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Review
zegsRuler
Issue: 1.3 (December/January 2002)
Author: Michael Richardson
Article Description: No description available.
Article Length (in bytes): 3,632
Starting Page Number: 8
RBD Number: 1302
Resource File(s): None
Related Web Link(s):
http://www.fracturedsoftware.com/
Known Limitations: None
Full text of article...
While not commonly used in most applications, on-screen rulers are a vital tool for any advanced word processing, graphing, or image editing task. zegsRuler, by Fractured Software, lets you use horizontal or vertical rulers anywhere in your REALbasic project.
Adding a zegsRuler to your project is trivial; simply create a new canvas and set its Super to GraphicRuler (an included class with a Super of zegsRuler that has several helpful functions built-in). Then, you must call the Initialize and Reset methods of your new ruler with specific values that are explained in the online documentation.
Now you have a fairly basic ruler. It automatically handles some things for you, like the dotted red line that follows the mouse (it only handles this when the mouse is actually over the ruler, though a special method can be called from the window's MouseMove event to handle it in other places). To scroll your ruler, just call the Scroll method, probably from a scrollbar or similar control.
However, zegsRuler can handle much more than just standard rulers. The advanced features of zegsRuler allow you to create powerful custom rulers that can be used in a variety of ways. Screenshots on the Fractured Software website show the zegsRuler being used as a thermometer display and on a grid, but the possibilities are endless!
zegsRuler is probably the best solution on the market for any project that needs a ruler - or any other purpose accessible through the flexible customization. Windows support is very good, and I was able to compile the example and run it on Virtual PC with Windows 95 without any trouble. All Mac targets are supported as well: 68k, PPC, and Mac OS X. zegsRuler does not cause a compiled application to quit when it is in demo mode, it simply writes "DEMO" and red lines on any rulers you use. As a result, you can test your rulers in any of the supported targets. The only small weakness in support is a lack of support for REALbasic 2 -- not much of an issue these days.
zegsRuler provides a feature that greatly improves the functionality of certain kinds of applications, and it performs its function well. There are no drawbacks that are particularly worthy of note other than its visual style is better suited to pre-OS X and Windows appearances than to Aqua. If this issue is not of much concern to you, then zegsRuler should provide everything you need to include graphical rulers in your application.
In Brief Product zegsRuler Manufacturer Fractured Software Price $15 (or $25 w/ source code) System Requirements Mac OS 8+, REALbasic 3+ Contact Info support-at-fracturedsoftware.com
http://www.fracturedsoftware.com/
Pros Supports everything necessary, Doesn't cripple when demo ruler is compiled Cons Doesn't fit very well with Aqua theme in OS X, example project needs minor editing to run on REALbasic 3.5.2 or older Rating (1.0-5.0): 4.3
End of article.
Article copyrighted by REALbasic Developer magazine. All rights reserved.
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