To create an edit control using the CreateWindow or CreateWindowEx function, specify the EDIT class, appropriate window style constants, and a combination of the following edit control styles.
| 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 the enter key on the last line. |
| ES_CENTER | Windows NT 5.0 and later; Windows 98 and later: Centers text in a single-line or multiline edit control. Earlier versions of Windows and Windows NT: Centers text in a multiline edit control. |
| ES_LEFT | Left-aligns text. |
| ES_LOWERCASE | Converts all characters to lowercase as they are typed into the edit control. |
| ES_MULTILINE | Designates a 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, use the ES_WANTRETURN style. | |
| 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 you do not specify ES_AUTOVSCROLL, the edit control shows as many lines as possible and beeps if the user presses the enter key when no more lines can be displayed. | |
| If you specify the ES_AUTOHSCROLL style, 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 the enter key. If you do not specify ES_AUTOHSCROLL, the control automatically wraps words to the beginning of the next line when necessary. A new line is also started if the user presses the enter key. The window size determines the position of the word wrap. If the window size changes, the word wrapping 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. Note that edit controls without scroll bars scroll as described in the previous paragraphs and process any scroll messages sent by the parent window. | |
| ES_NOHIDESEL | Negates the default behavior for an edit control. The default behavior hides the selection when the control loses the input focus and inverts the selection when the control receives the input focus. If you specify ES_NOHIDESEL, the selected text is inverted, even if the control does not have the focus. |
| ES_NUMBER | Allows only digits to be entered into the edit control. |
| ES_OEMCONVERT | Converts text entered in the edit control. The text is converted 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 CharToOem 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 an asterisk (*) for each character typed into the edit control. You 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 | Windows NT 5.0 and later; Windows 98 and later: Right-aligns text in a single-line or multiline edit control. Earlier versions of Windows and Windows NT: Right-aligns text 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 you do not specify this style, 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. |