MsgBox?

[hal9k]

First time newbie here.

I want to use what Microsoft would call a message box.  The closest thing I could find in LB is NOTICE.  I can use it, but it would be better if I could get rid of the ! graphic.  Is this possible?  Any other ideas?

Thanks!

[tsh73]

idea 0
use Notice as it is
idea 1
make your own modal dialog box. this way you can print/show/draw on it anything at all
idea 2
use Windows API to call Windows message Box
examle be
hwnd=0
txt$="Hello there"
caption$="Kitty!"
type=1  'OkCancel
type=0  'Ok

CallDLL #user32, "MessageBox", _
 hwnd              As ulong, _
     txt$              As ptr, _
  caption$   As ptr, _
   type             As ulong, _
  ret   As long
 
print "ret=";ret  
But you better read on MessageBox API function and on Liberty BASIC API calling.
("type" variable responsible for buttons and icons messageBox show)

[hal9k]

Thanks tsh73!

I think I'll just live with the ! graphic and explain to the users that this is a feature.

[Rod]

A notice is a kinda clunky way to communicate with a user. Fair enough if it is a showstopper close event but if it is just communicating while the program is running you might think about a status bar at the top or bottom of your interface. Like the IDE status bar.

[hal9k]

Thanks, Rod. I was using the notice window to display the contents of a short report. After discovering the RUN command, I've decided to use notepad.exe to display the information. That way the user can use notepad to print the report if so desired. Kinda clunky, but I think it will work well in my environment.

[Rod]

Look at the printform.bas program that ships with Liberty. Really no need to hop out to notepad. You can display the report and easily print with a click.

Making reports retrievable might eliminate the need for printing and storage. So just accessing the data and displaying the report for the desired time period might be all the functionality you need.

[hal9k]

Thanks. I looked at my lb directory and didn't see printform.bas. I think notepad will work as I suspect my user will want to read the text file and then copy it to her network directory.

[Rod]

To find the example programs you can try two things. First is under setup tick the option that loads no file and then restart Liberty. You will be in your application data directory where all data is meant to be stored for applications. The examples are not stored in program files x86 directory. That is a protected directory that only holds the program exe.

The other way to get there is to key %appdata% into windows explorer and then navigate to the Liberty directory. You will find all the example .bas there.

[tsh73]

I looked at my lb directory and didn't see printform.bas.
Really that't a pity because LB has directory with examples
Try to search in Explorer, something like

C:\Users\user_name\AppData\Roaming\Liberty BASIC v4.5.1

I just recalled that Just BASIC (more or less == Liberty BASIC without API calls) comes with new FreeForm (GUI builder)
which includes "add custom function" option. Among these functions is
function CustomNotice$(title$, message$, buttons$)
It is worth looking just to wonder how they managed to show 1, 2 or 3 buttons.

So it is along

Idea 1
make your own modal dialog box. this way you can print/show/draw on it anything at all

but it is already written - you can use it as it is
And it is in source form - if you wish ou can customise it more.

Here is it
'   Form created with the help of Freeform-J v.261006
'   Generated on Aug 08, 2022 at 22:42:10



   nomainwin

   WindowWidth = 550
   WindowHeight = 410

   UpperLeftX=int((DisplayWidth-WindowWidth)/2)
   UpperLeftY=int((DisplayHeight-WindowHeight)/2)

   button #main.button1, "Button Caption", [button1Click], UL, 206, 296, 122, 25
   open "untitled" for window as #main
   print #main, "trapclose [quit.main]"

   print #main, "font ms_sans_serif 10"

   wait

[quit.main]
   Close #main
   END


[button1Click]    'Perform action for the button named 'button1'
   'Insert your own code here
   res$=CustomNotice$("Old McDonald", "Had a farm"+chr$(13)+"EAEAIO", "Sure! Nope! I_dunno?") 'order is YesNoCancel
   notice "So you've answered ";res$
   res$=CustomNotice$("Old McDonald", "Had a farm", "OK") 'order is YesNoCancel
   notice "So you've answered ";res$
   res$=CustomNotice$("Old McDonald", "Had a farm"+chr$(13)+"EAEAIO", "Ok Cancel") 'order is YesNoCancel
   notice "So you've answered ";res$
   wait


'Custom functions and subs:

function CustomNotice$(title$, message$, buttons$)
   'Arguments:
       'title$ - text displayed on dialog caption
       'message$ - text displayed in the dialog
       'buttons$ - names of 1-3 buttons
   if word$(buttons$, 1) <> "" then
       yes$ = word$(buttons$, 1)
       count = 1
       else
       exit function
   end if
   if word$(buttons$, 2) <> "" then
       no$ = word$(buttons$, 2)
       count = 2
   end if
   if word$(buttons$, 3) <> "" then
       cancel$ = word$(buttons$, 3)
       count = 3
   end if
   select case count
       case 1
           y = 120 : n = -80 : c = -80
       case 2
           y = 80 : n = 160 : c = -80
       case 3
           y = 40 : n = 120 : c = 200
   end select
   'calculate window/control dimensions based on message
   'assuming 55 characters per line and 14 pixel line height
   lineCount = int(len(message$)/55)+2
   staticHeight = lineCount*14
   buttonYOrg = staticHeight+30
   WindowWidth = 320
   WindowHeight = staticHeight+110

   statictext #ync.st, message$, 10, 20, 292, staticHeight
   button #ync.default, yes$, [yncYes], UL, y, buttonYOrg, 70, 25
   button #ync, no$, [yncNo], UL, n, buttonYOrg, 70, 25
   button #ync, cancel$, [yncCancel], UL, c, buttonYOrg, 70, 25
   open title$ for dialog_modal as #ync
   #ync.st, "!font ms_sans_serif 9"
   #ync, "trapclose [yncTrapclose]"
   wait
[yncYes]
   CustomNotice$ = yes$ : goto [yncTrapclose]
[yncNo]
   CustomNotice$ = no$  : goto [yncTrapclose]
[yncCancel]
   CustomNotice$ = cancel$
[yncTrapclose]
   close #ync
end function


[hal9k]

Thanks! I'll save it for future reference.