GUI Speed affected by size of array?

RagsRevenge · May 24, 2011

Hi,

I am rewriting a Unicode overlay to sit over an existing, non-unicode capable application. The overlay can then automatically navigate the underlying application.

There are a number of "pages" to the application. It is navigated via tab style buttons at the bottom of the screen. I have created a global array of "Tab Buttons": $aTabButtons[100odd], which are each associated with a page number.

For each place that I need unicode, I am creating a label into a global array: $aLabels[100][70]. For example, page 1's labels are created and added to the $aLabels array at row 1. Done this way, I can simply show all items on row 1 when I want to display page 1.

The problem I have is that, as the $aLabels array grows and contains more elements, the responsiveness of the program degrades.

If I have 350 labels in the $aLabels array, the overlay works "perfectly". When this rises to 2000, there is a 3 second period after I click on a tab button, where the whole computer appears to freeze (mouse frozen, clock stops, process list in task manager stops updating). I believe the max CPU usage the overlay uses is 50% and it only uses less than 20MB memory. The computer is a Pentium Dual CPU @ 2GHz, with 4 GB RAM and Win XP SP 3.

I have included my while loop below...

While 1
    Sleep(10)
    $msg = GUIGetMsg()
    ConsoleWrite("Looping" & @CRLF)
    Switch $msg
        Case $GUI_EVENT_CLOSE
            Exit
            
        Case $aTabButs[0][0] to $aTabButs[UBound($aTabButs) - 1][0]
            ConsoleWrite("about to search for tab button" & @CRLF)
            $tabButtonIndex = _ArraySearch($aTabButs, $msg, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, $eHandle)
            GUISetState(@SW_LOCK)   ;#TODO: Need to tweak the GUI lock so that the page transitions work optimally
            ConsoleWrite('@@ Debug(' & @ScriptLineNumber & ') : $tabButtonIndex = ' & $tabButtonIndex & @crlf & '>Error code: ' & @error & @crlf) ;### Debug Console
            
            _showPageNumber(_getPageNumberFromTabEnglishCaption($aTabButs[$tabButtonIndex][$eEnglishCaption], $aTabButs[$tabButtonIndex][$eLineage]))
            GUISetState(@SW_UNLOCK)
        #cs
        Case $aButtons[0][0] to $aButtons[UBound($aButtons) - 1][0]
            $buttonIndex = _ArraySearch($aButtons, $msg, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, $eButtonHandle)
            
            if $buttonIndex <> - 1 Then
                ConsoleWrite('@@ Debug(' & @ScriptLineNumber & ') : $aButtons[$buttonIndex][$eButtonCommand] = ' & $aButtons[$buttonIndex][$eButtonCommand] & @crlf & '>Error code: ' & @error & @crlf) ;### Debug Console
                GUISetState(@SW_LOCK)
                Execute($aButtons[$buttonIndex][$eButtonCommand])
                GUISetState(@SW_UNLOCK)
            EndIf   
        ;#ce
    EndSwitch
    ConsoleWrite("After Switch" & @CRLF)
    
WEnd

So, normally, the console is being populated with

Looping
After Switch

When I click on a tab button, this stops, and consistently 3 seconds later...

about to search for tab button

appears.

I have commented out the

$aButtons[0][0] to $aButtons[UBound($aButtons) - 1][0]

Case with no difference.

I don't understand what relevance the size of the labels array has on my while loop? I would understand if the _showPageNumber function got slower depending on the number of labels to display, but this makes no sense to me?

[EDIT] I've just noticed that I get the delay when I click on a label as well. The overlay loses focus as it controls the underlying application. The delay appears to occur when my overlay gets focus???[/EDIT]

Could any of the hardcore AutoIters explain what is happening?

Thanks for the help,

D

Edited May 24, 2011 by RagsRevenge

BrewManNH · May 24, 2011

I'm guessing your array search is eating up the time when you get a lot of items in your array.

Melba23 · May 24, 2011

RagsRevenge,

You speak of $aLabels being fairly large and slowing your script - but you do not reference the array in that snippet so it is difficult to say anything sensible at all! :ph34r:

However, are you sure that your code works at all? You seem to be looking for the ControlIDs of the individual TabItems in your GUIGetMsg loop. TabItems do not fire events - you need to look for the overall tab control and then use GUICtrlRead to get the actual item.

This script based on your code shows this - try selecting Tab 0, you never get the ConsoleWrite:

#include <GUIConstantsEx.au3>
#include <Array.au3>

Global $aTabButs[10][2]

$hGUI = GUICreate("Test", 500, 500)

$hTab = GUICtrlCreateTab(10, 10, 400, 400)
For $i = 0 To 9
    $aTabButs[$i][0] = GUICtrlCreateTabItem("Tab " & $i)
Next

ConsoleWrite("Tab 0 has ControlID " & $aTabButs[0][0] & @CRLF)

GUISetState()

While 1
    Sleep(10)
    $msg = GUIGetMsg()
    Switch $msg
        Case $GUI_EVENT_CLOSE
            Exit
        Case $aTabButs[0][0] ; Check for the first tab item
            ConsoleWrite("Tab 0 selected" & @CRLF)
        Case $hTab ; Look for the main tab
            $hSelected_Tab = GUICtrlRead($hTab, 1) ; And now get the ControlID of the TabItem
            $tabButtonIndex = _ArraySearch($aTabButs, GUICtrlRead($hTab, 1))
            ConsoleWrite('@@ Debug(' & @ScriptLineNumber & ') : $tabButtonIndex = ' & $tabButtonIndex & @crlf & '>Error code: ' & @error & @crlf) ;### Debug Console
    EndSwitch
WEnd

Now maybe you have something else in your $aTabButs array - difficult to tell from such a short snippet. :huh2:

Give us some more info and we can offer more pertinent advice. :alien:

M23

RagsRevenge · May 24, 2011

Hi Melba,

the "Tab Buttons" are actually just buttons created to lie over the existing app's non-standard tabs.

They are created like this...

$aTabButs[$index][$eHandle] = GUICtrlCreateButton($butCaption, $aTabs[$i][$eL], $Top, $aTabs[$i][$eW], $TabHeight, $WS_GROUP)

There is consistently about 100 "tab buttons".

The event is firing, and the required functionality is working.

The $aLabels array is populated in the following manner...

$aLabels[$pageNum][$labelCol] = GUICtrlCreateLabel($caption, $aOverlay[$i][$eOverlayLeft], $aOverlay[$i][$eOverlayTop], _
                $aOverlay[$i][$eOverlayWidth], $aOverlay[$i][$eOverlayHeight], BitOr($SS_LeftNoWordWrap, $SS_CenterImage))

Melba, my consternation is due to what you say... the $aLabels array isn't directly referenced in the snippet, but it is having a huge effect on the performance of that snippet. Would 2000odd controls be considered a lot in AutoIt?

Not exactly sure how to give more information. The code is 700 lines, with a 1000 line mapping/configuration program, and requiring a large number of files and an OPC server to be run.

I will try to recreate a smaller example tomorrow morning, but unfortunately, as size/complexity diminishes, speed improves.

Thanks,

D

RagsRevenge · May 24, 2011

I'm guessing your array search is eating up the time when you get a lot of items in your array.

Hi BrewMan,

the delay is occuring before the array search.

Also, the search is searching a different array to the one whose size is causing the problems.

Thanks anyway,

D

Melba23 · May 24, 2011

RagsRevenge,

Now I am glad I covered my 6 by questioning what was in $aTabBut! :ph34r:

A question. I presume that when you press one of the buttons and function _showPageNumber runs, you are hiding/showing a lot of labels. I wonder if that is slowing it down - certainly 2000 controls is a lot, but not excessive.

Try adding Opt("TrayIconDebug", 1) to the top of your script. Then when you put the mouse over the tray icon you get the currently executing line displayed. It might help to determine where you are hanging. :huh2:

I also remember a script somewhere on the forum which times the various functions in your script to help you optimize it - I will see if I can find it this evening. :alien:

M23

Edit: That took some finding!

The script I mentioned is here - no idea if it still works but I did use it when it was psoted and got some interesting results.

Edited May 24, 2011 by Melba23

RagsRevenge · May 25, 2011

A question. I presume that when you press one of the buttons and function _showPageNumber runs, you are hiding/showing a lot of labels. I wonder if that is slowing it down - certainly 2000 controls is a lot, but not excessive.

Try adding Opt("TrayIconDebug", 1) to the top of your script. Then when you put the mouse over the tray icon you get the currently executing line displayed. It might help to determine where you are hanging.

Hi Melba,

the reason I have so many consolewrites in the while loop is to identify where the code is blocking.

Normally, I get a continuous stream of

Looping
After Switch
Looping
After Switch
Looping
After Switch

When I click on a "tab button", this stream stops (along with mouse, pc clock, task manager) for 3 seconds and then I get

about to search for tab button

To remove all confusion, I have adjusted my while loop to

While 1
    Sleep(10)
    $msg = GUIGetMsg()
    ConsoleWrite("Looping" & @CRLF)
    
    Switch $msg
        Case $GUI_EVENT_CLOSE
            Exit
    #cs 
    EndSwitch
    ConsoleWrite("After Switch" & @CRLF)
WEnd

I still get a 3 second delay when the GUI gets focus when there are around 2000 items on the GUI.

Working on scaled down test GUI which I will submit to see if somebody can figure out what is happening.

Regards,

D

Melba23 · May 25, 2011

RagsRevenge,

This GUI has around 10000 labels with their ControlIDs stored in an array and does not seem to delay when it gets focus: :huh2:

#include <GUIConstantsEx.au3>

Global $aLabel[10000]

$fToggle = False
$hActive = WinGetHandle("[ACTIVE]")
ConsoleWrite("Active: " & $hActive & @CRLF)

$hGUI = GUICreate("Test", 500, 500)
ConsoleWrite("GUI: " & $hGUI & @CRLF)


For $j = 0 To 4
    For $i = 0 To 1999
        $aLabel[$i + ($j * 2000)] = GUICtrlCreateLabel($hGUI, $j * 100, $i * 10, 100, 20)
        GUICtrlSetBkColor(-1, 0xFF0000)
    Next
Next

ConsoleWrite(GUICtrlCreateDummy() & @CRLF)

GUISetState()

$iBegin = TimerInit()

While 1

    Switch GUIGetMsg()
        Case $GUI_EVENT_CLOSE
            Exit
    EndSwitch

    If TimerDiff($iBegin) > 5000 Then
        $fToggle = Not $fToggle
        Switch $fToggle
            Case True
                ConsoleWrite("Active" & @CRLF)
                WinActivate($hActive)
            Case False
                ConsoleWrite("GUI" & @CRLF)
                WinActivate($hGUI)
        EndSwitch
        $iBegin = TimerInit()
    EndIf

WEnd

I await your cut-down version with interest.

M23

P.S. You do not need a Sleep when you use GUIGetMsg - the function does its own idle pause. :alien:

GEOSoft · May 25, 2011

P.S. You do not need a Sleep when you use GUIGetMsg - the function does its own idle pause.

Under normal circumstances that is correct but if there are a lot of case statements it may fail.

Example:

If you remember the issue I was having where it looked like something in PCRE Toolkit was hooking the keyboard, the solution was to add a small sleep to the end of the Msg loop and it was caused by the number of Case statements in the Switch.

That solved the previous issues including one with processor usage so it shows that the built-in delay theory may fail under extreme circumstances.

Melba23 · May 25, 2011

George,

I just put that down to sloppy coding on your part! :huh2:

Seriously, I will take a look to see if I can reproduce it and then let Valik/Jon take a look.

M23

GEOSoft · May 25, 2011

I didn't say the code wasn't sloppy, I said that a Sleep() fixed it. I started at 10ms which helped then increased it to 50ms which made the problems go away.

The next version will probably be using Event code so it should be a non-issue.

$sMelba = "Melba23"
Sleep(50)
MsgBox(0, "Oooops", "Did not work this time" & @CRLF & "Problem " & $sMelba & " did not go away")

RagsRevenge · May 26, 2011

I await your cut-down version with interest.

M23

While the following is not exactly how my program works, it does demonstrate the problem I've been having.

The difference between this program and mine, is that in mine, I am simply sending control clicks to an underlying application rather than doing the GUISetState(@SW_HIDE)/GUISetState(@SW_SHOW).

In my overlay app, there are about 100 pages. A Label could easily be created in the same position 100 times. For that reason, I am creating the labels on top of each other in the demo below

#include <GUIConstants.au3>
#include <GUIConstantsEX.au3>
#include <windowsconstants.au3>
#include <StaticConstants.au3>
#Include <WinAPI.au3>
#Include <File.au3>
#Include <Array.au3>

Opt("WinDetectHiddenText", 0)

const $TransparentColour = 0xABCDEF     ;any element this colour will be transparent
Global $aLabels[200][200]

Global $gui2
Global $gui1
$fToggle = False
$hActive = WinGetHandle("[ACTIVE]")
ConsoleWrite("Active: " & $hActive & @CRLF)

main()
$iBegin = TimerInit()

While 1
    ConsoleWrite("Looping" & @CRLF)
    Switch GUIGetMsg()
        Case $GUI_EVENT_CLOSE
            Exit
    EndSwitch
    ConsoleWrite("After Switch" & @CRLF)
    If TimerDiff($iBegin) > 5000 Then
        $fToggle = Not $fToggle
        Switch $fToggle
            Case True
                ConsoleWrite("Active" & @CRLF)
                WinActivate($hActive)
                GUISetState(@SW_HIDE)
            Case False
                ConsoleWrite("GUI" & @CRLF)
                WinActivate($gui2)
                GUISetState(@SW_SHOW)
        EndSwitch
        $iBegin = TimerInit()
    EndIf

WEnd

func main()
    createGui()
    
    _createLabels()
EndFunc

func createGui()
    $gui1 = GUICreate("Visu Overlay", 1280, 800, 0, 0, BitOR($WS_MAXIMIZEBOX,$WS_POPUP,$WS_TABSTOP),BitOR($WS_EX_TOPMOST, $WS_EX_TOOLWINDOW))
    GUISetFont(6)
    GUISetState()
    $gui2 = GUICreate("Visu Overlay 2", 1280, 800, 0, 0, $WS_POPUP, BitOR(0x2000000, $WS_EX_LAYERED, $WS_EX_TOOLWINDOW));$WS_EX_COMPOSITED = 0x2000000
    GUISetBkColor($TransparentColour)
    _API_SetLayeredWindowAttributes($gui2, $TransparentColour, 255);set special colour fully transparent
    GUISetState()
    WinSetOnTop($gui2,'',1)
    WinSetTrans($gui1,"",0)     ;Makes underlying GUI totally transparent
EndFunc

Func _createLabels()
    Local $caption
    Local $labelCount = 0   
    
    For $i = 0 to 10
        ConsoleWrite('@@ Debug(' & @ScriptLineNumber & ') : $i = ' & $i & @crlf & '>Error code: ' & @error & @crlf) ;### Debug Console
        $start = TimerInit()
        for $j = 0 to 199
            $caption = "test_" & $i & "_" & $j
            
            $aLabels[$i][$j] = GUICtrlCreateLabel($caption, 100, $j * 10, 100, 20, BitOr($SS_LeftNoWordWrap, $SS_CenterImage))  ;????
            
            GUICtrlSetTip(-1, $caption) 
            ;GUICtrlSetState(-1, $GUI_HIDE) 
            _BKColor(0xECE9D8, $aLabels[$i][$j])
            $labelCount += 1
        Next
        ConsoleWrite('@@ Debug(' & @ScriptLineNumber & ') : TimerDiff($start) = ' & TimerDiff($start) & @crlf & '>Error code: ' & @error & @crlf) ;### Debug Console
    Next
    ConsoleWrite('@@ Debug(' & @ScriptLineNumber & ') : $labelCount = ' & $labelCount & @crlf & '>Error code: ' & @error & @crlf) ;### Debug Console
EndFunc

;===============================================================================
; Function Name:   _API_SetLayeredWindowAttributes
; Description::    Sets Layered Window Attributes:) See MSDN for more informaion
; Parameter(s):
;                  $hwnd - Handle of GUI to work on
;                  $i_transcolor - Transparent color
;                  $Transparency - Set Transparancy of GUI
;                  $isColorRef - If True, $i_transcolor is a COLORREF-Strucure, else an RGB-Color
; Requirement(s):  Layered Windows
; Return Value(s): Success: 1
;                  Error: 0
;                   @error: 1 to 3 - Error from DllCall
;                   @error: 4 - Function did not succeed - use
;                               _WinAPI_GetLastErrorMessage or _WinAPI_GetLastError to get more information
; Author(s):       Prog@ndy
;===============================================================================
Func _API_SetLayeredWindowAttributes($hwnd, $i_transcolor, $Transparency = 255, $isColorRef = False)
    Local Const $AC_SRC_ALPHA = 1
    Local Const $ULW_ALPHA = 2
    Local Const $LWA_ALPHA = 0x2
    Local Const $LWA_COLORKEY = 0x1
    If Not $isColorRef Then
        $i_transcolor = Hex(String($i_transcolor), 6)
        $i_transcolor = Execute('0x00' & StringMid($i_transcolor, 5, 2) & StringMid($i_transcolor, 3, 2) & StringMid($i_transcolor, 1, 2))
    EndIf
    Local $Ret = DllCall("user32.dll", "int", "SetLayeredWindowAttributes", "hwnd", $hwnd, "long", $i_transcolor, "byte", $Transparency, "long", $LWA_COLORKEY + $LWA_ALPHA)
    Select
        Case @error
            Return SetError(@error, 0, 0)
        Case $Ret[0] = 0
            Return SetError(4, 0, 0)
        Case Else
            Return 1
    EndSelect
EndFunc ;==>_API_SetLayeredWindowAttributes

;===========================================================================
; Function      : _BKColor( backgroundcolor, controlID, textcolor )
; Description   : Sets the background color of a control. (Transparent Label)
;               : Sets the text color of a control.
; Author        : Thunder-man (Frank Michalski)
; Date          : 19. September 2007
; Version       : V 1.20
; Example  :     _BKColor()                                :Transparent
;                _BKColor( -1, $MyLabel)                   :Transparent
;                _BKColor(0x00ff00)                        :Color Green
;                _BKColor(0x00ff00, $MyLabel)              :Color Green
;                _BKColor( -1, $MyLabel, 0x00ff00)    :Text Color Green
;===========================================================================
Func _BKColor($BackColor_ = "", $GuiID_ = -1, $Textcolor_ = 0x000000)
    If $BackColor_ = "" or $BackColor_ = -1 Then
    GUICtrlSetBkColor($GuiID_, $GUI_BKCOLOR_TRANSPARENT)
    GUICtrlSetColor($GuiID_, $Textcolor_)
Else
    GUICtrlSetBkColor($GuiID_, $BackColor_)
    GUICtrlSetColor($GuiID_, $Textcolor_)
EndIf
EndFunc  ;==>_BKColor

The delay doesn't seem to grow linearly with the number of labels. With 2200 labels in the test app, the freeze is about 2 seconds. Inc this to 4000 labels, and the freeze is about 9 seconds.

Melba, thanks for the time and interest you have shown in my problem.

Regards,

Donal

Melba23 · May 26, 2011

RagsRevenge,

I can see the problem. I set up a timer to look at how long everything "froze" and this is what I got:

Active
289.454944692691
GUI
1131.48465796631
Active
302.750768603272
GUI
1058.95777256607
Active
291.325154453988
GUI
1208.12295976165
Active
296.068564580135

So about 1 sec to redisplay the GUI in your example. I did wonder if the $WS_EX_LAYERED and $WS_EX_COMPOSITED styles might be affecting things, so I ran again with those styles removed:

Active
296.6194725866
GUI
914.570078040645
Active
309.112191633294
GUI
927.850955917582

Not a lot of improvement there! :huh2:

Although I am not an expert by any means, I suspect that we are running into the limitations of an interpreted language here and AutoIt just does not run fast enough to cope with all those controls. You can see how long it takes to create the labels when the script starts - so I do not find it too surprising that we run into delays when trying to redisplay them. The difference between hiding/showing is easy to understand - Windows has to do a lot more checking to confirm what must be displayed when there are so many controls - the "active" GUI (which in my case was SciTE) is much simpler.

Sorry not to be optimistic about solving your problem - but given that AutoIt is not compiled even when "compiled" (I take you realise that the "compilation" process actually only adds a tokenised script to an interpreter stub?) we are left with an interpreted language and all the baggage that this entails. Added to this is the fact that AutoIt was not originally designed to run GUIs and so the GUI code is (according to the Devs) "less than optimised". :alien:

One thought does strike me as a possible solution, although I am not altogether certain I understand enough of what you are trying to do to be sure this is a sensible suggestion. You speak of "pages", so could you not create each "page" on a separate GUI? Then each GUI would have a limited number of controls rather the maxed out singleton you use at the moment. In this way you would only be asking Windows to redisplay a more "reasonable" GUI and so reduce the time needed. I can see possible difficulties in this approach (tracking the GUI to redisplay for example), but if speed is what you want this is the only way I can see to advance - other than changing language of course! :ph34r:

If you could explain in a little more detail what you are trying to do (some code snippets might be useful as well) we could look to see if my suggestion has any value. I must warn you that from this weekend I will be incommunicado for a couple of weeks (an extended family wedding overseas), so if you are on a deadline this offer is unlikely to be any use - but if you have a little more time it could be a fun project.

M23

RagsRevenge · May 26, 2011

One thought does strike me as a possible solution, although I am not altogether certain I understand enough of what you are trying to do to be sure this is a sensible suggestion. You speak of "pages", so could you not create each "page" on a separate GUI? Then each GUI would have a limited number of controls rather the maxed out singleton you use at the moment.

This suggestion could well work. Each "page" would only have about 70-100 labels, so it should be near instantaneaous.

I'll give it a go before the end of the week.

Thanks again.

D

RagsRevenge · May 26, 2011

If you could explain in a little more detail what you are trying to do (some code snippets might be useful as well) we could look to see if my suggestion has any value. I must warn you that from this weekend I will be incommunicado for a couple of weeks (an extended family wedding overseas), so if you are on a deadline this offer is unlikely to be any use - but if you have a little more time it could be a fun project.
M23

1 question which immediately arises is:

Do I have to create a "page" GUI, and then immediately create the controls on it?

Is there a way, after I've created other GUIs, that I can add controls to a previously created GUI?

I had a search in the forum (including the UDFs in your sig), but everywhere I found multiple GUIs, the controls were created immediately after GUI creation.

Cheers,

D

Melba23 · May 26, 2011

RagsRevenge,

Use GUISwitch to select the GUI in which you want to create the controls. :huh2:

#include <GUIConstantsEx.au3>

$hGUI_1 = GUICreate("Test 1", 500, 200, 100, 100)
GUISetState()

$hGUI_2 = GUICreate("Test 2", 500, 200, 100, 400)
GUISetState()

GUISwitch($hGUI_1)
GUICtrlCreateLabel("I am in Test 1", 10, 10)

GUISwitch($hGUI_2)
GUICtrlCreateLabel("I am in Test 2", 10, 10)

While 1
    Switch GUIGetMsg()
        Case $GUI_EVENT_CLOSE
            Exit
    EndSwitch
WEnd

M23

Edit: Added code.

Edited May 26, 2011 by Melba23

RagsRevenge · September 1, 2011

Having gotten stuck on a couple of points with this project, I got pulled onto other work, and am only revisiting this again.

I have the program very close to working according to Melba's suggestion of using a new GUI for each page, and then simply showing/hiding GUIs rather than individual labels, but have run into a fairly serious obstacle... Only 5 "subGUIs" are being shown.

Below is a cut down (and *very* rough around the edges) version.

As you'll see in the script below, I am creating 9 "subGUIs", each with 5 labels. All handles (GUIs and Labels) are being created as expected. After a label is created, I can successfully read the caption from it.

I am then cycling through each GUI, showing 1 and hiding the 1 previous to it. Only the first 5 are displaying on screen, even though the result of the GuiSetState command to show the GUIs is returning 1.

I have traced the problem to the GUI extended style: $WS_EX_LAYERED. Unfortunately, I think I need this, as the background of the GUI needs to be transparent (The script is being used to place unicode labels over a non-unicode program). I have searched online, and have found no description of the limitation that I am experiencing.

Anybody have any ideas about it or alternatives to using this extended style?

#include <GUIConstants.au3>
#include <GUIConstantsEX.au3>
#include <windowsconstants.au3>
#include <StaticConstants.au3>
#Include <WinAPI.au3>
#Include <File.au3>
#Include <Array.au3>
Opt("WinDetectHiddenText", 0)
const $TransparentColour = 0xABCDEF     ;any element this colour will be transparent
Global $aLabels[10][10]
Global $gui1
Global $aGuis[1]
;Global $aLabels[200][200]
main()
$index = 1
While 1
    ConsoleWrite("Looping" & @CRLF)
    Switch GUIGetMsg()
        Case $GUI_EVENT_CLOSE
            Exit
    EndSwitch
   
_hidePage($index - 1)
_showPage($index)
sleep(500)
$index += 1

If $index > 8 Then
  $index = 1
EndIf
ConsoleWrite('@@ Debug(' & @ScriptLineNumber & ') : $index = ' & $index & @crlf & '>Error code: ' & @error & @crlf) ;### Debug Console
WEnd
Func _hidePage($iPageNumber)
;ConsoleWrite('@@ Debug(' & @ScriptLineNumber & ') : $iPageNumber = ' & $iPageNumber & @crlf & '>Error code: ' & @error & @crlf) ;### Debug Console
GUISetState(@SW_HIDE, $aGuis[$iPageNumber])
EndFunc
Func _showPage($iPageNumber)
ConsoleWrite('@@ Debug(' & @ScriptLineNumber & ') : $iPageNumber = ' & $iPageNumber & @crlf & '>Error code: ' & @error & @crlf) ;### Debug Console
$ShowGuiResult = GUISetState(@SW_SHOW, $aGuis[$iPageNumber])
ConsoleWrite('@@ Debug(' & @ScriptLineNumber & ') : $ShowGuiResult = ' & $ShowGuiResult & @crlf & '>Error code: ' & @error & @crlf) ;### Debug Console
EndFunc
func main()
    createBaseGui()
   
ReDim $aGuis[10]

    _createLabels()
EndFunc
func createBaseGui()
$gui1 = GUICreate("Visu Overlay", 1280, 1024, 0, 0, BitOR($WS_MAXIMIZEBOX,$WS_POPUP,$WS_TABSTOP),BitOR($WS_EX_TOPMOST, $WS_EX_TOOLWINDOW))
ConsoleWrite('@@ Debug(' & @ScriptLineNumber & ') : $gui1 = ' & $gui1 & @crlf & '>Error code: ' & @error & @crlf) ;### Debug Console
GUISetBkColor(0xFFFFFF)
GUISetFont(6)
GUISetState()
WinSetTrans($gui1,"",0)  ;Makes underlying GUI totally transparent
EndFunc
Func _createSubGUI($iGuiIndex, $iWidth, $iHeight, $iTop = 0, $iLeft = 0)
$aGuis[$iGuiIndex] = GUICreate("Visu Overlay " & $iGuiIndex, $iWidth, $iHeight, $iLeft, $iTop, $WS_POPUP, BitOR($WS_EX_LAYERED, $WS_EX_TOOLWINDOW))
ConsoleWrite('@@ Debug(' & @ScriptLineNumber & ') : $aGuis[$iGuiIndex] = ' & $aGuis[$iGuiIndex] & @crlf & '>Error code: ' & @error & @crlf) ;### Debug Console
;#TODO: reinstate this line
GUISetBkColor($TransparentColour, $aGuis[$iGuiIndex])

_API_SetLayeredWindowAttributes($aGuis[$iGuiIndex], $TransparentColour, 255);set special colour fully transparent

;GUISetState(@SW_LOCK, $aGuis[$iGuiIndex])
;MsgBox(0, "", "Start setting colour")

GUISetState(@SW_SHOW, $aGuis[$iGuiIndex])
;MsgBox(0, "", "Finished setting colour")

WinSetOnTop($aGuis[$iGuiIndex],'',1)
GUISetState(@SW_HIDE, $aGuis[$iGuiIndex])

;GUISetState(@SW_UNLOCK, $aGuis[$iGuiIndex])
EndFunc
Func _createLabels()
Local $lastPageNum = 0
Local $pageNum
Local $LabelIndex = -1
Local $labelCol = -1
Local $caption
Local $labelCount = 1

For $i = 1 to 10 - 1
  $pageNum = $i
 
  ;This code is used for keeping track of the column where the control ID is stored.
  if $pageNum <> $lastPageNum Then
   _createSubGUI($pageNum, 1280, 800)  
  
   $labelCol = 0
   $lastPageNum = $pageNum
  EndIf
  
  for $j = 1 to 5
   $caption = "Label" & $j & " on Page " & $pageNum
   $aLabels[$pageNum][$labelCol] = GUICtrlCreateLabel($caption, 10, $j * 25, 100, 20, BitOr($SS_LeftNoWordWrap, $SS_CenterImage))
   ConsoleWrite('@@ Debug(' & @ScriptLineNumber & ') : $aLabels[$pageNum][$labelCol] = ' & $aLabels[$pageNum][$labelCol] & @crlf & '>Error code: ' & @error & @crlf) ;### Debug Console
   ConsoleWrite('@@ Debug(' & @ScriptLineNumber & ') : GUICtrlRead($aLabels[$pageNum][$labelCol]) = ' & GUICtrlRead($aLabels[$pageNum][$labelCol]) & @crlf & '>Error code: ' & @error & @crlf) ;### Debug Console
   GUICtrlSetState($aLabels[$pageNum][$labelCol], $GUI_SHOW)
  
   $labelCount += 1
  
   GUICtrlSetTip(-1, $caption)
   ;GUICtrlSetState(-1, $GUI_HIDE)
   _BKColor(0xECE9D8, $aLabels[$pageNum][$labelCol])
  
   $labelCol += 1
  Next
Next
EndFunc
;===============================================================================
; Function Name:   _API_SetLayeredWindowAttributes
; Description:: Sets Layered Window Attributes:) See MSDN for more informaion
; Parameter(s):
;               $hwnd - Handle of GUI to work on
;               $i_transcolor - Transparent color
;               $Transparency - Set Transparancy of GUI
;               $isColorRef - If True, $i_transcolor is a COLORREF-Strucure, else an RGB-Color
; Requirement(s):  Layered Windows
; Return Value(s): Success: 1
;               Error: 0
;                   @error: 1 to 3 - Error from DllCall
;                   @error: 4 - Function did not succeed - use
;                               _WinAPI_GetLastErrorMessage or _WinAPI_GetLastError to get more information
; Author(s):    Prog@ndy
;===============================================================================
Func _API_SetLayeredWindowAttributes($hwnd, $i_transcolor, $Transparency = 255, $isColorRef = False)
    Local Const $AC_SRC_ALPHA = 1
    Local Const $ULW_ALPHA = 2
    Local Const $LWA_ALPHA = 0x2
    Local Const $LWA_COLORKEY = 0x1
    If Not $isColorRef Then
        $i_transcolor = Hex(String($i_transcolor), 6)
        $i_transcolor = Execute('0x00' & StringMid($i_transcolor, 5, 2) & StringMid($i_transcolor, 3, 2) & StringMid($i_transcolor, 1, 2))
    EndIf
    Local $Ret = DllCall("user32.dll", "int", "SetLayeredWindowAttributes", "hwnd", $hwnd, "long", $i_transcolor, "byte", $Transparency, "long", $LWA_COLORKEY + $LWA_ALPHA)
    Select
        Case @error
            Return SetError(@error, 0, 0)
        Case $Ret[0] = 0
            Return SetError(4, 0, 0)
        Case Else
            Return 1
    EndSelect
EndFunc ;==>_API_SetLayeredWindowAttributes
;===========================================================================
; Function      : _BKColor( backgroundcolor, controlID, textcolor )
; Description   : Sets the background color of a control. (Transparent Label)
;               : Sets the text color of a control.
; Author        : Thunder-man (Frank Michalski)
; Date          : 19. September 2007
; Version       : V 1.20
; Example  :    _BKColor()                              :Transparent
;               _BKColor( -1, $MyLabel)                 :Transparent
;               _BKColor(0x00ff00)                      :Color Green
;               _BKColor(0x00ff00, $MyLabel)            :Color Green
;               _BKColor( -1, $MyLabel, 0x00ff00)   :Text Color Green
;===========================================================================
Func _BKColor($BackColor_ = "", $GuiID_ = -1, $Textcolor_ = 0x000000)
    If $BackColor_ = "" or $BackColor_ = -1 Then
    GUICtrlSetBkColor($GuiID_, $GUI_BKCOLOR_TRANSPARENT)
    GUICtrlSetColor($GuiID_, $Textcolor_)
Else
    GUICtrlSetBkColor($GuiID_, $BackColor_)
    GUICtrlSetColor($GuiID_, $Textcolor_)
EndIf
EndFunc  ;==>_BKColor

Melba23 · September 12, 2011

RagsRevenge,

If I adjust this line (If $index > 9 Then) I get all 9 GUIs displaying without problem when using the $WS_EX_LAYERED extended style. So I do not know what your problem is. :graduated:

M23

RagsRevenge · September 12, 2011

RagsRevenge,

If I adjust this line (If $index > 9 Then) I get all 9 GUIs displaying without problem when using the $WS_EX_LAYERED extended style. So I do not know what your problem is.

M23

Thanks for the response M23,

???????? Don't know how, but that is also showing all GUIs for me today.

However, if you increase the size of the array (100 in the example below), I believe you will see that only the first 12 GUIs will show, even though the return values for all the GUI/label creations and shows seem to be fine.

#include <GUIConstants.au3>
#include <GUIConstantsEX.au3>
#include <windowsconstants.au3>
#include <StaticConstants.au3>
#Include <WinAPI.au3>
#Include <File.au3>
#Include <Array.au3>
Opt("WinDetectHiddenText", 0)
const $TransparentColour = 0xABCDEF  ;any element this colour will be transparent
Global $iSize = 100
Global $aLabels[$iSize][5]
Global $gui1
Global $aGuis[1]
;Global $aLabels[200][200]
main()
$index = 1
While 1
    ConsoleWrite("Looping" & @CRLF)
    Switch GUIGetMsg()
        Case $GUI_EVENT_CLOSE
            Exit
    EndSwitch
  
_hidePage($index - 1)
_showPage($index)
sleep(500)
$index += 1
If $index > $iSize - 2 Then
   $index = 1
EndIf
ConsoleWrite('@@ Debug(' & @ScriptLineNumber & ') : $index = ' & $index & @crlf & '>Error code: ' & @error & @crlf) ;### Debug Console
WEnd
Func _hidePage($iPageNumber)
;ConsoleWrite('@@ Debug(' & @ScriptLineNumber & ') : $iPageNumber = ' & $iPageNumber & @crlf & '>Error code: ' & @error & @crlf) ;### Debug Console
GUISetState(@SW_HIDE, $aGuis[$iPageNumber])
EndFunc
Func _showPage($iPageNumber)
ConsoleWrite('@@ Debug(' & @ScriptLineNumber & ') : $iPageNumber = ' & $iPageNumber & @crlf & '>Error code: ' & @error & @crlf) ;### Debug Console
$ShowGuiResult = GUISetState(@SW_SHOW, $aGuis[$iPageNumber])
ConsoleWrite('@@ Debug(' & @ScriptLineNumber & ') : $ShowGuiResult = ' & $ShowGuiResult & @crlf & '>Error code: ' & @error & @crlf) ;### Debug Console
EndFunc
func main()
    createBaseGui()
  
ReDim $aGuis[$iSize]
    _createLabels()
EndFunc
func createBaseGui()
$gui1 = GUICreate("Visu Overlay", 1280, 1024, 0, 0, BitOR($WS_MAXIMIZEBOX,$WS_POPUP,$WS_TABSTOP),BitOR($WS_EX_TOPMOST, $WS_EX_TOOLWINDOW))
ConsoleWrite('@@ Debug(' & @ScriptLineNumber & ') : $gui1 = ' & $gui1 & @crlf & '>Error code: ' & @error & @crlf) ;### Debug Console
GUISetBkColor(0xFFFFFF)
GUISetFont(6)
GUISetState()
WinSetTrans($gui1,"",0)  ;Makes underlying GUI totally transparent
EndFunc
Func _createSubGUI($iGuiIndex, $iWidth, $iHeight, $iTop = 0, $iLeft = 0)
$aGuis[$iGuiIndex] = GUICreate("Visu Overlay " & $iGuiIndex, $iWidth, $iHeight, $iLeft, $iTop, $WS_POPUP, BitOR($WS_EX_LAYERED, $WS_EX_TOOLWINDOW))
ConsoleWrite('@@ Debug(' & @ScriptLineNumber & ') : $aGuis[$iGuiIndex] = ' & $aGuis[$iGuiIndex] & @crlf & '>Error code: ' & @error & @crlf) ;### Debug Console
;#TODO: reinstate this line
GUISetBkColor($TransparentColour, $aGuis[$iGuiIndex])
_API_SetLayeredWindowAttributes($aGuis[$iGuiIndex], $TransparentColour, 255);set special colour fully transparent
;GUISetState(@SW_LOCK, $aGuis[$iGuiIndex])
;MsgBox(0, "", "Start setting colour")
GUISetState(@SW_SHOW, $aGuis[$iGuiIndex])
;MsgBox(0, "", "Finished setting colour")
WinSetOnTop($aGuis[$iGuiIndex],'',1)
GUISetState(@SW_HIDE, $aGuis[$iGuiIndex])
;GUISetState(@SW_UNLOCK, $aGuis[$iGuiIndex])
EndFunc
Func _createLabels()
Local $lastPageNum = 0
Local $pageNum
Local $LabelIndex = -1
Local $labelCol = -1
Local $caption
Local $labelCount = 1
For $i = 1 to 100 - 1
   $pageNum = $i
 
   ;This code is used for keeping track of the column where the control ID is stored.
   if $pageNum <> $lastPageNum Then
    _createSubGUI($pageNum, 1280, 800) 
  
    $labelCol = 0
    $lastPageNum = $pageNum
   EndIf
  
   for $j = 1 to 5
    $caption = "Label" & $j & " on Page " & $pageNum
    $aLabels[$pageNum][$labelCol] = GUICtrlCreateLabel($caption, 10, $j * 25, 100, 20, BitOr($SS_LeftNoWordWrap, $SS_CenterImage))
    ConsoleWrite('@@ Debug(' & @ScriptLineNumber & ') : $aLabels[$pageNum][$labelCol] = ' & $aLabels[$pageNum][$labelCol] & @crlf & '>Error code: ' & @error & @crlf) ;### Debug Console
    ConsoleWrite('@@ Debug(' & @ScriptLineNumber & ') : GUICtrlRead($aLabels[$pageNum][$labelCol]) = ' & GUICtrlRead($aLabels[$pageNum][$labelCol]) & @crlf & '>Error code: ' & @error & @crlf) ;### Debug Console
    GUICtrlSetState($aLabels[$pageNum][$labelCol], $GUI_SHOW)
  
    $labelCount += 1
  
    GUICtrlSetTip(-1, $caption)
    ;GUICtrlSetState(-1, $GUI_HIDE)
    _BKColor(0xECE9D8, $aLabels[$pageNum][$labelCol])
  
    $labelCol += 1
   Next
Next
EndFunc
;===============================================================================
; Function Name:   _API_SetLayeredWindowAttributes
; Description:: Sets Layered Window Attributes:) See MSDN for more informaion
; Parameter(s):
;              $hwnd - Handle of GUI to work on
;              $i_transcolor - Transparent color
;              $Transparency - Set Transparancy of GUI
;              $isColorRef - If True, $i_transcolor is a COLORREF-Strucure, else an RGB-Color
; Requirement(s):  Layered Windows
; Return Value(s): Success: 1
;              Error: 0
;                  @error: 1 to 3 - Error from DllCall
;                  @error: 4 - Function did not succeed - use
;                              _WinAPI_GetLastErrorMessage or _WinAPI_GetLastError to get more information
; Author(s):    Prog@ndy
;===============================================================================
Func _API_SetLayeredWindowAttributes($hwnd, $i_transcolor, $Transparency = 255, $isColorRef = False)
    Local Const $AC_SRC_ALPHA = 1
    Local Const $ULW_ALPHA = 2
    Local Const $LWA_ALPHA = 0x2
    Local Const $LWA_COLORKEY = 0x1
    If Not $isColorRef Then
        $i_transcolor = Hex(String($i_transcolor), 6)
        $i_transcolor = Execute('0x00' & StringMid($i_transcolor, 5, 2) & StringMid($i_transcolor, 3, 2) & StringMid($i_transcolor, 1, 2))
    EndIf
    Local $Ret = DllCall("user32.dll", "int", "SetLayeredWindowAttributes", "hwnd", $hwnd, "long", $i_transcolor, "byte", $Transparency, "long", $LWA_COLORKEY + $LWA_ALPHA)
    Select
        Case @error
            Return SetError(@error, 0, 0)
        Case $Ret[0] = 0
            Return SetError(4, 0, 0)
        Case Else
            Return 1
    EndSelect
EndFunc ;==>_API_SetLayeredWindowAttributes
;===========================================================================
; Function    : _BKColor( backgroundcolor, controlID, textcolor )
; Description   : Sets the background color of a control. (Transparent Label)
;              : Sets the text color of a control.
; Author        : Thunder-man (Frank Michalski)
; Date        : 19. September 2007
; Version      : V 1.20
; Example  :    _BKColor()                            :Transparent
;              _BKColor( -1, $MyLabel)               :Transparent
;              _BKColor(0x00ff00)                     :Color Green
;              _BKColor(0x00ff00, $MyLabel)         :Color Green
;              _BKColor( -1, $MyLabel, 0x00ff00)   :Text Color Green
;===========================================================================
Func _BKColor($BackColor_ = "", $GuiID_ = -1, $Textcolor_ = 0x000000)
    If $BackColor_ = "" or $BackColor_ = -1 Then
  GUICtrlSetBkColor($GuiID_, $GUI_BKCOLOR_TRANSPARENT)
  GUICtrlSetColor($GuiID_, $Textcolor_)
Else
  GUICtrlSetBkColor($GuiID_, $BackColor_)
  GUICtrlSetColor($GuiID_, $Textcolor_)
EndIf
EndFunc  ;==>_BKColor

Melba23 · September 12, 2011

RagsRevenge,

I believe you will see that only the first 12 GUIs will show

Still see all the GUIs - there must be something wrong with your system. :graduated:

M23

GUI Speed affected by size of array?

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