GDI+ controls

Hello,
I want to build GH forms with customized xml string:

<param>
<name>curves</name>
<count>*</count>
</param>
<param>
<name>clip</name>
<count>1</count>
</param>

I want to know if it is possible to use the class GH_Slider, GH_TextBoxInput, ... in a GH_Component ? Or a GDI+ controls library

thank you...

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by David Rutten on January 17, 2012 at 5:22pm

Hi jmv,

I'm confused. I don't see the immediate connection between "GH", "forms", "xml", "GH_Component" and "GDI+ controls library".

Are you trying to create a System.Windows.Forms.Form using Grasshopper interface elements (such as the colour picker, digit scroller or slider)?

Are you trying to create a new IGH_DocumentObject which is located on the Grasshopper canvas and which has a customized interface (such as Text Panel, Number Slider or Boolean Toggle)?

Are you trying to generate this at runtime from xml, or at compiletime?

David Rutten

david@mcneel.com

Poprad, Slovakia

Permalink Reply by jmv on January 17, 2012 at 11:37pm

Hello

I'm French and I was a bad student in English class (sorry).

I am a designer in architecture. I make models with stereolithography.

use Grasshopper to develop my own automation.

My problem is with great descriptions in Grasshopper.

I use cluster but the number of parameters entering makes the definition unreadable.

I want to combine the parameters, functions and cluster in this: (Like blender nodes).

If possible, I would create this interface from an XML definition.

I am a beginning programmer and I would like to use GH controls or an external library.

I can not find much help on GH programming on the internet.

Thank you.

Permalink Reply by David Rutten on January 18, 2012 at 4:30am

Ok, I think I'm starting to understand. The bad news is there's nothing in Grasshopper that does this, or even half of this. So someone is going to have to spend a lot of time writing a lot of code.

Grasshopper UI is fairly modular, so at least it's not a from-the-ground-up job, but obviously making an interface that is created on the fly will be more work than a hard-coded one. It is possible to override the way components look and behave. The Gradient and Legend objects are good examples of this. They are regular GH_Component derived classes but they override the display and layout and mouse events. But there's no 5-sentence introduction to this, it's a lot of work.

"I can not find much help on GH programming on the internet."

True, there is very little out there if you want to go beyond regular component development. The Grasshopper SDK is commented, but that is no substitute for an explanation.

David Rutten

david@mcneel.com

Poprad, Slovakia

Permalink Reply by jmv on January 18, 2012 at 7:03am

Ok, thank you for the answer.

I will turn to external windows forms interfaces.

thanks

Permalink Reply by Philipp on January 18, 2012 at 1:01am

Btw cluster with interface will be really cool thing

Permalink Reply by jmv on November 4, 2012 at 3:52pm

Hello!

I progress in my user interface.

But i have some problem for access at the value of a IGH_Goo.

This when i don't know if i have a GH_Point, a GH_Number, a GH_...

Please see this code:
 Public Class I_GHView
              Inherits C_View
            Public Overrides Sub loadData(ByRef V As Object)
                   MyBase.loadData(DirectCast(V, IGH_Goo).Value)
              End Sub
    End Class
How access to the value when i have just a IGH_Goo type ?
Thank you.

Attachments:

I_View.jpg, 194 KB

Permalink Reply by David Rutten on November 5, 2012 at 1:40am

There's three ways to extract a type-safe value from IGH_Goo, and all three can be used together.

Use the conversion methods provided by Grasshopper.Kernel.GH_Convert
Use in-build conversion inside IGH_Goo.CastFrom and IGH_Goo.CastTo
Use reflection to detect which type is stored inside an IGH_Goo variable.

[1] is easiest, but it doesn't really allow you to figure out what type of data you're dealing with, only whether that data can be converted into some other type. [2] is a last ditch effort, only to be used when everything else fails, basically, it's the only way external data types can play ball with other Grasshopper data, as the conversion to and from these 3rd party types cannot be handled by GH_Convert. [3] is a lot of typing, but if you're only dealing with a limited subset of possible types, then I suggest you start there. Basically, you test to see whether your IGH_Goo is of type GH_Point, or GH_Number, or GH_String etc. etc. One you know the real type, you can cast it and access the local value.

David Rutten

david@mcneel.com

Vienna, Austria

Permalink Reply by jmv on November 5, 2012 at 12:07pm

Thank you David.

I think change my process structure... :(

Permalink Reply by jmv on November 5, 2012 at 1:03pm

Yes It's possible with this: (.NET 4)

Dim D As IGH_Goo

...

CTypeDynamic(D, D.GetType()).Value

Permalink Reply by Rémy Maurcot on November 5, 2012 at 9:06am