Layers and application icons

[koualoBUSV17G]

Hello all,

I am new here, so forgive me if my searching capabilities of the forums are not on par with the veterans here. I have read up on RunRev and it seems very promising, but I have several questions before making a purchasing decision:

1) Can we create different transparent layers (such as a layer that sits on top of just the wallpaper, a layer that sits just on top of the desktop icons, a layer that sits on the very top -- such as in front of all opened apps, etc....)?

2) How would one go about grabbing the different application icons of the different applications that are installed on the computer (without manually parsing the Info.plist for the app icon name and reading the actual icon file)?

3) Is there a way to manually draw stuff onto a "canvas" or something similar? For example, if I want to draw a line/rectangle/oval/filled in shapes, etc..., is it possible to draw them onto a "canvas" or layer (as described in #1 above) via code?

It would be a silly app for anyone to make, but to help summarize and visualize what I am asking for, would it be possible to create an app that can animate/move a chosen app icon while leaving a trail (line) -- and have all of that live on the topmost layer? Obviously, the areas where the trail and app icons are not at needs to be transparent and you should still be click through to the windows and icons on the desktop. I realize how strange that scenario is, but these are requirements for me if I were to port one of my apps over to LiveCode.

I was able to create a simple animated desktop app icon management software that does some of what was described above in a different programming language. However, I am looking for a good development tool that I can use to easily prototype in. A lot of my apps require custom drawing via code/math, so being able to draw stuff onto different OS layers/canvases is a must.

Thanks.

[Mark]

Hi,

You can make "layers" to some extent. There are windows of several types, also called modes, which alow you to put a window in a particular layer, such as the toplevel window, the sheet or modal window, the modeless window, the palette and the system window. There is also a backdrop. LiveCode doesn't give access to all possible layers. (You probably will want to search the LiveCode dictionary for the words I used in this paragraph).

I'm working on a commercial yet inexpensive library, which copies the icon from any file on your Mac and makes it available to LiveCode in PNG format. If you contact me privately (see signature) I'm willing to povide you with more info about it.

For Windows, a simple external is available already. We (me and a colleague) are currently working on a new version, which I expect to release very soon.

You can create graphics and manipulate them manually or by script. Start reading in the LiveCode dictionary. Search for graphic.

It is also possible to paint in image controls. An image control is created automatically as soon as a paint tool is used on a card (provided that you're not using the tool inside an image control already). Read about paint tools and images in the LiveCode dictionary.

Kind regards,

Mark

[jacque]

You won't be able to draw to the OS itself. Like most apps, control is limited to the windows and documents of your own app. LiveCode allows transparent stacks (windows) so you may be able to fake something, but you won't be able to alter the actual OS display.