Any problem with this type of "timed msgbox"?

[Gary Peek]

I looked up many of the "timed MSGBOX" solutions in the forums, and then wondered why a person could not do a simple "timed error message box" like the attached code does it.

Can anyone see a flaw or caveat to doing one this way?

By the way, the CONTROL SET TEXT statements were needed because the dialog box showed up blank when I put the text in the CONTROL ADD LABEL statements.

DIALOG NEW 0, "My USB Program Error", 0, 0, 200, 45, %DS_CENTER, 0 TO hDlg
CONTROL ADD LABEL, hDlg, 998, "", 10, 5, 190, 10
CONTROL ADD LABEL, hDlg, 999, "", 10, 15, 190, 10
DIALOG SHOW MODELESS hDlg
DIALOG SHOW STATE hDlg, %SW_RESTORE
CONTROL SET TEXT hDlg, 998, "There was a problem opening the USB connection."
CONTROL SET TEXT hDlg, 999, "Check the power and USB connections to the display."
SLEEP 3000
DIALOG END hDlg

[Gösta H. Lovgren-2]

Can anyone see a flaw or caveat to doing one this way?

By the way, the CONTROL SET TEXT statements were needed because the dialog box showed up blank when I put the text in the CONTROL ADD LABEL statements.

Just needed the WPI Include, and a function (PBMain in this case) and a Local and the code ran fine (no need of the Set Text's).

I see no caveats and think it could be very handy in some cases. (Maybe add a WinBeep?)

'

$Include "WIN32API.INC"
Function PBMain
 Local hdlg As Dword
Dialog New  0,"My USB Program Error", , , 200, 45, %DS_CENTER, 0 To hDlg
Control Add Label, hDlg, 998, "There was a problem opening the USB connection.", 10, 5, 190, 10
Control Add Label, hDlg, 999, "Check the power and USB connections to the display.", 10, 15, 190, 10
Dialog Show Modeless hDlg
Dialog Show State hDlg, %SW_RESTORE
Sleep 3000
Dialog End hDlg
End Function
'

========================================
"He is one of those people who would be
enormously improved by death."
H. H. Munro (Saki) (1870-1916)
========================================

[Conrad Hoffman]

I don't see a problem with it, but there have been several threads about SLEEP not really being intended or desirable to use as a time delay. If you do a search on SLEEP and DELAY you can decide for yourself. I've been know to use SLEEP as a delay with no problem, but in more recent code I use the system time, especially for something several seconds long.

[Gary Peek]

Oh, yes, I had the API defined and all, the way I used it was within some other code where it was already defined.

[ ... and the code ran fine (no need of the Set Text's). ]

I played around with it some more, and I either need the SET TEXT lines, or a DIALOG REDRAW hDLG.

Perhaps it needs that when it is being uncovered by another window.

Thanks for the comments.

[Michael Mattias]

>Perhaps it needs that when it is being uncovered by another window.

Or moved.

With no message loop, the window does not get notified that it needs to redraw iteself.

I think there are some other "Messagebox with timeout" demos in the source code forum. They might give you some extra ideas.

[Dave Biggs]

You could use a Graphic Window -

.. persistent -- they are automatically redrawn for you after resuming from being minimized or temporarily covered by other windows.

#Dim All
#Register NONE
#INCLUDE "WIN32API.INC"
 
Function PbMain()
 Dim hGfx???, click&, x!, y!, tc&, Key$
 
  GRAPHIC WINDOW " My USB Program Error", 500, 500, 300, 80 TO hGfx
  GRAPHIC ATTACH hGfx, 0
  GRAPHIC SET POS (0,20)
  GRAPHIC PRINT "     There was a problem opening the USB connection."
  GRAPHIC PRINT "     Check the power and USB connections to the display."
  Do While Click = 0
    'GRAPHIC WINDOW CLICK TO Click, x, y                           ' Useful if no caption
    'GRAPHIC INKEY$ TO Key : If Key = CHR$(27) Then Exit Loop      '    "    "  "    "
    Incr tc
    SLEEP 10
  Loop Until tc = 500
  GRAPHIC WINDOW END
 
End Function
'------------------/PBMain

A limitation might be that you have to 'hand craft' a message box of this kind to suit the amount of text to be displayed. I suppose adding buttons and icons would be a chore too, unlike a 'standard' message box..