M!Table survey: Who needs support for Win9x/ME any longer?

[micsto]

 Posted by:  Michael Stoll \(MICSTO\) 

Hi to all M!Table users,

at the moment I'm developing the new M!Table version ( 1.9.0 ), which will
have some great new features.
One of the new fatures will be the "cell mode".
In cell mode, a single cell instead of a whole row has the focus. One can
navigate between cells just like in Excel.
Furthermore, it's possible to modify the appearance of the focus frame.

So far so good...

The problem is that the table flickers quite heavily.
This is because the table control draws the focus frame and the selections
directly into the table.
More precisely, if e.g. the focus row changes, the old and new focus areas
are not invalidated ( and the painted on WM_PAINT ), but directly drawn! The
same applies to selections.
So M!Table has to trap every possible event that may change the
focus/selections and must redraw the affected areas.

To get rid of that, I implemented an API Hook on GetDC and ReleaseDC.
If e.g. GetDC is called, it returns a DC to a compatible memory DC instead
of the table DC.
The effect is that the table control draws into the memory DC, and the
flicker problem is gone!

Unfortunately the API Hook only works on NT based Windows version ( NT 4.0
or greater ).

Therefore my question: WHO NEEDS SUPPORT FOR WIN9x/ME ANY LONGER?

Thanks in advance for your answer
Michael

[arvindram11]

 Posted by:  Aravind Ram 

We don't use any Win 9X or ME clients. Thanks in advance for the new
version. Looks exciting.

Aravind

[Thomas Lauzi]

 Posted by:  Thomas Lauzi 

Hi Michael,
is it possible to only use the new features on NT and the hook is only
installed on NT machines?
So you would be backward compatible.

[micsto]

 Posted by:  Michael Stoll \(MICSTO\) 

Hi Thomas,

of course it were possible to provide two different versions ( one with an
one without hook ).
The drawback for me were that I had to implement and test new features
always in two versions ( not to mention the different TD versions ).
M!Table is quite complex, so the effort would be significantly increased.

However, if it turns out that many users still need Win9x/Me support, I will
provide an unhooked version further on.

Michael

[Thomas Lauzi]

 Posted by:  Thomas Lauzi 

Hi Michael,
no I meant to check the os version, not to suport two version (I think this
is to much effort).
I don´t know if it is possible..
e.g. pseudo code...
If GetOSVersion() >= OS_WINNT
CreateHook(....)
nFlagNewFeatures = TRUE

Else
nFlagNewFeatures = FALSE
....

[Gerhard Achrainer]

 Posted by:  g.achrainer 

Hi,

no need for Win9x/ME in combination with a new M!Table here.

Why not just "freeze" the current version and drop Win9x/ME support in newer
releases?

Regards,

Gerhard

[Armin Pokorny]

 Posted by:  Armin Pokorny 

Hi Michael,

we do not use Win9x/ME.

lg
armin

[micsto]

 Posted by:  Michael Stoll \(MICSTO\) 

Hi Thomas,

in the meantime I found a hook mechanism that seems to work also with
Win9x/ME.

Regarding your suggestion:
That's not the point. Of course I'd implemented the hook that way.
The problem is to maintain different code in many functions, depending on
whether the hook is active or not.

However, if I can implement a hook which works with all Windows versions,
there's no need for different coding :)

Michael

[micsto]

 Posted by:  Michael Stoll \(MICSTO\) 

Thanks for your answer.

Michael

[micsto]

 Posted by:  Michael Stoll \(MICSTO\) 

Hi Gerhard,

thanks for your reply.

Your suggestion to freeze the current version would be of course the easiest
solution ;o).

But there is a new hope:
It seems that I found a hooking mechanism that works with all Windows
versions.
If it really works, the new features will be available even on Win9x/ME, and
there will no need to maintain different code.

Michael

[micsto]

 Posted by:  Michael Stoll \(MICSTO\) 

Thanks for your reply.

Michael

[TAB]

 Posted by:  TAB 

Great news! We are eagerly awaiting the new release. When do you think it
will be ready?

TAB

[micsto]

 Posted by:  Michael Stoll \(MICSTO\) 

I think there will be a beta version end of june - but I can't promise.