Canvas and brush problems - new install

Matt25 · Post by **Matt25** » Sun Dec 16, 2007 4:57 pm

I have just installed the TeeChart Pro v8.02.10861 into C++ builder V4 build 14.4, which had the free Teechart v4 installed. After a lot of access violations etc, I found the remnants of Tchart v4 and removed these. This seems to have cleared. However
1) Installed Shortcut for Teechart user guide and tutorials has no target(TeeChart8Manual.chm is missing or not installed).
2) When I add a chart to a new project, and then a series (e.g. contour or surface) the following is added #include "TeeSurfa.h", and then the IDE says the header file cannot be found. When I alter this to hpp, it seems to work, but I wonder if this is really correct.
3) The biggest problem is with the contour series. I need the series to be filled, not just lines (in a 2D view). When I edit it in the IDE, it looks OK, but when I run the project it reverts back to lines again. The brush property of the TContourSeries gives an access violation when referenced. (So I cant change the style to bsSolid).
4) The Canvas property (as TCanvas3D) is NULL when referenced, so I can't draw on the chart, (which was one of the best features in version 4).
5) What are the variables for the lib and include directories, as BCB 4 doesn't seem to like $(TEELIBPATH) if I enter it, it keeps changing it to $(BCB)\$(TEELIBPATH) and if I put the full path in to the search paths BCB keeps altering it to ..\..\Steema... etc. which makes it difficult to set these as defaults as prjects are in different places. If I could find where these defines $(TEELIBPATH) etc. were, and use these instead this would help immensely. (Maybe this is more of a BCB problem).

I think there might be some mismatch between the Tchart graphics and the BCB VCL code.

I bought this version because I was very impressed with vers 4 and all I want to do is create a contour chart which is an urgent client requirement. Is there a problem with v8 and BCB 4 or has anybody else managed to successfully use these two together (or any other version of Teechart that is available)?

Narcís · Post by **Narcís** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 2:10 pm

Hi Matt25,

I have just installed the TeeChart Pro v8.02.10861 into C++ builder V4 build 14.4, which had the free Teechart v4 installed.

We recommend you to install TeeChart v8 after you have installed all BCB 4 updates available. I have build 14.11 after installing Update 1 and Update 2.

1) Installed Shortcut for Teechart user guide and tutorials has no target(TeeChart8Manual.chm is missing or not installed).

Yes, this is a known issue in the installer and you should point this to TeeChartGuide.chm.

2) When I add a chart to a new project, and then a series (e.g. contour or surface) the following is added #include "TeeSurfa.h", and then the IDE says the header file cannot be found. When I alter this to hpp, it seems to work, but I wonder if this is really correct.

Yes, this is correct, hpp file should be used instead of .h. This is also and issue with C++ Builder 4.

3) The biggest problem is with the contour series. I need the series to be filled, not just lines (in a 2D view). When I edit it in the IDE, it looks OK, but when I run the project it reverts back to lines again. The brush property of the TContourSeries gives an access violation when referenced. (So I cant change the style to bsSolid).

I've been able to reproduce this here and added this defect (TV52012655) to our bug list.

4) The Canvas property (as TCanvas3D) is NULL when referenced, so I can't draw on the chart, (which was one of the best features in version 4).

Could you please send us a simple example project we can run "as-is" to reproduce this issue here? You can post your files at news://www.steema.net/steema.public.attachments newsgroup or at our upload page.

5) What are the variables for the lib and include directories, as BCB 4 doesn't seem to like $(TEELIBPATH) if I enter it, it keeps changing it to $(BCB)\$(TEELIBPATH) and if I put the full path in to the search paths BCB keeps altering it to ..\..\Steema... etc. which makes it difficult to set these as defaults as prjects are in different places. If I could find where these defines $(TEELIBPATH) etc. were, and use these instead this would help immensely. (Maybe this is more of a BCB problem).

Yes, the problem here is that BCB doesn't support environment variables defined in the IDE. You could try defining them in Windows but then this could cause problems with other C++ Builder and TeeChart installations. TEELIBPATH points to the new TeeChart version LIB folder while TEEINCPATH points to its INCLUDE path. I think the way paths are stored in BCB is relative to the IDEs path.

I think there might be some mismatch between the Tchart graphics and the BCB VCL code.

I bought this version because I was very impressed with vers 4 and all I want to do is create a contour chart which is an urgent client requirement. Is there a problem with v8 and BCB 4 or has anybody else managed to successfully use these two together (or any other version of Teechart that is available)?

TeeChart Pro v8 VCL has proved to work fine in all Borland/CodeGear from Delphi 4 and C++ Builder 4. However, 4th versions are pretty old and almost obsolete. Also, their successors have greatly improved them. To take important advantage of those enhancements, some features may not work in v4's.

Matt25 · Post by **Matt25** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 5:03 pm

First of all thanks for your prompt and sensible reply. You have no idea of how bad other software "support" can be so it is nice to finally meet a professional team.
I have applied the 2 patches as you suggested, and yes I really should upgrade to a later version, it could well be why your software isn't behaving as well as I expected. I just sometimes find with newer software there are more bugs in the newer software than the old and are just bigger and more clumsy to run, but I will probably take the plunge next year (just not in the middle of this project).

I will readjust the shortcut to the appropriate file and manually change the .h to .hpp if the ide inserts these. Also will set environment variables under windows for now, thanks for the suggestion.

As requested, I have uploaded the last project as Post16Dec2007_1657_Matt25.cab to the support area. This file illustrates the null canvas of the chart (click on test canvas) and the access violation generated when attempting to access the series brush (click on test brush).

It also reveals somthing else I found, that by inserting a TeeCommander and ChartEditor, the filled style on the series can be changed at runtime. This works OK for me so it must be possible to set. Is there any other way besides the brush to set this in the program (without the user setting it via the editor interface)?

Thanks for your help so far

Narcís · Post by **Narcís** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 12:36 pm

Hi Matt25,

Please read my reply at the other thread you started about the same issue.

Thanks in advance.