SetParent

This function changes the parent window of the specified child window.

At a Glance

Header file: Winuser.h
Windows CE versions: 1.0 and later

Syntax

HWND SetParent( HWND hWndChild, HWND hWndNewParent );

Parameters

hWndChild

Handle to the child window.

hWndNewParent

Handle to the new parent window. If this parameter is NULL, the desktop window becomes the new parent window.

Windows NT 5.0 and later: If this parameter is HWND_MESSAGE, the child window becomes a message-only window.

Return Values

A handle to the previous parent window indicates success. NULL indicates failure. To get extended error information, call GetLastError.

Remarks

An application can use the SetParent function to set the parent window of a pop-up, overlapped, or child window. The new parent window and the child window must belong to the same application.

If the window identified by the hWndChild parameter is visible, the system performs the appropriate redrawing and repainting.

For compatibility reasons, SetParent does not modify the WS_CHILD or WS_POPUP window styles of the window whose parent is being changed. Therefore, if hWndNewParent is NULL, you should also clear the WS_CHILD bit and set the WS_POPUP style after calling SetParent. Conversely, if hWndNewParent is not NULL and the window was previously a child of the desktop, you should clear the WS_POPUP style and set the WS_CHILD style before calling SetParent.

See Also

GetParent