Note   There are several points in the LoadCoordinates routine where I simply read a line into a variable called strJunk and never do anything further with that line. These correspond to the comments that are embedded into each configuration file.

Sub LoadCoordinates()
  Dim intDay As Integer
  Dim intLocs As Integer
  Dim strJunk As String

'''' Open the configuration file for the current skin.
  ceFile.Open App.Path & "\" & strCurrentSkin & ".cfg", fsModeInput, fsAccessRead
  
'''' Load the heading location.
  strJunk = ceFile.LineInputString
  intDateLocX = ceFile.LineInputString
  intDateLocY = ceFile.LineInputString
  
'''' Load the item location.
  strJunk = ceFile.LineInputString
  intAppointmentLocX = ceFile.LineInputString
  intAppointmentLocY = ceFile.LineInputString
  
'''' Load the button locations.
  For intDay = 1 To 7
    strJunk = ceFile.LineInputString
    For intLocs = 1 To 4
      intButtons(intDay, intLocs) = CInt(ceFile.LineInputString)
    Next intLocs
  Next intDay
  
'''' Load text colors.
  strJunk = ceFile.LineInputString
  lngTitleColor = ceFile.LineInputString
  strJunk = ceFile.LineInputString
  lngItemColor = ceFile.LineInputString
  
'''' Clean up.
  ceFile.Close
  
End Sub

Displaying Appointments for a Given Day

I won''''t dwell much on this section of the Skin Demo application as it mostly handles the displaying of hard-coded content. There are some key points to discuss though. First, the Skin Demo uses the Picture Box control''''s DrawText method to display individual items. This allows us to control exactly where on the skin the content is displayed. Second, the Picture Box control''''s Cls method is used to clear off any previous content that may be displayed before adding new content.

Sub DisplayAppointments()
'''' This routine displays the appointments for the selected date.
  Dim strDayOfWeek As String

'''' Clear off previous appointment information.
  picSkin.Cls

'''' Display the present date.
  picSkin.FontBold = True
  picSkin.ForeColor = lngTitleColor
  Select Case DatePart("w", datCurrent)
    Case 1:
      strDayOfWeek = "Sunday"
    Case 2:
      strDayOfWeek = "Monday"
    Case 3:
      strDayOfWeek = "Tuesday"
    Case 4:
      strDayOfWeek = "Wednesday"
    Case 5:
      strDayOfWeek = "Thursday"
    Case 6:
      strDayOfWeek = "Friday"
    Case 7:
      strDayOfWeek = "Saturday"
  End Select
  picSkin.DrawText strDayOfWeek & ", " & MonthName(Month(datCurrent)) & " " & _
    Day(datCurrent) & " " & Year(datCurrent), intDateLocX, intDateLocY
  
'''' Display the appointments for this date.
'''' NOTE: These are hard-coded just for the purpose of this demo.
  picSkin.FontBold = False
  picSkin.ForeColor = lngItemColor
  Select Case strDayOfWeek
    Case "Sunday"
      picSkin.DrawText "no appointments today", intAppointmentLocX, intAppointmentLocY
    Case "Monday"
      picSkin.DrawText "08:00  drop car off", intAppointmentLocX, intAppointmentLocY
    Case "Tuesday"
      picSkin.DrawText "10:00  status meeting", intAppointmentLocX, intAppointmentLocY
      picSkin.DrawText "13:00  presentation to management", _
         intAppointmentLocX, intAppointmentLocY + 200
    Case "Wednesday"
      picSkin.DrawText "09:30  conference call", intAppointmentLocX, intAppointmentLocY
      picSkin.DrawText "11:00  interview", intAppointmentLocX, intAppointmentLocY + 200
      picSkin.DrawText "14:00  product meeting", intAppointmentLocX, intAppointmentLocY + 400
      picSkin.DrawText "15:30  doctor appointment", intAppointmentLocX,_
         intAppointmentLocY + 600
    Case "Thursday"
      picSkin.DrawText "10:00  project meeting", intAppointmentLocX, intAppointmentLocY
      picSkin.DrawText "14:00  presentation to management", _
         intAppointmentLocX, intAppointmentLocY + 200
    Case "Friday"
      picSkin.DrawText "12:00  lunch with Lauren", intAppointmentLocX, intAppointmentLocY
    Case "Saturday"
      picSkin.DrawText "10:00  soccer game", intAppointmentLocX, intAppointmentLocY
  End Select

End Sub

Changing Skins

When the user selects a new skin from the menu, the new skin is implemented using the following small bit of code. The name of the skin is passed as an argument to the event procedure. This makes it extremely simple to switch to a new skin.

Private Sub ceMenuBar_MenuClick(ByVal Item As MenuBarLib.Item)
  
'''' Change the skin.
  strCurrentSkin = Item.Caption
  picSkin.Picture = App.Path & "\" & strCurrentSkin & ".bmp"
  LoadCoordinates
  DisplayAppointments
  
End Sub

Handling Button Taps

All that is left is handling user taps on a button. This is handled through the MouseDown event of the Picture Box control. The essence behind this routine is to take the location that the user tapped, and compare it against the coordinates for each of the buttons on a skin. If a match is found, the appointments for the selected day are displayed.

Private Sub picSkin_MouseDown(ByVal Button As Long, ByVal Shift As Long, _
   ByVal x As Double, ByVal y As Double)
  Dim intCounter As Integer
    
'''' Uncomment this line to help debug your button locations.
''''  MsgBox "X:" & x & " Y:" & y
    
'''' Check to see if the user tapped a button.
  For intCounter = 1 To 7
    If (x >= intButtons(intCounter, 1)) Then
      If (y >= intButtons(intCounter, 2)) Then
        If (x <= intButtons(intCounter, 3)) Then
          If (y <= intButtons(intCounter, 4)) Then
            datCurrent = datWeek(intCounter)
            DisplayAppointments
          End If
        End If
      End If
    End If
  Next intCounter
  
End Sub

Summary of Skinning Your Application

That''''s it, everything that you need to skin-enable your eMbedded Visual Basic applications. The process of creating the skins and the configuration files take a bit of work, but the result is, well, for lack of a better word, just plain cool. Remember, if you are going to have other controls as part of your interface, you have to set the ZOrder property so that they sit on top of the Picture Box control.

Back on the Road

That''''s it for this month. I''''m going to go stare out my window at the ocean. However, from several thousand miles away, I''''ll have a hard time making out details. Until next month, I''''m back on the road.

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