zApp's Powerful Class Hierarchy
zApp is packed with specialized classes not offered by the competition,
including classes for MDI dialogs, data
entry forms with character-by-character
validation, transparent MDI,
geometry management classes, text panes with
printf, automatic scrollers with built-in
keyboard handling, and font,
pen and brush stacks. Because of the depth and
variety of the functionality offered by zApp,
Windows Tech Journal called it
"probably the most diverse and comprehensive class hierarchy." They also added
that zApp class hierarchies offer "the most GDI support..." and "the most
comprehensive, object-oriented approach."
Although impressive, a listing of zApp's functionality doesn't tell the whole
story. zApp's versatility comes from how its class hierarchy is structured,
with classes that are related by the function they perform. Unlike other
application frameworks, which are all derived from a single superclass, zApp is
actually a collection of multiple class hierarchies, each with its own set of
functionality and responsibility. The result is a more streamlined and
efficient application since classes are not burdened with functionality that
doesn't apply to them.
The press raves about zApp's class hierarchy.
.EXE magazine (which awarded zApp its
"Editor's Choice Award") concludes "that's where the pleasure comes from--it's
a sense of relief at finding a company that implemented classes for Windows in
a sensible, non-dogmatic fashion." Dr. Dobbs Journal, also commenting
on zApp's refined structure, reports, "Good class libraries whisper the design
in your ear. This is the case with zApp."
A Look at Some zApp Classes
Background Tasks
With zApp, you can assign a particular function to operate as a background
task. When the user is not interacting with the program, your function will
be processed automatically.
zApp's bitmap classes allow you to create or modify bitmaps using the drawing
functions of the display classes. These
functions allow you to move, stretch, and perform other operations on the
bitmaps.
zApp's comprehensive set of twenty-five controls provides you with an extensive
palette of user interface components that simplify creating state-of-the-art
applications. These include edit controls, push buttons, radio buttons, check
boxes, list boxes, and combo boxes that provide you with a platform-native look
and feel. Data from these input controls can be configured to directly modify
your application's data structures. The
zApp Interface Pack extends these with controls that
provide an enhanced appearance featuring 3D font effects, 3D panels and group
boxes, bitmap buttons, and more.
The zApp display classes provide a consistent way to draw on a variety of
devices. Displays have been skillfully designed so that you can use the exact
same drawing code to render on diverse output devices.
zApp features a comprehensive set of formatted edit controls for editing both
strings and numbers. These controls validate user input on a
character-by-character basis, provide guide characters, support
internationalization, and also also provide methods for retrieving data from
and storing data to variables. Using picture strings, you can easily format
phone numbers, social security numbers, and any other strings that you can
imagine. You can tie zApp's formatted edit fields directly to your own data
structures.
zApp's form dialogs provide automated processing for data input tasks. With
form dialogs, each control is checked for valid data when an attempt to close
the dialog is made. If the data is valid it is stored in the variables
associated with each control. All of these actions are done in one easy step
with zApp.
zApp's full-featured font support allows you to access any of the fonts
resident in the underlying system, as well as change their size, density,
style, and other attributes.
zApp's geometry management facility presents you with a powerful and intuitive
method of logically positioning objects on the screen. For example, you can
simply say "Put the toolbar on the top, the
status line on the bottom, and fill the rest of the
area with the spreadsheet," and zApp will automatically position all of these
elements, even when the main window is resized.
State-of-the-art applications frequently make use of extensive
graphics. That's why we have put so much time and effort into our
graphics classes. Pens, brushes, ellipses, rectangles, regions,
bitmaps, text, and fonts, are just a few of
the fully-supported graphics items.
MDI (Multiple Document Interface)
zApp's support
for MDI goes beyond any native platform support. zApp's window architecture
lets you take an application originaly desiged for a single document interface
and convert it to MDI by simply changing the inheritance. Display and input
code does not have to be rewritten. Menus for
MDI child windows are also handled automatically. When the user switches
between different child windows, zApp takes care of adjusting the main menu.
In addition to providing full MDI support, zApp has two special MDI classes,
zMDIDialogFrame and zMDIFormDialog. These have all the functionality of
regular dialogs and forms, while having all the capabilities of a regular MDI
child window.
zApp's menu class provides the capacity to easily create advanced menus that
interact with the toolbar and other screen elements. Menus can either be created from a resource or created dynamically.
Numerical Edit Controls
Numerical edit controls allow you to edit numbers with advanced formatting and
validation. For example, a zFloatEdit can read and write to a float variable.
More importantly, it can format the number either as a currency (with full
internationalization) or a number with full control of the number of digits.
Using a streams interface, you can easily store and retrieve objects
on disk.
Pens and Brushes
zApp's pen and brush classes allow you to carefully control the appearance of
lines and geometric shapes, including color and texture.
Classes such as zPaneScrollerAuto allow you to easily add scrolling
capabilities to your windows. By simply adding a few lines of code to your
application, your users can easily browse through larger amounts of data.
Also, a standard keyboard interface is included by default.
Windows
zApp's set of powerful window classes provides you with the essential building
blocks for your applications. From main window applications to advanced
form dialogs to a myriad of
controls, zApp's window classes have been
carefully crafted to be both easy to use and easy to customize.
And much more...
zApp includes too many features to fully describe here. Other zApp features
include DDE (Dynamic Data Exchange), common dialogs, flexible message handling,
logical unit classes (metric, English), clipboard, metafiles, and support for
DLLs (Dynamic Link Libraries) or shared libraries.
If you have additional questions, please feel free to contact zApp Technical Support.
© Copyright 1995, Rogue Wave Software, Inc.