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<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="6"><b><font size="4">NiceGrid
v2.20</font></b></font><br>
© 2003 - 2007, Priyatna<br>
Bandung - Indonesia</p>
<p><a href="http://www.priyatna.org/">http://www.priyatna.org/</a><br>
<a href="mailto:me@priyatna.org">mailto:me@priyatna.org</a></p>
<p><a href="#intro">Introduction</a><br>
<a href="#license">License</a><br>
<a href="#history">Version History</a><br>
<a href="#install">Installation</a><br>
<a href="#headers">Working with Headers</a><br>
<a href="#contact">Contacts</a></p>
<p><font size="1">Version: 2.20 <br>
Release Date: November 2nd, 2003<br>
</font></p>
<p> </p>
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="4"><b><a name="intro"></a></b></font>
<hr>
<p></p>
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="4"><b>Introduction</b></font></p>
<p>NiceGrid is a Delphi component that aimed to be a standard string grid replacement.
It is written from scratch, not descended from TStringGrid. The main reason
why I write this component is to have a grid component that <b>nice</b> and
<b>smooth</b>. Here's some feature of NiceGrid:</p>
<ul>
<li>Headers can be merged and or multilined.</li>
<li>Smooth scrolling, not aligned to top left cell coordinate.</li>
<li>All aspect of grid colors can be customized: header light color, header
dark color, header color, grid color, text color, etc.; resulting a real nice
looking grid.</li>
<li>Alternate row color.</li>
<li>Can be customized at design time.</li>
<li>Each column can have its own horizontal and vertical alignment, color, and
font.</li>
<li>Each column can be hidden.</li>
<li>Can be auto fit to width.</li>
<li>Can be auto calculate column width.</li>
<li>BeginUpdate and EndUpdate method for bulk cells access.</li>
</ul>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p>Since it is a new component, there are several main differences between NiceGrid
and TStringGrid:</p>
<ul>
<li>Headers are excluded from cells, unlike TStringGrid that treats fixed rows
as regular cells (Row 0, for example), Cells[0,0] in NiceGrid will access
the top left editable cells, not fixed cell.<br>
<br>
</li>
<li>The only way to access the data is using Cells property or using direct
array referencing style: NiceGrid1[0,0]. There are not (yet) Cols, or Rows
property.<br>
<br>
</li>
<li>FixedRows -> Header, FixedCols -> Gutter.</li>
</ul>
<p> </p>
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="4"><b><a name="license"></a></b></font>
</p>
<hr>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p> </p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="4"><b>License</b></font></p>
<p>This library is released under Mozilla Public License. You can use it in your
freeware, shareware or commercial softwares. You can send your modification
to me, and if I decide to include it in the main distribution, I will add your
name as a contributor. You can read full licensing information <a href="License.txt">here</a>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="4"><b><a name="history"></a></b></font>
</p>
<hr>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p> </p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="4"><b>Version History</b></font></p>
<p><b>Version 2.20</b></p>
<ul>
<li>Bug fixed: OnCellChange event and friends only fired by user input, not
by code (It seems that this behavior conforms with VCL design. I just get
the point. ;-)<br>
<br>
</li>
<li>Bug fixed: messing up with accelerator keys. NiceGrid can't capture chars
that already defined as accelerators of other control. This is fixed now.<br>
<br>
</li>
<li>C++ Builder port by C. S. Phua <csphua@teledynamics.com.my>.<br>
<br>
</li>
</ul>
<p><b>Version 2.10</b></p>
<ul>
<li>Problems in clipboard operations with some hidden columns, fixed.<br>
<br>
</li>
<li>OnAddRow event added, makes possible to set default values to new added
row.<br>
<br>
</li>
<li>DeleteRow method added.<br>
<br>
</li>
<li>CanResize property in Column, this will control column width when FitToWidth
property is set.<br>
<br>
</li>
<li>Some drawing enhachements.<br>
<br>
</li>
</ul>
<p><b>Version 2.00</b></p>
<ul>
<li>Bitmap buffering is removed. Believe me, this is not as easy as I thought.
<br>
<br>
</li>
<li>Lot of enhanchement in editing capabilities and clipboard operations, most
of them are adapted from well-known Microsoft Excel™. <br>
<br>
</li>
<li> Headers Title is more flexible now. It doesn't have to be complete. Just
remember two basic rules: '<b>;</b>' for multiline and '<b>|</b>' for each
header cell. Header and gutter have their own font.<br>
<br>
</li>
<li>Fill Down and Fill Right feature. This feature is actually created for my
own purpose, but I think it's not a bad idea. To fill down a column, try to
type something and then end with '<b>*</b>' and press ENTER. To fill right
a row, use '<b>></b>'.<br>
<br>
</li>
<li>Each column can be hidden. But use this feature wisely, because paste operation
(from clipboard) will be applied also to hidden columns. It may make confuse
end-user. I'll try to patch this later.<br>
<br>
</li>
<li>Cell editing can be done at design time via Column.Strings property.<br>
<br>
</li>
<li>Filter, Validation and Notification features: OnFilterChar, OnValidate,
OnCellChanging, OnCellChange events; also EnableValidation - DisableValidation
methods.</li>
</ul>
<p> </p>
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="4"><b><a name="install"></a></b></font>
<hr>
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="4"><b>Installation</b></font></p>
<p>There is no special process to install it on Delphi. Just open <b>NiceGridD7.dpk</b>
on Delphi IDE and press Install button. I use Delphi 7. If you use another Delphi
version, you may have to make some minor changes.</p>
<p>The component will appear in <b>priyatna.org</b> tab.</p>
<p> </p>
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="4"><b><a name="headers"></a></b></font>
<hr>
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="4"><b>Working with
Headers</b></font></p>
<p>All features explained below are available at design time, but I will cover
it using codes, for easy following.</p>
<p>NiceGrid will automatically scan column title and make appropriate merging
and multilining. The only thing you must do is setting each column's <b>Title</b>
property. This is a <b>string</b> type property. To make a multilined caption,
use '<b>;</b>' (semicolon) character. </p>
<p>For example:</p>
<blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p> <font color="#FF0000">NiceGrid1.Columns[0].Title := <font color="#0000FF">'First
Line;Second Line'</font>;</font></p>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<p>will make</p>
<table width="200" border="1" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" height="42">
<tr>
<td>
<div align="center">First Line<br>
Second Line</div>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p> </p>
<p><b>HeaderLine</b> property determines how much line will be allocated for headers.
Each line in headers can be set also via column's <b>Title </b>property, separated
by '<b>|</b>' character.</p>
<p>For example:</p>
<blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p><font color="#FF0000">NiceGrid1.HeaderLine := <font color="#0000FF">2</font>;<br>
NiceGrid1.Columns[0].Title := <font color="#0000FF">'First Line|Second Line'</font>;</font></p>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<p>will make</p>
<table width="200" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" align="center">
<tr>
<td>
<div align="center">First Line</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<div align="center">Second Line</div>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<div align="center"></div>
<p> </p>
<p>To merge two header cells, set each cell to exactly same value, including ';'
characters if they are multilined.</p>
<p>For example:</p>
<blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p><font color="#FF0000">NiceGrid1.HeaderLine := <font color="#0000FF">2</font>;<br>
NiceGrid1.ColCount := <font color="#0000FF">2</font>;<br>
NiceGrid1.Columns[0].Title := <font color="#0000FF">'One|Two'</font>;<br>
NiceGrid1.Columns[1].Title := <font color="#0000FF">'One|Three'</font>;</font></p>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<p>will make</p>
<table width="200" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" align="center">
<tr>
<td colspan="2">
<div align="center">One</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="95">
<div align="center">Two</div>
</td>
<td width="91">
<div align="center">Three</div>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p> </p>
<p>Using combination of '|' and ';' characters, we can make a complex header.</p>
<p>For example:</p>
<blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p><font color="#FF0000">NiceGrid1.HeaderLine := <font color="#0000FF">2</font>;<br>
NiceGrid1.ColCount := <font color="#0000FF">5</font>;<br>
NiceGrid1.Columns[0].Title := <font color="#0000FF">'Merged;Multilined|Merged;Multilined'</font>;<br>
NiceGrid1.Columns[1].Title := <font color="#0000FF">'First Group|One'</font>;<br>
NiceGrid1.Columns[2].Title := <font color="#0000FF">'First Group|Two'</font>;<br>
NiceGrid1.Columns[3].Title := <font color="#0000FF">'Second Group|Three'</font>;<br>
NiceGrid1.Columns[4].Title := <font color="#0000FF">'Second Group|Four'</font>;</font><br>
</p>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<p>will make</p>
<table width="80%" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" align="center">
<tr>
<td rowspan="2">
<div align="center">Merged<br>
Multilined </div>
</td>
<td colspan="2">
<div align="center">First Group</div>
</td>
<td colspan="2">
<div align="center">Second Group</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<div align="center">One</div>
</td>
<td>
<div align="center">Two</div>
</td>
<td>
<div align="center">Three</div>
</td>
<td>
<div align="center">Four</div>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="4"><b><a name="contact"></a></b></font>
<hr>
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="4"><b>Contacts</b></font></p>
<p>Don't hesitate to report any bug or whish to me:<br>
</p>
<p>Priyatna<br>
Bandung - Indonesia</p>
<p><a href="http://www.priyatna.org/">http://www.priyatna.org/</a><br>
<a href="mailto:me@priyatna.org">mailto:me@priyatna.org</a></p>
<p> </p>
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