Custom shapes?

rbuser

Hi,

What is the minimum that one would need to code in order to draw a shape
that TppShape cannot? A triangle, for example.

I need to do some custom bars on a report and I'd rather not have to
generate a bunch of bitmaps or risk one of TeeChart's crashing fits.

Thx,
Teller

nicocizik

Hi Teller,

This can be done by creating a custom report component and registering it
with ReportBuilder. Your component would be very similar to the Shape
component only with instructions to draw a triangle for instance rather than
a rectangle or ellipse. For an example of creating a custom component and
registering it with RB, see the demo located in the \RBuilder\Demos\6.
RCL\... directory.

--
Regards,

Nico Cizik
Digital Metaphors
http://www.digital-metaphors.com

rbuser

So...simply drawing on a report's canvas at runtime is out of the question?

nardmoseley

Options:

1. Create a TmyShape component as has already been discussed.

2. There is freeware TwPaintBox component on our RCL Download page. It
provides a canvas that you can draw to.

http://www.digital-metaphors.com/download/report_component_library.html


3. Draw to a metafile and use a TppImage component to render the metafile.




--
Nard Moseley
Digital Metaphors Corporation
http://www.digital-metaphors.com

rbuser

Thanks for the info!

Are any of these options better/worse when outputting to PDF?

nardmoseley

I think for a simple shape, I would use the PaintBox or Image. I think those
both produce a TppImageDrawCommand - which would be supported by the PDF
export.

If you are using the native PDF export, then adding a custom component that
produces a custom draw command will not inherently be supported by the PDF.



--
Nard Moseley
Digital Metaphors Corporation
http://www.digital-metaphors.com

rbuser

Thank you...indeed, I am using the native PDF export and so this is valuable
information!

Speaking of images, I was thinking images ought to be about 150dpi in order
to scale cleanly on different printer resolutions...does that sound correct?
I would go larger, but that would take up a lot of memory...

nardmoseley

We have never performed that type of test. Try creating some simple tests
and see what produces the best results.



--
Nard Moseley
Digital Metaphors Corporation
http://www.digital-metaphors.com