Putting an Image in the Chat Box (SOLVED)

[Kimimaru]

Hey! I was just wondering how you can put an image into the chat box on **frmMirage**. It's a RichTextBox, and it doesn't have an option to put in an image. Is there a way to do it without any coding? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Robin]

I got this working a while back for an emoticon feature in Mirage.


I think someone tutorialised it… let me check my Mirage backups...

Here you go.

[http://miragesource.com/old-tutorials/temporary_archive/Emoticons%20In%20Chat.html](http://miragesource.com/old-tutorials/temporary_archive/Emoticons%20In%20Chat.html)

[Kimimaru]

Thanks, but I don't think I explained what I want to do well enough, sorry. I basically want to be able to set the background of the chat box to an image. For example, instead of having a plain colored background, maybe the chat box can have an image of a grassy field or something.

[Flaw]

You should be able to just set the text box background to transparent, then put a picturebox behind it.

Now that I look at the form, I think I might be wrong. But the idea was sound? Lol

[Robin]

Make it transparent if you want, set the form's background as the GUI.

[Kimimaru]

I can't do any of that since I can't make it transparent. Also, I don't think I can replace the RichTextBox with anything else, since nothing else seems to have the same, required properties for a textbox that text displays on.

[Braiton]

What are you talking about? Making it transparent is so ducking simple. Go to your frmMirage and:

```
Private Declare Function SetWindowLong Lib "user32" Alias "SetWindowLongA" (ByVal hwnd As Long, ByVal nIndex As Long, ByVal dwNewLong As Long) As Long
Private Const MAKE_THAT_TXT = (-20)
Private Const DUCKING_TRANSPARENT = &H20&
```
Just add that shiz to declarations and make sure frmMirage loads the following:

```
SetWindowLong txtChat.hwnd, MAKE_THAT_TXT, DUCKING_TRANSPARENT
```
There. Problem solved. Now add an image behind the text box and there you have your uber chatbox.

[Robin]

@Braiton:

> What are you talking about? Making it transparent is so ducking simple. Go to your frmMirage and:
>
> ```
> Private Declare Function SetWindowLong Lib "user32" Alias "SetWindowLongA" (ByVal hwnd As Long, ByVal nIndex As Long, ByVal dwNewLong As Long) As Long
> Private Const MAKE_THAT_TXT = (-20)
> Private Const DUCKING_TRANSPARENT = &H20&
> ```
> Just add that shiz to declarations and make sure frmMirage loads the following:
>
> ```
> SetWindowLong txtChat.hwnd, MAKE_THAT_TXT, DUCKING_TRANSPARENT
> ```
> There. Problem solved. Now add an image behind the text box and there you have your uber chatbox.

Renaming your variables to crap like that is fairly pointless.

[Braiton]

@Robin:

> @Braiton:
>
> > What are you talking about? Making it transparent is so ducking simple. Go to your frmMirage and:
> >
> > ```
> > Private Declare Function SetWindowLong Lib "user32" Alias "SetWindowLongA" (ByVal hwnd As Long, ByVal nIndex As Long, ByVal dwNewLong As Long) As Long
> > Private Const MAKE_THAT_TXT = (-20)
> > Private Const DUCKING_TRANSPARENT = &H20&
> > ```
> > Just add that shiz to declarations and make sure frmMirage loads the following:
> >
> > ```
> > SetWindowLong txtChat.hwnd, MAKE_THAT_TXT, DUCKING_TRANSPARENT
> > ```
> > There. Problem solved. Now add an image behind the text box and there you have your uber chatbox.
>
> Renaming your variables to crap like that is fairly pointless.

I know. Its like the most retarded thing anyone can do. But it relieves stress. I need that; specially in this time of the year. God dammit >.<

[Kimimaru]

Okay, thanks a lot! I was hoping to get it done without any coding, but this is a very short code, so I'll use it.

[Robin]

Add this to frmMirage's Form_Load:
```
SetWindowLong txtChat.hwnd, GWL_EXSTYLE, WS_EX_TRANSPARENT

```
Add these to modConstants:
```
Public Const GWL_EXSTYLE = (-20)
Public Const WS_EX_TRANSPARENT = &H20&

```
Add this to modDeclares:
```
Public Declare Function SetWindowLong Lib "user32" Alias "SetWindowLongA" (ByVal hwnd As Long, ByVal nIndex As Long, ByVal dwNewLong As Long) As Long

```

[Kimimaru]

Thanks; however, I've added this in, and I've changed the statement in frmMirage's Sub Form_Load to the following because I want it to take effect for the text box:

```
SetWindowLong txtMyTextBox.hwnd, GWL_EXSTYLE, WS_EX_TRANSPARENT
```
Unfortunately, it didn't work for whatever reason.

[Robin]

MyTextBox is a normal TextBox, not a RichTextBox. :P

Change it to a RTB.

[Kimimaru]

Yeah, I realize that, but I believe I PMed you because I wanted to know how to do the same thing with a normal text box.