Using the DS_SETFONT Dialog Box Style

• Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit (SDK) versions 3.1
• Microsoft Win32 Application Programming Interface (API) included with:

      - Microsoft Windows NT versions 3.5 and 3.51
      - Microsoft Windows 95 version 4.0
  

SUMMARY

In the Microsoft Windows graphical environment, an application can affect the appearance of a dialog box by specifying the DS_SETFONT style bit. DS_SETFONT is available only when the application creates a dialog box dynamically from a memory-resident dialog box template using the CreateDialogIndirect, CreateDialogIndirectParam, DialogBoxIndirect, or DialogBoxIndirectParam function. The second parameter to each of these functions is the handle to a global memory object that contains a DLGTEMPLATE dialog box template data structure. The dwStyle (first) member of the DLGTEMPLATE structure contains style information for the dialog box.

When an application creates a dialog box using one of these functions, Windows determines whether the template contains a FONTINFO data structure by checking for the DS_FONTSTYLE bit in the dwStyle member of the DLGTEMPLATE structure. If this bit is set, Windows creates a font for the dialog box and its controls based on the information in the FONTINFO structure. Otherwise, Windows uses the default system font to calculate the size of the dialog box and the placement and text of its controls.

If Windows creates a font based on the FONTINFO data structure, it sends a WM_SETFONT message to the dialog box. If Windows uses the system default font, it does not send a WM_SETFONT message. A dialog box can change the font of one or more of its controls by creating a font and sending a WM_SETFONT message with the font handle to the appropriate controls.