Let’s make a button appear
and disappear.
Scripts used in this
chapter, lesson1-2.zip.
You can do a variety of things
with scripts. We will start with using one button to make another button
appear. After you have created both buttons, one needs to be set to not be
visible initially for this to work; it is time to make the script. Open up
notepad to a new text file.
Now a script needs some
information to work on.
This
tells the script to go get some info to work on
The
button to get the info from
GET
16 The trait we want from the button
VISIBILITY
T1 This puts the info into a variable named T1
“I
thought that visibility was something like ‘always show’. A variable can hold
text?” If you open up the skin’s .UIS file in notepad you will see that all
those states actually correspond to a number that we will use.
We
use a variable because most of the commands in scripts wouldn’t understand
‘visibility of button 16’. You have 2 options for variables, T1-4 and TEMP1-4.
The difference is the T type can be worked on by other commands but are only
used by the current script and the TEMP kind can pass information between
scripts but can’t be worked on. For example, you want to add to the alpha
setting of a button and set it to be ‘on’ using variables. You would use the T
type for the adding sections but TEMP type to let other buttons know that it is
‘on’.
The
TEMP type only applies to that button. TEMP1 for button 12 is not the same as
TEMP1 for button 13. In the same way T only applies inside the current script,
even if more then one script is working on the same button. Be sure to keep this in mind! It can lead to “head pounding
keyboard syndrome” if you don’t.
|
Correct use of TEMP |
Cause for headaches |
|
Get 16 TEMP1 T2 |
IF TEMP1 0 = END |
|
Correct use of T |
Cause for hair pulling |
|
MATHS T1 ADD 15
|
GET 21 T1 T2 |
Now
that we know what the visibility is for the button we can decide what to do.
This
tells the script we need to make a choice
IF This
is the variable we already set
T1
0 What we are going to
compare the variable to
=
END How we are going to compare them
What to do if they are equal. If they aren’t equal
it skips this. In this case the script ends.
A
real world way of saying this: If T1 (visibility of button 16) is 0 (always
show) then end the script.
We
can then assume that the button is not visible otherwise the script would have
ended. Now we set the button to be visible.
We
use this to set a button trait or variable to something new
SET The button we are
changing
16
0 The
value we are setting the trait to. This could also
VISIBILITY be
a variable.
The trait we are we are setting.
This could also be a variable.
So now we have a button that started invisible that is now visible.
It is a good idea to tell WindowBlinds to repaint the button after you
have made a change like this.
REPAINT
Our finished script would look like this:
; This is a comment. ;-)
; Get visibility of button 16
GET
16
VISIBILITY
T1
; Decisions
IF
T1
0
=
END
; Make it visible
SET
16
0
VISIBILITY
REPAINT
Save this as a .wbs file in your skin’s directory. In our case we will
use VisiButton.wbs. We need a way to trigger the script. In SkinStudio, go to the
button that we want to click to make the other button visible.
First enable scripting for the button.
For our example we want to use mouse press.
Set mouse press to use VisiButton.wbs.
If the script is not listed try going to the image and telling SkinStudio
to refresh the image list.
When you go back to choosing a script yours should now be listed.
If you would like to see working examples look at “xpBlues lesson 1”.
“Great. Now the button is visible, now how do I make it go away?”
With a more complex script.
Let’s go back to our original script and make a few changes
(xpBlues lesson2)
; Get visibility of button 16
GET
16
We
are using brackets this time to allow our IF commands to do more things.
Everything inside the bracket is considered part of the IF command. Just
make sure that there is a closing bracket! We
set the visibility to 16 here but you can use whatever setting works best
for your button. We
still end the script here because otherwise you can run into trouble when
it goes to the next command.
VISIBILITY
T1
; Make it invisible
IF
T1
0
=
{
SET
16
16
VISIBILITY
REPAINT
END
}
; Make it visible
We don’t really need to have brackets or the
extra END’s but as your scripts get more complex it can be a good habit to
get into.
IF
T1
16
=
{
SET
16
0
VISIBILITY
REPAINT
END
}
END
“Why doesn’t the button show up on other windows?”
That is a limitation of WB. The script can
only affect the current window.
“Wonderful. Now what was that you mentioned about changing the alpha?”
That means it is a good time to start the next chapter “Advanced
scripting”.