Product history
New features available in version 4
Added the following new surfaces
SURFACE_GEL_SHAPED
SURFACE_VISTA_AERO
SURFACE_OFFICE_2003
SURFACE_OFFICE_2007
Added new shapes for the spotlight
Added support for reflectivity of the picture displayed on the button
Added the possibility to obtain the bitmap, in form of a HBITMAP, of the 3D button in various situations
Cells can now be sized and positioned in both percentage and pixels
New "Button level" functions
abmCellsAddCellEx
abmCellsGetCellPosEx
abmCellsSetCellPosEx
abmCellsGetCellSizeEx
abmCellsSetCellSizeEx
abmCellsGetScaleUnit
abmCellsSetScaleUnit
abmGetControlBitmap
New "Button level" functions (list of new properties accessible through the respective abmGet/abmSet functions):
SpotlightType
PictureReflectivityEnabled
PictureReflectivityPerc
PictureReflectHeightPerc
VistaColorGlossyEffectUpper
VistaColorGlossyEffectLower
VistaColorGlossyEmphUpper
VistaColorGlossyEmphLower
VistaColorGlossyEmphUpperPressed
VistaColorGlossyEmphLowerPressed
VistaColorBackgroundChecked
VistaColorBackgroundCheckedMouseOver
VistaColorGlowBack
VistaColorGlowBottom
VistaColorGlow
VistaColorGlowChecked
VistaColorGlowCheckedMouseOver
VistaColorOuterBorder
VistaColorMiddleBorder
VistaColorInnerBorder
VistaColorInnerBorderPressed
VistaOpacityGlossyEffectUpper
VistaOpacityGlossyEffectLower
VistaOpacityGlossyEmphUpper
VistaOpacityGlossyEmphLower
VistaOpacityGlossyEmphUpperPressed
VistaOpacityGlossyEmphLowerPressed
VistaLook
VistaGlossyShape
VistaGlossySmoothFactor
VistaOuterBorderWidth
VistaMiddleBorderWidth
VistaInnerBorderWidth
Office2007ColorBackground
Office2007ColorNorthTop
Office2007ColorNorthBottom
Office2007ColorSouthTop
Office2007ColorSouthBottom
Office2007ColorBorder
Office2007ColorBackgroundMouseOver
Office2007ColorNorthTopMouseOver
Office2007ColorNorthBottomMouseOver
Office2007ColorSouthTopMouseOver
Office2007ColorSouthBottomMouseOver
Office2007ColorBorderMouseOver
Office2007ColorBackgroundPressed
Office2007ColorNorthTopPressed
Office2007ColorNorthBottomPressed
Office2007ColorSouthTopPressed
Office2007ColorSouthBottomPressed
Office2007ColorBorderPressed
Office2007OuterBorderWidth
Office2007InnerBorderWidth
Office2003ColorNorth
Office2003ColorSouth
Office2003ColorBorder
Office2003ColorNorthMouseOver
Office2003ColorSouthMouseOver
Office2003ColorBorderMouseOver
Office2003ColorNorthPressed
Office2003ColorSouthPressed
Office2003ColorBorderPressed
Office2003BorderWidth
New features available in version 3
Reduced the amount of memory required by the button caching system.
Added transparent GIF and PNG formats for button image export.
Added support for independent cells containing text and pictures.
Added support for lighting directions.
Added support for alpha channel transparency.
Added the following 3D gradient algorithms
COLOR_RENDER_LINEAR_MATCH
COLOR_RENDER_HYPER_3D
COLOR_RENDER_2_COLORS
Added the following shapes
SHAPE_TRIANGLE
SHAPE_TRAPEZE
SHAPE_ARROW
SHAPE_HONEYCOMB_VERT
SHAPE_HONEYCOMB_HORIZ
SHAPE_HONEYCOMB_45
SHAPE_HONEYCOMB_135
SHAPE_DIAMOND
SHAPE_KEYHOLE,
SHAPE_4LEAFCLOVER_V
SHAPE_4LEAFCLOVER_D
SHAPE_ALFALFA
New "Container level" functions:
abmGetVersion
abmGetEdition
abmGetButtonCacheSize
abmEnableButtonCache
New "Button level" functions:
abmGetPictureDisabled
abmSetPictureDisabled
abmGetTextCaptionAlignment
abmSetTextCaptionAlignment
abmGetLightDirection
abmSetLightDirection
abmGetSpotlightVisible
abmSetSpotlightVisible
abmGetSpotlightColor
abmSetSpotlightColor
abmGetPictureTranspFactor
abmSetPictureTranspFactor
abmGetShapeHeadFactor
abmSetShapeHeadFactor
abmGetShapeLineFactor
abmSetShapeLineFactor
abmGetSurfaceTransparentFactor
abmSetSurfaceTransparentFactor
abmGetSurfaceTransparentZone
abmSetSurfaceTransparentZone
abmGetRectHardEdges
abmSetRectHardEdges
abmGetSwapEffectsColors
abmSetSwapEffectsColors
abmRefreshTransparentControl
abmSetTotalTransparentFactor
New functions for "Cells" support:
abmCellsAddCell
abmCellsDeleteCell
abmCellsGetCount
abmCellsFindCell
abmCellsGetLogFont
abmCellsSetLogFont
abmCellsGetCellUniqueID
abmCellsGetCellPos
abmCellsSetCellPos
abmCellsGetCellSize
abmCellsSetCellSize
abmCellsSetPictureFromHandle
abmCellsGetVisible
abmCellsSetVisible
abmCellsGetText
abmCellsSetText
abmCellsGetTextSetting
abmCellsSetTextSetting
abmCellsGetTextHorzAlign
abmCellsSetTextHorzAlign
abmCellsGetTextVertAlign
abmCellsSetTextVertAlign
abmCellsGetPictureHorzAlign
abmCellsSetPictureHorzAlign
abmCellsGetPictureVertAlign
abmCellsSetPictureVertAlign
abmCellsGetPictureTranspFactor
abmCellsSetPictureTranspFactor
abmCellsGetBackTranspFactor
abmCellsSetBackTranspFactor
abmCellsGetBackColor
abmCellsSetBackColor
abmCellsGetBorderColor
abmCellsSetBorderColor
abmCellsGetBorderWidth
abmCellsSetBorderWidth
abmCellsSetPictureNormal
New features available in version 2
Requires less time, memory and system resources when using sets of identical buttons
UNICODE compliant
Added GIF format for button image export
Added ICO and TIF formats support for pictures loading
Added antialiasing for surface and texts rendering
Added double-space text rendering option
Texts can be rendered in transparency (through alpha channel)
Texts can have a surrounding border with variable color and an underlying color shadow
Texts can have the following new effects:
EFFECT_HALO
EFFECT_RAISEDHALO
EFFECT_SUNKENHALO
EFFECT_FLOATINGHALO
Texts can be rotated of any angle between –90° and +90°
Custom shaped buttons can now use also color masks in format BMP, PNG or GIF.
Custom shaped buttons support all of the special effects available for geometric buttons
Improved the smoothing of the button surface
Added a new geometric shape in place of the SHAPE_TEXT option:
SHAPE_GEM
Added the possibility to orient the SHAPE_ROUNDRECT and SHAPE_GEM shapes through the following directions
DIR_NONE
DIR_WEST
DIR_NORTH
DIR_EAST
DIR_SOUTH
DIR_NW
DIR_NE
DIR_SE
DIR_SW
Added the following surface types:
SURFACE_SUNKEN
SURFACE_PLASTIC
SURFACE_LUCID
SURFACE_NEON
SURFACE_AQUA
SURFACE_GEL
SURFACE_PLASTIC_SH
SURFACE_NEON_SH
SURFACE_AQUA_SH
Added a new special effect for the button surface:
SPECIAL_EFFECT_SUNKEN_SIMPLE
Improved the rendering of pictures over the button surface; picture can be now tiled or stretched
Added the multiline support for texts (can add Carriage Returns between lines)
New "Container level" functions:
abmUseUnicodeStrings
abmUsingDotNet
abmClearButtonCache
abmContainerColorSetting
New "Button level" functions:
abmGetValue
abmSetValue
abmGetPictureVisible
abmSetPictureVisible
abmGetOrientation
abmSetOrientation
abmGetSpotlightOffsetX
abmSetSpotlightOffsetX
abmGetSpotlightOffsetY
abmSetSpotlightOffsetY
abmGetSpotlightResizeWidth
abmSetSpotlightResizeWidth
abmGetSpotlightResizeHeight
abmSetSpotlightResizeHeight
abmGetUseAntialiasing
abmSetUseAntialiasing
