Controls?

[mmtbb]

What controls are in PPL?

For instance, I wanted to use a Grid control. Are things like this available?

[kornalius]

PPL uses the standard Windows controls. There is no grid control, sorry.

[mmtbb]

I guess I was expecting a longer reply.

So there is no Grid control for PPL, and no current plans to add one?

If so, that worries me because I was hoping PPL would be a full featured replacement for other programming languages on the PPC. If I wanted to port my programs I wouldn't be able to

[kornalius]

PPL will not be a Visual Basic replacement. The visual form building aspect of PPL is not the first goal of PPL. It is there to add simplicity to PPL but won't be the number 1 priority.

I have no plans to support more controls for now. PPL supports ACTIVEX, I am thinking of integrating ActiveX controls later on but that is it.

[webba]

I've seen a listview control in the VFB in the PIDE. I seem to remember that this has a lot of functionality for this sort of thing. Doesn't it have several grid modes?

[kornalius]

Thanks for the hint webba, however the LISTVIEW is not as easy to use as a grid control but can certainly be used to ressemble one. By using a report style view and creating multiple columns it can be done.

I can provide you with some code to show you how to use it if you'd like.

[webba]

I don't have any immediate requirement for a grid but when I start thinking about my next project with PPL, I do think it would be V useful.

Kornalius, if you have time to put some code together demonstrating this, I'd certainly be interested.

[kornalius]

I will, I will... Give me some time.

[mmtbb]

PPL will not be a Visual Basic replacement. The visual form building aspect of PPL is not the first goal of PPL. It is there to add simplicity to PPL but won't be the number 1 priority.

I have no plans to support more controls for now. PPL supports ACTIVEX, I am thinking of integrating ActiveX controls later on but that is it.

Visual Basic? Forget Visual Basic.

C#, C, C++ and NSBasic all support grid controls.

While we are on the subject, before I get any deeper in PPL I should probably ask: What IS the main priorty/Goal of PPL? I assumed it would be a full blown developement package for the PPC.

[kornalius]

Most full-blown development packages are being developed by teams of programmers with huge funds. PPL is being developed by 1 programmer with NO funds. I would love to be able to please every developer's needs but unfortunately I can't.

The grid control is mostly an activex control and when I get back to this part of development I will see what can be done.

PPL's original goal was to give developers a quick and easy solution to develop softwares for the PPC. It was not design to replace any development tool but to offer an alternative solution. I never had the intention of making PPL a visual tool.

For now, I focus more on the gaming aspect. Maybe later I will focus on the visual tools more. I need to do one thing at the time and make sure I finish each element completely before moving to another area.

[webba]

lets not get too heated guys!
kornalius, you must be under a lot of pressure to get PPL to market. this beta program must be a blessing and a curse. i cant count the no. of times ive seen compliments in the forum on the speed n quality of your work. i think its obvious from how serious u r that PPL will not disappoint WHATEVER we try to do with it (within reason). we all just have to be patient.

sound reasonable?

[kornalius]

Sorry guys, I hope I didn't sound too rude? I am a bit tired these days. Thanks for the kind words.

[PointOfLight]

I think you've got a wonderful thing going with PPL, and even if it doesn't have every feature of the other packages, it has many that others don't (ex: desktop debugging, which NSBasic doesn't have, the ability to reference DLLs, which NSBasic doesn't have, SQLite support, etc.). As for the grid control, that is an enhancement to NSBasic as of version 5, so it is a relatively new feature. Maybe by the time PPL is on version 5 it will have a grid Again looking at NSBasic as an example, I've been on their yahoo group for several months now, and you'd be surprised at the things NSBasic can't do (and will never be able to, because it's based off of VBScript). And, try coming up with anything close to the GameAPI in NSBasic. Believe me, I've tried, and it's not going to happen.

Now, as for the whole grid / listview thing, if you want to use listviews, take a look at the ListView_Lib.ppl library (which should be part of the main distribution). It makes working with listviews fairly easy (I've used it once or twice myself... that, and I wrote it). If you guys ever want wrappers around another control, let me know and I'll see what I can do.

[mmtbb]

ok.

Kornalius,
I am curious if third party controls are supported with PPL? Could risco's grid or microsoft's mscegrid be used? That is how NS Basic gets a lot of it's functionality.

Pointoflight,

This is totally a side note. Thank you for your comments. However, you have some erronious facts on NS Basic. You have only been on the yahoo group for a couple of months so I don't blame you . I have been using NSBasic for over 3 years and have been on there web boards almost from their beginnings. Grids have been supported ever since 3.0 (perhaps even earlier). I still have my original CD I bought, with the list of supported controls. As for Game writing, I have writen some crazy fast games with ASpriteCE and NSBasic, so NS Basic does have the ability to write fast and functional games.

Yet, I left NSBasic for the C family because I wanted OOP. NS Basic could do anything I wanted it to do, it just took a lot of extra code that I don't have to use with Object Oriented Programming.

Kornalius,

One more thing I haven't mentioned is my respect for your efforts to create a language on your own. PPL and you have come a very long way from conception. Good job.

[PointOfLight]

The grid was a mistake on my part. I got the impression from comments over the last few months that it was a relatively new thing. I am also familiar with the ASpriteCE control (I actually bought it before it went freeware), and while it is nice for use with NSBasic, it doesn't seem to have nearly the functionality that the GameAPI does. Add to that the facts that (1) it does not do full screen in NSBasic, (2) it doesn't support hardware buttons correctly on all devices, (3) it is no longer in development, and (4) it requires the eVB runtimes (at least according to the web site), it really isn't an adequate resource for overall game development.

I would be curious to see any games you've written in NSBasic that you'd like the share. This question has come up several times on the NSBasic board, and not too many people have stepped forward with actual games to show.