Question

hello all as I create a form within the openlayers viewer, deployed in the same way that the switch maps.

see this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bb0JqmZW7S4

thanks for any response

Answer 1

I think what the OP wants to, is to access his custom form through a button similar to the default access to the OverviewMap/LayerSwitcher in OpenLayers.

How to do this can be extracted from how the OverviewMap control* is implemented:

this.div.className += " " + this.displayClass + 'Container';
var imgLocation = OpenLayers.Util.getImagesLocation();
// maximize button div
var img = imgLocation + 'layer-switcher-maximize.png';
this.maximizeDiv = OpenLayers.Util.createAlphaImageDiv(
                       this.displayClass + 'MaximizeButton', 
                       null, 
                       new OpenLayers.Size(18,18), 
                       img, 
                       'absolute');
this.maximizeDiv.style.display = 'none';
this.maximizeDiv.className = this.displayClass + 'MaximizeButton';
OpenLayers.Event.observe(this.maximizeDiv, 'click', 
                         OpenLayers.Function.bindAsEventListener(this.maximizeControl,
                                                                 this)
);
this.div.appendChild(this.maximizeDiv);

// minimize button div
var img = imgLocation + 'layer-switcher-minimize.png';
this.minimizeDiv = OpenLayers.Util.createAlphaImageDiv(
                       'OpenLayers_Control_minimizeDiv', 
                       null, 
                       new OpenLayers.Size(18,18), 
                       img, 
                       'absolute');
this.minimizeDiv.style.display = 'none';
this.minimizeDiv.className = this.displayClass + 'MinimizeButton';
OpenLayers.Event.observe(this.minimizeDiv, 'click', 
OpenLayers.Function.bindAsEventListener(this.minimizeControl,
                                        this)
);
this.div.appendChild(this.minimizeDiv);

var eventsToStop = ['dblclick','mousedown'];

for (var i=0, len=eventsToStop.length; i<len; i++) {
    OpenLayers.Event.observe(this.maximizeDiv, 
                             eventsToStop[i], 
                             OpenLayers.Event.stop);

    OpenLayers.Event.observe(this.minimizeDiv,
                             eventsToStop[i], 
                             OpenLayers.Event.stop);
}

*: Taken from the file: OpenLayers/lib/OpenLayers/Control/OverviewMap.js

Inserting and modifying this, could be used to create the effect I think you are looking for.

Good luck!