When an application creates a combo box, it typically initializes the combo box by adding one or more items to the list. Later, an application may add or delete list items, reinitialize the list, or retrieve item information from it.
An application adds list items to a combo box by sending the CB_ADDSTRING message to it. The specified item is added to the end of the list or, in a sorted combo box, in its correct sorted position based on the item's string. In an unsorted combo box, an application can use the CB_INSERTSTRING message to insert an item at a specific position. Once added, a list item is identified by its position.
By using the CB_FINDSTRING or CB_FINDSTRINGEXACT message, an application can determine the position of a list item. CB_FINDSTRING finds an item whose string begins with the specified string. CB_FINDSTRINGEXACT finds an item whose string matches the string exactly. Neither message is case sensitive.
An application can remove a list item by using the CB_DELETESTRING message. If an application needs to reinitialize the combo box list, it can first clear its entire contents by using the CB_RESETCONTENT message. When adding multiple items to the list after a combo box has already been shown, an application can clear the redraw flag to prevent the combo box from being repainted after each item is added. For more information about redrawing, see the description of the WM_SETREDRAW message.
To retrieve the string associated with a list item, an application can use the CB_GETLBTEXT message. The item's string is copied to the buffer specified by the application. To ensure that the buffer is large enough to receive the string, the application can first use the CB_GETLBTEXTLEN message to determine the length of the string. To get the number of list items in a combo box, an application can use the CB_GETCOUNT message.