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Adding the keyboard to your own projects
In order to use the keyboard in your
own eVB applications you must first copy the files mdiKeyboard.ebf
and mdiKeyboard.bmp into your application's project
directory. Then complete the following steps to include
them in your project build.
1) Right-click in the eVB project explorer
window and select Add>Form.
2) In the window that pops up, select the Existing
tab.
3) Find and open the mdiKeyboard.ebf form file.
4) Right-click again in the project explorer window and
select Add>Add file.
5) In the window that pops up, change Files of type
to All files (*.*).
6) Tick the Add as related document checkbox, in
the bottom-left corner.
7) Find and open the mdiKeyboard.bmp picture file.
Note: All API functions and constants
have been prefixed with "mdi" in order to ensure
that there are no conflicts with any declarations you may
have already made.
Using the keyboard is very simple. The
keyboard is activated by calling mdiKeyboard.Show
and deactivated with mdiKeyboard.Hide just like any
other form.
Customization
If you want to create your own customized
keyboard layouts (perhaps a large numeric only keypad) you
first need to decide on a button size, then draw the keyboard
image. I suggest using JASC's Paint Shop Pro for this job,
remembering to only use 256 colors and save in Windows RGB
.bmp format.
Once you have created your keyboard
image, adjust the mdiKeyboard (form) and KeyboardBox
(PictureBox) size and position parameters to suit your picture.
Next, alter the constants mdiKeyWidth and mdiKeyHeight
to match your chosen key size. And finally, create a new
KeyMatrix array to define the identity of your keys.
Good luck! If you have any questions
or feedback please click the Discuss article button
at the top of the page. I can usually be found hovering
around the DEVBUZZ forums...
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