.

Download video (WMV, 4MB) here

Watch my blog for the upcoming release of the controls and see them live at the EKON 13 this week!

Currently, I am getting ready to ship an update for the Windows 7 taskbar components. As the preview, this one will be open source and free of charge for anyone to use in any project.

However, one problem still remains to be resolved. I try to get a "screen shot" from a tab sheet, whether it is currently visible or not. The normal Delphi method WinControl.PaintTo, and the Windows API methods PrintWindow and BitBlt do not give the desired results.

What do I need this for? Well consider the image below, showing the tabs of the Internet Explorer, currently opened. Something similar I want to create for Delphi as simple component. To create the preview, I must be able to get the "screen shot" of all Tabcontrols, whether they are visible or not.

I have uploaded a sample application, which demonstrates the problem. Feel free to download and test it. This application runs on Windows XP and Windows Vista as well, as it does not demonstrate the preview windows, but simply the "copy" feature, ehm problem.

Feel free to send me any ideas you have regarding this problem, as all other solutions would not be the best ;)

Download the problem sampler (Source, ZIP-file, 4 KB)

Email any solution to dwischnewski (at) gmail.com

Thank you for your support, I'll mention the solution provider in the finals.

UpdateI got the solution in my Inbox now, thanks to Craig Peterson from Scooter Software, who already has helped me a great bit for this whole problem. I'll finish the components now, await the release for October 1st. Be first to see them at the EKON.

The next EKON is coming very soon. This time developers from all over Germany and neighboring countries will come and meet in Darmstadt. This is a new location for the EKON.

I will give two sessions, both on the topic of migrating your existing Delphi applications from Windows XP to the new operating system Windows 7. One session will be about the User Account Control system, which has been updated since Windows Vista. The second session will shed light on other important topics of Windows 7 in general.

I hope to see you in Darmstadt. More information about the conference schedule and other speakers are available at http://entwickler-konferenz.de.