Native Windows-Style Controls in 8.1

[Ian.W]

I'm trying to find out more about the "Native Windows-Style Controls" in LabWindows 8.1, which display the UI "based on your local Windows system theme". 

In 8.0 (and earlier) we have title bars that can be set to "Windows Style". Panel attributes have the option of "Conform to System Colors", and fonts within controls can be set to the "NI___" fonts which in turn are mapped to system fonts.

That feature set had its limits, but at this point I'm guessing about the new functionality. Can someone point me to information that decribes what this new feature offers in terms of (a) fonts (b) colors (c) control look/feel? Maybe some screenshots?  Or a comparison to what one gets in Measurement Studio / Visual Studio with 8.0?

Thanks,

Ian

[JonathanN]

Hi Ian,

First off, I would recommend checking out the LabWindows/CVI 8.1 Interactive Demo that shows the new Windows Style Controls. I have also attached two screenshots ("Old Theme.jpg" and "New Windows Theme.jpg") that depict the difference between using the new Windows theme option and not using it. 

You can find out some great information about Theme-based appearance for controls in the LabWindows/CVI Help under Using LabWindows/CVI » Developing a Graphical User Interface » Setting User Interface Editor Preferences topic.

When you enable the Windows-Theme option, you cannot change most panel or control colors in the User Interface Editor nor can you programmatically set the colors via the User Interface Library.  If you try and edit a certain panel or control color feature that cannot be change, you will receive the attached “Disable Message.jpg” screenshot.

As far as your Measurement Studio/Visual Studio questions, I wasn't quite clear exactly what information you needed. Are you trying to compare LabWindows/CVI to Measurement Studio or what?

Hope this helps!

Best Regards,

[Ian.W]

Thanks, Jonathan. I also just looked at the webcast about 8.1, and that helped too.  I was mainly interested to get a sense of the effect of the visual themes. On one hand it seems it could provide a look that is much more integrated with the OS, but on the other hand it might cause problems with panel layouts if people have unusual font sizes/type specified for messages, menus, etc.  (Some of the default dated-look we get in 8.0 (and earlier) is that NIDialog turns out to be MS Sans Serif, even in XP)

I see from your screen shots that the new style is different from the older Classic CVI look and the newer Lab-Style, which I compare in the attached.  I take it that the themes users will have on their PCs won't do much to change the shape of buttons/controls. Right now in XP there seems to be little in that area available for adjustment; perhaps Vista will be different.

Re Measurement Studio, I was wondering how developing the UI in the CVI IDE would compare to developing in VS with Windows Forms for the basic controls (numeric, text, etc.) and pulling in Measurement Studio controls for things like graphs.

--Ian

[JonathanN]

Hi Ian,

Windows XP doesn't allow too much "changing" of their theme. Vista seems to be big on visualization so perhaps there might be more customization on Vista but I am not sure.  Using the theme does make your UI look more "Windows" but does limit the customization of panel and control coloring.

You can use the ATTR_DISABLE_PANEL_THEME attribute for a control to override the theme drawing for individual control's which is a good option. 

As far as comparing user interfaces in Visual Studio to LabWindows/CVI, I think its just user preference. Visual Studio UI controls have always had a "Windows" look while we just introduced this feature in CVI 8.1.  Also, LabWindows/CVI and Measurement Studio contain test and measurement UI controls compared to Visual Studio which doesn't. In that case, you really can't compare anything. 

We are always trying to improve our IDE so if you any suggestions, let us know. 

I'm sure the debate on IDEs and programming languages will always exist so its mostly user opinion.

Thanks for the response.

Best Regards,