Error messages in application design

[Flippo24]

Error messages dialog could be displayed in the applications design instead of the system messages. The break in appearance is very large. This would enhance the user experience. Then an error is only half as bad.

[PaulSquires]

I agree and will implement the popup messages using a custom dialog that honours the application's dark theme.

Then an error is only half as bad.

LOL

[PaulSquires]

I have implemented CustomMessageBox and CustomPopupMenu controls. These help make the design more consistent with the entire program. I am not 100% sure about the color choices I used for CustomMessageBox so feel free to suggest changes. I based the design of CustomMessageBox on my Windows 10 machine. I will try it later on my Windows 11 machine to see if it looks different, etc.

[Flippo24]

Looks very good. Since the menu is almost the same color as the controls behind it, I would add a minimal border of 1px around the context menu. Then the menu would lie above the controls and not merge with them.

[Flippo24]

Use the background color of the dialog or tab.

[PaulSquires]

This has now been added and source code committed. I used a simply BLACK, 1 pixel wide, high dpi aware border.

[Flippo24]

Looks good. Would you also implement the look of the ContextMenu for the calendar?

[PaulSquires]

I wish I could. The Calendar is the one available via Win32 api and is very hard to theme and/or change colors. My plan is to write my own calendar picker control but that is a little lower priority at the moment. Got a few of your other ideas that I need to implement first 😁

[Flippo24]

It's not a sprint, but a marathon. Function always comes first.
You set the priorities.

[Flippo24]

This error message is not adapted to the dark design.

[Flippo24]

If you press no, the dark one appears.

[PaulSquires]

Oops, looks like I forgot to remove the previous messagebox.

MessageBox(ActiveTrades.hWindow, text.c_str(), L"Connection Failed", MB_YESNOCANCEL | MB_ICONEXCLAMATION | MB_DEFBUTTON2);

if (CustomMessageBox.Show(MainWindow.hWindow, text, 
	L"Connection Failed", MB_YESNOCANCEL | MB_ICONEXCLAMATION | MB_DEFBUTTON2) == IDYES) {
	UpdateTickersWithScrapedData();
}

[Flippo24]

Yes, it's right without.

[PaulSquires]

So it looks like you're over in Germany from the captions on your messagebox! 👍

[Flippo24]

That's right. I mostly use deepl for translating. It works quite well.

[Flippo24]

With the new menu for new Trade, it is no longer possible to select the same thing twice in a row. Something else must first be selected so that the entry can be selected again. Do you think the check mark from the last selection makes sense here?

[PaulSquires]

My error. It is a regression from previous code. I added code that would prevent a selection's action from firing if the selection had not changed. Obviously, this does not work logically with the New Trade action.

In the ActiveTrades.cpp file:

I have changed this code:;

To this new modified code:

I have fixed the problem but have not yet uploaded the source changes. I have been writing a new custom calendar control to replace the default system one that is currently used. I am almost finished it and it looks good with the consistent dark theme like the rest of the program. It is not a one-to-one copy of the system calendar but it is close and should serve the purpose well.

[Flippo24]

No need to rush. I have a workaround.

[PaulSquires]

New custom calendar has been implemented and uploaded to the repository. Will continue to test it especially when two calendars are displayed rather than one. The written code is pretty good and I was surprised that I could implement such functionality with such little code.

[PaulSquires]

[Flippo24]

It looks pretty cool.
But as always, I have something to complain about. 😆
Maybe you can make the days of the weekends a little weaker in the font color so that the trading days stand out. Nevertheless, the weekend days should remain selectable. In addition, you could mark the days on which there is an expiry day a little differently. Maybe the font color in an orange.
I would arrange both calendars horizontally if there are two, it is more pleasing to the eye. At the moment I only look at the top one.

My week starts on Monday. But I think you can leave it as it is in the calendar for now. Let's first see how it works as described above.

[PaulSquires]

Lol, thanks, I will take a look at your suggestions. I just uploaded new code as you were posting your response. It fixes a problem whereby new transactions would have zero quantity thereby causing it not to appear in the Open Trades grid.

[PaulSquires]

Maybe you can make the days of the weekends a little weaker in the font color so that the trading days stand out. Nevertheless, the weekend days should remain selectable.

This is now done and source code updated in repository.

In addition, you could mark the days on which there is an expiry day a little differently. Maybe the font color in an orange.

This would be very difficult to do because it would involve querying online database (maybe through TWS) to get all of the expiry dates and then mark them on the calendar. Popping up a calendar would then be very slow. Also, if the user is not connected then I would not be able to color the days anyway. Also, options like for SPX that expiry daily would then have a full calendar of orange days. This suggestion may be a little too difficult for the scope of this program. 😁

I would arrange both calendars horizontally if there are two, it is more pleasing to the eye. At the moment I only look at the top one.

I will have to think about this one and maybe try a demo of it to see if I like it better. I find that using the mouse wheel to scroll the two calendar format seems more natural vertically than horizontally. I use two calendar format a lot when rolling options out in time for longer time frames.

My week starts on Monday. But I think you can leave it as it is in the calendar for now. Let's first see how it works as described above.

I have implemented a new Setting for "First day of the week". I was able to easily integrate it into the CustomCalendar code and it seems to work very well. I think that I actually like better how the calendar displays when Monday is the first day of the week. It does not look as cluttered.

[Flippo24]

I will have to think about this one and maybe try a demo of it to see if I like it better. I find that using the mouse wheel to scroll the two calendar format seems more natural vertically than horizontally. I use two calendar format a lot when rolling options out in time for longer time frames.

The scroll wheel is also a good idea and should stay that way.

I have implemented a new Setting for "First day of the week". I was able to easily integrate it into the CustomCalendar code and it seems to work very well. I think that I actually like better how the calendar displays when Monday is the first day of the week. It does not look as cluttered.

This gives the weekend the meaning it deserves.