File, Edit, View etc... Menus?

[ibly31]

Hi, I have seen some of the "Adventure in game develoment" series, and I see the File, Edit, View type menus in Marcel's level editor. I want to know, are you guys using C++? If so, are you doing this in a Win32 application, or a Windows Form application, and how to do this?

What I mean is, is the code to have a top menu with drop down menus from that very complex and difficult? Or is it not code at all? Please help. =(AH)

EDIT: Actually, lol, I just went into Visual Studio C++, and created a Windows Form application, and inserted a MenuStrip from the Toolbox. That was a nooby question. Don't answer that part.

I can't fool around right now, because I have to go to bed, but how do you tell the computer what to do when a certain part of the menu is pressed? What does the code look like to do:

*psuedocode*

if(form.menustrip1.File.Save_As.Clicked == true){
Save_As_Dialog.open();
}

*end psuedocode*

[deryni21]

Hi, I have seen some of the "Adventure in game develoment" series, and I see the File, Edit, View type menus in Marcel's level editor. I want to know, are you guys using C++? If so, are you doing this in a Win32 application, or a Windows Form application, and how to do this?

What I mean is, is the code to have a top menu with drop down menus from that very complex and difficult? Or is it not code at all? Please help. =(AH)

he did it in blitz right?

[ibly31]

Oh, I guess... well, I guess what I am asking now is how to do it in C++. :D 'Cause blitz costs a fortune. At least I think(never checked).

[MarauderIIC]

*psuedocode*

if(form.menustrip1.File.Save_As.Clicked == true){
Save_As_Dialog.open();
}

*end psuedocode*

IIRC it's done in the resource file, sorry I can't be of more help, I'm not sure how many of us can, I'd recommend googling c++ menu tutorial, or something.

[wtetzner]

Hmm, it's been a long time since I've done any Win32 stuff in C++. But yeah, you use a resource file. In the file, say resourceFile.rc, you would put something like this:

Code: Select all

#include "resource.h"
MainMenu MENU DISCARDABLE
{
   POPUP "&File"
   {
      MENUITEM "New", MENU_FILE_NEW
      MENUITEM "OPEN", MENU_FILE_OPEN
      MENUITEM SEPARATOR
      MENUITEM "&Save", MENU_FILE_SAVE
      MENUITEM "Save As", MENU_FILE_SAVE_AS
      MENUITEM SEPARATOR
      MENUITEM "E&xit", MENU_FILE_EXIT
   }
   POPUP "&Help"
   {
      MENUITEM "&Controls", MENU_HELP_CONTROLS
      MENUITEM SEPARATOR
      MENUITEM "&About", MENU_HELP_ABOUT
   }
}

The & in the menu item names it used to select which letter is used to access the item after pressing alt.

And you're resource.h would include the defines for the constant values used in the resource file (MENU_FILE_NEW etc).

Code: Select all

// Menu Defines
#define MENU_FILE_NEW             2000
#define MENU_FILE_OPEN            2001
#define MENU_FILE_SAVE            2002
#define MENU_FILE_SAVE_AS         2003
#define MENU_FILE_EXIT            2004
#define MENU_HELP_CONTROLS        2005
#define MENU_HELP_ABOUT           2006

Of course, you can use whatever values you want (2000, 2001, etc.)

The when you initialize your window in C++, you would do something like this:

Code: Select all

#define WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN

#include <windows.h>
#include "resource.h"

int WINAPI WinMain(HINSTANCE hinstance,
                   HINSTANCE hPrevInstance,
                   LPSTR lpszArgument,
                   int nCmdShow)
{
    HWND hwnd;
    WNDCLASSEX wndclass;
    wndclass.lpszMenuName = "MainMenu"; // Name of the menu
    ...
    // Initialize the rest of wndclass
    ...

Then in your callback function, you would do something like this to give functionality to the menu items:

Code: Select all

LRESULT CALLBACK WndProc(HWND hwnd, UINT msg, WPARAM wparam, LPARAM lparam)
{
    switch (msg)                  // handle the messages
    {
        case WM_COMMAND:
        {
            switch(LOWORD(wparam))
            {
                case MENU_GAME_EXIT:
                {
                    SendMessage(hwnd, WM_CLOSE, 0, 0);
                } break;
                
                case MENU_FILE_NEW:
                {
                    // Code for new file goes here
                } break;

                case MENU_FILE_OPEN:
                {
                    // Code for opening a file goes here
                } break;
                
                case MENU_FILE_SAVE:
                {
                     // Code for save goes here
                } break;
                
                case MENU_FILE_SAVE_AS:
                {
                    // Code for save as goes here
                } break;
                
                case MENU_FILE_EXIT:
                {
                    // Exit the program
                } break;
                
                case MENU_HELP_CONTROLS:
                {
                    // Help code goes here
                } break;

                default:
                    break;
            } // End menu switch
        } break;
        
        case WM_DESTROY:
        {
            PostQuitMessage(0);
        } break;
        
        default:
        {
            // Let the default window procedure handle the rest of the messages
            return DefWindowProc (hwnd, msg, wparam, lparam);
        } break;
    }
    return 0;
}

That should help, if you know how to do any Win32 programming. If you don't, well, then it probably didn't mean much .
If you're interested in doing Win32 programming, I recommend looking at the tutorials on this site: catch22.net

Also, there is a book called "Tricks of the Windows Game Programming Gurus".
It has an entire chapter on Win32 programming, and the rest of the book is a really good game programming book. It uses DirectX, but the concepts can all be applied to SDL or whatever you're using in your games.

[ibly31]

Oh, I don't understand why anyone wants to make win32 programs... Isn't it just cmd prompt?

2 questions:

I have visual basic studio, I think that would be better for a utility, not an actual engine. Does anyone know how to parse/change/save text files in c++ and/or visual basic?

XML seems very useful, I understand HTML so I shouldn't be too much of a hassle, but how would one to about writing an XML parser?

[wtetzner]

Oh, I don't understand why anyone wants to make win32 programs... Isn't it just cmd prompt?

No, Win32 is the windows programming api. It's used for creating windows, responding to events (mouse clicks, keyboard presses, etc.), and in general access OS functionality. SDL on windows, for example, uses the Win32 api to create a window for you. To create menus and buttons in C++, you would use the Win32 api. Or if you wanted, something like MFC, which is just a C++ wrapper around the Win32 api.

[ibly31]

Sorry, what's a wrapper? Is it like a library/API?

[wtetzner]

Sorry, what's a wrapper? Is it like a library/API?

It's could be function calls, or classes, that "wrap" some other functionality. So MFC is a collection of C++ classes that use the Win32 api, so you don't have to.

An example of a wrapper class would be std::string. It wraps a char array, and exposes methods to manipulate it.

[ibly31]

oh, okay. Well what about my other two questions? VB and XML parser

[wtetzner]

I have visual basic studio, I think that would be better for a utility, not an actual engine. Does anyone know how to parse/change/save text files in c++ and/or visual basic?

XML seems very useful, I understand HTML so I shouldn't be too much of a hassle, but how would one to about writing an XML parser?

Yes, visual basic would be fine for writing utilities (level editor etc.), but I wouldn't use it for the game engine. As for parsing XML, there are libraries designed for this. I don't know of any specific ones for C++, but visual basic might have it. If you're using VB.NET, then there are definitely XML parser libraries for it, as part of the .NET framework.

If you don't have VB.NET, you can get the express edition here. Although I would personally use C# (also available on that page), but it's really just a personal preference. Both have access to the same libraries.

[ibly31]

I'm making ALL local games and utilities. And what exactly is C#? How much more different Is it then C and C++? BEcause, I'm looking for a simple language to make the easy things. I have the engine made in C++, so I'm good to go with VB
What's the difference between VB express and VB.NET?