Universal Controls framework for custom GDI+ controls (Toggles, Sliders, etc.)
I'd like to share a project I've been working on: UC_Framework. It is a lightweight framework designed to create modern, reactive, and highly customizable GDI+ controls for AutoIt.
My goal was to create a standardized, extensible way to introduce custom controls into AutoIt, moving away from static functions
and towards a more "Object-Oriented" logic using AutoIt Maps
-
Reactive Engine: Property changes automatically trigger a redraw of the control.
-
Extensible Architecture: The framework is designed as an "Engine."
Adding a new control (e.g., a Gauge or a Custom Listview) is just a matter of defining its properties in the Map and creating its Draw function. -
Modern UI Elements: Includes Toggles (Round/Rect), Sliders (Horizontal/Vertical), Custom Buttons (Classic/Rounded/Pill),,Links, labels, (more are coming).
-
Property Management: Centralized property manager for easy control manipulation using
_UC_Setand
_UC_Get -
Customization: Full control over colors, corner radius, fonts, and tooltips.
-
Interactive: Built-in support for hover states, click events, and keyboard accelerators.
The framework uses a Global Map (ID 1) to act as a Provider for system-wide constants, cursors, and shared resources,
ensuring that your GUI remains lightweight and organized.
This framework is currently in its early stages (Alpha).
I am sharing it now because I want to establish a solid foundation and gather feedback on the architecture.
Ideas for new controls to be integrated into the library.
now you call UC_Framework with
#include "UC_Framework\UC_Framework.au3"which functions as a Central Manifest, because
#include-once
;----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
; Title...........: UC_Framework.au3
; Description.....: Universal Controls framework for custom GDI+ controls (Toggles, Sliders, etc.)
; Link............: https://github.com/ioa747/UC_Framework
; Link............: https://www.autoitscript.com/forum/topic/213667-uc_framework-universal-controls/
;----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#include "UC\Frame\UC_Frame.au3"
#Region ; ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Components ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
#include "UC\UC_Toggle.au3"
;~ #include "UC\UC_Slider.au3"
;~ #include "UC\UC_Button.au3"
;~ #include "UC\UC_Link.au3"
;~ #include "UC\UC_Label.au3"
;~ #include "UC\UC_Image.au3"
;~ #include "UC\UC_ProgressBar.au3"
;~ #include "UC\UC_RadialProgress.au3"
;~ #include "UC\UC_HourMinute.au3"
;~ #include "UC\UC_Rating.au3"
;~ #include "UC\UC_InfoBox.au3"
;~ #include "UC\UC_Chart_Bar.au3"
;~ #include "UC\UC_Calendar.au3"
;~ #include "UC\UC_DatePicker.au3"
;~ #include "UC\UC_Stepper.au3"
#EndRegion ; ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Components ~~~~~~~~~~~~~The UC_Framework.au3 file acts as your central configuration hub.
Keep your compiled script lean by loading only the components you need.
Now each new control is a standalone udf
which will be placed in the folder ' **\UC_Framework\UC**'
and you add a reference here in UC_Framework.au3
Now each new control does not need to be imported into __UC_Main_MsgHandler function.
Now configure this with the Registered Event Handlers in the maps,
thus allowing the use of only the Events that the control needs.
Local $m[]
; Universal Properties
$m.UC_Type = $UC_TYPE_INFOBOX
$m.UC_ControlID = $idDummy
$m.UC_hWnd = $hChild
$m.UC_hParent = $hParent
; Registered Event Handlers
$m["UC_WM_" & $WM_LBUTTONDOWN] = "_WM_LBUTTONDOWN"
$m["UC_WM_" & $WM_LBUTTONDBLCLK] = "_WM_LBUTTONDBLCLK"
$m["UC_WM_" & $WM_LBUTTONUP] = "_WM_LBUTTONUP"
;~ $m["UC_WM_" & $WM_RBUTTONDOWN] = "_WM_RBUTTONDOWN"
;~ $m["UC_WM_" & $WM_RBUTTONUP] = "_WM_RBUTTONUP"
$m["UC_WM_" & $WM_MOUSEMOVE] = "_WM_MOUSEMOVE"
$m["UC_WM_" & $WM_SETFOCUS] = "_WM_SETFOCUS"
$m["UC_WM_" & $WM_KEYDOWN] = "_WM_KEYDOWN"which correspond to the corresponding functions
Func _UC_InfoBox_WM_LBUTTONDOWN($idDummy, $hWnd, $iX, $iY)
Func _UC_InfoBox_WM_LBUTTONDBLCLK($idDummy, $hWnd, $iX, $iY)
Func _UC_InfoBox_WM_LBUTTONUP($idDummy, $hWnd, $iX, $iY)
Func _UC_InfoBox_WM_MOUSEMOVE($idDummy, $hWnd, $iX, $iY)
Func _UC_InfoBox_WM_SETFOCUS($idDummy, $hWnd, $iX, $iY)
Func _UC_InfoBox_WM_KEYDOWN($idDummy, $hWnd, $iKeyCode, $aXY)The only modification that needs to be made to UC_Framework is to "\UC_Framework\UC\Frame\UC_Frame.au3"
which needs to be imported into the Global Enum and into $aUC_Types (making sure they have the same index)
; https://www.autoitscript.com/forum/topic/213667-uc_framework-universal-controls/
;----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
; Title...........: UC_Frame.au3
; Description.....: Native AutoIt UDF, UC_Frame_[UDF], Global variable\constant for the UC_Framework
; AutoIt Version..: 3.3.18.0 Author: ioa747 Script Version: 0.0.12.0
; Note............: Testet in Windows 11 Pro 25H2 Date:22/05/2026
; Link............: https://github.com/ioa747/UC_Framework
;----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
;~ #AutoIt3Wrapper_Au3Check_Parameters=-d -w 1 -w 2 -w 3 -w 4 -w 5 -w 6 -w 7
#include-once
#Region ; ~~~ Native AutoIt UDF ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
#include <AutoItConstants.au3>
#include <GUIConstantsEx.au3>
#include <GDIPlus.au3>
#include <WindowsConstants.au3>
#include <WinAPISysWin.au3>
#include <WinAPISys.au3>
#include <WinAPIGdi.au3>
#include <StaticConstants.au3>
#include <String.au3>
#include <WinAPIvkeysConstants.au3>
#EndRegion ; ~~~ Native AutoIt UDF ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
#Region ; ~~~ Global variable\constant ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Global $g_UC_DebugInfo = 0
Global Enum _
$UC_TYPE_NONE, _
$UC_TYPE_TOGGLE, _
$UC_TYPE_SLIDER, _
$UC_TYPE_BUTTON, _
$UC_TYPE_LINK, _
$UC_TYPE_LABEL, _
$UC_TYPE_IMAGE, _
$UC_TYPE_PROGRESSBAR, _
$UC_TYPE_RADIALPROGRESS, _
$UC_TYPE_HOURMINUTE, _
$UC_TYPE_RATING, _
$UC_TYPE_INFOBOX, _
$UC_TYPE_CHART_BAR, _
$UC_TYPE_DATEPICKER, _
$UC_TYPE_CALENDAR, _
$UC_TYPE_STEPPER, _
$UC_TYPE_MAX
Global Const $aUC_Types[] = [ _
"None", _ ; $UC_TYPE_NONE
"Toggle", _ ; $UC_TYPE_TOGGLE
"Slider", _ ; $UC_TYPE_SLIDER
"Button", _ ; $UC_TYPE_BUTTON
"Link", _ ; $UC_TYPE_LINK
"Label", _ ; $UC_TYPE_LABEL
"Image", _ ; $UC_TYPE_IMAGE
"ProgressBar", _ ; $UC_TYPE_PROGRESSBAR
"RadialProgress", _ ; $UC_TYPE_RADIALPROGRESS
"HourMinute", _ ; $UC_TYPE_HOURMINUTE
"Rating", _ ; $UC_TYPE_RATING
"InfoBox", _ ; $UC_TYPE_INFOBOX
"Chart_Bar", _ ; $UC_TYPE_CHART_BAR
"DatePicker", _ ; $UC_TYPE_DATEPICKER
"Calendar", _ ; $UC_TYPE_CALENDAR
"Stepper" _ ; $UC_TYPE_STEPPER
]
#EndRegion ; ~~~ Global variable\constant ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
#Region ; ~~~ UC_Frame_... UDF ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
#include "UC_Frame_Generic.au3"
#include "UC_Frame_Map.au3"
#include "UC_Frame_Internal.au3"
#include "UC_Frame_GDI.au3"
#include "UC_Frame_WinAPI.au3"
#include "UC_Frame_Timers.au3"
#EndRegion ; ~~~ UC_Frame_... UDF ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The system will automatically link your
UC[Type]_Draw and UC[Type]WM[Event] functions without modifying the core engine.
PROJECT
│ Example1.au3
│
└───UC_Framework
│ UC_Framework.au3
│
└───UC
│ UC_Button.au3
│ UC_HourMinute.au3
│ UC_Image.au3
│ UC_InfoBox.au3
│ UC_Label.au3
│ UC_Link.au3
│ UC_ProgressBar.au3
│ UC_RadialProgress.au3
│ UC_Rating.au3
│ UC_Slider.au3
│ UC_Toggle.au3
│ ...
│
├───Assets
│ 116386-ioa747.png
│ 1272.png
│ 260527-120731-420_AutoIt3_6dpJp.gif
│
└───Frame
UC_Frame.au3
UC_Frame_GDI.au3
UC_Frame_Generic.au3
UC_Frame_Internal.au3
UC_Frame_Map.au3
UC_Frame_Timers.au3
UC_Frame_WinAPI.au3