Retrieving Arabic characters using GetWindowText?

I am using Windows XP and Visual C++ and have the Arabic language pack installed so that I can switch from English to Arabic as needed. In my program I have a RichEditCtrl that allows a user to type in text on a single or multiple lines. My problem is, when I try to fetch the text from the RichEditCtrl using GetWindowText I get a "?" for every Arabic character. Here is the code I tried:

Code:

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CRichEditCtrl* myEditCtrl = GetEdit( CtrlDefiniitions::COMPOSITION_EDIT );

CString myString;
myEditCtrl->GetWindowText(myString);

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I also read somewhere that perhaps my language settings were not correct, however, the article I read was 8 years old and I couldn't get the settings to match what they were talking about here: http://www.tek-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=256666

Another method I have tried is to use GetLine instead of GetWindowText, but I am unable to figure out how to get all of the lines from the RichEditCtrl into a single CString object. Here is the code I tried for that:

Code:

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TCHAR tCharLine[4096];

CRichEditCtrl* myEditCtrl = GetEdit( CtrlDefiniitions::COMPOSITION_EDIT );

\\ This only gives me the first line from the RichEditCtrl, but I want all of the lines!
int nBytesCopied = myEditCtrl->GetLine(0, tCharLine, sizeof(tCharline)/sizeof(tCharLine[0]));

CString myString(tCharLine);

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The 2nd code snippet gives me the proper character output but only gives me the first line from the RichEditCtrl :(. Any ideas/suggestions?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ciralia

I am using Windows XP and Visual C++ and have the Arabic language pack installed so that I can switch from English to Arabic as needed. In my program I have a RichEditCtrl that allows a user to type in text on a single or multiple lines. My problem is, when I try to fetch the text from the RichEditCtrl using GetWindowText I get a "?" for every Arabic character. Here is the code I tried:

Code:

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CRichEditCtrl* myEditCtrl = GetEdit( CtrlDefiniitions::COMPOSITION_EDIT );

CString myString;
myEditCtrl->GetWindowText(myString);

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Is your build a UNICODE or ANSI?
If the latter - what is the user locale: English or Arabic (it must be Arabic to recognize the Arabic letters)?

Quote:

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Is your build a UNICODE or ANSI?
If the latter - what is the user locale: English or Arabic (it must be Arabic to recognize the Arabic letters)?

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I am not sure how to tell if the build is UNICODE or ANSI. The user locale is set to English so that when my program starts it starts in English and I have to manually switch it to Arabic if I want Arabic characters.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ciralia

I am not sure how to tell if the build is UNICODE or ANSI.

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What preprocessor definitions were set:
_MBCS
or
UNICODE,_UNICODE?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ciralia

The user locale is set to English so that when my program starts it starts in English and I have to manually switch it to Arabic if I want Arabic characters.

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Well, what language is set "to match the language version of the non-Unicode programs" (it is in Control panel -> Regional... Optons -> Advance tab): if your app is not a unicode one then you have to set the Arabic as a language is set "to match the language version of the non-Unicode programs".

My project has the _MBCS in its Preprocessor Definitions which means it isn't Unicode. Also in my language settings it is set to English for non-Unicode programs.

That being said, is there a programmatic way around having to change the computer settings?

Either build your program as a Unicode
or set the Arabic as a language is set "to match the language version of the non-Unicode programs".
There is no other way.

Is there a way to programmatically set the non-Unicode language setting under the Regional Settings area to Arabic?

No. Or may be but I don't know how: note that you have to restart your computer after let this new setting work.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by VictorN

Either build your program as a Unicode
or set the Arabic as a language is set "to match the language version of the non-Unicode programs".
There is no other way.

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setlocale()

However, you should really consider changing your application to be unicode. It'll relieve you of a LOT of hassle dealing with mbcs and locale changes.
Note that locale changes may not be picked up corretly by all libraries out there, a lot of them are created with ansi=ascii in mind. This is particularly true for ansi-build libraries made by american companies.

Configurable Language and Cultural Settings
Windows SetThreadLocale and CRT setlocale

I took the suggestion to change my project to be Unicode (_UNICODE and UNICODE), so now the GetWindowText method retrieves the foreign characters without problems, however, I am running into an issue with the CRichEditCtrl in displaying the characters. I am using RichEditCtrl v2.0, but when I use StreamIn to populate it, it just comes out blank. Not even english characters are displayed. Here is the code:

Code:

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void MyClass :: WriteToEditCtrl (CRichEditCtrl& myEditCtrl)
{
    DWORD dwError = 0;

    //myMessage is a CString and has RTF code followed by a regular message "abc"
    EDITSTREAM es = {(DWORD) &myMessage, dwError, EditStreamCallBack};

    long err = myEditCtrl.StreamIn(SF_RTF | SFF_SELECTION, es);
}

DWORD CALLBACK EditStreamCallBack( DWORD dwCookie, LPBYTE pbBuff, LONG cb, LONG *pcb)
{
CString *pstr = (CString *)dwCookie;

    if(pstr->GetLength() < cb)
    {
        *pcb = pstr->GetLength();
        memcpy(pbBuff, (LPCTSTR)*pstr, *pcb);
        pstr->Empty();
    }
    else
    {
        *pcb = cb;
        memcpy(pbBuff, (LPCTSTR)*pstr, *pcb);
        *pstr = pstr->Right(pstr->GetLength() - cb);
    }

 return 0;
}

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For the StreamIn method I have also tried SF_TEXT | SF_UNICODE, but that puts the RTF code in the box instead of the message, but all I want to see is "abc" which is after the RTF code.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Programming241444

Code:

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DWORD CALLBACK EditStreamCallBack( DWORD dwCookie, LPBYTE pbBuff, LONG cb, LONG *pcb)
{
CString *pstr = (CString *)dwCookie;

    if(pstr->GetLength() < cb)
    {
        *pcb = pstr->GetLength();
        memcpy(pbBuff, (LPCTSTR)*pstr, *pcb);
        pstr->Empty();
    }
    ...
}

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This is incorrect. CString::GetLength returns the length in characters (in UNICODE build 1 character == 2 bytes) while *pcb is supposed to have the number of bytes transferred.

Are you telling me to multiply my length by 2 or to use a different type for pcb? Sorry I'm not very well versed in C++.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Programming241444

Are you telling me to multiply my length by 2 or to use a different type for pcb? Sorry I'm not very well versed in C++.

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You cannot use "a different type for pcb" because it was already defined by Microsoft who declared this

Quote:

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Code:

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DWORD CALLBACK EditStreamCallback(
                                    DWORD_PTR dwCookie, // application-defined value
                                    LPBYTE pbBuff,      // data buffer
                                    LONG cb,            // number of bytes to read or write
                                    LONG *pcb          // number of bytes transferred
                                    );

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And you should multiply not by 2 but by sizeof(TCHAR)

I updated the EditStreamCallback code to this but my CRichEditCtrl still shows up blank:

Code:

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DWORD CALLBACK EditStreamCallBack( DWORD dwCookie, LPBYTE pbBuff, LONG cb, LONG *pcb)
{
CString *pstr = (CString *)dwCookie;
int length = pstr->GetLength() * sizeof(TCHAR);

    if(length < cb)
    {
        *pcb = length;
        memcpy(pbBuff, (LPCTSTR)*pstr, *pcb);
        pstr->Empty();
    }
    else
    {
        *pcb = cb;
        memcpy(pbBuff, (LPCTSTR)*pstr, *pcb);
        *pstr = pstr->Right(length - (cb / sizeof(TCHAR)));
    }

 return 0;
}

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Since the buffer size is large the 'else' statement is executed. Not sure what else could be causing the edit box to end up blank.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ciralia

Another method I have tried is to use GetLine instead of GetWindowText, but I am unable to figure out how to get all of the lines from the RichEditCtrl into a single CString object. Here is the code I tried for that:

Code:

---

TCHAR tCharLine[4096];

CRichEditCtrl* myEditCtrl = GetEdit( CtrlDefiniitions::COMPOSITION_EDIT );

\\ This only gives me the first line from the RichEditCtrl, but I want all of the lines!
int nBytesCopied = myEditCtrl->GetLine(0, tCharLine, sizeof(tCharline)/sizeof(tCharLine[0]));

CString myString(tCharLine);

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The 2nd code snippet gives me the proper character output but only gives me the first line from the RichEditCtrl :(. Any ideas/suggestions?

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You have to use a loop and accumulate the lines one at a time. Here's what works for me:

Code:

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    CString text = "";

    int lines = m_cEdit.GetLineCount();
    for ( int i = 0; i < lines; i++ )
    {
        CString strText = "";
        int inx = m_cEdit.LineIndex(i);
        int len = max(m_cEdit.LineLength(inx), 4);

        m_cEdit.GetLine(inx, strText.GetBufferSetLength(len + 1), len);
        strText.SetAt(len, _T('\0')); // null terminate
        strText.ReleaseBuffer();

        text += strText + _T("\n");
    }

    // "text" now contains all lines from the CRichEditCtrl.

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Dear yooper,

are you sure the OP still needs some help in solving the problem he/she had more than seven years back? :confused:

Whether the OP does or someone else who stumbles onto this thread, what's wrong with posting my soluction? :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by yooper

Whether the OP does or someone else who stumbles onto this thread, what's wrong with posting my soluction? :)

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Nothing wrong except it is not actual.
And you could just post the link to MSDN example rather than reinvent the wheel...