controlling scrolling in a form programatically

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  • Scott M

    controlling scrolling in a form programatically

    Hi,

    I am currently trying to write a simple game using vb.net

    the form I am working on is 800*600 (this is set as the maximum size)
    and autoscroll is set to true. The user moves around the screen by
    moving a picturebox (sprite) with the cursor keys.

    When the user hits the bottom of the screen I want the screen to
    automatically scroll down to keep the picture box in view - The screen
    I want to work with is 800*1200 but the window should not resize above
    800*600. I would also like to keep a status bar (just a text box) on
    the bottom line of the screen (displaying lives etc - this needs to
    remain fixed even if the screen scrolls)

    Any ideas?

    I had a couple of ideas myself - create a "background " picture box
    that is 800*1200 (this then displays scroll bars in the form). Then
    create a couple of hidden picture boxes, one at the top of the screen
    and one at the bottom of the screen. When the user moves the sprite
    picture box below the bottom of the form (y>=600) then move focus to
    the bottom picture box. And when they move above this (y<600) focus
    on the top picture box. In this way the form appears to auto scroll.

    However, this means that the status bar gets lost when the screen
    scrolls (although I suppose I could move this programatically when the
    screen moves). Of course I'll need to trap the user scrolling around
    the form themselves as well.

    Also heard about mdi forms (never used them though) would I be able to
    have the scrolling form as a child with the status bar as a parent?

    Finally, how do you programatically scroll a form - I couldn't find
    any obvious commands like scrollwindow(x, y)?

    thanks in advance

    Scott M.
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