Form Importing Wizard v0.9

by Kamek, for mIRC 5.9 – ircweb@hotmail.com

Form Importing Wizard (FormWiz) is a utility that lets you import Visual Basic form files (.frm) and convert them to mIRC dialog tables.

The currently supported controls are:

Form control Dialog table equivalent

CheckBox check

ComboBox combo

CommandButton button

Frame box

HScrollBar scroll

Image icon

Label text

ListBox list

Menu menu, item

OptionButton radio

SSTab (Tabbed Dialog Control) tab

TabStrip (Common Controls) tab

TextBox edit

VScrollBar scroll

Form control	Dialog table equivalent
CheckBox	check
ComboBox	combo
CommandButton	button
Frame	box
HScrollBar	scroll
Image	icon
Label	text
ListBox	list
Menu	menu, item
OptionButton	radio
SSTab (Tabbed Dialog Control)	tab
TabStrip (Common Controls)	tab
TextBox	edit
VScrollBar	scroll

Creating and converting a form

To create a form, start Visual Basic (currently supported versions are 5.0 and 6.0) and create a new project. A new form will automatically be created.

Then, you can add any controls you want. To load the Tab controls, right-click the Toolbox and choose "Components...". Look for "Microsoft Tabbed Dialog Control" to add the SSTab control. If you don't have this control available, it might be because you are using the Standard version of Visual Basic or you didn't select it on the Visual Basic Setup.

Note: You can also use the TabStrip control, from "Microsoft Windows Common Controls", but since it doesn't let you put other controls inside it, SSTab is recommended.

After you think your form is done, save it (press Ctrl+S). A .frm file will be created. There's no need to save the project (.vbp file)

Open the Form Importing Wizard using /formwiz on mIRC. Then, select the .frm file, set the options you want and press "Import". You can also use /formwiz <filename>, if you don't want to change any option.

Options

The main screen in FormWiz has a few options:

Include comments: some comments will be added for each control being converted. These comments include the original control name and some details or problems that may happen during the conversion.

Use DBUs: converts the form coordinates do DBUs (dialog base units). This ensures that the dialog will be shown correctly on any computer. Since pixel-to-DBU conversion often has decimal values, you have to specify which rounding method you want. An example of the differences is in the sample on the right.

The methods are, in the specified order: simple rounding, round to nearest integer, round to nearest even number, round to nearest odd number.

As you can see, although "round to nearest even/odd number" methods distort your dialog most, controls next each other hardly overlap in them.

Conversion details

Form importing often has a few problems or details. Here are the most common:

All dialog tables must have an OK or Cancel button (Default/Cancel properties in VB). If your form doesn't have one, FormWiz automatically creates an invisible one.
If you put your radio buttons inside boxes or tabs, FormWiz automatically sets the "group" properties, making them behave correcly.
FormWiz can't retrieve properties with multiple lines, like in ListBoxes, ComboBoxes or multi-line TextBoxes.
FormWiz can't extract icons and pictures; the icon controls are just created as placeholders.
DirListBoxes and FileListBoxes are imported as ListBoxes; DriveListBoxes are imported as ComboBoxes.
PictureBoxes and borderless Frames aren't converted to any control, but objects inside them are correctly placed.