[Resolved] True transparency

[xeroTechnologiesLLC]

I've been looking through the forums for about 3 days now, reviewing various 'transparency' methods such as parent/child GUI manipulation, etc. None of them are really TRUE transparency methods. My problem that I ran into with the parent/child gui method was that if the user defines their font to the transparency color - the font becomes transparent...the bkg to the transparency color - the program becomes entirely transparent.

We tried a few other various methods recommended to make a Form, not the controls, just the form, true transparent.

So far I have not found a method to do this.

Unless I am searching for the wrong keywords, is there no native transparency methods in AutoIT?

The current program I am attempting to develop hinges on 2 things, transparency and scrolling items in an Arc style, which I haven't figured out how to do either, so I'm just wondering if there was a direct way to do true transparency in AutoIT.

And before someone perceives it as such , I do not mean this to be a bash against AutoIT, simply just asking a question.

Edited April 7, 2012 by xeroTechnologiesLLC

[BrewManNH]

Here's one way of doing it:

#include <GUIConstants.au3>
#include <WindowsConstants.au3>
Opt("GUIOnEventMode", 1)
Global Const $MainGUI = GUICreate("Media Player", 434, 434, -1, -1, $WS_POPUP, $WS_EX_LAYERED)
GUISetBkColor(0x808080)
GUISetOnEvent($GUI_EVENT_CLOSE, "CloseMG")
GUICtrlCreatePic("cdrom.bmp", 0, 0, 0, 0)
GUICtrlSetState(-1, $GUI_DISABLE)
GUISetState()
While 1
    Sleep(10)
WEnd
Func CloseMG()
    Exit
EndFunc

Use this file for the background image.

[Melba23]

xeroTechnologiesLLC,

Here are a couple of ways to make transparent GUIs.

This one has visible controls:

expandcollapse popup

#include <GuiConstantsEx.au3>
#include <WindowsConstants.au3>

$Main_Gui = GUICreate("", 400, 400, 20, 20, $WS_POPUP, $WS_EX_TOOLWINDOW + $WS_EX_TOPMOST)

$But1 = GUICtrlCreateButton(" Exit ", 100, 100, 80, 21)

; Must be within GUI window
$Vol_Up_ID = GUICtrlCreateButton("Vol Up",   300, 200, 80, 30)
$Vol_Dn_ID = GUICtrlCreateButton("Vol Down", 300, 230, 80, 30)

GUISetControlsVisible($Main_Gui)

GUISetState()

While 1
    If GUIGetMsg() = $But1 Then Exit
WEnd

Func GUISetControlsVisible($hWnd)
    Local $aM_Mask, $aCtrlPos, $aMask

    $aM_Mask = DllCall("gdi32.dll", "long", "CreateRectRgn", "long", 0, "long", 0, "long", 0, "long", 0)
    $aLastID = DllCall("user32.dll", "int", "GetDlgCtrlID", "hwnd", GUICtrlGetHandle(-1))

    For $i = 3 To $aLastID[0]
        $aCtrlPos = ControlGetPos($hWnd, '', $i)
        If Not IsArray($aCtrlPos) Then ContinueLoop

        $aMask = DllCall("gdi32.dll", "long", "CreateRectRgn", _
            "long", $aCtrlPos[0], _
            "long", $aCtrlPos[1], _
            "long", $aCtrlPos[0] + $aCtrlPos[2], _
            "long", $aCtrlPos[1] + $aCtrlPos[3])
        DllCall("gdi32.dll", "long", "CombineRgn", "long", $aM_Mask[0], "long", $aMask[0], "long", $aM_Mask[0], "int", 2)
    Next
    DllCall("user32.dll", "long", "SetWindowRgn", "hwnd", $hWnd, "long", $aM_Mask[0], "int", 1)
EndFunc

And this one has visible text:

#include <GUIConstantsEx.au3>
#include <WindowsConstants.au3>
#include <WINAPI.au3>
#include <sendmessage.au3>

;Global Const $LWA_ALPHA = 0x2
;Global Const $LWA_COLORKEY = 0x1

HotKeySet("ESC", "_Exit")

$hGUI = GUICreate("Test", 500, 500, -1, -1, $WS_POPUP, $WS_EX_LAYERED)
GUISetBkColor(0xABCDEF)

GUICtrlCreateLabel("Click on the text to drag this transparent GUI" & @CRLF & "Press ESC to exit", 10, 10)

_WinAPI_SetLayeredWindowAttributes($hGUI, 0xABCDEF, 250)

GUISetState()

While 1

    Switch GUIGetMsg()
        Case $GUI_EVENT_CLOSE
            Exit
        Case $GUI_EVENT_PRIMARYDOWN
            _SendMessage($hGUI, $WM_SYSCOMMAND, 0xF012, 0)
    EndSwitch

WEnd

Func _Exit()
    Exit
EndFunc

I hope they prove useful.

M23

[UEZ]

Here another example with GDI+:

expandcollapse popup

#include <guiconstantsex.au3>
#include <windowsconstants.au3>
#include <gdiplus.au3>

Global $hGUI, $hImage, $hGraphic, $hImage
Global Const $SC_DRAGMOVE = 0xF012
_GDIPlus_Startup()
; Load PNG image
$hImage = _GDIPlus_ImageLoadFromFile(StringReplace(@AutoItExe, "autoit3.exe", "ExamplesGUITorus.png"))
$iWidth = _GDIPlus_ImageGetWidth($hImage)
$iHeight = _GDIPlus_ImageGetHeight($hImage)

; Create GUI
$hGUI = GUICreate("Show PNG", $iWidth, $iHeight, -1, -1, $WS_POPUP, $WS_EX_LAYERED + $WS_EX_TOPMOST)
$hGUI_child = GUICreate("", $iWidth, $iHeight, 0, 0, $WS_POPUP, $WS_EX_LAYERED + $WS_EX_TOPMOST + $WS_EX_MDICHILD, $hGUI)
$hButton = GUICtrlCreateButton("Exit", $iWidth * 2 / 3, $iHeight * 2 / 3, 40, 40)
GUISetBkColor(0xFFFFFF, $hGUI_child)
GUISetState(@SW_SHOW, $hGUI)
GUISetState(@SW_SHOW, $hGUI_child)
SetTransparentBitmap($hGUI, $hImage)
_WinAPI_SetLayeredWindowAttributes($hGUI_child, 0xFFFFFF, 0xFF)

$hGraphic = _GDIPlus_GraphicsCreateFromHWND($hGUI_child)
_GDIPlus_GraphicsSetSmoothingMode($hGraphic, 2)
DllCall($ghGDIPDll, "uint", "GdipSetTextRenderingHint", "handle", $hGraphic, "int", 3)
_GDIPlus_GraphicsDrawString($hGraphic, "GDI+ Full Transparency", 0, $iHeight / 2 - 20, "Arial", 12)

GUIRegisterMsg($WM_LBUTTONDOWN, "_WM_LBUTTONDOWN")
GUIRegisterMsg($WM_PAINT, "WM_PAINT")

While 1
    $nMsg = GUIGetMsg()
    Switch $nMsg
        Case $GUI_EVENT_CLOSE, $hButton
            GUIRegisterMsg($WM_LBUTTONDOWN, "")
            GUIRegisterMsg($WM_PAINT, "")
            _GDIPlus_ImageDispose($hImage)
            _GDIPlus_GraphicsDispose($hGraphic)
            _GDIPlus_Shutdown()
            GUIDelete($hGUI)
            ExitLoop
    EndSwitch
WEnd

Func WM_PAINT($hWnd, $msg, $wParam, $lParam)
    _GDIPlus_GraphicsDrawString($hGraphic, "GDI+ Full Transparency", 0, $iHeight / 2 - 20, "Arial", 12)
    Return "GUI_RUNDEFMSG"
EndFunc

Func _WM_LBUTTONDOWN($hWnd, $iMsg, $wParam, $lParam)
    _SendMessage($hGUI, $WM_SYSCOMMAND, $SC_DRAGMOVE, 0)
EndFunc   ;==>_WM_LBUTTONDOWN

Func SetTransparentBitmap($hGUI, $hImage, $iOpacity = 0xFF)
    Local $hScrDC, $hMemDC, $hBitmap, $hOld, $pSize, $tSize, $pSource, $tSource, $pBlend, $tBlend
    $hScrDC = _WinAPI_GetDC(0)
    $hMemDC = _WinAPI_CreateCompatibleDC($hScrDC)
    $hBitmap = _GDIPlus_BitmapCreateHBITMAPFromBitmap($hImage)
    $hOld = _WinAPI_SelectObject($hMemDC, $hBitmap)
    $tSize = DllStructCreate($tagSIZE)
    $pSize = DllStructGetPtr($tSize)
    DllStructSetData($tSize, "X", _GDIPlus_ImageGetWidth($hImage))
    DllStructSetData($tSize, "Y", _GDIPlus_ImageGetHeight($hImage))
    $tSource = DllStructCreate($tagPOINT)
    $pSource = DllStructGetPtr($tSource)
    $tBlend = DllStructCreate($tagBLENDFUNCTION)
    $pBlend = DllStructGetPtr($tBlend)
    DllStructSetData($tBlend, "Alpha", $iOpacity)
    DllStructSetData($tBlend, "Format", 1)
    _WinAPI_UpdateLayeredWindow($hGUI,  $hMemDC, 0, $pSize, $hMemDC, $pSource, 0, $pBlend, $ULW_ALPHA)
    _WinAPI_ReleaseDC(0, $hScrDC)
    _WinAPI_SelectObject($hMemDC, $hOld)
    _WinAPI_DeleteObject($hBitmap)
    _WinAPI_DeleteDC($hMemDC)
EndFunc   ;==>SetTransparentBitmap

Tested on Win7 x64!

Br,

UEZ

Edited March 15, 2012 by UEZ

[xeroTechnologiesLLC]

/sigh/ I have so far to learn... lol

So taking Melba's example:

#include <GuiConstantsEx.au3>
#include <WindowsConstants.au3>
$Main_Gui = GUICreate("", 400, 400, 20, 20, $WS_POPUP, $WS_EX_TOOLWINDOW + $WS_EX_TOPMOST)
$But1 = GUICtrlCreateButton(" Exit ", 100, 100, 80, 21)
; Must be within GUI window
$Vol_Up_ID = GUICtrlCreateButton("Vol Up",   300, 200, 80, 30)
$Vol_Dn_ID = GUICtrlCreateButton("Vol Down", 300, 230, 80, 30)
GUISetControlsVisible($Main_Gui)
GUISetState()
While 1
    If GUIGetMsg() = $But1 Then Exit
WEnd
Func GUISetControlsVisible($hWnd)
    Local $aM_Mask, $aCtrlPos, $aMask
    $aM_Mask = DllCall("gdi32.dll", "long", "CreateRectRgn", "long", 0, "long", 0, "long", 0, "long", 0)
    $aLastID = DllCall("user32.dll", "int", "GetDlgCtrlID", "hwnd", GUICtrlGetHandle(-1))
    For $i = 3 To $aLastID[0]
        $aCtrlPos = ControlGetPos($hWnd, '', $i)
        If Not IsArray($aCtrlPos) Then ContinueLoop
        $aMask = DllCall("gdi32.dll", "long", "CreateRectRgn", _
            "long", $aCtrlPos[0], _
            "long", $aCtrlPos[1], _
            "long", $aCtrlPos[0] + $aCtrlPos[2], _
            "long", $aCtrlPos[1] + $aCtrlPos[3])
        DllCall("gdi32.dll", "long", "CombineRgn", "long", $aM_Mask[0], "long", $aMask[0], "long", $aM_Mask[0], "int", 2)
    Next
    DllCall("user32.dll", "long", "SetWindowRgn", "hwnd", $hWnd, "long", $aM_Mask[0], "int", 1)
EndFunc

..am I understanding it correctly that it's basically creating a mask over the form?

I don't really get DLLCalls I guess. My math is... horrible at best so I'm not really getting the usage in it, but I will continue to research that further down the line. But if I understand this correctly... GUISetControlsVisible function will mask the form no matter the size/layout so... .. in theory if I had to use this same function on say 3 or 4 gui's in 1 program the $hWnd would go back to when i called the function and hide the appropriate form that i note in the function call...right?

GUISetControlsVisible($Main_Gui)
GUISetControlsVisible($Main_Gui1)
GUISetControlsVisible($Main_Gui2)
etc...

[xeroTechnologiesLLC]

Oh, and thank you both very much for the input - saving the examples in my code archive.

[Melba23]

xeroTechnologiesLLC,

That script is only a very rough example of how to mask the GUI that i found on the forum a long time ago - it would need a fair bit of work to get it up to a reasonable standard - a lot of the code could be much better written usine the current version of Autoit. We could probably even hide the DLL calls just for you!

Using this for several GUIs in the same script woudl nto be simple - it is pretty much hardwired to a single GUI as it stands. Again it would take a fair amount of work to develop - putting controls into arrays would probably be a good place to start.

But do not let me put you off - go ahead and try! You know where we are if you run into difficulties.

M23

[xeroTechnologiesLLC]

Melba,

We could probably even hide the DLL calls just for you!

- putting controls into arrays would probably be a good place to start.

The other main developer and I had been discussing this for some time and before I go too much further on this project we will most assuredly have to.

Now for the other hard part... scrolling items in an arc.

... is the thread I started seeking help on that and I'll manage that topic there.

Thank you again for all the help!

[Belini]

Melba23 and UEZ congratulations for codes posted, will be very helpful to me.