Is there a way to SHOW the OUTPUT WINDOW without CLEARING the OUTPUT WINDOW?

mbatchelor

All --

I would like to be able to SHOW the OUTPUT WINDOW without CLEARING the OUTPUT WINDOW.

Right now it looks like if I CLOSE/HIDE the OUTPUT WINDOW and then SHOW the OUTPUT WINDOW (either through a MACRO or MANUALLY) a CLEAR is run on the OUTPUT WINDOW.

I have tried using

ThisApplication.Output.Visible = FALSE

ThisApplication.Output.Visible = TRUE

but the CLEAR still seems to happen.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

-- Matt

NikitaRG

Matt, the Output panel gets disposed then closed and recreated again then open. This workaround will keep the instance of the Output panel alive during Show/Hide/Show cycle preserving its context:

    Public _output As System.Windows.Forms.Control = Nothing

    Public Sub OutputShow
        If McApplication.ThisApplication.Panels.Control("Output") Is Nothing Then
            If _output Is Nothing Then
                McApplication.ThisApplication.Panels.Add("MediaCy.Controls.Output.Output", "Output", "Output", mcPanelLocation.mcplBottom, Nothing, mcControlType.mcctUserControl, Nothing, Nothing, Nothing, mcPanelsOptions.mcpoDoNotDispose)
            Else
                McApplication.ThisApplication.Panels.Add(_output, "Output", "Output", mcPanelLocation.mcplBottom, Nothing, mcControlType.mcctUserControl, Nothing, Nothing, Nothing, mcPanelsOptions.mcpoDoNotDispose)
            End If
        End If
    End Sub

    Public Sub OutputHide
        If McApplication.ThisApplication.Panels.Control("Output") IsNot Nothing Then
            _output = McApplication.ThisApplication.Panels.Control("Output")'keep ref
            McApplication.ThisApplication.Panels.Remove("Output")
        End If
    End Sub

Let me know, if you need more robust solution,

Thanks,
Nikita. 

PierreD

Matt,

You can use the following code.

    Sub HideOutput
        ThisApplication.Panels.SetAutoHide("Output",True)
    End Sub


    Sub ShowOutput
        ThisApplication.Panels.SetAutoHide("Output",False)
    End Sub

Pierre

mbatchelor

Pierre --

Thank you for your response.

Your solution did not work for me until I made a slight revision.

                ThisApplication.Panels.SetAutoHide("Output",False)

did not work until I had manually or programmatically executed a

                ThisApplication.Output.show

Here is the CODE that works for me . . . .

    Private Sub checkBox_ShowOutputWindow_CheckedChanged(ByVal sender As System.Object,ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles checkBox_ShowOutputWindow.CheckedChanged

        'If the SHOW OUTPUT WINDOW OPTION is ON
        If ( checkBox_ShowOutputWindow.checked = True ) _
            Then

                'Show the output window
                ThisApplication.Output.show
                ThisApplication.Panels.SetAutoHide("Output",False)

            Else

                'Hide the output window
'                ThisApplication.Output.hide
                ThisApplication.Panels.SetAutoHide("Output",True)

            End If

    End Sub

When I have a section of code needs to show something to the user in the OUTPUT WINDOW, I paste in . . .

    '-- Extract and report the measurement information for the current image

    'Clear the output window
    ThisApplication.Output.Clear

    'If the SHOW OUTPUT WINDOW OPTION is OFF
    If ( checkBox_ShowOutputWindow.Checked = False ) _
        Then

            'Turn on the SHOW OUTPUT WINDOW OPTION
            checkBox_ShowOutputWindow.Checked = True

'            'Show the output window
'            ThisApplication.Output.show

        End If

If the user UNCHECKS the and then CHECKS the SHOW OUTPUT WINDOW OPTION, the window disappears then reappears with its contents intact.

This is exactly the functionality that my code needs.

The only issue that I see is the

    AUTOMATE RIBBON + TASK SECTION + OUTPUT PANEL

is displaying ENGAGED (with the GOLD BACKGROUND) while the OUTPUT WINDOW is hidden by the

                ThisApplication.Panels.SetAutoHide("Output",True)

Thank you very much.

-- Matt

mbatchelor

Pierre --

Yesterday I neglected to mark this DISCUSSION / QUESTION with a

    ANSWERED = YES

Today I'm back to note that there seems to be another WRINKLE.

When your solution and my modification are used on a PREMIER that has a DOCKED OUTPUT WINDOW, everything works fine.

When the same code is run on a PREMIER that has an UNDOCKED OUTPUT WINDOW, the SHOW and HIDE behavior is dramatically different.

On my machine, the HIDE TRUE generated a PINNED version of the OUTPUT WINDOW to the left of the APPLICATION DIALOG BOX and it did not close the ORIGINAL OUTPUT WINDOW.  The HIDE FALSE seems to discard the PINNED version of the OUTPUT WINDOW and relocates the UNDOCKED OUTPUT WINDOW into the UPPER LEFT CORNER of my PRIMARY WINDOWS SCREEN (no matter where PREMIER is).

DOCKING the OUTPUT WINDOW is the only way I see to resolve this problem and to have the ability to SHOW and HIDE the OUTPUT WINDOW without losing its contents.

Are there any other options?

Thanks.

-- Matt

PierreD

No I think that's what you need to do, SetAutoHide is only valid when the output window is visible.

Pierre

mbatchelor

Pierre --

Ouch.

Is there any other way to do a PRESERVE on the contents of the OUTPUT WINDOW during the HIDE / SHOW CYCLE?

Thanks.

-- Matt

NikitaRG

Hi Matt,

My first thought was what it should keep it context, but it is not. I’ll take a look how to keep the context of the Output panel during hide/show cycle and will post the solution. 

Nikita.

mbatchelor

Nikita --

I appreciate your investigating this.

-- Matt

mbatchelor

Nikita --

Thank you for your response.

I have modified my code with

    'Declare the PUBLIC VARIABLE that will hold the OUTPUT WINDOW CONTENTS while it is HIDDEN
    Public _output As System.Windows.Forms.Control = Nothing

In the PUBLIC CLASS section of the APPLICATION'S VB CODE and

    Private Sub checkBox_ShowOutputWindow_CheckedChanged _
        (ByVal sender As System.Object,ByVal e As System.EventArgs) _
        Handles checkBox_ShowOutputWindow.CheckedChanged

        'If the SHOW OUTPUT WINDOW OPTION is ON
        If ( checkBox_ShowOutputWindow.checked = True ) _
            Then

'                'If the OUTPUT WINDOW is not open
'                If ( McApplication.ThisApplication.Panels.Control("Output") Is Nothing ) _
'                    Then

                        'If there are no OUTPUT WINDOW CONTENTS in STORAGE
                        If ( _output Is Nothing ) _
                            Then

                                'Open the OUTPUT WINDOW with NO CONTENTS
                                McApplication.ThisApplication.Panels.Add _
                                    ( _
                                    "MediaCy.Controls.Output.Output", _
                                    "Output", _
                                    "Output", _
                                    mcPanelLocation.mcplBottom, _
                                    Nothing, _
                                    mcControlType.mcctUserControl, _
                                    Nothing, _
                                    Nothing, _
                                    Nothing, _
                                    mcPanelsOptions.mcpoDoNotDispose _
                                    )

                            Else

                                'Open the OUTPUT WINDOW with the PREVIOUS CONTENTS
                                McApplication.ThisApplication.Panels.Add _
                                    ( _
                                    _output, _
                                    "Output", _
                                    "Output", _
                                    mcPanelLocation.mcplBottom, _
                                    Nothing, mcControlType.mcctUserControl, _
                                    Nothing, _
                                    Nothing, _
                                    Nothing, _
                                    mcPanelsOptions.mcpoDoNotDispose _
                                    )
                            End If

'                End If

            Else

'                'Perform the operations to STORE the CONTENTS of the OUTPUT WINDOW and then HIDE the OUTPUT WINDOW
'                If ( McApplication.ThisApplication.Panels.Control("Output") IsNot Nothing ) _
'                    Then

                        'Store the contents of the OUTPUT WINDOW
                        _output = _
                            McApplication.ThisApplication.Panels.Control("Output")

                        'Hide the OUTPUT WINDOW
                        McApplication.ThisApplication.Panels.Remove("Output")

'                    End If
'
            End If

    End Sub

also in the PUBLIC CLASS section of the same VB file.  Now when I CHECK and UNCHECK the

    checkBox_ShowOutputWindow

the PREMIER OUTPUT WINDOW can cycle between SHOW and HIDE and maintain its CONTENTS whether it is DOCKED or UNDOCKED.  It also shows the correct status "around" the

    AUTOMATE RIBBON + TASK SECTION + OUTPUT PANEL

control.

While picking through this to understand how the code functions, I theorized that the

If ( McApplication.ThisApplication.Panels.Control("Output") Is Nothing )

was not needed.  I commented them out (seen in the code above) and everything seems to work super without them.  I left them in but COMMENTED OUT in case they were there to handle a situation that PREMIER is not in right now.  If this section of code acts up without those statements, I'll understand why you put them in.

Thank you very much for your assistance.

-- Matt