Transparent Window Background

SDL Development
1

Is it possible, perhaps with a little hack to get a transparent SDL window background on Windows, LINUX aso ???

I think this would be a cool feature in addition to the borderless windows.

Then you would be able to write xplattform Players or Apps like Deliplayer, Sonique.

This is what i mean :

CU

2

“Torsten Giebl” wrote:

Is it possible, perhaps with a little hack to get a transparent SDL
window background on Windows, LINUX aso ???

it is possible but nothing SDL should do

Then you would be able to write xplattform Players or Apps like Deliplayer, Sonique.

then you are looking for something else, not SDL — sorry

3

Hello,

Well, for X anyways, if you want to have non-rectangular windows, you
need to use the XShape extenstion, to the X Windows System. That
is, the stuff you get in the header file:

#include <X11/extensions/shape.h>

If you want transparency or translucency, you will use the
XRender extension to the X Window System. That is, the stuff you
get in the header file:

#include <X11/Xft/Xft.h>

(If you are using XFree86, you’ll need a newer version of it to
get XRender to work, with its transparency and translucency, to work.
I’m pretty sure the version of XFree86 that comes with Red Hat 7.2 has
XRender.)

This stuff is independent of SDL though.

See ya

 Charles Iliya Krempeaux
 tnt @ linux.ca
 ckrempea @ alumni.sfu.caOn Sun, 2001-11-11 at 06:02, Torsten Giebl wrote:

Is it possible, perhaps with a little hack to get a transparent SDL window background on Windows, LINUX aso ???

I think this would be a cool feature in addition to the borderless windows.

Then you would be able to write xplattform Players or Apps like Deliplayer, Sonique.

This is what i mean :

http://www.syntheticsoft.com/dp.gif

CU

SDL mailing list
SDL at libsdl.org
http://www.libsdl.org/mailman/listinfo/sdl

4

Like what…? Sure, there’s always the “write one rendering layer for
each target”, but that’s quite some work for an application like that -
and quite pointless, as that kind of applications usually make use of
no “system widgets” at all. Everything’s just chrome…

That’s why I “invented” ChromeTk - but that won’t be of much use to
anyone for yet a while. (Especially not if I get carried away and port a
game every now and then… :wink:

I don’t know of any working toolkit that’s really suitable for this kind
of GUIs, while also being truly useful. The only ones I know of are
proprietary, inherently non-portable or both - or based on SDL!

In short, using SDL + various platform dependent hacks can’t be worse
than reimplementing SDL from scratch and write those platform dependent
“hacks”…

Or can it?

//David Olofson — Programmer, Reologica Instruments AB

.- M A I A -------------------------------------------------.
| Multimedia Application Integration Architecture |
| A Free/Open Source Plugin API for Professional Multimedia |
----------------------------> http://www.linuxdj.com/maia -' .- David Olofson -------------------------------------------. | Audio Hacker - Open Source Advocate - Singer - Songwriter | -------------------------------------> http://olofson.net -'On Sunday 11 November 2001 19:06, Mattias Engdeg?rd wrote:

“Torsten Giebl” wrote:

Is it possible, perhaps with a little hack to get a transparent SDL
window background on Windows, LINUX aso ???

it is possible but nothing SDL should do

Then you would be able to write xplattform Players or Apps like
Deliplayer, Sonique.

then you are looking for something else, not SDL — sorry

5

David Olofson wrote:

Mattias Engdeg?rd wrote:

Torsten Giebl wrote:

Is it possible, perhaps with a little hack to get
a transparent SDL window background on Windows,
LINUX aso ???

then you are looking for something else, not SDL
— sorry

Like what…? Sure, there’s always the “write one
rendering layer for each target”, but that’s quite
some work for an application like that - and quite
pointless, as that kind of applications usually make
use of no “system widgets” at all.

Also, without support for transparent windows (and the ability to position
them) the SDL_NOFRAME flag in SDL_SetVideoMode seems kind of pointless. Is
anyone using SDL_NOFRAME, and if so, what is it being used for?

  • Randi

Regimental Command
Generic Armored Combat System
http://regcom.sourceforge.net

6

Also, without support for transparent windows (and the ability to position
them) the SDL_NOFRAME flag in SDL_SetVideoMode seems kind of pointless. Is
anyone using SDL_NOFRAME, and if so, what is it being used for?

  • Randi

It’s handy for making a splash screen, a fake-fullscreen app (a la
photoshop, where the menu & title bar are both hidden, but the
taskbar/tray/gnome toolbar/etc… are not), among other things I’m sure.

DaveOn Mon, 12 Nov 2001, Randi J. Relander wrote:

–

David MacCormack
@David_MacCormack

In the land of Redmond, where the Windows lie.
One OS to rule them all, One OS to find them,
One OS to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.
In the land of Redmond, where the Windows lie.