MapInfo Pro Developers User Group

Hi Everybody,

I've been tasked with updating our MapBasic app to work with MapInfo Pro 2023.  A lot of it still works (except having to replace the rather out of date DDE comms with something a little more modern!!) but there are some things I'm struggling to convert.

One of those is our MapBasic app has (or should I say "had") a menu with a number of menu items as well as two tool buttons (which require the user to select a region before the rest of the functionality kicks in) and these were ending up in a "Legacy" Ribbon Tab.

I have managed to move our menu items into a new Ribbon as Push Buttons using code such as

But if I try the same with a ToolButton, it still ends up on the Legacy Tab.

I found this comment in the MapInfo Pro 2023 MapBasic User Guide.pdf file which implies it cannot be done:

Custom drawing tools (created using the Create ButtonPad or Alter ButtonPad statements, with
the ToolButton subclause) are not supported by the current Layout window. Custom drawing tools
that work with Map windows are supported inside of map frames, but such tools only work on the
map frame after the frame is activated.

Is this actually the case - if so, how have tools like "Zoom In" and "Zoom Out" managed to get into ribbon groups as found on the "Map" Ribbon Tab as they are clearly Tool Buttons are they not?

Is there a way this can be done or is what was written in the pdf file correct?  Otherwise what options do I have and could you provide maybe a simple example of how I do this in MapBasic 2023?

I found this post from a while back which seems to suggest it was possible in v17 but I guess it's not longer the case:

Adding Tool Button to Ribbon Interface (google.com)

Thanks in advance for your time,

Chris Nightingale

------------------------------
Chris Nightingale
Knowledge Community Shared Account
Burlington MA
------------------------------

Hi Chris

At some point, I recall we had some issues using the built-in Toolhandler for a ToolButton. I'd recommend using a custom handler for your tool instead and use this to grab the coordinate where the user clicked.

That can be done using the Alter/Create Buttonpad command.

Below you can see such an example. Note that I add the same button in 3 different places: to an existing group on the Map tab, to a new group on the Map tab, and to a new group on a new tab.

Include "MapBasic.def"
Include "Menu.def"
Include "Icons.def"

Declare Sub Main
Declare Sub EndHandler
Declare Sub CustomToolHandler

'------------------
Sub Main

	'**Add ToolButton to existing Create group on the Map tab
	Alter ButtonPad "MapCreateBar" Add
		ToolButton
			Calling CustomToolHandler
			Large Icon -1 File "pack://application:,,,/MapInfo.StyleResources;component/Images/Spatial/segmenting_32x32.png"
			Cursor MI_CURSOR_CROSSHAIR
			DrawMode DM_CUSTOM_POINT
			HelpMsg "Capture Coordinate where you click\nCapture Coordinate"
		Tab "TabMap"

	'**Add ToolButton to a new group called Capture on the Map tab
	Create ButtonPad "Capture" As
		ToolButton
			Calling CustomToolHandler
			Large Icon -1 File "pack://application:,,,/MapInfo.StyleResources;component/Images/Spatial/segmenting_32x32.png"
			Cursor MI_CURSOR_CROSSHAIR
			DrawMode DM_CUSTOM_POINT
			HelpMsg "Capture Coordinate where you click\nCapture Coordinate"
		Tab "TabMap"

	'**Add ToolButton to a new group called Capture on a new tab called Capture
	Create ButtonPad "Capture" As
		ToolButton
			Calling CustomToolHandler
			Large Icon -1 File "pack://application:,,,/MapInfo.StyleResources;component/Images/Spatial/segmenting_32x32.png"
			Cursor MI_CURSOR_CROSSHAIR
			DrawMode DM_CUSTOM_POINT
			HelpMsg "Capture Coordinate where you click\nCapture Coordinate"
		Tab "TabCapture|Capture"

End Sub

'------------------
Sub EndHandler

	'**Doesn't have to do anything, but has to be here
	'**To avoid the tool from being unloaded

End Sub

'------------------
Sub CustomToolHandler

Dim	fX, fY As Float,
	nMID As Integer

	nMID = FrontWindow()

	Set CoordSys Window nMID
	fX = CommandInfo(CMD_INFO_X)
	fY = CommandInfo(CMD_INFO_Y)

	Note "You clicked at ( " & FormatNumber$(Round(fX, 0.01)) & " | " & FormatNumber$(Round(fY, 0.01)) & " )"

End Sub

I have also attached the small sample code as a MapBasic source file.

Attachment(s)

ToolButtonButtonPad.zip   763 B 1 version

Hi Peter,

Many thanks for the reply and the very detailed example.

I will give this a try.

I'm still very new to all this but hopefully will gradually get the hang of it!!

[Update]

With a bit of tweaking that has worked for me - I had to change "DM_CUSTOM_POINT" to "DM_CUSTOM_RECT" to give the rectangle selection tool and also found I still had to make calls like this:

ourAppActionsGroup = RbnCtrlGrpCollAddStrStr(ourAppTabGroupCollection, "ourAppActions", TranslateText("Actions"))

Otherwise they all ended up on the Legacy tab again - but seems happier now.

So thanks again
------------------------------
Chris Nightingale
i2 Group
Burlington MA
------------------------------

Include "MapBasic.def"Include "Menu.def"Include "Icons.def"Declare Sub MainDeclare Sub EndHandlerDeclare Sub CustomToolHandler'------------------Sub Main	'**Add ToolButton to existing Create group on the Map tab	Alter ButtonPad "MapCreateBar" Add		ToolButton			Calling CustomToolHandler			Large Icon -1 File "pack://application:,,,/MapInfo.StyleResources;component/Images/Spatial/segmenting_32x32.png"			Cursor MI_CURSOR_CROSSHAIR			DrawMode DM_CUSTOM_POINT			HelpMsg "Capture Coordinate where you click\nCapture Coordinate"		Tab "TabMap"	'**Add ToolButton to a new group called Capture on the Map tab	Create ButtonPad "Capture" As		ToolButton			Calling CustomToolHandler			Large Icon -1 File "pack://application:,,,/MapInfo.StyleResources;component/Images/Spatial/segmenting_32x32.png"			Cursor MI_CURSOR_CROSSHAIR			DrawMode DM_CUSTOM_POINT			HelpMsg "Capture Coordinate where you click\nCapture Coordinate"		Tab "TabMap"	'**Add ToolButton to a new group called Capture on a new tab called Capture	Create ButtonPad "Capture" As		ToolButton			Calling CustomToolHandler			Large Icon -1 File "pack://application:,,,/MapInfo.StyleResources;component/Images/Spatial/segmenting_32x32.png"			Cursor MI_CURSOR_CROSSHAIR			DrawMode DM_CUSTOM_POINT			HelpMsg "Capture Coordinate where you click\nCapture Coordinate"		Tab "TabCapture|Capture"End Sub'------------------Sub EndHandler	'**Doesn't have to do anything, but has to be here	'**To avoid the tool from being unloadedEnd Sub'------------------Sub CustomToolHandlerDim	fX, fY As Float,	nMID As Integer	nMID = FrontWindow()	Set CoordSys Window nMID	fX = CommandInfo(CMD_INFO_X)	fY = CommandInfo(CMD_INFO_Y)	Note "You clicked at ( " & FormatNumber$(Round(fX, 0.01)) & " | " & FormatNumber$(Round(fY, 0.01)) & " )"End Sub