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Hide & Seek
Published on May 31, 2007 By RomanDA In DesktopX Tutorials
Step-by-Step Tutorials

#10 - Hide & Seek

A series by RomanDA

Listing of other DX Tutorials: Click here
Today's Lesson: "Hide & Seek"

This will be the last in this series of Tutorials. I hope you have enjoyed them, and managed to get something out of them.
In this lesson we will do some basic DX operations on one object from another.
We will cover the following:

  • HIDE/SHOW one object by clicking on another
  • SLIDE/HIDE one object by clicking on another
  • EXPAND/SHRINK one object by clicking on another

For this and all the Step-By-Step DX Tutorials you will need to purchase DesktopX for $14.95 from Stardock.

Lets get started.

STEP 1 - Create the objects


For this tutorial we will be using 3 objects: (right click and SAVE the images to your pc)

Mask
Button
Target
  • Create 3 objects. (look at the old tutorials for info on how to do this)
  • Create an object called Mask
    • width: 260
    • height: 90
    • Group Tutorial10
    • Widget Tutorial10
    • NOTE: we will later change the transparency to 0, but for now we want to see how the mask makes things work.
  • Create an object called Target
    • Make its PARENT object MASK
    • place it at 0,0 for top/left.
    • Group Tutorial10
    • Widget Tutorial10
  • Create an object called Button
    • place it above the TARGET/MASK object (like you see in the table above, just above it)
    • Widget Tutorial10
    • NO GROUP!!!!
  • We will make a VERY simple script on Button to hide/show Target.

STEP 2 - Add a simple HIDE/SHOW Script


Add the following script to Button:

BUTTON Code
  Function Object_OnLButtonUp(x, y, Dragged)
  If Dragged = False Then
    If desktopx.Object("Target").visible = True Then
      desktopx.Object("Target").visible = False
    Else
      desktopx.Object("Target").visible = True
    End If
  End If
End Function

Lets look at the above script.
Its VERY simple, we look at the Visibility of Target and see if its True (is it visible), if so, we HIDE it (False), if its Hidden (False) we Show it (True).

BUTTON Code
  If desktopx.Object("Target").visible = True Then 'is Target Visible?
  desktopx.Object("Target").visible = False 'If so, HIDE it
Else
  desktopx.Object("Target").visible = True  'If not, SHOW it
End If

That's all there is to it. 
SAVE the code.
Click Button to see how it toggles Target on/off.
The MASK will stay there, but that's ok for now, we will play with that NEXT.

Here is what you will see:

Normal View CLICKED

STEP 3 - Sliding Target


Now, lets change things up.  Lets make the TARGET SLIDE up into the menu.  We do this by making a script that has a few Timers (in order to slow up the sliding).
The script is a modified version of my script I used in another tutorial.  The basics are this.
  • The Function Object_OnLButtonUp(x, y, Dragged) is the button being pressed (well released)
    Inside here we look at the TOP position of the TARGET.
    If the TARGET's top is = 0 this means its being shown and is at the normal position, so we want to HIDE it (Timer 200).
    If not then we want to SHOW it (Timer 100).
    We kill the timer just to be sure, then we set the correct timer to start.
  • In the timers we simply look to see if the top is at 0 or at -90 (shown / hidden).
    All we do to HIDE the TARGET is to move it 5 spaces at a time UP
  • Because we have the TARGET's parent as a MASK it will move up past the Visible area the mask shows, so it will look like its vanishing.
  • In the Timer we keep moving it UP until it reaches -90 (the object it 88 pixels tall), then we kill the timer.
  • When we click the button again it sees the TARGET.top position is -90 and it SHOWS it by doing the opposite as it does to SHOW it.
  • We move it DOWN 5 pixels at a time till its back to 0, with the mask setup it looks like its sliding from nowhere.
  • We are using this
    Sub Object_OnScriptEnter
      desktopx.Object("Target").top = 0
    End Sub
    To set the initial TARGET position to 0, just so that it shows the menu on startup.  If you wanted to have the menu HIDDEN on startup, you would change the 0 to -90

Here is the script to SLIDE the TARGET UP/DOWN: (this code goes in the BUTTON)
REPLACE the code from the "HIDE/SHOW" above. 

BUTTON Code
  Sub Object_OnScriptEnter
  desktopx.Object("Target").top = 0
End Sub

Function Object_OnLButtonUp(x, y, Dragged)
  If Dragged = False Then
    If desktopx.Object("Target").top = 0 Then
      object.KillTimer 100
      object.SetTimer 200,10
    Else
      object.KillTimer 200
      object.SetTimer 100,10
    End If
  End If
End Function

Sub object_ontimer100
  If desktopx.Object("Target").top < 0 Then
    desktopx.Object("Target").top = desktopx.Object("Target").top + 5
  Else
    object.KillTimer 100
  End If
End Sub

Sub object_ontimer200
  If desktopx.Object("Target").top > -90 Then
    desktopx.Object("Target").top = desktopx.Object("Target").top - 5
  Else
    object.KillTimer 200
  End If
End Sub

This would end up looking like this (when you click the button it goes UP then DOWN):

To make this look a LOT better you could go in and make the MASK's transparency = 0 so that its basically invisible.
You can use whatever objects you want, you would only have to change the -90 to the correct height for the object you want to use.
Again, these are just samples for you to work with.

STEP 3 - Shrinking / Expanding


Ok, so we know how to HIDE/SHOW by clicking the button, and we can make it SLIDE UP and DOWN too.  Now lets make the TARGET EXPAND / SHRINK.
To do this we will use some of the same functions as above.  Only now we want to not MOVE the TOP, we want to change the WIDTH of the TARGET.
The targets "default" size is: 255x88  What we want it to do is shrink down to 30x88 (so that it EXPANDS out from the left to the right).

One of the things we need to do is change the ADVANCED settings on the TARGET image.
Click on properties, then States then ADVANCED:

This will make it so the 3d EDGE of the TARGET stays the right width, and the insides kind of Expand.

 

BUTTON Code
  Sub Object_OnScriptEnter
  desktopx.Object("Target").top = 0
  desktopx.Object("Target").width = 25
End Sub

Function Object_OnLButtonUp(x, y, Dragged)
  If Dragged = False Then
    If desktopx.Object("Target").width = 25 Then
      object.KillTimer 100
      object.SetTimer 200,10
    Else
      object.KillTimer 200
      object.SetTimer 100,10
    End If
  End If
End Function

Sub object_ontimer100
  If desktopx.Object("Target").width > 25 Then
    desktopx.Object("Target").width = desktopx.Object("Target").width - 5
  Else
    object.KillTimer 100
  End If
End Sub

Sub object_ontimer200
  If desktopx.Object("Target").width < 255 Then
    desktopx.Object("Target").width = desktopx.Object("Target").width + 5
  Else
    object.KillTimer 200
  End If
End Sub

This would end up looking like this (when you click the button it EXPANDS / SHRINKS):
It wont look exactly like this, the edges should stay and the middle should shrink (I just dumped this into flash, so its not the same).

In the case of the EXPAND/SHRINK, you do NOT need the MASK, so you could delete that object.  I left it here only for reference.

CONCLUSION


I hope you took the time to enter the code (not just copy/pasted the entire thing) so you could work thru the tutorial step-by-step and see how things work. 

This tutorial is actually 3 in 1.  But they are related, so I wanted to make this last Tutorial a good one.

This will be my last tutorial for a while.  I hope you have enjoyed this step into DX.

Enjoy,
RomanDA
AKA: David A. Roman
http://romanda.wincustomize.com

Comments (Page 1)
2 Pages1 2 
on May 31, 2007
Awesome that is a great tutorial thanks a lot for all the help you provide to us
on May 31, 2007
What a way to go out!  I wonder if I could make one object with all 10 tutorials?

RomanDA is going "WTF?" right now. 
No.  I can't.  But I'd love to see who could.  Maybe a contest?

Thanks for doing all these David.  While there aren't many comments in these threads, I've seen more interesting stuff come out of DX since you started this.
on May 31, 2007
I just hope that people find them useful. There is soo much more DX can do, this is only scratching the surface. I would love to have the time, energy, and skills to do some really in-depth stuff, but i don't know how many people would be able to get much from that.

For now, I'm just kind of done with them, they take so much time and effort, and really it does seem like no one is noticing them. Its hard to put a lot of effort into things if no one is going to use it.
on May 31, 2007
Don't think that RomanDA i really think people saw and noticed them.
It's sad but there are too many people who look, enjoy but don't put a word to say thanks.
But i don't think i'm alone to find them awesome and your kindness also to share your knowledge with us.
For me it's MASTER RomanDA (Sorry Zu but it's true )
on May 31, 2007
Quentin94,

Thanks, i appreciate it.
on Jun 01, 2007
Bravo, DA! Excellent work. Great tutorials. I'm sure there are alot of people getting help from these tuts but sometimes they don't comment (they might not even be WC members). I, for one, have learned alot and I applaud your efforts. Tutorials are hard to do and the fact that you've done so many in addition to these latest step-by-steps shows real dedication and passion. I commend you for your work, RomanDA. Thanks.   
on Jun 01, 2007
Thanks David very useful!
on Jun 01, 2007
Thank You so much for these scripts and all the rest. Can't wait to use theme. This will be fun..  
on Jun 01, 2007
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they take so much time and effort, and really it does seem like no one is noticing them. Its hard to put a lot of effort into things if no one is going to use it.




I'm not sure it's the fact that people Don't notice them as much as The scripts can be over whelming to some people. Some people find writing a script very simple while others just can't write or understand the inner working of scripts. Then you have people like me that have a hard time concentrating on something for a long period of time. I can change simple code to what I need but if it is complex code then I can't follow it because I can't remember where I was. Another thing is the fact there really isn't that many people doing DXThemes. Then you take the people that can code but can't make decent graphics and you really narrow down the field. There seems to be a few more doing DXThemes now and using scripts in their themes. A lot of people where turned off of DX by the earlier versions that were unstable Now that DX is pretty stable I think you will see more people doing Themes and Using scripts.

Another thing I have noticed is the fact that people tend to download the simple themes over the more complex themes. Maybe this is one reason you don't see to many using scripts in themes.

Any way I will stop here and just say Thanks again for all your hard work and for sharing with the rest of us.
on Jun 01, 2007
Nice one! Way to go RomanDA!
on Jun 01, 2007
Nice one.
This is a lot simpler to grasp than Tombalachi's script.
on Jun 01, 2007
This is a lot simpler to grasp than Tombalachi's script.


Thanks, im glad, sometimes im not sure if im over people's heads or really boring.
on Jun 03, 2007
These tutorials are awesome. I specifically used #4 to help make my very first DX object.
on Jun 05, 2007
RomanDA, I really appreciate all the time you have taken to create these tutorials. They have really de-mystified DesktopX for me. I was even able to make Mask and outer child of Button so that the Target follows the Button. It makes me feel smarter to know that I can actually do somethings in DX.

Thanks a ton!!!!
on Jun 06, 2007
Einstein,

Im so glad they have helped. Maybe there will be more once 4.0 comes out. Who knows. If i get in on 4.0 early so i can find the new toys.. (Hint for Brad!!)
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