Version 7.3 supports a new and brighter look for SAM Pro via bitmap ‘skinning’ of the top and side button bars. These newer bitmaps are also designed to display more clearly on today’s high-resolution monitors. To implement this look requires a few simple registry settings and the set of SKIN1 bitmaps from Data-Basics. If you have been using SAM Pro for many years, this may feel like a big change, but once you start using the new bitmaps you will be surprised by how quickly you adapt to and enjoy using them.
Testing Your Registry Entries
The system does not verify the validity of registry entries. Be sure to test your registry entries after completing them to verify that they are functioning correctly.
Setting Values are Uppercase-Lowercase Sensitive:
The Setting Value is case-sensitive: be sure that you enter the value exactly as specified in the documentation. If the documentation specifies a value of true, do NOT enter True or TRUE.
Import Note on Colors: In order to fully support Bitmap Skinning, users’ computer display settings must be set to 24 or 32 bit color. If the Color Quality is set to 16 bit (Medium in XP, or High Color in Windows 7), the new bitmaps will appear with their standard, pale gray background, but the registry settable background and mouse over color changes will not appear. Setting the Color Quality to 24 or 32 bit should provide the full bitmap skinning functionality.
‘Not enough storage error’: The error ‘Not enough storage is available to process this command. ( OS error 16r8 )’ occurred to some users if their systems did not support the bitmap cloning associated with the new skins. In this release, bitmap cloning is disabled when the 'sys-gui' registry not available, a Skin Id is not specified, and when logging in as the support user. Note that this allows the skinning/cloning to be turned off (or on) by user with the User Registry tab.
In sys-ffv-global-settings an option turns on skinning: see Global Settings GUI Bitmaps
Note: the Registry tab of the user record can be used to turn the new bitmap skins on or off by user.
Registry Id: sys-gui-skin-skinname
Typically, this would be set to sys-gui-skin-SKIN1
Setting Key: ButtonBitmapsPath Setting Value: directoryname
Where directoryname is the folder containing the skinned bitmaps, located in the directory containing the SAM Pro executable (e.g., SKIN1).
As of version 7.4.498.074, the folder SKIN1 will be included with zipped distribution image. The standard form of this option will be:
Setting Key: ButtonBitmapsPath Setting Value: SKIN1
This release enables the user to specify the background color of the toolbar. This color will also be used to replace the 10% gray color (rgb 235 235 235 or windows color index 15461355) in the newer bitmaps installed in the image as well as those displayed in the top and side button bar skins. These buttons were designed for a light, pale colored background, and will not display well with a dark colored background. We have found that either the default light gray or a pale yellow display well.
Setting Key: ToolbarBackColor
Setting Value: (double-click to select a color or enter 15461355 for the pale gray)
Setting Key: ToolbarWidth Setting Value: 104
Setting Key: ToolbarHeight Setting Value: 46
The newer buttons (both the skinned buttons and the new buttons recently added to the image) now display a mouse over light blue color by default. The following registry selecting enables you to select your own color. Light colors are recommended. Note: this registry functionality is NOT supported in the Folders Viewer: the mouse over color is always a pale blue.
Setting Key: ButtonMouseOverColor Setting Value: double-click to select a color.
By default, when the pointer is placed over a button, a one-pixel width border is drawn around it. By default, the left-hand and top borders are white, and the bottom and right-hand borders are black. ButtonHighlightColorTopAndLeft and ButtonHighlightColorBottomAndRight indicate the colors used to draw the highlighting border around buttons as the mouse moves over top of them.
Setting Key: ButtonHighlightColorTopAndLeft Setting Value: (double-click to select a color)
Setting Key: ButtonHighlightColorBottomAndRight Setting Value: (double-click to select a color)