============================================== MsgBox95 3.20 - The VB Message Box Replacement ============================================== The Visual Basic MsgBox does not have alternate command captions, alternate icons, alternate fonts, or a Help button. MsgBox95 provides all those objects and more. Features: 1. Exactly duplicates the VB MsgBox functions. 2. Uses the 3D effect found in newer applications. 3. Allows for additional, more meaningful user response by allowing the command captions to be more descriptive. 4. Can be used to provide bilingual messages, with corresponding captions. 5. Can display alternate icons. 6. Can display a 3D title [or no title] using Ctl3D.DLL 7. Can be used to create "Splash Screens". 8. A MsgBox Wizard [MsgWiz95.Exe] generates MsgBox Visual Basic code. Thus simplifying the creation of messages. 9. Can include a Help button or No buttons. 10. A MsgBox Conversion Utility [MsgConvt.Exe]. 11. Work with Windows 3.1 and Windows 95. ====================================== MsgBox Wizard - Generate Code and Demo ====================================== MsgWiz95.Zip contains the following zipped files: MsgWiz95.Exe Demo Program MsgBox95.Hlp Help File MsgConvt.Hlp Conversion Help File MsgBSubs.Hlp Subroutines and Functions Help File ReadMe.Txt This Read Me File *.Ico Several icons used by MsgWiz95 File_id.Diz A brief description of the product. MsgWiz95 uses VBRun300.DLL, ThreeD.VBX, CMDialog.VBX, and Ctl3D.Dll. They are not supplied. The supplied MsgConvt.Hlp and MsgBSubs.Hlp are provided as "shell" files to keep the size of the downloaded file to a minimum. We will be happy to send you the full version of these files. You should copy the Help files to your Windows directory. Use MsgWiz95 to compare the difference between the VB MsgBox and the MsgBox95 messages. You can also demo the use of different icons, fonts, command captions and include a help button or no buttons. Please review the jelp file to learn how to incorporate MsgBox95 into your applications. MsgBox95 will use Ctl3Dv2.DLL or Ctl3D.DLL, if found. They cause MsgBox95 forms to be displayed with a 3D title and MsgWiz95's CMDialog forms to be displayed with a 3D effect. =============== Version History =============== Version 3.20, 95/07/24 ---------------------- MsgBox3D Becomes MsgBox95 Support for Windows 95 - MsgBox95 now automatically supports Windows 95. If you are a previous user of you need only replace MsgBox3D with MsgBox95, recompile your application and your messages will fully support Windows 95. If you are new to MsgBox95 then you can include it in your application and know that your messages will appear correctly in a Windows 95 environment. You will want to review the "Windows 95 Conversion Considerations" in the help file. Other Enhancements. Mouse Snap-To - Mouse "snap to" is now automatically handled. API SetCursorPos is used to position the mouse. That support was completely rewritten in this version. Included Module Size Smaller - The "history" information previously maintained in MsgBox3D.Bas has been moved to module MsgHst95.Bas. You no longer have to "carry" this textual information into your application. Likewise, "What's New" information has been moved to module MsgNew95.Bas. Version 3.10, 95/06/08 ---------------------- Ctrl-P Prints - MsgBox3D prints the message on the Windows default print in response to the user's pressing Ctrl-P. A useful feature for responding to users who have encountered an application's error message Minor Enhancements 1. A mouse click on the lower portion of a NoButton/NoTitle message simulates the selection of the message's default button. 2. MB3D_DoHelp now supports the WinHelp Help_Quit command. 3. MsgBox3D is now available from PsL [Public (software) Library] and a demo version is available on America Online. Version 3.00, 95/05/16 ---------------------- MsgConvt Conversion Utility - The conversion utility reads your projects and converts MsgBox statements to MsgBox3D statements. See help file MsgConvt.Hlp for details. New Look No Separator - The message can be created without a separator line between the message and command buttons. A suggestion from Jeffrey McManus [72103,3263]. Bevel Width - You can specify the command button's bevel width. The Win31 default is 2. The Win95 setting is 1. You can achieve a Win95 look by setting MB3D_BevelWidth=1. A suggestion from Bruce Nordstrand [100352,176] VB MsgBox Source - MsgGen3D now generates output for the standard VB MsgBox. Suggested by Kip Johnson [76451,3660]. Minor Enhancements 1. MsgBox3D no longer needs constants from VB's Constant.Txt file. 2. An Undo button is added to the message edit screen. 3. The message form is no longer "outline" if registered with Ctl3D. 4. The MsgBox3D subroutines and functions have been documented and distributed in help file MsgBSubs.Hlp. Version 2.80, 95/04/02 ---------------------- MsgGen3D Settings - MsgGen3D options and settings are now saved in and Ini file. The are restored the next time the program is executed. MsgNew3D What's New - In prior versions of MsgGen3D, the "What's New" messages were always displayed during the startup process. The display of "What's New" messages can now be disabled. Version 2.72, 95/03/12 ---------------------- German Captions. Thanks to Holger Thornagel [100407,356] for supplying German equivalent captions used in MsgCap3D.Frm. Version 2.71, 95/03/12 ---------------------- Ctl3D.DLL Old Version - MsgBox3D uses Ctl3D's function Ctl3dSubclassDlgExV2 to register the message. Older versions do not provide that function. MsgBox3D now gets the Ctl3D.DLL version [using Ctl3DGetVer] and does not call the subclassing function unless the Ctl3D version is 2.0 or greater. Thanks to Dallas Bridge, 100237,3155 for bringing the limitation to our attention. Version 2.70, 95/03/06 ---------------------- MB3D_NoTitles. MsgBox3D can display the message without a title. Support is provided to drag the "no title" message. MB3D_UseCtl3D. MsgBox3D will use Ctl3D.DLL or the newer version, Ctl3DV2.DLL, to display the title with a 3D effect. Message Edit. Message input is provided via a separate form. An Edit button is added to MsgGen3D which pop's up a large form into which message test can be entered. Version 2.61, 95/01/31 ---------------------- Single Access Key. The standard VB message box allows the user to press a single access key to respond to a message. The user does need to press Alt-Access Key. For example: Pressing "Y" causes the "Yes" action to be selected. The user does not have to press Alt-Y. The character following the ampersand found in the command's caption becomes the single character access key. If more than one command contains that character the key is ignored. This feature is added to MsgBox3D in version 2.61 from a suggestion by Nic Barnes, 100111,3452. Version 2.60, 95/01/30 ---------------------- MB3D_VGA_Messages. By design, the width of the message created by MsgBox3D considers the screen's resolution. A "wider" message is created on higher resolution screens. You can "force" message to be displayed in VGA resolution width. If MB3D_VGA_Messages=True then MsgBox3D will create these narrower messages. Version 2.50, 94/12/03 ---------------------- MB3D_Unload. The MsgBox3D form can now be unloaded, if loaded, using MB3D_Unload. MB3D_Zone. The MsgBox3D message can be centered in a zone. Subroutine MB3D_Zone is added. See Message Location in the MsgBox3D.Hlp file. Registration. MsgBox3D registration is available from CompuServe Shareware Registration services. Use GO SWREG, item number 3805. Mouse Snap-To. The mouse pointer will jump to the default button of any dialog box if Snap-To is enabled in the mouse driver. MsgBox3D uses ThreeD.VBX command buttons. ThreeD.VBX buttons do not support the Snap-To feature. One standard VB command button was added to the MsgBox3D form in version 2.44. That button is moved to the center of the default message button then set to invisible. This workaround solves the minor inconsistency between VB's MsgBox and MsgBox3D. Thanks go to Helmuth Schutzeich for reporting this inconsistency. French Captions. Thanks to Roger Doyon [74361,3542] for supplying French equivalent captions used in MsgCap3D.Frm. Bug. MsgGen3D always tried to use Ctl3Dv2. Then goes into a loop and can't recover. Thanks to Helmuth Schutzeich for reporting this "serious bug." Version 2.40, 94/10/06 ---------------------- Significantly Improved Performance. The MsgBox3D form is no longer unloaded. It is hidden instead. This provides a vast improvement in performance. Almost all code was moved from the message form [MsgBox3D.Frm] to the module [MsgBox3D.Bas]. You can still unload the form by changing one global variable. A suggestion from Art Gravina and Nick Esselman. Help Button or No Buttons. You can include a Help button or have no buttons displayed with the message. Help button is a suggestion from Ed Obeda. No buttons is a suggestion from Nick Esselman. More Icons. Eight more standard Icons are added. A suggestion from a number of users. Cleaner Message. The message has been redesigned providing a cleaner 3D effect. Use the new or old design by changing one global switch. A suggestion from Douglas D. Feller New Name. MsgDmo3D's name is changed to MsgGen3D. The new name reflects the message generation features of the program. Version 2.30, 94/09/08 ---------------------- Generate VB Code. MsgDmo3D.Exe, the demo program, will generate MsgBox3D source code which can be "pasted" into your application. See help topic "Generating MsgBox3D Source Code" in the help file for details. Version 2.20, 94/08/17 ---------------------- Add Alternate Icons. You can select from one of sixteen alternate icons, or specify the file name of any icon to be displayed by MsgBox3D. A suggestion from Ed Obeda. Save and Restore MsgBox3D Global Variables. You can use subroutines MB3D_Globals_Save and MB3D_Globals_Restore to save and restore the 21 MsgBox3D user definable variables. Version 2.10, 94/07/27 ---------------------- Add "Splash Screen" support. Use Global MB3D_Splash to pass an interval to MsgBox3D. For example: MB3D_Splash = 1000 causes the message to be removed in one second. Version 2.03, 94/06/02 ---------------------- Add "Private" to internal MsgBox3D subroutines and functions. Version 2.02, 94/05/30 ---------------------- A comment in the help file was inaccurate. A label box, not a text box, is used to display non-3D messages. Version 2.01, 94/05/29 ---------------------- Added MB3D_Commands_No3D global variable. When set to True commands are shown without a 3D font. Suggestion from Louis Desjardins. Version 2.00, 94/05/27 ---------------------- Two significant features were added to MsgBox3D in version 2.00. You can now specify the font and alignment used while displaying the message. And you can define the command captions and fonts. For example: The "OK" caption could be replaced with "Next Page". These enhancements are described in the demo's What's New screens. Uses: You could use MsgBox3D as a bilingual enhancement to VB's message box. For example: As the user log's on he replies whether he wishes to use the French or English version of your application. You then modify the command captions based upon his language preference. Version 1.10, 94/04/10 ---------------------- 1. Remove VSVBX from the demo program. 2. Support the up and down arrow keys while displaying the message. Pressing the up or down arrow keys did not provide the same results as the VB MsgBox. Version 1.01, 94/03/04 ---------------------- 1. Add support for System Modal mode. With the help of Wayne Aiello, MsgBox3D now supports the display of the message box in System Modal mode. The SetSystemModalWindow API is used. 2. MsgBox3D is modified to eliminate the Switch menu entry from the control box. And display the Close menu entry only if a Cancel button is displayed. The GetSystemMenu, DeleteMenu and ModifyMenu API's are used. Version 1.00, 94/03/01 ---------------------- Original version completed. A demo is uploaded to CompuServe on 94/03/01. ============== Upgrade Policy ============== See the Upgrade Policy in help file MsgBox95.Hlp. ================= Ordering MsgBox3D ================= See Registering and Ordering in help file MsgBox95.Hlp If you have questions, problems, or suggestions concerning MsgBox95, please contact: The Bridge, Inc. 913 Hacienda Way Millbrae, CA 94030 415-737-0870 Fax: 415-737-0871 CompuServe: 71662,205 ============== Other Products ============== Other products available from The Bridge on CompuServe include: Holiday Calendar - A full function calendar with holidays using DDE. Use it as a stand alone calendar. Or use it to communicate with your application via DDE. Holiday information is stored in an Access database. Source code available for $19.95. File name: HolCal.Zip Shade - A demo program that shows how to shade a form - similar to the Window's Setup screen. Freeware. File name: Shade.Zip. SetTab - A demo program that shows how to set tabs in a text box. Freeware. File name: SetTab.Zip TstLay - Two functions that will save and restore a TrueGrid layout in a binary file. Freeware. File name: TstLay.Zip. DemoCt3D - Demonstrates the API's needed to call Ctl3D.DLL. Freeware. File name: DmoC3D.Zip UppLow - A demo that uses API's to force the text box to convert all data to upper or lower case as it is entered. Freeware. File name: UppLow.Zip Readme.Txt Last Revised: Sunday, July 23, 1995