[Use-revolution] Re: Was HTML Text Files

[Scott Rossi]

>> Am I correct in my assumption that a floating pallet stack window cannot
>> have an invisible background such that a larger stack beneath shows through?
>> This is where I originally went wrong and became confused.
> 
> No, you can't (easily) make one window show through another. On the Mac, at
> least, there is a way to do this that doesn't have anything to do with
> Revolution. It involves using a special window type, and that's about all I
> know about it. There used to be a thing called Odo (the shape-shifting
> character on Star Trek: Deep Space 9) that would do this, and QuickTime 5 has
> it built in. I don't know how they're doing it.

There is no such thing as a true "transparent" window.  You can create the
illusion of a window being transparent or translucent by taking a screenshot
of the window's current position, displaying the screenshot as the
background of the window and then drawing your interface elements on top of
the screenshot.  The tough thing about this technique is that if the user
moves the window, you need to hide it before allowing the user to access it
since the screenshot must be updated to reflect the window's new position on
the desktop.

BTW, Odo is for creating custom shaped windows (read: non-rectangular) and
to date is pretty much the only way to get custom windows in MC Mac (unless
someone has written something new).

Regards,

Scott Rossi
Creative Director

Tactile Media, Multimedia & Design
Email: scott at tactilemedia.com
Web: www.tactilemedia.com