Overview of Common Controls

Common controls are a set of windows that are supported by the common control library, which is a dynamic-link library (DLL) included with the Windows operating system. Like other control windows, a common control is a child window that an application uses in conjunction with another window to perform input/output (I/O) tasks.

Common controls offer users a familiar interface for performing common tasks, which makes applications easier to use and learn. Most common controls send the WM_NOTIFY message instead of the WM_COMMAND message sent by Windows Controls.

To use most of the common controls, you must include the Commctrl.h header file in your application. To use property sheets, you must include the Prsht.h header file.

Before you can create or use any common controls, you have to register them. You can do this in either of two ways. You can call the InitCommonControls function, which registers all the common controls at once, except for the rebar, month calendar, and date and time picker controls. Or, you can call the InitCommonControlsEx function, which registers a specific common control class. Calling either of these functions ensures that the common DLL is loaded.

Windows CE supports the following common controls:

Command Bands

Command Bars

Date and Time Picker Controls

Header Controls

Image Lists

List Views

Month Calendar Controls

Progress Bars

Property Sheets

Rebars

Status Bars

Tab Controls

Toolbars

ToolTips

Trackbars

Tree Views

Up-Down Controls

Windows CE does not support the following controls commonly used on Windows-based desktop platforms: animation controls, ComboBoxEx controls, drag lists, flat scroll bars, hot keys, IP address controls, or rich edit controls. Windows CE supports ToolTips only for toolbar and command bar buttons.

For general guidelines on using common controls in user interface design, see Designing the User Interface for Windows CE.