OWLNext 6.30 is the last version that supports usage of BWCC. Since version 6.32 it is no longer available, and the function TApplication::EnableBWCC has been removed. Legacy applications that still make use of BWCC will have to be converted to use the standard dialog controls instead. TGlyphButton can be used to put icons on buttons.
BWCC stands for Borland Windows Custom Controls. It is a library developed by Borland to give controls a nicer 3D look for applications running on Windows 3. Borland C++ 4 made use of it, but with the coming of Windows 95, which introduced it's own 3D look, BWCC became outdated. As a replacement, OWL 5 introduced TGlyphButton for adding icons to buttons.
There are several steps that must be taken to remove the usage of BWCC in a legacy OWL application:
This example illustrates the steps needed to convert a simple BWCC dialog to the native style.
Code for the dialog resource:
IDD_CLIENT DIALOG 6, 15, 189, 124
STYLE DS_MODALFRAME | WS_POPUP | WS_CAPTION
CLASS "BorDlg_Gray"
CAPTION "Dialog Client"
FONT 8, "MS Sans Serif"
BEGIN
CONTROL "Project file type", -1, "BorShade", BSS_GROUP | BSS_CAPTION | BSS_LEFT | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE | WS_GROUP, 8, 8, 128, 48
CONTROL ".&RC", 151, "BorRadio", BS_AUTORADIOBUTTON | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE | WS_GROUP | WS_TABSTOP, 12, 21, 33, 12
CONTROL ".RE&S", 154, "BorRadio", BS_AUTORADIOBUTTON | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE, 12, 37, 33, 12
CONTROL ".&CUR", 158, "BorRadio", BS_AUTORADIOBUTTON | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE, 54, 21, 33, 12
CONTROL ".&ICO", 159, "BorRadio", BS_AUTORADIOBUTTON | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE, 55, 37, 33, 12
CONTROL ".&BMP", 160, "BorRadio", BS_AUTORADIOBUTTON | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE, 99, 21, 33, 12
CONTROL ".&FNT", 162, "BorRadio", BS_AUTORADIOBUTTON | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE, 98, 37, 33, 12
CONTROL "", -1, "BorShade", BSS_HDIP | BSS_LEFT | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE, 0, 64, 144, 2
CONTROL "", 1, "BorBtn", BS_DEFPUSHBUTTON | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE | WS_GROUP | WS_TABSTOP, 8, 74, 37, 25
CONTROL "", 2, "BorBtn", BS_PUSHBUTTON | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE | WS_TABSTOP, 53, 74, 37, 25
CONTROL "", 998, "BorBtn", BS_PUSHBUTTON | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE | WS_TABSTOP, 98, 74, 37, 25
END
Here is how the dialog looks:
The first step is to remove the BWCC classes. The line CLASS "BorDlg_Gray" is removed from the dialog resource, and the control classes are replaced with Windows analogues (which is "Button" in most cases):
IDD_CLIENT DIALOG 6, 15, 189, 124
STYLE DS_MODALFRAME | WS_POPUP | WS_CAPTION
CAPTION "Dialog Client"
FONT 8, "MS Sans Serif"
BEGIN
CONTROL "Project file type", -1, "Button", BSS_GROUP | BSS_CAPTION | BSS_LEFT | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE | WS_GROUP, 8, 8, 128, 48
CONTROL ".&RC", 151, "Button", BS_AUTORADIOBUTTON | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE | WS_GROUP | WS_TABSTOP, 12, 21, 33, 12
CONTROL ".RE&S", 154, "Button", BS_AUTORADIOBUTTON | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE, 12, 37, 33, 12
CONTROL ".&CUR", 158, "Button", BS_AUTORADIOBUTTON | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE, 54, 21, 33, 12
CONTROL ".&ICO", 159, "Button", BS_AUTORADIOBUTTON | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE, 55, 37, 33, 12
CONTROL ".&BMP", 160, "Button", BS_AUTORADIOBUTTON | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE, 99, 21, 33, 12
CONTROL ".&FNT", 162, "Button", BS_AUTORADIOBUTTON | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE, 98, 37, 33, 12
CONTROL "", -1, "Button", BSS_HDIP | BSS_LEFT | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE, 0, 64, 144, 2
CONTROL "", 1, "Button", BS_DEFPUSHBUTTON | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE | WS_GROUP | WS_TABSTOP, 8, 74, 37, 25
CONTROL "", 2, "Button", BS_PUSHBUTTON | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE | WS_TABSTOP, 53, 74, 37, 25
CONTROL "", 998, "Button", BS_PUSHBUTTON | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE | WS_TABSTOP, 98, 74, 37, 25
END
Unfortunately, after recompiling, the dialog looks pretty awful:
There are two obvious problems: (1) the group box caption has moved to the center, underneath the radio buttons, and (2) the push buttons are empty. To fix the group box, add the style BS_GROUPBOX and remove the BSS_* styles, which are BWCC-specific. To fix the second issue, add captions to the buttons:
CONTROL "Project file type", -1, "Button", BS_GROUPBOX | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE | WS_GROUP, 8, 8, 128, 48
CONTROL ".&RC", 151, "Button", BS_AUTORADIOBUTTON | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE | WS_GROUP | WS_TABSTOP, 12, 21, 33, 12
CONTROL ".RE&S", 154, "Button", BS_AUTORADIOBUTTON | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE, 12, 37, 33, 12
CONTROL ".&CUR", 158, "Button", BS_AUTORADIOBUTTON | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE, 54, 21, 33, 12
CONTROL ".&ICO", 159, "Button", BS_AUTORADIOBUTTON | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE, 55, 37, 33, 12
CONTROL ".&BMP", 160, "Button", BS_AUTORADIOBUTTON | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE, 99, 21, 33, 12
CONTROL ".&FNT", 162, "Button", BS_AUTORADIOBUTTON | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE, 98, 37, 33, 12
CONTROL "", -1, "Button", BSS_HDIP | BSS_LEFT | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE, 0, 64, 144, 2
CONTROL "OK", 1, "Button", BS_DEFPUSHBUTTON | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE | WS_GROUP | WS_TABSTOP, 8, 74, 37, 25
CONTROL "Cancel", 2, "Button", BS_PUSHBUTTON | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE | WS_TABSTOP, 53, 74, 37, 25
CONTROL "Help", 998, "Button", BS_PUSHBUTTON | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE | WS_TABSTOP, 98, 74, 37, 25
The dialog now looks better:
Use the TGlyphButton class to add icons to the dialog buttons.
#include <owl/glyphbtn.rc> in the beginning of the resource file. This is required if linking with the static versions of OWLNext libraries. For example:
TBWCCTestDlgClient::TBWCCTestDlgClient(TWindow* parent, TResId resId, TModule* module) : TDialog(parent, resId, module)
{
new TGlyphButton(this, 1, TGlyphButton::btOk);
new TGlyphButton(this, 2, TGlyphButton::btCancel);
new TGlyphButton(this, 998, TGlyphButton::btHelp);
}
Now the buttons will have icons:
An additional step may be to redesign the look of the dialog for a more modern style. For instance, the height of the buttons should ideally be reduced, and controls may need to be rearranged for better spacing and layout.
You may also want to enable themes; the visual styles introduced in Windows XP. Otherwise, the Windows controls are rendered in the classic Windows 95 style (as shown in the screenshots in this article). See "How do I enable visual styles (themes) in my application" in the FAQ. Also, see the example XPThemes in the OWLNext installation. Support for themed glyph buttons was added in OWLNext 6.34. See "How do I get themed rendering of TGlyphButton" in the FAQ.
Discussion: _T(BWCC_CLASSNAME) required
Discussion: OWL_Slider WndProc
Discussion: How to change the font of a TDialog
Feature Requests: #75
Wiki: Knowledge_Base
Wiki: Upgrading_from_OWL
