How to Display Multiple Foreground Text Colors in VB List Box

• Standard, Professional, and Enterprise Editions of Microsoft Visual Basic, 32-bit only, for Windows, version 4.0

SUMMARY

To set the foreground and background color of a list box control, set the ForeColor and BackColor properties at either design time or run time. All text in a list box uses the color set by the ForeColor property. The text is printed against a background color set by the BackColor property.

Visual Basic doesn't directly support the display of text of different colors simultaneously in the list box. Multi-color list boxes do not adhere to GUI design standards and should not be used. The Treeview control makes it possible to differentiate list box items, by allowing the use of bitmaps and text on the same line.

This article describes how to display words of different colors simultaneously in a list box by using an indirect technique.

MORE INFORMATION

You can display lines or words of different colors simultaneously in a list box by using the following indirect technique:

   Simulate the list box with a picture box control. You can store the
   desired text strings in an array of strings, and use the Print method to
   write the array entries into the picture box with different ForeColor
   properties. For example:

      picture1.BackColor = QBColor(14)  ' 14=Light yellow
      picture1.ForeColor = QBColor(4)   '  4=Red
      picture1.Print "in living red"
      picture1.ForeColor = QBColor(2)   '  2=Green
      picture1.Print "in living green"

   You can also add a vertical scroll bar next to the picture box. When the
   scroll bar is scrolled, your code needs to redraw the picture box. The
   ForeColor property of the picture box controls the current color used
   by the Print method. The picture box will not let you highlight text.
   NOTE: The BackColor method erases any pre-existing text on the picture
   control.

Reference

The Windows Interface Guidelines for Software Design, Microsoft Press 1995.