G
gladeare
Guest
Hey,
I have been trying to create an overlay program that lets you navigate through previously made file trees.
What Framework/environment/language/tool do I need for this?
Basically, I want the overlay to be used to show visuals, play sounds, start programs and navigate folders just by moving your mouse. To give you an idea on how it will look: Here's a quick mockup image of what I want:
Edit: My account isn't verified yet, can't post links or images. Too bad. The imgur link ends in /a/15F97Jq.
Now, I wouldn't be asking here if I didn't already try. I started out creating a Win32API project with the main goal of getting more comfortable with c++.
Creating the first window, where you create these file trees and save them as profiles, mostly worked out. Creating an invisible window for the actual overlay also worked out. However, I got stuck as soon as I tried displaying any visuals that aren't bmps and I still needed them to support transparency, since as you can see, I want to draw those images and even animations over games and other applications.
After finding out that win32api, withits age, isn't really meant to handle such things without heavy use of external libraries (which would also go against my premise of getting comfortable with the "basic" stuff c++ has to offer), my professor (yes, this is for a university project) told me to check out UWP or WPF, as these would make me learn something more useful in c++ as they are more recent.
Completely restarting the project in c++ UWP, I only realized that invisible windows are not possible after quite some work was done again, and that UWP is absolutely unusable for overlays like this, even with its new shiny "acrylic" stuff.
Now, researching WPF and Windows Forms has lead me to the conclusion that it is also not well suited for this task, as Microsoft seems to offer the c++ compatibility as a means of porting old projects, not to create new ones in that language.
Now, what should I do? What can I use to create such an application for windows? Should I not use c++ at all?
All the things I think I need are:
-invisible/transparent windows or drawing to the screen
-capability to display visuals like images, videos, gifs, etc in those windows
-capability to read mouse movement without making full-screen applications/games lose focus
->maybe even reserve mouse input only for the overlay to not send bad inputs to the application/game
-read keyboard input (to show overlay after key combination is pressed)
-all this preferably without noticeably impacting performance
I now have wasted most of this semester on code that I can throw away - but at least I got a very good insight and some valuable experiences with the win32api and UWP. Now I only have less than 2 months left and have no good idea on how to continue without running into a new dead, which would probably result in me failing the semester as I can then not deliver any functional project.
Thank you in advance for answering my wall of text, as I am currently desperate; not only because my "mentor" professor doesn't seem to be available as he doesn't answer my emails, but also because I WANT to learn, I WANT to work, but keep getting stuck, having to restart over and over again without reaching any results. Please help. Thanks.
Continue reading...
I have been trying to create an overlay program that lets you navigate through previously made file trees.
What Framework/environment/language/tool do I need for this?
Basically, I want the overlay to be used to show visuals, play sounds, start programs and navigate folders just by moving your mouse. To give you an idea on how it will look: Here's a quick mockup image of what I want:
Edit: My account isn't verified yet, can't post links or images. Too bad. The imgur link ends in /a/15F97Jq.
Now, I wouldn't be asking here if I didn't already try. I started out creating a Win32API project with the main goal of getting more comfortable with c++.
Creating the first window, where you create these file trees and save them as profiles, mostly worked out. Creating an invisible window for the actual overlay also worked out. However, I got stuck as soon as I tried displaying any visuals that aren't bmps and I still needed them to support transparency, since as you can see, I want to draw those images and even animations over games and other applications.
After finding out that win32api, withits age, isn't really meant to handle such things without heavy use of external libraries (which would also go against my premise of getting comfortable with the "basic" stuff c++ has to offer), my professor (yes, this is for a university project) told me to check out UWP or WPF, as these would make me learn something more useful in c++ as they are more recent.
Completely restarting the project in c++ UWP, I only realized that invisible windows are not possible after quite some work was done again, and that UWP is absolutely unusable for overlays like this, even with its new shiny "acrylic" stuff.
Now, researching WPF and Windows Forms has lead me to the conclusion that it is also not well suited for this task, as Microsoft seems to offer the c++ compatibility as a means of porting old projects, not to create new ones in that language.
Now, what should I do? What can I use to create such an application for windows? Should I not use c++ at all?
All the things I think I need are:
-invisible/transparent windows or drawing to the screen
-capability to display visuals like images, videos, gifs, etc in those windows
-capability to read mouse movement without making full-screen applications/games lose focus
->maybe even reserve mouse input only for the overlay to not send bad inputs to the application/game
-read keyboard input (to show overlay after key combination is pressed)
-all this preferably without noticeably impacting performance
I now have wasted most of this semester on code that I can throw away - but at least I got a very good insight and some valuable experiences with the win32api and UWP. Now I only have less than 2 months left and have no good idea on how to continue without running into a new dead, which would probably result in me failing the semester as I can then not deliver any functional project.
Thank you in advance for answering my wall of text, as I am currently desperate; not only because my "mentor" professor doesn't seem to be available as he doesn't answer my emails, but also because I WANT to learn, I WANT to work, but keep getting stuck, having to restart over and over again without reaching any results. Please help. Thanks.
Continue reading...