TMetro

Source: source/classes/tmetro.prg

Standalone class

TMetro creates a full-screen Modern UI (Metro-style) start screen with tiled buttons, inspired by the Windows 8 Metro design language. It displays a background image, a title, current date and time, and a grid of tiled buttons that can be either normal or large (double-width). Each tile has configurable text and background colors and an optional icon image.

Key DATA Members

DATA	Type	Description
`oWnd`	Object	The underlying popup window (WS_POPUP style)
`cTitle`	Character	Title displayed at the top of the start screen
`aButtons`	Array	Array of TButtonBmp objects created by `AddButton()`
`nBtnWidth`	Numeric	Tile width in pixels (default 132)
`nBtnHeight`	Numeric	Tile height in pixels (default 132)
`nOriginX`	Numeric	Starting X position for tile grid (default 200)
`nOriginY`	Numeric	Starting Y position for tile grid (default 200)
`hBitmap`	Numeric	Handle to the background bitmap
`oFont`	Object	Segoe UI Light font for display elements
`oFontB`	Object	Segoe UI Light bold font for time display
`oTimer`	Object	Timer for updating the clock display

Methods

Method	Description
`New( cTitle, nBtnW, nBtnH, cBgFile )`	Create a new TMetro start screen. `cBgFile` is a background bitmap file or resource.
`Activate()`	Show the start screen maximized with background, title, date, and time
`AddButton( cCaption, nClrText, nClrPane, lLarge, cImg, bAction )`	Add a tile button with caption, colors, optional image, and action
`End()`	Close the start screen and release resources

Example: Metro Screen with Tiles

#include "FiveWin.ch"

function Main()

   local oMetro

   oMetro := TMetro():New( "My Application", 132, 132, "bg.bmp" )

   oMetro:AddButton( "Customers", CLR_WHITE, CLR_HBLUE, .F., "cust.bmp",;
      { || MsgInfo( "Customers" ) } )

   oMetro:AddButton( "Products", CLR_WHITE, CLR_HGREEN, .F., "prod.bmp",;
      { || MsgInfo( "Products" ) } )

   oMetro:AddButton( "Reports", CLR_WHITE, CLR_HRED, .T., "rpt.bmp",;
      { || MsgInfo( "Reports" ) } )

   oMetro:Activate()

return nil

Notes

TMetro creates a borderless popup window that fills the entire screen. The window style uses WS_POPUP with no caption or border.
The background image can be loaded from a file or from a resource. If the file is not found, it falls back to resource loading.
Large tiles (lLarge := .T.) span two tile positions in width, providing visual emphasis for primary actions.
Tile positions are calculated automatically in a grid layout. When a row exceeds the screen width, tiles wrap to the next row.
The clock is updated via an internal timer and displayed in the top-right area using the Segoe UI Light font.
TMetro uses Segoe UI Light font which is available on Windows 8 and later. On older systems, it falls back to a default font.

TMetro

Key DATA Members

Methods

Example: Metro Screen with Tiles

Notes

See Also