Hi Mike,

>First. I have seen other applications where a modal form is displayed and everything behind it fades to gray. I like this effect since it really makes the user focus on that modal form. Kinda like when you try to shut down WindowsXP from the start menu.

An untested idea would be to stretch a semi-transparent image (perhaps a PNG?) over your entire application in your modal form's INIT and then remove or hide this image in your modal form's DESTROY? I believe PNG images have a translucence property that would allow you to control how much of the underlying content bleeds through the image.

Another idea would be to review the cool form code on www.news2news.com. I believe there's Win 2000 and higher API's that make a form tranlucent. If this is the case, you might be able to stretch a form or window across your application that acheives a grayed out effect, launch your modal form, and then remove or hide the form providing the special effect.

If you come up with a solution, post it back here so we can all enjoy it!

>Secondly. I'm trying to use the anchor property to make the controls on a form "flow" when the form is resized. I'd like to make it work like HTML in a browser where all controls adjust their size and/or position according to the available space. A control's anchor property only seems to attach to the parent container and not to other controls.

IMO, the secret to having anchor properties work like you expect is to strategically place your controls in nested containers which also have their anchor properties set. Designing forms that resize propertly is an art!

Malcolm