CONTROL text, id, class, style, x, y, width, heightThe CONTROL statement defines a control as belonging to the specified class. The statement defines the position and dimensions of the control within the parent window as well as the control style. The CONTROL statement is most often used in a DIALOG statement.
text
Specifies displayed text. Its position depends on the control class. This parameter must contain zero or more characters enclosed in double quotation marks. Character values must be in the range 1 through 255. If a double quotation mark is required in the text, you must include the double quotation mark twice. In the appropriate styles, an ampersand (&) character in the text indicates that the following character is used as a mnemonic character for the control. When the control is displayed, the ampersand is not shown, but the mnemonic character is underlined. The user can choose the control by pressing the key corresponding to the character.
id
Specifies the control identifier. This value must be an integer in the range 0 through 65,535 or a simple expression that evaluates to a value in that range.
class
Specifies the control class. This value can be a predefined name, character string, or integer value that defines the class. For a list of predefined classes, see the following Comments section.
style
Specifies the control style. For a list of control styles, see the following Comments section.
You can use the bitwise OR (|) operator to combine styles.
x
Specifies the x-coordinate of the upper-left corner of the control. This value must be an integer in the range 0 through 65,535 or an expression consisting of integers and the addition (+) or subtraction (–) operator. The coordinate is assumed to be in dialog units and is relative to the origin of the parent window.
y
Specifies the y-coordinate of the upper-left corner of the control. This value must be an integer in the range 0 through 65,535 or an expression consisting of integers and the addition (+) or subtraction (–) operator. The coordinate is assumed to be in dialog units and is relative to the origin of the parent window.
width
Specifies the width of the control. This value must be an integer in the range 1 through 65,535 or an expression consisting of integers and the addition (+) or subtraction (–) operator. The value is in 1/4-character units.
height
Specifies the height of the control. This value must be an integer in the range 1 through 65,535 or an expression consisting of integers and the addition (+) or subtraction (–) operator. The value is in 1/8-character units.
The following list describes the six control classes:
| Class | Description |
| BUTTON | A button control is a small rectangular child window that represents a “button” the user can turn on or off by clicking it with the mouse. Button controls can be used alone or in groups and can either be labeled or appear without text. Button controls typically change appearance when the user clicks them. |
| COMBOBOX | A combo box control consists of a text box similar to an edit control, plus a list box. The list box may be displayed at all times or may be dropped down when the user selects a “pop box” next to the text box. |
| The style of the combo box determines whether the user can edit the contents of the text box. If the list box is visible, typing characters into the text box causes the first list box entry that matches the characters typed to be highlighted. Conversely, selecting an item in the list box displays the selected text in the text box. | |
| EDIT | An edit control is a rectangular child window in which the user can enter text from the keyboard. The user selects the control and gives it the input focus by clicking the mouse inside it or pressing the TAB key. The user can enter text when the control displays a flashing caret. The mouse can be used to move the cursor and select characters to be replaced or to position the cursor for inserting characters. The BACKSPACE key can be used to delete characters. |
| Edit controls expand tab characters into as many space characters as are required to move the cursor to the next tab stop. The default for tab stops is eight characters. | |
| LISTBOX | A list box control consists of a list of items. The control is used whenever an application needs to present a list of names, such as filenames, that the user can view and select. The user can select an item by pointing to the name with the mouse and clicking a mouse button. When an item is selected, it is highlighted, and a notification message is passed to the parent window. A scroll bar can be used with a list box control to scroll lists that are too long or too wide for the control window. |
| SCROLLBAR | A scroll bar control is a rectangle that contains a scroll box and has direction arrows at both ends. The scroll bar sends a notification message to its parent whenever the user clicks the mouse in the control. The parent is responsible for updating the scroll box position, if necessary. Scroll bar controls have the same appearance and function as the scroll bars used in ordinary windows. But unlike scroll bars, scroll bar controls can be positioned anywhere within a window and used whenever needed to provide scrolling input for a window. |
| The scroll bar class also includes size box controls. A size box control is a small rectangle that the user can expand to change the size of the window. | |
| STATIC | A static control is a simple text field, box, or rectangle that can be used to label, box, or separate other controls. Static controls take no input and provide no output. |
The following lists describe the control styles for each of the control classes:
BUTTON Class
| Value | Meaning |
| BS_3STATE | Creates a button that is the same as a check box, except that the box can be grayed as well as checked. The grayed state typically is used to show that a check box has been disabled. |
| BS_AUTO3STATE | Creates a button that is the same as a 3-state check box, except that the box changes its state when the user selects it. The state cycles through checked, grayed, and normal. |
| BS_AUTOCHECKBOX | Creates a button that is the same as a check box, except that an X appears in the check box when the user selects the box; the X disappears (is cleared) the next time the user selects the box. |
| BS_AUTORADIOBUTTON | Creates a button that is the same as a radio button, except that when the user selects it, the button automatically highlights itself and clears (removes the selection from) any other auto radio buttons in the same group. |
| BS_CHECKBOX | Creates a small square that has text displayed to its right (unless this style is combined with the BS_LEFTTEXT style). |
| BS_DEFPUSHBUTTON | Creates a button that has a heavy black border. The user can select this button by pressing the ENTER key. This style is useful for enabling the user to quickly select the most likely option (the default option). |
| BS_GROUPBOX | Creates a rectangle in which other controls can be grouped. Any text associated with this style is displayed in the rectangle's upper-left corner. |
| BS_LEFTTEXT | Places text on the left side of the radio button or check box when combined with a radio button or check box style. |
| BS_OWNERDRAW | Creates an owner-drawn button. The owner window receives a WM_MEASUREITEM message when the button is created and it receives a WM_DRAWITEM message when a visual aspect of the button has changed. The BS_OWNERDRAW style cannot be combined with any other button styles. |
| BS_PUSHBUTTON | Creates a push button that posts a WM_COMMAND message to the owner window when the user selects the button. |
| BS_RADIOBUTTON | Creates a small circle that has text displayed to its right (unless this style is combined with the BS_LEFTTEXT style). Radio buttons are usually used in groups of related but mutually exclusive choices. |
COMBOBOX Class
| Style | Description |
| CBS_AUTOHSCROLL | Automatically scrolls the text in the edit control to the right when the user types a character at the end of the line. If this style is not set, only text that fits within the rectangular boundary is allowed. |
| CBS_DISABLENOSCROLL | Shows a disabled vertical scroll bar in the list box when the box does not contain enough items to scroll. Without this style, the scroll bar is hidden when the list box does not contain enough items. |
| CBS_DROPDOWN | Similar to CBS_SIMPLE, except that the list box is not displayed unless the user selects an icon next to the text box. |
| CBS_DROPDOWNLIST | Similar to CBS_DROPDOWN, except that the edit control is replaced by a static text item that displays the current selection in the list box. |
| CBS_HASSTRINGS | Specifies that an owner-drawn combo box contains items consisting of strings. The combo box maintains the memory and pointers for the strings so the application can use the CB_GETLBTEXT message to retrieve the text for a particular item. |
| CBS_NOINTEGRALHEIGHT | Specifies that the size of the combo box is exactly the size specified by the application when it created the combo box. Normally, Windows sizes a combo box so that the combo box does not display partial items. |
| CBS_OEMCONVERT | Converts text entered in the combo-box edit control from the Windows character set to the OEM character set and then back to the Windows set. This ensures proper character conversion when the application calls the AnsiToOem function to convert a Windows string in the combo box to OEM characters. This style is most useful for combo boxes that contain filenames and applies only to combo boxes created with the CBS_SIMPLE or CBS_DROPDOWN styles. |
| CBS_OWNERDRAWFIXED | Specifies that the owner of the list box is responsible for drawing its contents and that the items in the list box are all the same height. The owner window receives a WM_MEASUREITEM message when the combo box is created and a WM_DRAWITEM message when a visual aspect of the combo box has changed. |
| CBS_OWNERDRAWVARIABLE | Specifies that the owner of the list box is responsible for drawing its contents and that the items in the list box are variable in height. The owner window receives a WM_MEASUREITEM message for each item in the combo box when the combo box is created and a WM_DRAWITEM message whenever the visual aspect of the combo box changes. |
| CBS_SIMPLE | Displays the list box at all times. The current selection in the list box is displayed in the edit control. |
| CBS_SORT | Automatically sorts strings entered into the list box. |
EDIT Class
| Style | Meaning |
| ES_AUTOHSCROLL | Automatically scrolls text to the right by 10 characters when the user types a character at the end of the line. When the user presses the ENTER key, the control scrolls all text back to position zero. |
| ES_AUTOVSCROLL | Automatically scrolls text up one page when the user presses ENTER on the last line. |
| ES_CENTER | Centers text in a multiline edit control. |
| ES_LEFT | Aligns text to the left. |
| ES_LOWERCASE | Converts all characters to lowercase as they are typed into the edit control. |
| ES_MULTILINE | Designates multiline edit control. (The default is single-line edit control.) |
| When the multiline edit control is in a dialog box, the default response to pressing the ENTER key is to activate the default button. To use the ENTER key as a carriage return, an application should use the style ES_WANTRETURN. | |
| When the multiline edit control is not in a dialog box and the ES_AUTOVSCROLL style is specified, the edit control shows as many lines as possible and scrolls vertically when the user presses the ENTER key. If ES_AUTOVSCROLL is not specified, the edit control shows as many lines as possible and beeps if the user presses ENTER when no more lines can be displayed. | |
| If the ES_AUTOHSCROLL style is specified, the multiline edit control automatically scrolls horizontally when the caret goes past the right edge of the control. To start a new line, the user must press ENTER. If ES_AUTOHSCROLL is not specified, the control automatically wraps words to the beginning of the next line when necessary. A new line is also started if the user presses ENTER. The position of the wordwrap is determined by the window size. If the window size changes, the wordwrap position changes and the text is redisplayed. | |
| Multiline edit controls can have scroll bars. An edit control with scroll bars processes its own scroll bar messages. Edit controls without scroll bars scroll as described in the previous two paragraphs and process any scroll messages sent by the parent window. | |
| ES_NOHIDESEL | Negates the default behavior for an edit control. The default behavior is to hide the selection when the control loses the input focus and invert the selection when the control receives the input focus. |
| ES_OEMCONVERT | Converts text entered in the edit control from the Windows character set to the OEM character set and then back to the Windows set. This ensures proper character conversion when the application calls the AnsiToOem function to convert a Windows string in the edit control to OEM characters. This style is most useful for edit controls that contain filenames. |
| ES_PASSWORD | Displays all characters as an asterisk (*) as they are typed into the edit control. An application can use the EM_SETPASSWORDCHAR message to change the character that is displayed. |
| ES_READONLY | Prevents the user from typing or editing text in the edit control. |
| ES_RIGHT | Aligns text to the right in a multiline edit control. |
| ES_UPPERCASE | Converts all characters to uppercase as they are typed into the edit control. |
| ES_WANTRETURN | Specifies that a carriage return be inserted when the user presses the ENTER key while entering text into a multiline edit control in a dialog box. If this style is not specified, pressing the ENTER key has the same effect as pressing the dialog box's default push button. This style has no effect on a single-line edit control. |
LISTBOX Class
| Style | Meaning |
| LBS_DISABLENOSCROLL | Shows a disabled vertical scroll bar for the list box when the box does not contain enough items to scroll. If this style is not specified, the scroll bar is hidden when the list box does not contain enough items. |
| LBS_EXTENDEDSEL | Allows multiple items to be selected by using the SHIFT key and the mouse or special key combinations. |
| LBS_HASSTRINGS | Specifies that a list box contains items consisting of strings. The list box maintains the memory and pointers for the strings so the application can use the LB_GETTEXT message to retrieve the text for a particular item. By default, all list boxes except owner-drawn list boxes have this style. An application can create an owner-drawn list box either with or without this style. |
| LBS_MULTICOLUMN | Specifies a multicolumn list box that is scrolled horizontally. The LB_SETCOLUMNWIDTH message sets the width of the columns. |
| LBS_MULTIPLESEL | Turns string selection on or off each time the user clicks or double-clicks the string. Any number of strings can be selected. |
| LBS_NOINTEGRALHEIGHT | Specifies that the size of the list box is exactly the size specified by the application when it created the list box. Normally, Windows sizes a list box so that the list box does not display partial items. |
| LBS_NOREDRAW | Specifies that the list box's appearance is not updated when changes are made. This style can be changed at any time by sending a WM_SETREDRAW message. |
| LBS_NOTIFY | Notifies the parent window with an input message whenever the user clicks or double-clicks a string. |
| LBS_OWNERDRAWFIXED | Specifies that the owner of the list box is responsible for drawing its contents and that the items in the list box are the same height. The owner window receives a WM_MEASUREITEM message when the list box is created and a WM_DRAWITEM message when a visual aspect of the list box has changed. |
| LBS_OWNERDRAWVARIABLE | Specifies that the owner of the list box is responsible for drawing its contents and that the items in the list box are variable in height. The owner window receives a WM_MEASUREITEM message for each item in the combo box when the combo box is created and a WM_DRAWITEM message whenever the visual aspect of the combo box changes. |
| LBS_SORT | Sorts strings in the list box alphabetically. |
| LBS_STANDARD | Sorts strings in the list box alphabetically. The parent window receives an input message whenever the user clicks or double-clicks a string. The list box has borders on all sides. |
| LBS_USETABSTOPS | Allows a list box to recognize and expand tab characters when drawing its strings. The default tab positions are 32 dialog units. (A dialog unit is a horizontal or vertical distance. One horizontal dialog unit is equal to one-fourth of the current dialog base width unit. The dialog base units are computed based on the height and width of the current system font. The GetDialogBaseUnits function returns the current dialog base units in pixels.) |
| LBS_WANTKEYBOARDINPUT | Specifies that the owner of the list box receives WM_VKEYTOITEM or WM_CHARTOITEM messages whenever the user presses a key and the list box has input focus. This allows an application to perform special processing on the keyboard input. If a list box has the LBS_HASSTRINGS style, the list box can receive WM_VKEYTOITEM messages but not WM_CHARTOITEM messages. If a list box does not have the LBS_HASSTRINGS style, the list box can receive WM_CHARTOITEM messages but not WM_VKEYTOITEM messages. |
SCROLLBAR Class
| Style | Meaning |
| SBS_BOTTOMALIGN | Aligns the bottom edge of the scroll bar with the bottom edge of the rectangle defined by the following CreateWindow parameters: X, Y, nWidth, and nHeight. The scroll bar has the default height for system scroll bars. Used with the SBS_HORZ style. | |
| SBS_HORZ | Designates a horizontal scroll bar. If neither the SBS_BOTTOMALIGN nor SBS_TOPALIGN style is specified, the scroll bar has the height, width, and position specified by the CreateWindow parameters. | |
| SBS_LEFTALIGN | Aligns the left edge of the scroll bar with the left edge of the rectangle defined by the CreateWindow parameters. The scroll bar has the default width for system scroll bars. Used with the SBS_VERT style. | |
| SBS_RIGHTALIGN | Aligns the right edge of the scroll bar with the right edge of the rectangle defined by the CreateWindow parameters. The scroll bar has the default width for system scroll bars. Used with the SBS_VERT style. | |
| SBS_SIZEBOX | Designates a size box. If neither the SBS_SIZEBOXBOTTOMRIGHTALIGN nor SBS_SIZEBOXTOPLEFTALIGN style is specified, the size box has the height, width, and position specified by the CreateWindow parameters. | |
| SBS_SIZEBOXBOTTOMRIGHTALIGN | ||
| Aligns the lower-right corner of the size box with the lower-right corner of the rectangle specified by the CreateWindow parameters. The size box has the default size for system size boxes. Used with the SBS_SIZEBOX style. | ||
| SBS_SIZEBOXTOPLEFTALIGN | Aligns the upper-left corner of the size box with the upper-left corner of the rectangle specified by the following CreateWindow parameters: X, Y, nWidth, and nHeight. The size box has the default size for system size boxes. Used with the SBS_SIZEBOX style. | |
| SBS_TOPALIGN | Aligns the top edge of the scroll bar with the top edge of the rectangle defined by the CreateWindow parameters. The scroll bar has the default height for system scroll bars. Used with the SBS_HORZ style. | |
| SBS_VERT | Designates a vertical scroll bar. If neither the SBS_RIGHTALIGN nor SBS_LEFTALIGN style is specified, the scroll bar has the height, width, and position specified by the CreateWindow parameters. | |
STATIC Class
A static control can have only one of the following styles:
| Style | Meaning |
| SS_BLACKFRAME | Specifies a box with a frame drawn with the same color as window frames. This color is black in the default Windows color scheme. |
| SS_BLACKRECT | Specifies a rectangle filled with the color used to draw window frames. This color is black in the default Windows color scheme. |
| SS_CENTER | Designates a simple rectangle and displays the given text centered in the rectangle. The text is formatted before it is displayed. Words that would extend past the end of a line are automatically wrapped to the beginning of the next centered line. |
| SS_GRAYFRAME | Specifies a box with a frame drawn with the same color as the screen background (desktop). This color is gray in the default Windows color scheme. |
| SS_GRAYRECT | Specifies a rectangle filled with the color used to fill the screen background. This color is gray in the default Windows color scheme. |
| SS_ICON | Designates an icon displayed in the dialog box. The given text is the name of an icon (not a filename) defined elsewhere in the resource file. The nWidth and nHeight parameters are ignored; the icon automatically sizes itself. |
| SS_LEFT | Designates a simple rectangle and displays the given text left-aligned in the rectangle. The text is formatted before it is displayed. Words that would extend past the end of a line are automatically wrapped to the beginning of the next left-aligned line. |
| SS_LEFTNOWORDWRAP | Designates a simple rectangle and displays the given text left-aligned in the rectangle. Tabs are expanded but words are not wrapped. Text that extends past the end of a line is clipped. |
| SS_NOPREFIX | Prevents interpretation of any & characters in the control's text as accelerator prefix characters (which are displayed with the & removed and the next character in the string underlined). This static-control style may be included with any of the defined static controls. |
| You can combine SS_NOPREFIX with other styles by using the bitwise OR operator. This is most often used when filenames or other strings that may contain an & need to be displayed in a static control in a dialog box. | |
| SS_RIGHT | Designates a simple rectangle and displays the given text right-aligned in the rectangle. The text is formatted before it is displayed. Words that would extend past the end of a line are automatically wrapped to the beginning of the next right-aligned line. |
| SS_SIMPLE | Designates a simple rectangle and displays a single line of text left-aligned in the rectangle. The line of text cannot be shortened or altered in any way. (The control's parent window or dialog box must not process the WM_CTLCOLOR message.) |
| SS_WHITEFRAME | Specifies a box with a frame drawn with the same color as window backgrounds. This color is white in the default Windows color scheme. |
| SS_WHITERECT | Specifies a rectangle filled with the color used to fill window backgrounds. This color is white in the default Windows color scheme. |