BringToFront alternative

[dormky 1]

The following code shows that BringToFront does not work. Are there any alternatives I can use to put a control on top of all other controls in a window ?

 

interface

uses
  Vcl.Forms, Vcl.ComCtrls, System.Classes, Vcl.Controls, Vcl.StdCtrls, UUtils,
  Vcl.ExtCtrls;

type
  TFormMain = class(TForm)
    PageControlMain: TPageControl;
    Sheet1: TTabSheet;
    Button1: TButton;
    procedure FormCreate(Sender: TObject);
    procedure Button1Click(Sender: TObject);

    private
      dynLabel: TLabel;
  end;

var
  FormMain: TFormMain;

implementation

{$R *.dfm}

procedure TFormMain.Button1Click(Sender: TObject);
begin
  dynLabel.BringToFront();
end;

procedure TFormMain.FormCreate(Sender: TObject);
begin
  dynLabel := TLabel.Create(self);
  dynLabel.Parent := self;
  dynLabel.Height := 200;
  dynLabel.Width := 500;
  dynLabel.Top := 100;
  dynLabel.Left := 100;
  dynLabel.Caption := 'BAMKLJDOUZEHFOZEI';
  dynLabel.Visible := True;
  dynLabel.BringToFront();
end;

 

[Uwe Raabe 1890]

The issue is that BringToFront only works inside a group of TGraphicControls (like TLabel) and TWinControls. This is from the documentation of BringToFront:

Quote

Note that controls that wrap Windows screen objects (control classes descended from TWinControl) always "stack" above lightweight controls (control classes descended from TGraphicControl). BringToFront can force a lightweight control, such as a Shape, to stack above other lightweight controls, but wrapped controls, such as an Edit, will still stack above the Shape.

 

[Dmitry Arefiev 99]

TStaticText ?

[Pat Foley 50]

2 hours ago, dormky said:

TFormMain = class(TForm) PageControlMain: TPageControl; Sheet1: TTabSheet;

You could hide the pagecontrol to show the label parented to the form or change the label parent to control on top. I would use a Tpanel set to top align that "pushes" the Tabsheet/pagecontrol down to mimic the banners used in MS's XL when showing.         

[dormky 1]

 

19 hours ago, Pat Foley said:

You could hide the pagecontrol to show the label parented to the form or change the label parent to control on top. I would use a Tpanel set to top align that "pushes" the Tabsheet/pagecontrol down to mimic the banners used in MS's XL when showing.         

I don't want to change anything about other controls, I just need a control to be on top of all others.

 

21 hours ago, Uwe Raabe said:

The issue is that BringToFront only works inside a group of TGraphicControls (like TLabel) and TWinControls. This is from the documentation of BringToFront:

 

Yes, that's why I'm looking for an alternative. Do you know of any component that could work on the same group as my TPageControl here ? I suppose I could use such a component, make it invisible but keep a child control of it visible, if that's possible.

[Uwe Raabe 1890]

As @Dmitry Arefiev already mentioned: Replace the TLabel with TStaticText. The latter is a TWinControl and can be placed on top of other controls.

[dormky 1]

The TLabel was just for demonstration purposes, I'd like to be able to do that with all components...

[PeterBelow 218]

25 minutes ago, dormky said:

The TLabel was just for demonstration purposes, I'd like to be able to do that with all components...

You cannot, it is only possible for TWinControl descendants.

[aehimself 388]

You can go extremely hacky and create a "transparent" panel - and simply put all your components on this. Since TPanel is a TWinControl descendant, .BringToFront will work properly on it.

 

You can use the source here, just change the painting slightly:

 

Procedure TDimPanel.Paint;
Begin
  // Omit the call to inherited in general. 
  
  Self.Canvas.Draw(0, 0, _bitmap, 255);  // Might need 0 instead of 255 for opacity - I don't know by heart
End;

 

[David Heffernan 2300]

20 hours ago, dormky said:

The TLabel was just for demonstration purposes, I'd like to be able to do that with all components...

Late information boo

[Pat Foley 50]

On 3/7/2024 at 2:36 AM, dormky said:

On 3/6/2024 at 7:27 AM, Pat Foley said:

You could hide the pagecontrol to show the label parented to the form or change the label parent to control on top. I would use a Tpanel set to top align that "pushes" the Tabsheet/pagecontrol down to mimic the banners used in MS's XL when showing.         

I don't want to change anything about other controls, I just need a control to be on top of all others.

 

 

Here's putting the label on a tabsheet.  This allows giving a context to incoming label.  By using tabsheets in the IDE you can group controls readily Then show only what is needed in runtime.  

 

var ts: TTabsheet;
var labelNu: Integer = 1;

procedure TForm1.AddLabelwithTabbedIndexClick(Sender: TObject);
begin
  ts:= TTabsheet.Create(Self);
  ts.PageControl := PageControl1;
  ts.Caption := LabelNu.ToString;
  var llabel := TLabel.Create(Self);  //was TStaticText
  llabel.Name := 'llabel' + LabelNu.ToString;
  lLabel.Caption := 'label&' + LabelNu.ToString;
  lLabel.Parent := ts;
  //LLabel.TabStop := True;
  ts.TabVisible := True;
  Inc(labelNu);
end;

procedure TForm1.RandomShowHideTabClick(Sender: TObject);
begin
  ts := PageControl1.Pages[Random(PageControl1.PageCount)];
  with ts do TabVisible := not tabVisible;
end;

procedure TForm1.Showllabel1Click(Sender: TObject);
begin
  var lbl := FindComponent('llabel1');
  (lbl as TControl).show;
end;