Feature request: to have label without background image

[eturpault]

Currently in GrandOrgue a label must have necessarily a background image (built-in image defined with the attribute DispImageNum or external image defined by the attribute Image). This request is to add the possibility to define a label without background image, so only displaying the text defined in the attribute Name.
Some Hauptwerk sample sets have labels displayed without background image. In order to render them in GrandOrgue, OdfEdit has to use a built-in backgroupd, which is not beautiful.
In the image below on the left what should be obtained thanks to this feature request, on the right what is currently obtained with GO and a sample set converted from HW :

[rousseldenis]

@eturpault Isn't this possible with using images with no background property (and transparency) ?

[eturpault]

Yes theorically it is a feasible solution that I had in mind, the problem that I see with this solution would be for the placement of the text. It is placed by GO at the center of the image area, it may be difficult to manage the placement with the different lengths and sizes of text inside a transparent image which has a unique size. The goal of this request is also to avoid to have to place in the sample set an additional image which is not natively included. I think that it should be easier to make a change in GO SW to simply display a text without associated background image.
In OdfEdit I used a similar solution to have silent pipe (this discussion) by using a "transparent" sound sample, this is easier to manage that having to place graphically a text with variable length and size within a transparent image which has a fixed size. But I don't like this solution which obliges to add an external wav file in the sample set folder.

[larspalo]

There are more than one way to implement this in GO as a feature (not considering the workaround already possible for a sample set creator to just add a transparent image).

We can fairly easily just add a new label style (DispImageNum) with number 13 that's just a blank transparent .png. The attributes of width, height etc for a GUILabel is already in place to control the exact size and extent and flow of text.

Another possibility that requires much more work is to allow naming the Image as TRANSPARENT and create the wxBitmap on the fly according to specifications of width, height etc. Or if they are blank calculate it from the text extent of the label Name.

I'm leaning more towards the first option as it's very easy to implement...

[oleg68]

@larspalo I like the second option more, because implementing the first one would require us to create a size management that would not be necessary with other 12 images.

[larspalo]

@oleg68 How do you mean size management? The width and height attributes are already in place (label images are tiling).

[larspalo]

@oleg68 Actually, after a quick test I think you're right. GO has trouble drawing a completely transparent image as a built in bitmap (it gets totally black). If there's at least one pixel of not complete transparency (it's still invisible but anyway there) it works. So, a better solution seems to be using a special naming of the Image line and then creating the bitmap programmatically.

[eturpault]

I don't know the wxWidgets library used by GO, but is it really simpler to display a text with a transparent background image to generate programmatically than to display a text without nothing more ?
About the placement of the text, do you intend to use the DispXpos/DispYpos attributes ? Will the text be centered on this position ?

[larspalo]

@eturpault The thing is that to just add text we'd need to add another odf type section, while modifying the GUI Label is just re-using an existing that already has more or less everything we need to get this done.

If we go with the method Oleg (and I now also consider) suggested, all the label attributes will be available. But what we also can do is to calculate the exact text extent and set/fill the values of width and height if they are blank. That would mean that the positioning would be rather at top/left corner than the center if no specific width/height is supplied.

[eturpault]

Indeed adding another odf type section for this is not justified. I had rather in mind to use the existing label type and when both DispImageNum or Image attributes are empty in the section, to manage it as a single text to display without background, using the attributes provided in that section.

[eturpault]

Thanks @oleg68

[eturpault]

With GrandOrgue 3.11.0-1 I get the expected result by using DispImageNum=0, thanks !