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Q135906: FIX: Can’t Restore Default Foxhead Icon After Set Icon Prop

Article: Q135906
Product(s): Microsoft FoxPro
Version(s): WINDOWS:3.0,3.0b
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbvfp kbvfp300bBUG kbvfp500fixkbbuglist kbfixlist
Last Modified: 24-MAR-2000

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Visual FoxPro for Windows, versions 3.0, 3.0b 
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SYMPTOMS
========

After setting the Icon property of the _SCREEN object in Visual FoxPro to an
icon file or to blank, you can't restore the default foxhead icon. If you set
_SCREEN.Icon="", then only a square white box is shown when Visual FoxPro is
minimized when running under Windows 3.x or Windows NT. In Windows 95, the icon
shown on the task bar button for the minimized Visual FoxPro, is a generic gray
button that looks like a program window with a blue title bar. These same
incorrect icons show up when switching tasks by pressing ALT+TAB.

WORKAROUND
==========

There are at least two known workarounds for this, each one with its own
advantages and disadvantages.

Workaround One
--------------

Use the MODIFY WINDOW SCREEN command without any clauses to set the Visual FoxPro
icon back to the default foxhead. The main drawback of this method is that other
properties of the _SCREEN object are also set back to their defaults. Therefore,
_SCREEN.Picture, _SCREEN.Fontname, _SCREEN.Caption, and so on are set back to
their defaults. An additional side effect of this is that the Picture and Icon
properties of the _SCREEN object will still report the user defined values even
though the defaults show up visually (no picture and the foxhead icon). To work
around this drawback, you can save the necessary properties of the _SCREEN
object in variables, and then restore them after using the MODIFY WINDOW SCREEN
command. The following commands can be issued in the Command window to
illustrate this:

     _SCREEN.Icon=HOME()+"samples\graphics\icons\flag\ctrcan.ico"
     _SCREEN.Picture=HOME()+"fox.bmp"
     _SCREEN.Fontname="Wingdings"
     _SCREEN.Fontsize=16
     cScrPic=_SCREEN.Picture
     cScrFont=_SCREEN.Fontname
     nScrFontsz=_SCREEN.Fontsize
     * Minimize Visual FoxPro and check the icon. Restore Visual FoxPro.
     MODIFY WINDOW SCREEN
     * Minimize Visual FoxPro and check the icon. Restore Visual FoxPro.
     ? _SCREEN.Picture      && this returns the name of the picture file
     *                         even though the picture isn't displayed
     ? _SCREEN.Icon         && this returns the name of the icon file even
     *                         though the icon is now the default icon
     ? _SCREEN.Fontname     && this should be Arial
     ? _SCREEN.Fontsize     && this should be 10
     * The next three commands restore the specified settings:
     _SCREEN.Picture=cScrPic
     _SCREEN.Fontname=cScrFont
     _SCREEN.Fontsize=nScrFontsz

Workaround Two
--------------

Create a foxhead icon file and set the _SCREEN.Icon property to that icon file.
You can change the Fox.bmp bitmap file (located in the VFP directory) to an icon
file by using the Imagedit program that comes with the Professional Edition of
Visual FoxPro. The main drawbacks for this workaround are that the icon file
will not have a transparent background and the resolution isn't as good as the
default icon built into Visual FoxPro.

Steps to convert the Fox.bmp file to an icon file:

1. Start Imagedit and open the VFP\Fox.bmp file.

2. On the Edit menu in Imagedit, click Copy.

3. On the File menu in Imagedit, click New, and create a new icon file. Choose
  the "EGA/VGA 16-Color 32x32" option for the icon file.

4. On the Edit menu, click Paste. In the Paste From Clipboard dialog box, choose
  either option. The "Stretch/shrink clipboard bitmap?" option produces a
  larger icon but it won't look as good as the "Clip clipboard bitmap?" option.
  Both will have white backgrounds and this will show when using the icon in
  Visual FoxPro. The background can be changed to black, but that will also
  appear when it is used in Visual FoxPro if the Windows desktop is other than
  black.


STATUS
======

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at
the beginning of this article. This problem has been fixed in Visual FoxPro 5.0
for Windows.

MORE INFORMATION
================

In FoxPro version 2.x for Windows, the MODIFY WINDOW SCREEN command can be used
to set what are now many of the properties of the _SCREEN object. The _SCREEN
object is the system memory variable that refers to the Visual FoxPro
application window. Some of the _SCREEN properties and the corresponding clauses
for the MODIFY WINDOW SCREEN command are:

_SCREEN Property     MODIFY WINDOW Clause
------------------------------------------
Caption              Title
Picture              Fill File
Icon                 Icon File
FontName             Font

For more information, please use the Visual FoxPro Help menu and search for
_SCREEN and the MODIFY WINDOW command.

Steps to Reproduce Problem
--------------------------

1. Start a new session of Visual FoxPro. If running Visual FoxPro under Windows
  3.x or Windows NT, minimize Visual FoxPro and any other running programs,
  including Program Manager, and note that Visual FoxPro has the foxhead icon
  on the desktop. In Windows 95, look on the status bar to see the default
  foxhead icon. Under all platforms, press ALT+TAB to switch tasks and see the
  default foxhead icon.

2. In the Visual FoxPro Command window, type:

      _SCREEN.Icon=""

3. Repeat step 1. This time notice that the icon is either a square white box
  under Windows 3.x or Windows NT, or it is a generic gray button that looks
  like a program window with a blue title bar under Windows 95.

4. In the Visual FoxPro Command window, type the following command to get the
  default foxhead icon back:

     MODIFY WINDOW SCREEN

Additional query words: 3.00 3.00b

======================================================================
Keywords          : kbvfp kbvfp300bBUG kbvfp500fix kbbuglist kbfixlist
Technology        : kbVFPsearch kbAudDeveloper kbVFP300 kbVFP300b
Version           : WINDOWS:3.0,3.0b
Issue type        : kbbug
Solution Type     : kbfix

=============================================================================

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