Release Overview
Version 6.0

Enhanced Support for Controls

Bitmap Push Button Behavior Has Changed

If some event in the system forces the focus away from a text-based push button after a click had been started but not finished, the click is voided. In prior versions of the runtime, this did not happen with a bitmap push button. Starting with Version 6.0, bitmap push buttons void the click just as text-based push buttons do. This change applies only to programs compiled for Version 6.0 or later.

TRANSPARENT-COLOR Property of Bitmap Controls Now Easier to Apply

You can now specify a value for the TRANSPARENT-COLOR property of a bitmap control that designates the color of the pixel in the upper-left corner of a bitmap as the "transparent" color. This means that you no longer have to know the exact value of the "transparent" color. The new value (hex x#1000000) can be found as the level 78 constant "BM-CORNER-COLOR" in "acugui.def".

This feature makes it easier to use a bitmap with the TRANSPARENT-COLOR property under earlier versions of Windows. When the monitor is set to 16-bit ("high color") mode, certain colors are translated to nearby colors when a bitmap is loaded into memory. The API routines in Windows NT/2000/XP perform "smart" matching of a specified transparent color when this occurs, but Windows 95/98/ME do not. Now, the bitmap is loaded and color translations are performed before the "transparent" color is determined, so smart matching is not necessary.

Multi-line Push Button, Check Box, and Radio Button Text

On 32-bit Windows systems, you can now program a push button, check box, or radio button to have a multi-line title or label. When one of these control types is given the "MULTILINE" style, the control's title text (push button) or label text (check box, radio button) is automatically word wrapped to fit the control's size. You can force a line break in the text by embedding an ASCII line feed character (h"0A"). The MULTILINE style is ignored in character-based environments.

Setting the VALUE in a List Box or Combo Box

In past versions, setting the VALUE of a combo box or list box caused the first item in the list that started with the VALUE text to be selected, regardless of case. In Version 6.0, when a box's VALUE is set, the list is searched for an exact, case-sensitive match with the specified value. If the value is found, it is selected. If an exact match is not found, the list is searched for an exact match regardless of case. If a match is still not found, the list is searched again, this time for the first string that contains the passed VALUE as a leading substring, regardless of case.

The new behavior retains the useful substring search capability of the VALUE phrase while selecting the correct item when an exact match is found. This change has the potential to change the behavior of an existing application. A new configuration variable, V60_LIST_VALUE, allows you to select which search algorithm (new or old) to use. See the entry for V60_LIST_VALUE in Appendix H of Book 4, ACUCOBOL-GT Appendices.

New Alignment Option for Check Box and Radio Button Labels

By default, check box and radio button text labels are centered vertically in the control's area. You can cause a label to be aligned with the top of the control's area by specifying the new "VTOP" style. The VTOP style is ignored in character-based environments.

© 1988-2003 Acucorp, Inc. All rights reserved.