API Gurus - Alpha transparent popup a la Outlook 2002

Hi all,

Well, MS finally got the best of all worlds with the way the new message popup
works in Outlook 2002. Does anyone know how a similar custom popup could be
implemented from VBA, or if that's not possible, with a VB DLL library?

re: API Gurus - Alpha transparent popup a la Outlook 2002

Are you talking about the security warning? What's different about it?
Please explain. I'm excited.

Anytime I use Outlook automation now I just tell clients to keep Outlook
2000 and not apply any patches higher than SR1, 'otherwise your computers
will explode'.

Cheers, Mike


"Steve Jorgensen" <nospam@nospam.nospam> wrote in message
news:6h4m01p699dq51msb17dbe1r6dqtq2qgb7@4ax.com...[color=blue]
> Hi all,
>
> Well, MS finally got the best of all worlds with the way the new message
> popup
> works in Outlook 2002. Does anyone know how a similar custom popup could
> be
> implemented from VBA, or if that's not possible, with a VB DLL library?[/color]

re: API Gurus - Alpha transparent popup a la Outlook 2002

On Thu, 10 Feb 2005 08:37:29 -0000, "Mike MacSween"
<mike.macsween.nospamplease@btinternet.com> wrote:

Perhaps referring to the "Toast" window? That term is used for the
popup balloon in the lower righthand corner that appears for a few
seconds when a new message arrives. It alphablends into view, stays
for a few seconds, and blends back.

-Tom.

[color=blue]
>Are you talking about the security warning? What's different about it?
>Please explain. I'm excited.
>
>Anytime I use Outlook automation now I just tell clients to keep Outlook
>2000 and not apply any patches higher than SR1, 'otherwise your computers
>will explode'.
>
>Cheers, Mike
>
>
>"Steve Jorgensen" <nospam@nospam.nospam> wrote in message
>news:6h4m01p699dq51msb17dbe1r6dqtq2qgb7@4ax.com.. .[color=green]
>> Hi all,
>>
>> Well, MS finally got the best of all worlds with the way the new message
>> popup
>> works in Outlook 2002. Does anyone know how a similar custom popup could
>> be
>> implemented from VBA, or if that's not possible, with a VB DLL library?[/color]
>[/color]

re: API Gurus - Alpha transparent popup a la Outlook 2002

On Thu, 10 Feb 2005 07:07:35 -0700, Tom van Stiphout
<no.spam.tom7744@cox.net> wrote:

Here is a possible solution:
http://www.planet-source-code.com/vb...52793&lngWId=1

-Tom.

re: API Gurus - Alpha transparent popup a la Outlook 2002

On Thu, 10 Feb 2005 07:12:12 -0700, Tom van Stiphout <no.spam.tom7744@cox.net>
wrote:
[color=blue]
>On Thu, 10 Feb 2005 07:07:35 -0700, Tom van Stiphout
><no.spam.tom7744@cox.net> wrote:
>
>Here is a possible solution:
>http://www.planet-source-code.com/vb...52793&lngWId=1
>
>-Tom.[/color]

Cool - thanks, Tom. I'll have to try that out.

What I like about this style of dialog is that it has a good combination of
being noticeable if I care, and not interfering with the keyboard and mouse
actions I am in the middle of while it pops up since it doesn't steal the
focus. The alpha transparency is a bonus because I can also see to some
extent anything in the same location as the dialog without having to click
something to make the dialog go away.

re: API Gurus - Alpha transparent popup a la Outlook 2002

On Wed, 09 Feb 2005 23:52:28 -0800, Steve Jorgensen <nospam@nospam.nospam>
wrote:
[color=blue]
>Hi all,
>
>Well, MS finally got the best of all worlds with the way the new message popup
>works in Outlook 2002. Does anyone know how a similar custom popup could be
>implemented from VBA, or if that's not possible, with a VB DLL library?[/color]

I just thought I would post back to say I figured out how to get about 85% of
the benefit of the message notification style popup without needing alpha
transparency or do use anything other than a regular Access popup-type form,
and some event handlers.

I'm using an hourglass-like countdown bar to indicate when the window will
close, which is not as nice or friendly as the alpha fade, but not bad. I'm
also the popup open in a position where it's unlikely to be in the way of a
mouse action or active control. I'm calling OpenForm for the calling form
again after opening the popup to get the focus back where it was rather than
on the popup form. I tested all this from the OnChange handler of a control,
and it doesn't interfere with data entry in progress - cool.

re: API Gurus - Alpha transparent popup a la Outlook 2002

Steve Jorgensen <nospam@nospam.nospam> wrote in
news:j75n01llevke65khi5fpmrbpobe81le6r9@4ax.com:
[color=blue]
> What I like about this style of dialog is that it has a good
> combination of being noticeable if I care, and not interfering
> with the keyboard and mouse actions I am in the middle of while it
> pops up since it doesn't steal the focus. The alpha transparency
> is a bonus because I can also see to some extent anything in the
> same location as the dialog without having to click something to
> make the dialog go away.[/color]

This is nothing more than a fancy status bar.

I hate those pop-up thingiess -- in any application I can control
it, I turn it off.

Pegasus has a much better method of notifying you of new mail -- the
little winged horse in the taskbar flaps its wings when new messages
arrive. It's very discreet and doesn't cover up part of your work
area.

--
David W. Fenton http://www.bway.net/~dfenton
dfenton at bway dot net http://www.bway.net/~dfassoc

re: API Gurus - Alpha transparent popup a la Outlook 2002

On Fri, 11 Feb 2005 00:27:40 GMT, "David W. Fenton"
<dXXXfenton@bway.net.invalid> wrote:
[color=blue]
>Steve Jorgensen <nospam@nospam.nospam> wrote in
>news:j75n01llevke65khi5fpmrbpobe81le6r9@4ax.com :
>[color=green]
>> What I like about this style of dialog is that it has a good
>> combination of being noticeable if I care, and not interfering
>> with the keyboard and mouse actions I am in the middle of while it
>> pops up since it doesn't steal the focus. The alpha transparency
>> is a bonus because I can also see to some extent anything in the
>> same location as the dialog without having to click something to
>> make the dialog go away.[/color]
>
>This is nothing more than a fancy status bar.
>
>I hate those pop-up thingiess -- in any application I can control
>it, I turn it off.[/color]

I have hated previous incarnations of them. Regardless, I agree it's
important that they can be turned off.
[color=blue]
>Pegasus has a much better method of notifying you of new mail -- the
>little winged horse in the taskbar flaps its wings when new messages
>arrive. It's very discreet and doesn't cover up part of your work
>area.[/color]

The problem is that sometimes you need more detail in a notification than just
the fact that there is a notification, and it's nice if the user doesn't have
to take an action to see that detail. The problem with older popups was that
they required an action if you -don't- want to see them, but the small yellow
popup that opens outside of the normal work area, doesn't steal the focus, and
doesn't need you to dismiss it for it to eventually leav you alone is a pretty
nice model.

The thought I and a friend of mine has to do with error dialogs in Access
applications.

First, we all know by now about trying not making the user click to make came
message dialogs go away, especially when no decision response is required from
the user, but I've also learned from working with my wife's Mac that going all
the way per Alan Cooper can have even bigger problems. I was trying to drag a
song from iTunes into GarageBand, and it simply would not go - it silently
failed.

I read the instructions 20 times more to see if there was something I was
missing, then finally tried to drag some other songs, and most of them went
just fine! What was different about the one that wouldn't go. I finally
solved the problem by renaming the song. It seems that Garage Band won't
accept clips with names longer than some threshold, and since Cooper said the
proper response to an invalid request is to simply do nothing, that's what
garage Band does.

So - the idea, after all of that is that an error that the user can ignore,
but might need to know something about should report something about the
error, but not in a way that forces the user to pay any attention at all if
they don't care. Furthermore, the dialog can show just the most minimal
description of the error condition with a button the user can click if they
happen to want the long explanation.