Re: SV: Windows Forms layout - how to do it?

  • From: Jamal Mazrui <empower@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Sat, 13 Aug 2011 07:52:46 -0400

Thanks for that feedback, including tracing where the problem might lie. I will investigate when I get a chance.


In the meantime, you can recompile any Homer.NET assembly since the source code is provided. Find the batch file in the distribution that uses the command-line compiler. I know you prefer to use VS, but I think it is still worth understanding how the command-line compiler works. If you can fix and recompile the assembly, then you can continue building your application with VS.

Jamal





On 8/12/2011 1:05 PM, Bue Vester-Andersen wrote:
Hi Jamal,

I tried to mail you privately some days ago about my problems with Lbc, but
maybe I didn't get your mail address correct. Since someone asked us to keep
the discussion on the list, I guess it would be ok to do so anyway.

Ok, here is what I have found until now:

Apparently, the "invalid cast" exception is only thrown when the program is
run from inside the debugging environment of VS (f5), not if you run without
debugging (ctrl-f5) or if you run the exe file from explorer. I enclosed the
whole thing in a try / catch statement to make sure I was handling the
exception if it ever turned up, but it didn't.

I was able to trace the exception to the complete() method. I then had some
difficulty finding my way around the code of that method. However, one line
did catch my attention:

var frm: LbcForm = Form.ActiveForm

I am definitly no JS expert, but it seems to me that you make that
assignment before loading and showing the form, and thus before it has
become active. I can't tell why it works in one situation and not in the
other or if it has anything to do with the case at all.

Maybe, if you could provide me with a debug version of the dll, perhaps I
could track the exception down further.

Hope this brings us nearer to a solution

Best regards
Bue
-----Oprindelig meddelelse-----
Fra: programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] På vegne af Bue
Vester-Andersen
Sendt: 5. august 2011 16:49
Til: 'Jamal Mazrui'; programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Emne: SV: Windows Forms layout - how to do it?

Hi Jamal,

Thanks for the reply. I will try what you have mentioned. I then suggest
that we move the discussion off the list, so we don't make too much noice.

I am still very interested in knowing how everybody else on the list is
making a gui with a decent layout, Windows forms or not. You can't mean to
tell me that you are all stuck with making command line driven console apps
:-)

Best regards
Bue


-----Oprindelig meddelelse-----
Fra: Jamal Mazrui [mailto:empower@xxxxxxxxx]
Sendt: 5. august 2011 15:59
Til: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: bva_lists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Emne: Re: Windows Forms layout - how to do it?

Hi,
I use a text editor rather than Visual Studio for .NET development, so was
hoping that someone else might have a solution to the problem you
experienced compiling with Homer.NET.  As its author, I would like to work
with you to resolve the problem.  If possible, please try the following and
report yur results.

I think there is a way that VS hosts a program that is under development,
rather than launching that program to run independently.  I am not sure, but
think that is where the problem is arising.  Can you compile the code and
run it without this hosting scenario?  For example, I vaguely recall that
Control+F5 compiles, whereas F5 runs a program in a hosted mode.  If
compiling is successful, then try running the program outside of VS, or look
for menu options on a project or build menu that allow you to run the
program independently (not hosted for debugging, etc.).

If that does not work, try compiling from the command line with the C#
compiler, csc.exe.  There is a VS Start Menu option for opening a console
mode environment that sets appropriate paths to the command line compilers.
You will need to reference assemblies as appropriate when calling the
compiler.  the batch files distributed with Homer.NET illustrate how this
may be done.

I realize that you may prefer to use VS for everything rather than a
command-line compiler for some tasks.  This would help us identify where the
problem lies.

Jamal

On 8/5/2011 6:14 AM, Bue Vester-Andersen wrote:
        Hi,

I am wondering how you guys make a Windows forms user interface with a
decent layout. I am congenitally blind, and I have always found it a
great pain to make a layout that would work at all.

- which controlls should be where on the form, and where should they
be docked?

- What should be aligned with what? For instance, a text label and a
text box have different hights, so do you align to top bottom or middle?

How do you ensure that each controll has room enough for its text - at
any time? What when you translate the text into another language? What
when the dialog is resized?

Should I just switch to something completely different? WPF is not
terribly accessible, at least not with JAWS for Windows., which
doesn't support UI automation very well.

I could continue until next christmas. Do you all have sighted persons
to scrutinize your forms layout when you change a single byte of code?

I had hoped that I could use Layout by Code but no luck so far. The
thread about that seems to have dissolved into a discussion about to
IDE or not to IDE.

Do any of you know about a layout engine that can solve at least some
of the problems? If not, can you point me to a tutorial on how to make
a good layout? The .net documentation is excelent if you know what you
want to achieve, but I guess that is part of the problem. I don't know
what my form is really supposed to look like, and I don't know when to
dock the controlls left right or center.

Hope someone can help me.

Best regards
Bue

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