CapeSoft Progress
Documentation

• Introduction
• Installation
• What's New (Important)
• JumpStart
• Examples
• Adding Progress to your application
• Updating Progress inside a Loop
• Optimizing Performance
• Using Draw and Progress in Multi-DLL applications
• FAQ
• Support
• Distribution
• The Global Progress Extension
• Global General Tab
• Global Properties Tab
• Global Classes Tab
• Shading Options
• The Progress Control Template
• General Tab
• Properties Tab
• Classes Tab
• The Preview Button
• Progress Bar Types and Styles
• Resizing the Progress Control
• Class Method Reference
• Class Property Reference
• Version History
• License & Copyright

The CapeSoft Progress control allows you to use custom progress controls, which provide a variety of different shading and style options. In addition it allows real-time previewing of any changes. No hand coding is required to use the progress control, and replacing all existing progress controls in your app is as simple as adding a global extension. CapeSoft Progress is built on the fast, robust CapeSoft Draw engine, and is shipped as source code, hence you need CapeSoft Draw in order to use Progress. See the Draw Page for more information on CapeSoft Draw.

Please install CapeSoft Draw 2.14 or higher before using CapeSoft Progress. Run the supplied installation file.

Important: CapeSoft Progress requires CapeSoft Draw (4.22 or later), without Draw it will not function. Please insure that you have CapeSoft Draw installed before using Progress.

1. Progress requires Draw 4.22 or later
   
   Clarion 11.0.13622 required the Draw class to be renamed (from Draw to DrawClass.) Regardless of which version you are using, Progress now requires Draw 4.22 or later.
   

Using CapeSoft Progress in your program is really easy. This quick start is divided into two sections. The first section covers using CapeSoft Progress to replace all the existing controls in an application using the global template. The second section covers adding a single progress control to a window.

Adding Progress to an existing application (Globally)

Adding a Single Progress Control

There is an example in your \Clarion\3rdParty\Examples\Progress\Demo directory. The example is a great way to get started and see a few of the ways you can use CapeSoft Progress.



In addition there are two simple examples of using Progress: Global.app and Single.app. They are in the Examples\Progress\JumpStart and Examples\Progress\Single directories respectively.

Global

Single

Adding a CapeSoft Progress to your application is easy. If you would like to replace all the progress controls in your application with CapeSoft progress controls then add the Global Progress Extension (see 1. below). You can also simply add a CapeSoft Progress control to your window (see 2. below).

1) Adding the global Progress extension:

• Open the global properties for your app, and click on the "extensions" button.
• Click on the "Insert" button and choose "Active CapeSoft Progress".
• You can now set the properties for all progress controls in your app. See the section on the Global Extension for more information.
• By default Progress replaces all existing progress controls in your app with CapeSoft Progress controls, you can uncheck the "Use Progress for all progress control in app" tickbox if you would prefer to place individual progress controls. Even if this checkbox is ticked, you still create custom progress control by adding a CapeSoft Progress Control to a window. See the Local Extension Template for more information.

2) Adding a custom progress control to a window

• Open the window editor for the window
• Place a progress control on the window
• Select CapeSoft Progress Control from the template populate box
• Right click on the control and choose Properties, then click on the Actions tab. You can set all the options for the control here, see the section on the Local Extension Template for more information.
• Hint: The best way to get to terms with the options available is to click on the "Preview" button on the General tab to see the effects of your changes in real time.

Important: When using PROP to get the runtime properties of the control, do no use the Clarion control handle, for example:

myWidth = ?myProgress{ PROP:Width}

may return the incorrect value for the width of the control. Instead you should use the thisProgress.control property to access runtime properties.

Example:

myWidth = thisProgress.control{PROP:Width}
myXPos = thisProgress.control{PROP:Xpos}

If you set the PROP values using the Clarion progress control handle then the Progress object will update itself, and in doing so may overwrite the properties of the Clarion control. This only applies to {PROP:Width}, {PROP:Height}, {PROP:Xpos} and {PROP:Ypos}.

In most cases the Progress control will be updated automatically, however when a bar needs to be updated inside a loop (such as looping through a number of records) it is necessary to manually update the progress bar in order for it to be displayed.

• When updating a progress control inside a tight loop, you will need to call the SetProgress() method followed by Display() in order to update and display the control.
  
  Example:
  
  loop i = 1 to Records(myQueue)            ! loop through a queue
      Get(myQueue, i)
      myFile.id = myQueue.id
      if Access:myFile.Insert()
          ! handle the error
      end
  
      thisProgress_p1.SetProgress(i)        ! update the progress control
      Display(thisProgress_p1.control)     ! display the updated progress control
  
  end

Draw and Progress provide options on the global extension to make using Draw and Progress in multi DLL applications simple. For the Data DLL you need to add the global extension, and for every other app file that uses Draw and Progress exported from that DLL, you should add the the global extension and tick the "Use Draw that is exported in another DLL" option.

If you are not familiar with Multi-DLL development, or you need to create a new Multi-DLL from scratch rather than adding the extensions to existing applications the steps are as follows:

Data DLL

Main APP

Versions of Progress prior to 1.11 used a "Double Shaded" progress bar as the default bar type. This type of bar calculates the shading per pixels, for every pixel on the progress bar, every time the bar is redrawn. Progress 1.11 changes the default bar type to a Block Bar, which dramatically increases the performance and only needs to be drawn once. Block Bars also have the advantage that they can be based on any type of shaded bar, simply create a shaded bar and set the blockBar property to 1.

1. Do I need to purchase CapeSoft Draw?
   
   Yes, CapeSoft Progress uses CapeSoft Draw, which allows us to ship both Draw and Progress as source code. Progress is an example of a few of the many features which Draw allows you to add to applications. This also means that Progress is fully customizable and extensible. For more about CapeSoft Draw visit the Draw page at the CapeSoft web site. Question 4 and 5 are the most frequently asked questions about Progress.
2. I get the compile error "Make error: Source file Draw.clw not found".
   
   Progress requires CapeSoft Draw, please make sure you have Draw installed before compiling your app.
3. When I compile I get a number of errors of the form "unknown field self.baseLayer."
   
   You have an old version of Draw, Progress requires CapeSoft Draw 2.14 or later. See the CapeSoft Draw page for the latest version of Draw.
4. The progress bar doesn't get displayed - it is just blank.
   
   See the section on Updating Progress Inside a Loop
5. The Progress bar looks good, but it seems to slow processing down, how can I make it faster?
   
   See the section on Optimising Progress
6. One of my progress controls just doesn't seem to behave, what can I do?
   
   Email and please include the parameters that you have set (such as the various colors, draw directions etc. You can simply send JPEG, GIF or PNG screen shots of the settings tabs if you prefer), we will whip the slack progress control into shape ASAP and send you an update.
7. I really want a super nifty polka dot progress control, what can I do?
   
   Progress is fully extensible, so you can add as many progress bar types as you like (by modifying the Display() method), alternatively Email and we will add it to the list of supported progress bars, as well as adding it to the real time previewer and template options.
   

Your questions, comments and suggestions are welcome. Check our web page (www.capesoft.com/accessories/downloads.htm) for new versions. You can also contact us in one of the following ways:

CapeSoft Support
Email
Telephone	+27 87 828 0123

CapeSoft Progress ships as pure Clarion source code, so you can simply compile and ship your application, with no external resources necessary for Progress.

See Adding Progress to your Application for information on how to add the Global Extension. The global extension allows you to set the defaults for all CapeSoft progress controls that you populate, as well as allowing you to change all the existing progress controls to CapeSoft progress controls (and set the options that the controls will use). The global and local extension have identical options, with the exception of the Global "General" tab which allows you to use Progress globally, or disable Progress globally. Once you have added this to your app each Window that uses Clarion progress bars or CapeSoft Progress bars will have a local template that allows you to override the global setting on a procedure level. On the local template the "Use global settings" box is ticked by default, untick this box to use the setting on the Properties tab of this extension for the procedure.

Global General Template

Global Properties Tab

Global Classes Tab

Shading options allow you to change the way the colors selected are applied, depending on the shading option selected you can create a variety of different shadings:
Left to right shading or top to bottom shading only: This creates a progress bar shaded between the two colors (Linear Shading). Specifying a x-percentage when using left to right shading will create single shading. Specifying a y-percentage when using top to bottom shading will also create single shading. You can create double shading by specifying a y-percentage with left to right shading and an x-percentage with top to bottom shading. The intensity option allows you to specify how bright the highlight is. The range is 0 to 100, 50 is not very intense at all, and 100 is pure white. The intensity is sensitive in increments of around 20, so for example 50 and 55 are very close in intensity, whereas 50 and 80 are quite noticeably different.

Vertical Shading (left to right) - single and double shading at 100% intensity:


Single Shaded Progress Bars

• Top Color and Bottom Color were set the same in the first bar and two different blues in the second.
• Y-percentage was set to 50 and intensity to 60 and 100 (top and bottom examples).
• Setting the cylinder end depth to any number greater than zero would turn these into cylindrical single shaded bars.

Double Shaded Cylinder bar

• Top Color and Bottom Color were set to random bright colors.
• X-percentage was set to 50 and intensity to 100.
• Cylinder end color was set to the same as top color.
• Cylinder end depth was set to 20

Note that cylinders can only be drawn with a shading type that draws the highlight down the length of the cylinder, so top to bottom shading with no highlight, or left to right shading with a highlight (ypercentage > 0).


See the section on Progress Control Styles for a full description of the different types of progress controls possible.

These options can be set after placing a progress control on your window and choosing to populate it using the CapeSoft Progress template, as described in Adding Progress to Your Application. The available options are identical to those available on the Global Extension, with the exception of the option to apply Progress to all progress control in your application , and the option to disable progress throughout the application (which are only on the Global Extension). See the section on the Global Extension for more information.

Right click on the Progress control and choose click on "Properties", then click on the "Actions" tab, here you can customize the Progress control's settings, such as giving the progress object a name.

General Tab

Properties Tab

Classes Tab

The Preview Button

You can achieve a large variety of progress bars using the options provided by the template. The best way to find out just what Progress can do is by using the Preview button on the General tab. This allows you to see your change in real time. Bear in mind that some settings override all others, in the following order:

1. Pulse bar - when this is checked no other shading or bar type effects apply.
2. Color change bar - when Start Color and End Color are specified no other bar or shading options will have an effect
3. Cylinder bars (specified by Ellipse Depth and Color)
4. Shaded bars - setting x percentage or y percentage will draw a double or single shaded bar. Clear both of these to use linear shading.

Range
RangeHigh and RangeLow need to be set regardless of the type of bar you are using. Orientation
Orientation determines the direction that the bar progresses toward, and applies to all types of bars. The options are progress:right (the default), progress:left, progress:up and progress:down.

Pulse Bars
Pulse bars create a "pulse" that fades from a center color to the background color and moves along the progress bar. The color can be specified in the Color field when the Shading Option radio button is set to None on the Colors tab. When "pulse bar" is checked on the "General" tab a pulse bar will always be drawn, regardless of any changes to the settings on the "colors" tab. To draw any other type of progress bar untick the "pulse bar" checkbox. Check the "One sided" box to only draw the fade on the end of the "pulse", so the front edge of the pulse does not fade into the background.



Shaded bars

Shaded bars can be shaded top to bottom or left to right (regardless of whether the bar is horizontal or vertical). They come in a number of varieties:

• Solid Color - no shading

• Linear shading from one color to another - accomplished by setting the left and right colors or the top and bottom colors. In addition the Shading Options group allows you to use "Single Shading" and "Double Shading"

Single Shading
Single shading, shades the bar from one color to another but with a highlight in the middle (the position of which you can specify using the xpercentage and ypercentage fields), and the intensity of which you can specify by using the intensity field. If the shading is left to right specify a ypercentage for the highlight, if the shading is top to bottom specify a xpercentage.



Double Shading
Double shading, shades from one color to another with a highlight shaded in the opposite direction to the color shading. If the shading is left to right specify a xpercentage for the highlight, if the shading is top to bottom specify a ypercentage.


A nice effect is to use double shading with one color set to white. This makes the bar appear to fade into the background as it progresses:



Cylindrical Bars
Cylindrical bars are shaded bars where an ellipse color (red in the example below) and ellipse depth have been specified. Instead of a standard shaded bar, a shaded cylinder is drawn. Note that cylinders can only be drawn with a shading type that draws the highlight down the length of the cylinder, so top to bottom shading with no highlight, or left to right shading with a highlight (ypercentage > 0).

setting depth = 8 and eColor = color:red on a double shaded bar (leftColor, rightColor and ypercentage and intensity specified):



Color Change Bars
Color change bars fade from one color into another as they progress, simply specify a Start Color and End Color to use a Color Change bar.



Important: If you change the startColor and endColor yourself after the call to progress.Init() you will need to set the progress.init property to zero. This will force the progress object to recalculate the color increments with the new colors you have specified.

Example:

! after the window has opened and the call to progress.Init()
! you might want to change the startColor and endColor properties. if myBarStyle = 1              ! check some condition
    myProgress.startColor = color:red
    myProgress.endColor = color:green
else                         
    myProgress.startColor = color:blue
    myProgress.endColor = color:lime
end
myProgress.init = 0            ! force the object to re-calculate the color increments with the new colors.

Block bars (Windows style progress bars) The blockBars setting allows any shaded progress bar to be broken up into blocks - similar to the default windows progress controls. To use blockBars set the blockBar property to 1. The width of each block is specified by blockLength, and the gap between blocks by blockGap.



Block Bars are also very efficient as the shaded bar is only drawn once, and each block is then simply copied off a hidden Draw layer. This results in a significant speedup, especially with double shaded bars. You can also create bars that look like the Window XP bar under any version of Windows. See the progress Demo example app for examples of XP look bars.

When Progress replaces the Clarion progress control it sets its width and height to zero. In order for Progress to be able to tell that the control needs to be resized the Draw control created at runtime by progress needs to be resized, at which point Progress will update itself. Note that progress will keep track of the position of the Clarion control as well as whether it is Hidden and update the Progress control accordingly.

You can do this manually simply by using progress.control property to access the control Progress is actually drawing to:

thisProgress.control{PROP:Width} = 100
thisProgress.control{PROP:Height} = 10

Bear in mind that the progress.control property is the handle of a standard Clarion image control, so the units will be the current units being used on the target window (dialog units by default). In order use pixels you should set the target{PROP:Pixels} = 1, for dialog units set target{PROP:Pixels} = 0 (the default for Clarion windows).

By default you can simply specify a Use variable for the progress control, in which case you will not need to call any methods manually. You can call SetProgress() manually, which updates the control and redraws it. You will also need to call SetProgress() if you need to update the control inside a tight loop.

SetProgress

Init

Kill

control		The control property allows you to access the runtime properties of the Progress control that is being drawn to. When using PROP to get the runtime properties of the control, do no use the Clarion control handle, for example: myWidth = ?myProgress{PROP:Width} may return the incorrect value for the width of the control. Instead you should use the thisProgress.control property to access runtime properties. Example: progressWidth = thisProgress.control{PROP:Width} progressXPos = thisProgress.control{PROP:Xpos} If you set the PROP values using the Clarion progress control handle then the Progress object will update itself, and in doing so may overwrite the properties of the Clarion control. This only applies to {PROP:Width}, {PROP:Height}, {PROP:Xpos} and {PROP:Ypos}.
baseControl		This is the handle of the Clarion progress control being replaced by the CapeSoft Progress control.	Other Properties: You can set these simply by right clicking on the control and choosing "actions", or setting the options under Global Properties. However for completeness the class properties are listed below.
rangeHigh	long	The maximum value of the progress control.
rangeLow	long	The minimum value of the progress control.
orientation	byte	The direction that the control draws in, can be set the following values: progress:left                          equate(0)                        ! Draws from right to left progress:up              equate(1)                        ! Draws from the bottom up     progress:right           equate(2)                        ! Draws from Left to right progress:down            equate(3)                       ! Draws from top to bottom
leftColor	long	The shading color on the left hand side of the bar
rightColor	long	The shading color on the right hand side of the bar
topColor	long	The shading color at the top of the bar
bottomColor	long	The shading color at the bottom of the bar
bottomColor	long	The shading color at the bottom of the bar
startColor	long	This is the start color of progress bars that shift color from startColor to endColor as they progress. When startColor or endColor is set a incremental control is always drawn, to draw a shaded bar starColor and endColor should be cleared to -1 (color:none).
endColor	long	The final color to shift towards.
depth	long	The depth of end ellipse of the cylinder.
eColor	long	The color of the end ellipse of the cylinder.
pulseBar	byte	If this property is non zero then a pulse bar is drawn.
pulseWidth	long	The width of the "pulse" that moves along a pulse bar progress control.
pulseWidth	long	The width of the "pulse" that moves along a pulse bar progress control.
oneSided	byte	Whether the "pulse" fades to the background color on one of both sides. Default is that oneSided = 0 and the pulse fades into the background on both sides, setting oneSided = 1 will only fade the pulse bar towards the "back" of the pulse - the edge facing the direction of forward movement will be a hard edge with no fade.
setBoxLine	byte	If setBoxLine = 1 then a color changing bar has the box line set to the current color each time it is drawn, if setBoxLine = 0 then the box outline is drawn in the StartColor.
barDrawn	byte	Used by when drawing bar types that draw the entire bar once. For example blockBars draw the entire shaded bar to a hidden Draw layer and copy each block as necessary. If the shading options are changed the barDrawn should be set to 0.

Download latest version here

Version 1.37 247May 2025

• Clarion 12 Install

Version 1.36 24 May 2021

• Clarion 11.1 Install

Version 1.35 (7 September 2020)

• Change: Derived From DrawClass, not Draw. Requires Draw Build 4.22. Required For Clarion 11.0.13622 .

Version 1.34 (18 October 2019)

• Add: Support for Resize and Split.

Version 1.33 (18 September 2018)

• Add: Clarion 11 to install.

Version 1.32 (23 October 2015)

• Fix: Template could generate two Initialization blocks of code in Legacy Process and Report procedures.

Version 1.31 (21 October 2015)

• Add: Multi-DLL Legacy example
• Fix: Process procedures in Multi-DLL Legacy generated a compile error.

Version 1.30 (25 February 2015)

• Installer supports Clarion 10
• Removed unnecessary calls to %cwversion

Version 1.29 (6 November 2014)

• Updated the Properties-Preview window, and made it available in later Clarion versions.

Version 1.28 (22 January 2014)

• Clarion 9.1 Build

Version 1.27 (18 June 2013)

• Fix: "Variable %ObjectName is not defined"
• Fix: %ObjectName is multi instance

Version 1.26 (7 June 2013)

• Update: Implement 4.03 of cape templates.
• Fix: Error: variable %illegalChar is not defined in Legacy apps.

Version 1.25 (24 May 2013)

• Update: Implement 4.02 of cape templates.
• Fix: Could get errors with %ObjectName in some apps.

Version 1.24 (25 April 2013)

• Updated examples to include Draw extension.
• Rebuilt install to support Clarion 9.

Version 1.23 (14 March 2013)

• Changed to Ver4 object/template management system. IMPORTANT READ THIS.
• Add: support for Multi-Proj in C8

Version 1.22 (30 October 2012)

• Clarion 7.3 / 8 compatible install.

Version 1.20 (10 November 2008)

• Clarion 7 compatible install.

Version 1.19 (30 March 2006)

• Updated template support for multi-DLL applications.
• New Multi-DLL example application.
• Updated support for Draw and Progress in Multi-DLL applications.

Version 1.18 (14 April 2006)

• Template Fix (for Clarion5) - undefined template function #Pdefine omitted.
• Template Fix - removed font properties in template prompts where necessary.

Version 1.17 (23 February 2006)

• Updated for 2.26 release of Draw.
• Clarion6 versions use same name DLL (i.e. c60cspx.dll) for previewing.

Version 1.15 (09 June 2005)

• Updated for 2.14 release of Draw.
• New Template options - cleaned up template interface and buttons, changed labelling to to clearer and more consistent, added C6.2 compatibility.
• New Previewer DLL - compiled in standalone mode to reduce the size by about 70%
• Redesigned Previewer DLL interface.

Version 1.14 (11 January 2004)

• Updated for the 2.13 release of Draw.
• Supports the new DrawDLLMode template option to assist in using Draw and Progress in a DLL for multi DLL projects (will be fully documented in a later release).
  

Version 1.13 (23 November 2004)

• Based on new version of Draw.
• Fixed problems with the Progress Previewer not working.

Version 1.12 (02 November 2004)

• New optimizations to the Progress class.
• Fixed compatibility problems with the Previewer DLL and some builds of Clarion 6.
• Standardized template interface.
• Fixed bug with black bars being displayed when Progress replaces standard Clarion controls and the progress variable has not been incremented (no call to the Progress.Display() method).
• Changed code order in the SetProgress method.

Version 1.11 (04 November 2003)

• Fixed a typographic error in the template that resulted in an "Uknown variable %CP" when the Global Preview button was pressed in Clarion6.
• Updated documentation, added sections on Updating Progress Inside a Loop and Optimising Progress, as well as new entries in the FAQ.
• Changed default bar type to blockBars to improve performance.

Version 1.10 (28 October 2003)

• Gold version released.

Version 1.05 Beta (17 September 2003)

• Progress automatically resizes and redraws itself when the Draw control's size has changed - see "Resizing the Progress Control"
• BlockBars now draw the last block even if the entire block would not fit, so the bar always reaches the very end of the progress control.

Version 1.04 Beta (09 September 2003)

• Added blockBar progress bar types. These are fast, allow all shading types and can create Windows XP style bars under all version of windows.
• Fixed bug in previewer which could pass the incorrect parameters back to the template.
• Added new help tabs to previewer with more detailed help and example images of the bar types.
• Allows the thickness of the preview bar to be adjusted within the previewer using a spin control.
• Changed class structure.
• Added examples of the new bar types to the Demo example that ships with Progress.
• Moved call to SetProgress() in CPCS reports to avoid bug that printed out blank records in the detail band (ABC only).

Version 1.03 Beta (02 September 2003)

• Added support for CPCS report and process procedures (ABC and Legacy).
• Added support for Clarion 6 CR-1 and recompiled C6 previewer DLL.

Version 1.02 Beta (19 August 2003)

• Updated documentation
• Removed black dot drawn on top left hand corner of the progress control.
• Fixed resizing issues.
• Documented class properties that allow access to the control handles.
• Added help on main window with tick box to hide it.
• Improved real-time previewer and added help.

Version 1.01 Beta (12 August 2003)

• Added support for Legacy report procedures
• Added support for Legacy process procedure

Version 1.00 Beta (05 August 2003)

• First release of CapeSoft progress.

This template is copyright 2019 by CapeSoft Software. None of the included files may be distributed. Your programs which use Progress can be distributed without any royalties.

Each developer needs his own license to use CapeSoft Progress. (Need to buy more licenses?)

This product is provided as-is. Use it entirely at your own risk. Use of this product implies your acceptance of this, along with the recognition of the copyright stated above. In no way will CapeSoft Software, their employees or affiliates be liable in any way for any damages or losses you may incur as a direct or indirect result of using this product.