OverlayIt: ovi_NewWindow

ovi_NewWindow

ovi_NewWindow (left;top;right;bottom;windowLevel;overlayRef) <- errorCode
Parameter		Type	Description
->	left	Numeric	Global left coordinate of the window
->	top	Numeric	Global top coordinate of the window
->	right	Numeric	Global right coordinate of the window
->	bottom	Numeric	Global bottom coordinate of the window
->	windowLevel	Numeric	Level of the overlay window
<-	overlayRef	Long integer	Reference of the overlay window
<-	errorCode	Long Integer	Error Code (0 = no error)

The routine creates a new overlay window. Coordinates are expressed in Global Coordinates.
windowLevel is the initial level of the window. This parameter can be changed later using the ovi_GetSetWindowLevel routine. The level is an important parameter. Possible values are:

Value	Constant
0	koviLEVEL_Utility
1	koviLEVEL_Toolbar
2	koviLEVEL_Overlay

The koviLEVEL_Utility level is the default level. If you pass an unknow constant value, the plug-in uses koviLEVEL_Utility. Here are the behavior of each level:

koviLEVEL_Utility: the overlay window is at the top every other window, including the windows that belong to other applications. Only the menubar and the dock’s icons are over the window. 4D acts as usual.
koviLEVEL_Toolbar: the window is at the top of 4D, but is behind floating and " modal-priority " windows.
koviLEVEL_Overlay: the window is at the top of everything, including the menubar and the dock’s icons. IMPORTANT NOTICE: with this level, 4D does not respond to the events: mouse events, keyboard events, … This level should be set only for temporary use.

The window is initially invisible. You can set its parameters (colors, message) and then make it visible (ovi_GetSetVisible).
If the window could be created, overlayRef contains a reference to this window, else it contains 0. This reference must be used with every other routines of the plug-in. Note that it can’t be used with 4D’s commands of the " Windows " theme, but you can get a regular Mac window reference of the overlay by calling ovi_GetWindowRef.

IMPORTANT TECHNICAL NOTE: in order to keep track of the windows and to avoid 4D to close them randomly, OverlayIt uses an external process that is created on startup. This process is immediatly freezed, and then unfreezed when the user quits 4D. So it does not use any CPU time. You can check this by creating several overlay windows, work with 4D for a long time and have a look at the runtime explorer.