ssSwitch & ssOptSwitch - New Skins

February 1:

• Changed theme 18 so we can have a cool looking checkbox style.  As ssOptSwitch uses ssSwitch, then you now can have a cool looking checkbox style
• Added lNoMarker parameter.  This marker was originally requested by a subscriber but personally I do not like this so I now made it optional.  Default is True though so as not to affect said subscriber's project

January post:

• Cleaner Codes
• Faster Switching
• Better looks
• Switched to PNG format for better appearances
• Changed font from Tahoma 8 to Tahoma 10

When I first created most of my classes, all I wanted is to have some uniquely looking objects I can use to spice up the look of my app.  And I have said that ssClasses will terraform our VFP apps, because that is what I have in mind back then.  The ability to change appearances of our form that an onlooker (or even developers of other PLs) will initially wonder what PL we have used to create our apps.

And I do not want ssClasses to be tied up with existing looks seen on the net because my perception is that those current trends we see out there normally don't last long that when something new is shown, users will say that 'hey your app looks old' just because they have seen that look before and also saw it being replaced by another trend.


So whenever I design an appearance for my classes, I try to make it unique on its own and not exactly follow what can be seen outside just like my buttons (with exception of ssButton3 & 4 patterned after Office 2007's one look) , Titlebars and switches.

I also do not want ssClasses to be sort of a fixed skinning utility that will mandate the look of the whole form.  So I have broken the library into smaller chunks of useful classes that it is up to the user what to use.

Speaking of switches, my earlier designs for those are created  in a haphazard way that there is no pattern so to speak regarding its sizes.   You will observe that I design those with no fixed dimension in mind.  Some are small, some are big.  This week however, as I am working with one of my small app (BizCore Easy ID Creator), I decided to create new skins for the switches.  In doing so I now make the sizes uniform (at least up to height because some of the switches will still have the checkbox look) and changed the look of some of the previous skins I created to what I deem are better ones.  And behold the new skins for Themes 1 to 4 (I am slowly replacing the old ones):

These have, in my taste, better candy-looking appeal than what I have created before.  And it really adds spice to my app.  Here is an implementation on one of my forms:

Expect this to be part of the next release.  Cheers!