Re: Q: Newbie... following instructions and hopelessly lost

D. R. Evans wrote:
> Sorry for being so stupid, but the instructions say:
> 
> ----
> 
> To create a component, you select the appropriate component from the
> Palette. Components are grouped for easier access, e.g. the basic
> controls are together. Once you have selected a control, the status
> bar in the Palette shows the selected control.
> 
> To place the component move the cursor onto the Designer. Click the
> mouse once in the position where the component is required. Once the
> component is on the form, it can be moved and resized. You move it by
> placing the mouse within the component and dragging it. You resize it
> by dragging one of  the eight markers shown on the edge of a selected
> control.
> 
> ----
> 
> So I:
> 
> 1. created a frame
> 2. opened the frame designer
> 3. selected the static bitmap
You had to pick one of the controls which is a bit of an exception :)
> 4. clicked on the frame
> 
> At this point a very small box with diagonal red lines appears.
> However, nothing I do at this point seems to either remove or resize
> it. In particular, there is no sign of "eight markers" that might
> allow me to change its size from something microscopic to something
> usable.
> 
> I also note that right-clicking brings up a context menu with
> helpful-looking commands like "Align..." and "Size..." but selecting
> those does not bring up any secondary menu (which one would expect to
> appear because of the ellipses).
> 
> So I'm completely lost. The instructions seem clear. I believe that I
> am following them. But nothing I do seems to actually move or resize
> the static bitmap.
> 
> This is with kubuntu dapper 64-bit (boa constructor 0.4.4, which is
> the version in the dapper repository).
First of all you should upgrade Boa, 0.4.4 is a very old version.

I would suggest:
- Boa 0.6.1-beta from the sourceforge download section or from CVS
- wxPython 2.8.x, latest is 2.8.4.2
- Python 2.5

To layout an application so it works well on different platforms you 
should use sizers, there is a small tutorial in Boa 0.6.1.

So, the sequence would be something like this:

- create the frame
- put a panel onto the frame (this is especially needed for cross 
platform compatibility)
- put e.g. a flexgridsizer onto the panel (IIRC, this did not yet work 
in 0.4.4)
- put e.g. a textctrl or statictext onto the panel or a bitmap if you 
have to :) (I'll add this to the list for enhancing the tutorial as it 
is a bit different to other controls).

I am a bit short of time, so have to leave it at this.

Werner


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