Q: Building a Minimalist ScrollingMessageFrame

Guides UI and Macro
1

Greetings,

I am trying to display a skeletal ScrollingMessageFrame, i.e., with the minimum number of lines of code that does nothing other than display a frame. Here’s the code I have so far that I have been unable to get to display.

local smf = CreateFrame(“ScrollingMessageFrame”, nil, UIParent )
smf:SetWidth(200)
smf:SetHeight(150)
smf:SetFrameStrata(“FULLSCREEN_DIALOG”)
smf:SetJustifyH(“LEFT”)
smf:SetFading(false)
smf:SetInsertMode(“BOTTOM”)
smf:SetFontObject(“GameFontNormal”)
smf:SetMaxLines(200)
smf:EnableMouse(true)
smf:EnableMouseWheel(1)
smf:SetPoint(“CENTER”, 0, 0)
smf:SetBackdrop({
bgFile = “Interface\ChatFrame\ChatFrameBackground”, – black, opaque background
edgeFile = “Interface\DialogFrame\UI-DialogBox-Border”,
tile = true,
tileSize = 32,
edgeSize = 32,
insets = { left = 8, right = 8, top = 8, bottom = 8 } – see wow.gamepedia
})
smf:SetBackdropColor(0, 0, 0, 1)

smf:Show()

Have I missed something obvious or, because it’s a ScrollingMessageFrame, does it require the slider scrollbar frame?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks, in advance

2

Here’s a basic one that fills a SMF with junk, note the ScrollFrame.

local backdrop = {
	bgFile = "Interface/BUTTONS/WHITE8X8",
	edgeFile = "Interface/GLUES/Common/Glue-Tooltip-Border",
	tile = true,
	edgeSize = 8,
	tileSize = 8,
	insets = {
		left = 5,
		right = 5,
		top = 5,
		bottom = 5,
	},
}

local listLen = 500

local function ScrollList(self)
	local offset = FauxScrollFrame_GetOffset(self)
	self:GetParent().Messages:SetScrollOffset(offset)
	FauxScrollFrame_Update(self, listLen, 25, 12 )
end

local f = CreateFrame("Frame", "MyScrollMessageTextFrame", UIParent)
f:SetSize(500, 400)
f:SetPoint("CENTER")
f:SetFrameStrata("BACKGROUND")
f:SetBackdrop(backdrop)
f:SetBackdropColor(0, 0, 0)
f.Close = CreateFrame("Button", "$parentClose", f)
f.Close:SetSize(24, 24)
f.Close:SetPoint("TOPRIGHT")
f.Close:SetNormalTexture("Interface/Buttons/UI-Panel-MinimizeButton-Up")
f.Close:SetPushedTexture("Interface/Buttons/UI-Panel-MinimizeButton-Down")
f.Close:SetHighlightTexture("Interface/Buttons/UI-Panel-MinimizeButton-Highlight", "ADD")
f.Close:SetScript("OnClick", function(self)
	self:GetParent():Hide()
end)
f.Messages = CreateFrame("ScrollingMessageFrame", "$parentMessages", f)
f.Messages:SetPoint("TOPLEFT", 15, -25)
f.Messages:SetPoint("BOTTOMRIGHT", -30, 15)
f.Messages:SetInsertMode(SCROLLING_MESSAGE_FRAME_INSERT_MODE_TOP)
f.Messages:SetMaxLines(listLen)
f.Messages:SetFading(false)
f.Messages:SetIndentedWordWrap(true)
f.Messages:SetFontObject(ChatFontNormal)
f.Messages:SetJustifyH("LEFT")
f.Scroll = CreateFrame("ScrollFrame", "$parentScroll", f, "FauxScrollFrameTemplate")
f.Scroll:SetPoint("TOPLEFT", 15, -25)
f.Scroll:SetPoint("BOTTOMRIGHT", -30, 15)
f.Scroll:SetScript("OnVerticalScroll",	function(self, offset)
	FauxScrollFrame_OnVerticalScroll(self, offset, 12, ScrollList)
end)

for i=1, listLen do
	local table = {
		"bfs fasjdf dsaf adsj fasjkf bsafjsaf bjs fasjkf bjsf basf badsjkf dsakfbhaskf asjkf asjkf skaf sak fsk fdsaf ",
		"kkl l fjds rewpwfrjpo foewf jjfwe fpwfevzv mcvn  qo fnaw[ffgngnerf we foiweffgorenfg[f fewfn sdskfn asdf sp ff",
		"q[ofkgbhp	i regp nIF N 'OFGRE  NG;G KG IGN ;EFPIREG REG  ZG;  ergregp esg gg-ero  rdf45540 4y   q8wffn ",
	}
	f.Messages:AddMessage(i.. " - "..table[random(1, 3)])
	FauxScrollFrame_Update(f.Scroll, i, 30, 12 )
end
3

Thanks so much. Lots to read about here and I thank you again.

However, forgive my ignorance, but how do I get it to display? When I run the code nothing is displayed. You have a function ScrollList(self) that I invoked at startup (i.e., on reload), but still nothing.

What am I missing?

4

You should be able to paste the code into the website addon.bool.no to create a stand-alone addon. It will create a frame in the centre of your game screen that displays a scrolling list of messages. You don’t need to do anything.

If you are using a seperate addon, make sure you are completely out of the game before testing so it can recognise any new files when you start up again.

5

Worked great. Didn’t know of addon.bool.no. What a great resource. Anyway, now that I have a minimalist frame up and running, I can study this working model.

Thanks again. I was quite hesitant about asking for source code, so I really appreciate what you gave me. I hope it was just a snippet you had hanging around and that didn’t cause you to put a lot of effort into it.

Cheers,

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