custom controls with win32api

[cyberia_2ooo]

hello....
i want to know, if there is a way for me to create a costum control on a dialog only using win32api, without using MFC.

i have a dialog, and on it, there is a part i have to interact with (its supposed to be a table of pictures, and the user is supposed to click on one of them, and it then have to changes, etc, etc...)

i know that the best tool for me to do exactly what i want with MFC would be a costum control...
but i havn't found a single reffernce to how to do costum controls with win32api and without MFC in any book or site.

[dinus]

Here are some ideas on how to create custom controls using Win32 only.

1. Since all controls are windows, you can create a new window using CreateWindowEx(...), with given attributes, color, style and size. You'll have to register a new class for that window and create a Window Procedure. Within window procedures you can catch such messages as WM_LBUTTONDOWN, WM_LBUTTONDBLCLK, to handle messages from your control. In fact, you can use wizard to create a Win32 Applcation. It will create a window, code to register a new class for it and window procedure. This is the most "right" way to create a custom control.

2. You can display a image (bitmap) on your Dialog and then "catch" messages, (like WM_LBUTTONDOWN, WM_MOUSEMOVE, and so on) on your WndDialog procedure (see the 4-th parameter of CreateDialog()), and then check mouse coordinates to detect where event occured. For example, if event occured on an immage, which is supposed to be a button and that event is WM_LBUTTONDOWN, you may want to replace the image to create the "button pressed" effect.

Hope this will help.
Regards,
Dinu.

[Paul McKenzie]

To add to dinus's explanation, you may need to register the window class as CS_GLOBALCLASS.

Originally posted by cyberia_2ooo
hello....
i want to know, if there is a way for me to create a costum control on a dialog only using win32api, without using MFC.

Yes. Custom controls existed before there was an MFC. MFC is for the most part, a wrapper around the Windows API.

but i havn't found a single reffernce to how to do costum controls with win32api and without MFC in any book or site.

A book that was available was "Windows 95: A Developers Guide" by Jeffrey Richter. It contained an entire chapter on creating custom controls. I'm sure whatever applies to Windows 95 should for the most part, apply to any 32-bit Windows OS when it comes to creating custom dialog controls.

Regards,

Paul McKenzie

[quangnt]

I know a FFT program written by Relisoft company (http://www.relisoft.com). Its source code is public. All program uses win32 API functions, and the program has good interface. Let's try it.

[cyberia_2ooo]

but what i wanted to know, is after i register the class and etc, i do i connect it to the dialog

[Paul McKenzie]

Originally posted by cyberia_2ooo
but what i wanted to know, is after i register the class and etc, i do i connect it to the dialog

In the RC file, specify the custom control there. Use the registered class name in the CONTROL entry in the dialog resource.

Why not create a dialog, add a rich edit control, and then inspect the resource file? Then you will see how a custom control such as a rich edit field is specified in the dialog. Use this as a guide. Or just get any third-party custom control and see how you integrate it in your application. This again should give you some idea of how all of this is done.

Regards,

Paul McKenzie