WM_INITDIALOG

The WM_INITDIALOG message is sent to the dialog box procedure immediately before a dialog box is displayed. Dialog box procedures typically use this message to initialize controls and carry out any other initialization tasks that affect the appearance of the dialog box.

WM_INITDIALOG 
hwndFocus = (HWND) wParam; // handle of control to receive focus 
lInitParam = lParam;       // initialization parameter 
 

Parameters

hwndFocus

Value of wParam. Identifies the control to receive the default keyboard focus. The system assigns the default keyboard focus only if the dialog box procedure returns TRUE.

lInitParam

Value of lParam. Specifies additional initialization data. This data is passed to the system as the lParamInit parameter in a call to the CreateDialogIndirectParam, CreateDialogParam, DialogBoxIndirectParam, or DialogBoxParam function used to create the dialog box. For property sheets, this parameter is a pointer to the PROPSHEETPAGE structure used to create the page. This parameter is zero if any other dialog box creation function is used.

Return Values

The dialog box procedure should return TRUE to direct the system to set the keyboard focus to the control given by hwndFocus. Otherwise, it should return FALSE to prevent the system from setting the default keyboard focus.

The dialog box procedure should return the value directly. The DWL_MSGRESULT value set by the SetWindowLong function is ignored.

Remarks

The control to receive the default keyboard focus is always the first control in the dialog box that is visible, not disabled, and that has the WS_TABSTOP style. When the dialog box procedure returns TRUE, the system checks the control to ensure that the procedure has not disabled it. If it has been disabled, the system sets the keyboard focus to the next control that is visible, not disabled, and has the WS_TABSTOP.

An application can return FALSE only if it has set the keyboard focus to one of the controls of the dialog box.

QuickInfo

  Windows NT: Requires version 3.1 or later.
  Windows: Requires Windows 95 or later.
  Windows CE: Requires version 1.0 or later.
  Header: Declared in winuser.h.

See Also

Dialog Boxes Overview, Dialog Box Messages, CreateDialogIndirectParam, CreateDialogParam, DialogBoxIndirectParam, DialogBoxParam, PROPSHEETPAGE, SetFocus