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Introduction
There are plenty of things we can
change. And then, there are many we
can't.
Earth spins in ~24 hours - we can't
change it. And computers ? They use constants all the time, although it looks like you can never catch their tail. Not only these silly machines can't work without constant power input (and constant voltage), but software part also enjoys using constant data values. And constant data values are not only letters and numbers - they are represented with certain labels, used as value descriptors. Like postcards have addresses of their recepients...
...constants in software are also labeled, making it easy to determine what kind of data is assigned to which constants.
Constants in MMB are used:
And guess what - some constants can be changed, but indirectly - if you change played audio or video file, it's expected to affect duration & title constants. But MMB performs changes to constants automatically - so you don't have to worry about 'em at all.
Important feature of MMB's constants
is ability to retrieve their values
into string and numerical variables.
This enables wide range of operations
over retrieved info. To copy constant info to numerical variable, you'll start by: a) writing label of numerical variable: CurrentYear b) followed by equal sign: = c) and writing constant you want info from: CBK_Year
CurrentYear=CBK_Year
a) writing label of string variable: WindowsVer$ b) followed by equal sign: = c) and writing constant you want info from: WinVer()
WindowsVer$=WinVer()
CBK Constants They sound so scary and ugly (CBK !), but they are nothing more than just a Multimedia & System info constants that can be displayed in text objects, like all multimedia players do ! Ha ! Who would guess it ;-)
System info plays very important role in adjustments of your project to work on various end-user machines; depending on retrieved info, your project will be able to select most suitable presentation for current machine. In MMB, system constants hold screen, window, processor and memory info and these constants are used as parameters for script commands. For example: ScriptCommand(SystemConstant(),Param2)
Script command will use system
constant as it's first parameter. See
descriptions of real script commands
to find out which ones can accept this
kind of parameters. returns width of computer display in pixels as an integer value
Script example:
returns height of computer display in pixels as an integer value
Script example:
returns width of computer display work area in pixels as an integer value
Script example: returns height of computer display work area in pixels as an integer value
Script example:
returns X (horizontal) screen position of mouse in pixels as an integer value
Script example:
returns Y (vertical) screen position of mouse in pixels as an integer value
Script example:
MouseLButton()
returns a
state of mouse buttons.
Script example: Create
new script object called Script and insert the below
code into it:
For more advanced example of mouse state detection procedure check the mousestatedetection.mbd example project.
returns manufacturer, type and speed of central processor unit (CPU) as string (text) value
Script example:
Returned value will be for e.g: Intel (R) Pentium (R) 4 CPU 2.40 GHz
returns speed of central processor unit (CPU) in MHz as an integer (number) value
Script example:
Returned value will be for e.g: 2405
returns quantity of Total and Free RAM
memory as string (text) values.
Script example:
Returned value will be for e.g: 512/231 (first value represents Total Memory, second Free Memory)
returns integer (number) value having one of two available states:
Script example:
If WinNT family OS is present, returned value will be: 1
returns major, minor and build version of running Windows as string (text) value
Script example:
Returned value will be for e.g: 5.01.2600
returns number of colors currently
being used by Windows & graphics
card
Script example:
Returned value will be for e.g: 32
This constants are related to application window of your project. You can retrieve various window sizes, position and check if project window is minimized.
returns width of project's window in pixels (with border) as an integer value
Script example:
returns height of project's window in pixels (with border & title) as an integer value
Script example:
returns width of project's window (workarea) in pixels (without border) as an integer value
Script example:
returns height of project's window (workarea) in pixels (with border & title) as an integer value
Script example:
returns X (horizontal) position of project's window in pixels as an integer value
Script example:
returns Y (vertical) position of project's window in pixels as an integer value
Script example:
returns X (horizontal) position of specified object
Position retrieving starts from
upper-left corner of project's
window.
Specifying of object you want position
for is done through label inside
parenthesis.
Script example:
Message("Current object X position:
","ObjectX(Button)")
Script line above will retrieve upper-left corner X position of object labeled "Button"
returns Y (vertical) position of specified object
Position retrieving starts from
upper-left corner of project's
window.
Specifying of object you want position
for is done through label inside
parenthesis.
Script example:
Message("Current object Y position:
","ObjectY(Button)")
Script line above will retrieve upper-left corner Y position of object labeled "Button"
returns width of specified object in pixels
Width retrieving starts from object's
upper-left corner
Specifying of object you want width
for is done through label inside
parenthesis.
Script example:
Message("Button width is:
","ObjectWidth(Button)")
Script line above will retrieve width of object labeled "Button"
returns height of specified object in pixels
Height retrieving starts from object's
upper-left corner
Specifying of object you want height
for is done through label inside
parenthesis.
Script example:
Message("Button height is:
","ObjectHeight(Button)")
Script line above will retrieve height of object labeled "Button"
returns X position
of left/top point of the image inside the Image object. ImageScrollX returns negative values if left/top corner of the image object is out of the visible area of the Image object.
Script example:
Message("X
position of Bitmap is:
","ImageScrollX(Bitmap)")
Script line above will retrieve X position of Left/Top corner of Bitmap.
returns Y position
of left/top point of the image inside the Image object. ImageScrollY returns negative values if left/top corner of the image object is out of the visible area of the Image object.
Script example:
Message("Y
position of Bitmap is:
","ImageScrollY(Bitmap)")
Script line above will retrieve Y position of Left/Top corner of Bitmap.
returns full width of image in pixels. While ObjectWidth returns width of the object, ImageWidth returns width of entire Image, even if some parts of Image are invisible (because image is bigger than Image object).
Specifying of image
you want width
for is done through label inside
parenthesis.
Script example:
Message("Image
width is:
","ImageWidth(Bitmap)")
Script line above will retrieve width of image labeled "Bitmap"
returns full height of image in pixels. While ObjectHeight returns height of the object, ImageHeight returns height of entire Image, even if some parts of Image are invisible (because image is bigger than Image object).
Specifying of image
you want height
for is done through label inside
parenthesis.
Script example:
Message("Image
height is:
","ImageHeight(Bitmap)")
Script line above will retrieve height of image labeled "Bitmap"
returns the current state (0/1 = OFF/ON) of a given video parameter:
Script example: GetVideoState=GetVideoParam(Video,
fullscreen) GetVideoState=GetVideoParam(Video,
mute)
returns width (if ScrollBar is vertical) or height (if ScrollBar is horizontal) of image ScrollBar in pixels. It's useful in cases when ScrollBar in Image object is enabled and you want to know the size of Image object including the ScrollBars. ScollBar size can be different on various OS. Script example:
Message("Image
ScrollBar height is:
","ScrollBarSize(Bitmap)")
Script line above will retrieve size of ScrollBar from image object labeled "Bitmap"
this constant will check if specified object exists on current page and is it visible or hidden Integer value is returned, having one of three available states:
Specifying of object you want status
for is done through label inside
parenthesis.
Script example:
Example above will check if object
labeled "Button" exists and is it
visible or hidden.
this constant will check if application window of your project is minimized Integer value is returned, having one of two available states:
Script example:
In MMB, there are fixed and dynamic paths:
Fixed path: complete drive +
folder + file path that is static,
pointing to one location. Fixed path downside is zero-adjustability of source folder by your end-user; he can't select where application will be installed, and that's not professional approach to end-users these days. Dynamic path: in MMB path macros are being used to make easier locating of frequently used folders. While path macros read current path to your application, using them you assure end-user adjustability of installation folder. Path macros in MMB are string (text) values and you will use them as a script command parameters. For example: ScriptCommand("Param1","<ProjectFolder>\MyApp.exe") Example above uses path macro called <ProjectFolder>\ to retrieve folder where your application is located. After path macro you write full file name (in this case: MyApp.exe). Besides those available in MMB, there are additional path macros available in MMB PlugIns; refer to their documentation for more info on this subject.
Now, let's see what path macros we can
use directly in MMB:
The most often used path macro,
represents folder where your (running)
application is located.
If complete path to your application is: c:\Program Files\My Project Folder\MyApp.exe ...then <SrcDir> version of this path would be: <SrcDir>\MyApp.exe It's much easier that way, isn't it ? For every file path inside your project's folder you will substitute fixed path with dynamic version and enjoy all benefits of self-adjusting paths ! Inside MMB script command, this path macro would look like this: ScriptCommand("Param1","<SrcDir>\MyApp.exe")
Example above instructs script command
to use <SrcDir>\ inside second
parameter and locate application's
source directory before looking for
file (MyApp.exe). Notice: MMB runs project files in two modes:
Represents root folder of (source)
drive your application is running
on.
If your application is located on C drive, <SrcDrive> path macro will return: c:\ This macro is suitable for ROM-oriented media projects (run from CD-ROMs, DVDs) that must reach data folders starting from the root folder of media.
Returns root folder of the first
available CD drive. If first available CD drive is placed on E letter, <CD> path macro will return: E:\ This macro is also suitable for ROM-oriented media projects (run from CD-ROMs, DVDs) that must reach data folders starting from the root folder of media. Also works well for multimedia players for locating default Audio CD / DVD drive. Downside of this macro is - it cannot enumerate all drives, but only the first one.
Returns folder used by your
application for placing of
embedded files.
As you can see on images above, locations of embedded folders are Window's folders for temporary files and they differ on Windows OS families. For example. If you have embedded sound file: MySound.wav It's location with path macro will be: <Embedded>\MySound.wav When you run application, MMB will translate that path (for itself) either to: c:\Windows\Temp\MMBPlayer\MySound.wav (for Windows 9x OS family) ...or to something like: c:\Documents and Settings\UserName\Local Settings\Temp\MMBPlayer\MySound.wav (for Windows NT OS family, where folders for temporary files are individual for users)
Returns Windows root folder. For example, if Windows is installed on the C drive and you want to find win.ini file, location with path macro will look like this: <Windows>\win.ini When you run application, MMB will translate that path (for itself) to: C:\Windows\win.ini In MMB, <Windows> path macro is usually called to locate system INI files.
Returns Windows System folder.
If you're trying to locate program: dxdiag.exe It's location with path macro will be: <System>\dxdiag.exe When you run application, MMB will translate that path (for itself) either to: c:\Windows\System\dxdiag.exe (for Windows 9x OS family) ...or to something like: c:\Windows\System32\dxdiag.exe (for Windows NT OS family)
Returns Windows Temp folder used for
placing of Windows temporary
files.
If you have some temporary file: TempList.txt It's location with path macro will be: <Temp>\TempList.txt When you run application, MMB will translate that path (for itself) either to: c:\Windows\Temp\TempList.txt (for Windows 9x OS family) ...or to something like: c:\Documents and Settings\UserName\Local Settings\Temp\TempList.txt (for Windows NT OS family, where folders for temporary files are individual for users)
Returns full path & name of file
opened using MMB's Open File
dialogbox. If you open file: c:\windows\regedit.exe that path can be retrieved later by simply pointing to: <File> Content of this path macro is changed every time user selects & opens file, so it's recommended to use string variables or arrays for multiple path storage.
Enables operations specific to MMB's
internal play list and ListBox
object.
Script example: ListBoxAddItem("SongList","<List>") In real-code example above, content of <List> will be transfered to ListBox object labeled "SongList" . For more info on ListBoxAddItem command, refer to ListBox Commands section.
<This> is a special macro useful only in MCI command. It will tell the device the MMB window will be the parent. Here is a small sample how to play MPG movie inside the mbd project in the position (100,50,100,100): MCICommand ("open <SrcDir>\sample.mpg alias MPEG style child parent
<This>") |
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MMB Scripting Unleashed by Bokzy, 2003 :: All rights reserved :: http://www.bokzy.com