Hello,
I just created a docker in visual studio.
I have attached something with Page.Properties that displays in docker.
but how can i refresh docker when user change page in coreldraw.
I have find document.pagechange or pageactivate event but don't know how to use.
please guide me.
Thanks!
Your code works in terms of macro accessing and probably running them. I did not test macros running...
Even in VBA you can run existing macros but you cannot access, modify, create code without a reference to 'Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications Extensibility 5.3'. So I added such a reference in my C# project. It brought VBIDE in the References folder. Clicking on it you will see 'Microsoft.Vbe.Interop' and see its methods. Only here you have the necessary methods to access VBA code...
In VBA (corel, Excel, etc.) it adds that methods to Application. I have no idea how I can do that in C#... Do you? That's why I tried to directly access 'Microsoft.Vbe.Interop' but I also do not know how to initialize that...
I found the referenced file on the path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\VBA\VBA6\VBE6EXT.OLB
If in your case it is somewhere else use, please, the next VBA code to find it:
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Dim VBP As VBProject, R As Reference Set VBP = Application.VBE.ActiveVBProject For Each R In VBP.References If R.Name = "VBIDE" Then Debug.Print R.Description Debug.Print R.FullPath End If Next
Do not forget the reference to 'Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications Extensibility 5.3' !
So, a way to use this extensibility file will give us the possibility to write code in VBA modules.
And a way to keep Corel events in an event-handler variable will give us the possibility to check it before event itself subscribing or in case of other events firing and re-subscribing in case of null, when corel looses it... I'm afraid that not the C# code is the problem but corel X8 itsesf has this strange instable behavior. But I am not sure, of course...
I found a way to add all VBE interface methods to application VBE...
No after some tests I am almost sure that unsubscribing of pagheChange event is a Corel problem... I created a bool variable made true when subscribing and false when unsubscribing. So nothing from inside code unsubscribe the event. Corel itself looks to be guilty for this instability...
That's why the necessity of obtaining the event handler following it and resubscribing in case of null is even bigger if you really need this events working smooth...
Can anybody help on this issue? At least with a piece of idea or a link somewhere to debate it...
Thanks in advance!
I succeeded to show a form looking exactly like one in VBA. I mean to be all the time on top of CorelDRAW application window even with or without focus. Being able to receive text in its own text boxes. I used form.Show() but I succeeded to define it like a child of Corel application window...
What is strange regarding events would be the next described behavior:
- If pageChange event is subscribed from the docker itself class it is unstable. It works (updates some text boxes on the docker) for maximum twenty times. Most of the time less...
- If pageChange event is subscribed from a Windows form updating text boxes on that form it is more stable and works for much more times. It looks it is a maximum times allowed by corel and it never worked more then 582 times. I had enough patience to press the arrow increasing page dimensions and counting the pressing number in another text box...
Now I am a little confused... I do not know if this different corel behavior is connected or not with the class of subscribing or with the interface having the text boxes to be updated.
I am trying to fill the same text boxes of the docker from the form code but I can not...
How should I do docker text boxes updating from a different class?
I was trying :
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DockerUI dockUI = new DockerUI(corelApp); MessageBox.Show(dockUI.txtTest.Text); dockUI.txtTest.Text = "test"; MessageBox.Show(dockUI.txtTest.Text);
First MessageBox returns the value on the text box in the moment of DockerUI class instantiation and the second one returns 'test', but the text in the docker text box is not updated at all...
I tried to make the docker class static in order to use it without instantiating but I did not have success neither... Can anybody help me on that issue?
Brilliant!
Now I have a docker button lunching the form:
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private void btShowForm_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) { frmCorel frmC = new frmCorel(corelApp, this); frmC.Show(new WindowWrapper(WinGetHandle("CorelDRAW", hwnd))); }
Not using ShowDialog(), but using Show(). It's a way to make the new form a child of CorelDRAW application Windows form. As CorelDRAW is not an IWin32Window we need a wrapper to transform its handle in such a Window.. The process handler and Wrapper class in the next code:
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IntPtr hwnd = IntPtr.Zero; public static IntPtr WinGetHandle(string wName, IntPtr hWnd) { foreach (Process pList in Process.GetProcesses()) { if (pList.MainWindowTitle.Contains(wName)) { hWnd = pList.MainWindowHandle; break; } } return hWnd; } public class WindowWrapper : System.Windows.Forms.IWin32Window { public WindowWrapper(IntPtr handle) { _hwnd = handle; } public IntPtr Handle { get { return _hwnd; } } private IntPtr _hwnd; }
Now, so launched form behaves exactly like a VBA form. It stays all the time on top of CorelDRAW application, even with focus or without and takes keys in its text boxes when it has focus... A kind of VBA form having SowModal property set to False.
You can test this, i dont have heavy files for test,
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using System.Threading; namespace PageTest { public class PageActiveController2 { private Corel.Interop.VGCore.Application corelApp; public delegate void PageActiveEventHandler(Corel.Interop.VGCore.Page Page); private PageActiveEventHandler pageActive; private Corel.Interop.VGCore.Page prevPage; private bool running = false; private Thread Process; private int refreshTime = 0; public event PageActiveEventHandler PageActive { add { StartThread(); pageActive += value; } remove { StopThread(); pageActive -= value; } } public PageActiveController2(Corel.Interop.VGCore.Application corelApp,int refreshTime = 100) { this.corelApp = corelApp; this.refreshTime = refreshTime; } private void StartThread() { running = true; if (Process == null) { Process = new Thread(new ThreadStart(ThreadProcess)); } Process.IsBackground = true; Process.Start(); } private void StopThread() { running = false; if(Process != null) Process.Abort(); Process = null; } private void ThreadProcess() { while (running) { if (corelApp.ActivePage != prevPage) { prevPage = corelApp.ActivePage; if (pageActive != null && prevPage != null) pageActive(prevPage); } Thread.Sleep(refreshTime); } } } }
Usage exemple
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using System; using System.Windows; using System.Windows.Controls; using corel = Corel.Interop.VGCore; namespace PageTest { public partial class DockerUI : UserControl { private corel.Application corelApp; PageActiveController2 pg2; public DockerUI(corel.Application app) { this.corelApp = app; InitializeComponent(); this.Unloaded += DockerUI_Unloaded; pg2 = new PageActiveController2(app,1500); pg2.PageActive+=pg2_PageActive; } void DockerUI_Unloaded(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) { pg2.PageActive -= pg2_PageActive; } void updateMyUI(string[] data) { lba_pageName.Dispatcher.Invoke(new Action(() => {lba_pageName.Content = data[0];})); lba_numShapes.Dispatcher.Invoke(new Action(() => { lba_numShapes.Content = data[1]; })); } void pg2_PageActive(corel.Page Page) { updateMyUI(new string[2] { Page.Name, Page.Shapes.Count.ToString() }); } } }