Embed animated gif in dialog/window

[JRL]

Code: Select all

/*
Back in January of 2009,  Marcus demonstrated on the forum how to use 
Microsoft's SetParent API function. http://www.mjtnet.com/usergroup/viewtopic.php?t=5225

SetParent can make any window the child window of any other window.
This sample script displays an animated GIF in an mshta window.  SetParent is then
used to make the mshta window a child of a Macro Scheduler dialog. This allows
the Macro Scheduler dialog to contain an animated GIF

Remember that this is just one example of using SetParent, there are lots of possibilities.
The script is commented to help explain what is going on.
Any questions or comments welcomed.
*/



/*
This script, as written, requires Macro Scheduler version 12 or greater partially
because of the dialog structure used.  The script also uses the new LabelToVar>
function only available in version 12 or later.

The concept requires version 7.3.10 or greater to be able to use
the LibFunc> function to run Microsoft's SetParent API.
*/

//Set the time out for the image to display
Let>TimeOut=3

/*
Delete these files if they already exist.  The script
writes them each time that it's run.
The first is the animated GIF file.
*/
IfFileExists>%temp_dir%SPINNER3-BLUEY.GIF
  DeleteFile>%temp_dir%SPINNER3-BLUEY.GIF
EndIf

//The second is the HTA file that displays the GIF
IfFileExists>%temp_dir%Animated-GIF.HTA
  DeleteFile>%temp_dir%Animated-GIF.HTA
EndIf

//Use ExportData to write the animated GIF file
ExportData>SPINNER3-BLUEY.GIF_DATA,%temp_dir%SPINNER3-BLUEY.GIF

//Use LabelToVar and WriteLn to create the HTA file
LabelToVar>Animated-GIF.HTA_DATA,HTA_DATA
WriteLn>%temp_dir%Animated-GIF.HTA,wres,HTA_DATA

/*
A dialog that does stuff.

The goal is to display in the dialog, an animated GIF
at a time when the user would normally be waiting and no
other activity is visible on the screen.
The animated GIF is intended to let the user know that
something is happening.  We didn't just go into a
tailspin and crash the computer.
*/
Dialog>Dialog1
object Dialog1: TForm
  Left = 329
  Top = 205
  HelpContext = 5000
  BorderIcons = [biSystemMenu]
  Caption = 'Waiting...'
  ClientHeight = 140
  ClientWidth = 325
  Color = clWhite
  Font.Charset = DEFAULT_CHARSET
  Font.Color = clWindowText
  Font.Height = -11
  Font.Name = 'MS Sans Serif'
  Font.Style = []
  OldCreateOrder = True
  ShowHint = True
  OnTaskBar = False
  PixelsPerInch = 96
  TextHeight = 13
  object Label1: TLabel
    Left = 10
    Top = 16
    Width = 232
    Height = 24
    Caption = 'Displaying an Animated GIF'
    Font.Charset = DEFAULT_CHARSET
    Font.Color = clBlue
    Font.Height = -19
    Font.Name = 'MS Sans Serif'
    Font.Style = []
    ParentFont = False
  end
  object Label2: TLabel
    Left = 40
    Top = 48
    Width = 139
    Height = 24
    Caption = 'Now you see it...'
    Font.Charset = DEFAULT_CHARSET
    Font.Color = clBlue
    Font.Height = -19
    Font.Name = 'MS Sans Serif'
    Font.Style = []
    ParentFont = False
  end
  object MSButton1: tMSButton
    Left = 128
    Top = 98
    Width = 75
    Height = 25
    Caption = '&Close'
    DoubleBuffered = True
    ParentDoubleBuffered = False
    TabOrder = 0
    DoBrowse = False
    BrowseStyle = fbOpen
  end
end
EndDialog>Dialog1

/*
Dialog handlers to close the dialog.
Notice that even though the dialog closes
the script continues to run
until the wait> has finished.
*/
AddDialogHandler>Dialog1,,OnClose,Quit
AddDialogHandler>Dialog1,msButton1,OnClick,Quit

//Run the subroutine that displays the animated GIF
GoSub>ShowSpinner

//Show the dialog
Show>dialog1

//This script doesn't actually do anything.  It just loops through
//opening and closing the animated GIF as a demonstration.
Label>Loop

  //Wait %timeout% seconds then close the animated GIF window
  Wait>%timeout%
  //Closing the window also kills the parent mshta.exe process.
  CloseWindow>AniGif
  
  //Change dialog text to tell the user what is going on.
  SetDialogProperty>Dialog1,label2,Caption,Now you don't
  SetDialogProperty>Dialog1,,Caption,Off for %timeout% seconds
  
  //Wait %timeout% seconds and restart the animated GIF
  Wait>%timeout%
  GoSub>ShowSpinner

  //Change dialog text to tell the user what is going on.
  SetDialogProperty>Dialog1,label2,Caption,Now you see it...
  SetDialogProperty>Dialog1,,Caption,On for %timeout% seconds
Goto>Loop


//Subroutine to exit from the script when the dialog is closed
SRT>Quit
  Exit>0
END>Quit


//The HTA is contained in a label block
/*
Animated-GIF.HTA_DATA:
<script>window.resizeTo(70, 80);window.moveTo(-32768, -32768);</script>
<title>AniGif</title>
<HTA:application
applicationname="HTA GIF"
border="none"
scroll="no"
innerborder="no"/>
<body border=0>
<div class=Section1>
<span><img src="%temp_dir%SPINNER3-BLUEY.GIF"></span>
</div>
</body>
*/

//The GIF is contained in a label block
/*
SPINNER3-BLUEY.GIF_DATA:
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*/

SRT>ShowSpinner
  //Execute the HTA file
  Exe>%temp_dir%Animated-GIF.HTA

  //Wait for the HTA window to open
  WaitWindowOpen>AniGif

  //Get the handle of the HTA window
  GetWindowHandle>AniGif,hwnd

  //Use the SetParent API to hijack the HTA
  //and make it a part of the Macro Scheduler dialog
  LibFunc>user32,SetParent,SPres,hwnd,DIALOG1.HANDLE

  //Move the HTA window to the desired position in the dialog
  MoveWindow>AniGif,240,15

  //Set focus to the dialog since the previous
  //MoveWindow line sets focus to the HTA window
  Let>WIN_USEHANDLE=1
  SetFocus>Dialog1.handle
  Let>WIN_USEHANDLE=0
END>ShowSpinner

[sarver311]

Awesome contribution JRL! I always enjoy these cool examples you come up with. Thank you for sharing yet another creative way to spice up our dialogs!

[obfusc88]

Can't believe I am asking about a forum posting that is 15 years old.

I have been trying to call up an animation to show progress during a long file opening process.
I tried using the Progress Bar in Dialogs, but could not make sense of the parameters, and how to stop the dialog when the file loading was done. I should have asked for help then, but decided there might be an easier way.

Why use Dialog? Why not just open the GIF file? Well, opening the file displays it in the File editor, I just wanted the image, so that was not good.

So, I checked the forum and was sure I found the answer here in this posting. Seemed like it was going to work, but when trying to do my own version, I found I needed the "image data" of the GIF file. Could not find a way to get that, the script did not extract it, it was already imbedded into the script.

Next, I could not find a method to get that data using Google searches, but found a second posting from jpuziano that was a spinoff from this one. Spent some on that, and again found I needed the "image data" from the GIF file.

So, I am still looking for a method to use an animation during a system process. I think I see three or four options,but need help on all of them.
1. Use the Progress Bar in dialog, but I need a real example of the coding to do that during a File Opening.
2. I can use the method here from JRL, but need to know how to get "image data" from an image file.
3. I can use the method from jpuziano, but again, need to know how to get "image data" from an image.
4. In the two posts from JRL and jpuziano, Marcus joined in and it sounded like it might not be a tough thing to make a Clipboard function to extract the data from a screen image. But I checked the current Clipboard functions, and do not see anything that looks like that. Did that ever happen, and am I just no looking hard enough?

So, any answer to the basic problem of displaying an animation would be great.
Second choice would be finding an existing Macro Scheduler function.
Third would be to learn how to grab the "image data". That would probably give me a broader range of tools for future problems.

[Bob Hansen]

Have you tried using IrfanView?

I just took an animated GIF file and used IrfanView to make a slideshow. Was able to set many parameters, including no advance on time, hide text, position frame, size frame, etc. Only one file in the slideshow. Can be started and stopped with the command line switches.

So, you could start your process, start slideshow, look for flag that process is done, then close slideshow. So this was similar to just opening a GIF file, but had nothing outside the frame, you could not see it inside the IrfanView editor.

I also saved the slideshow as an EXE and as a SCR file. The saves were successful, no errors, but the animation did not carry into those files. So they are just static images. Not a Sensible Solution for you.

Link: https://www.irfanview.com/ Both 32 and 64 bit versions. FREE.

[JRL]

...need to know how to get "image data" from an image file.

1) Open a bright, shiny, new script in the editor.
2) Select the "Tools" menu item at the top of the script editor.
3) Second item down the list is "Import binary File". Select that.
4) At the bottom right of the file selection window is a file type combobox. Select "All Files (*.*)"
5) Browse to your GIF and import it.
6) The first line of the import is the data label. It ends with a colon (:), The label does not include the colon.
7) At the start of the script add in the ExportData> function. This will export the embedded gif file.

The rest should work like the original example.

[obfusc88]

I cannot believe that was so simple to make the code! Will have to look deeper in the Help guide to find out how I missed that. Will try this weekend, thank you.