TC 7 request: Show icons in menus

[Lefteous]

2Stance

Startermenu, Total Commander Main menu, why to seperate it?
Someday TC Main menu could show mixed entrys and commands inside it.

You really understood the essence of the Unified Command system.

[Sheepdog]

Startermenu, Total Commander Main menu, why to seperate it?
Someday TC Main menu could show mixed entrys and commands inside it.

For your Information:

This day has been the 18 February 2003, the release date of TC 5.51.

Since then you could use the cm_usermenuXX commands within the main menu. Or the Codenumbers 701,702...

sheepdog

[StickyNomad]

2Sheepdog

Since then you could use the cm_usermenuXX commands within the main menu

You're right, but this is quite uncomfortable as therefore you must refer to an existing starter menu entry and so you'll always have a redundant menu entry if you want to start an app from within the main menu. Needless to mention what happens if you change sth in the starter menu...

So once again, let's break the differences between main and starter menu and have one single kind of menu with all possibilities.

[Balderstrom]

I think I already voted for that. It would just require a usercmd.ini or registry usage.
Among other .ini and or .dat files used for all the places TC stores lists that you'd want to clean.

[SQUIRE]

Whoa, who would have thought a casual remark like 'I beg to disagree' would have sparked such a bunfight? My apologies for inadvertently starting the furore. For the record, I share Flint's assertion:

Nobody suggested to replace text in menus with the icons. The suggestion was to supplement the text with them. So, what's the problem?

and agree with icfu's comment that contention is clearly futile owing to entrenched views. His remarks about right-brain left-brain congruence and gender could open up a whole new can of worms though, so we'd better not go there.

As for majikinetor's ill-humoured aggressive style, I'm sure you all have your own opinions. Perhaps in an earlier time his kind upheld the maxim 'The earth is flat' with equal ferocity. Personally, I should really hate being in a courtroom with a sneering, self-certain presiding judge who dismissed all other world-views but his own due to their 'wrong axioms'.

So enuf is enuf, as Homer Simpson would say. It's turning chilly here and I'm off to stoke the fireplace with a spare axiom or two.

Now, where did I put that 'Ignore' plugin...........

[icfu]

His remarks about right-brain left-brain congruence and gender could open up a whole new can of worms though, so we'd better not go there.

A wise decision...

Icfu

[Lefteous]

2ghisler(Author)
I cannot recommend using the in-built support for icons in menus in newer Delphi versions. It's quite inflexible and error-prone. The bottom line is doing it from scratch will save you time. That's just my opinion.

[Sheepdog]

You're right, but this is quite uncomfortable as therefore you must refer to an existing starter menu entry and so you'll always have a redundant menu entry if you want to start an app from within the main menu. Needless to mention what happens if you change sth in the starter menu...

So once again, let's break the differences between main and starter menu and have one single kind of menu with all possibilities.

Okay, okay, your right. But I bet you all know that I do support the Unified Command System

sheepdog

[StickyNomad]

Sheepdog
sure I do. No offense 'dog

[ghisler(Author)]

2Lefteous

cannot recommend using the in-built support for icons in menus in newer Delphi versions. It's quite inflexible and error-prone. The bottom line is doing it from scratch will save you time. That's just my opinion.

What problems did you encounter with them?

[Lefteous]

2ghisler(Author)

What problems did you encounter with them?

1. Reading icons from delphi resources resulted in crap where icons should be in some cases.
2. Problems with XP styles in some cases.
3. Delphi menus doesn't look 100% like standard menus.

This problems occured in Delphi 5 or 6. Maybe they have been fixed in the meantime.

[majkinetor]

This problems occured in Delphi 5 or 6

Why don't you test it again with Delphi 7, since you already know what was problematic.

[Lefteous]

2majkinetor

Why don't you test it again with Delphi 7, since you already know what was problematic.

I don't have Delphi 7. I tried testing it with Delphi 2005 Trial but just starting up the IDE resulted in endless error messages sequences. This crap has been removed from my hdd immediately.

[Lefteous]

2ghisler(Author)
Another disadvantage of both the Delphi menus and using ownerdrawn menus is that they don't support XP themes and adding this support is not really easy. A toolbar supporting XP styles below a menu which doesn't looks quite irritating.
The following programs support XP styles:

Internet Explorer uses menus based on toolbars:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/shellcc/platform/commctls/faq/iemenubar.asp

Mozilla Firefox and Opera are using uses completely new controls.

Another interesting control in this context are the rebar controls which server as a container for toolbars and other controls:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/shellcc/platform/commctls/rebar/rebar.asp

[majkinetor]

U want Delphi 7?