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*************************************************************************** * * McKean Consulting * Robin W. McKean * 1042 Braddock Circle * Woodstock GA 30188 * * MCMBOX.VBX V1.00.0000 * * Multi-Purpose Combobox Control for Visual Basic 3.0 * *************************************************************************** MComboBox is a custom control for managing the way your data appears in a combobox. MComboBox is a property for property replacement of the standard combobox control which comes with Visual Basic 3.0. In addition, there are many more features which MComboBox can do that you can't do with the normal combobox. Some of these features are: * Set up owner draw columnar data in the combobox. Your data is arranged in columns, with specific drawing flags setup for each "Drawing Region". Think of each line as being broken up into different areas, each with its own drawing flags and data. * Make a drawing region a bitmap. You have control over the entire list's bitmaps through the default bitmap property, or you can set individual lines bitmap properties. * Control individual line colors in the list box * MComboBox has aligned bitmaps as well. You specifiy the bitmap, the text, and the alignment (top, bottom, right, left), and MComboBox will draw the text and the bitmap in the area you define. * Properties to find closest match and find exact matches in the combobox. * Complete control over colors in the combobox. Colors can be set for normal lines, individual lines, normal highlight colors, and individual highlight colors. * 3-D effects * Handle entire drawing of items in your code * Set individual fonts for individual lines * Resort entire lists * Improved string searching * Variable height lines in the list box MComboBox does not support simple combo boxes (the editable ones). The main feature of MComboBox is text alignment and bitmaps. Editable combo boxes do not lend themselves well to this style. *************************************************************************** This ZIP file contains: MCMBOX.VBX VB version of the MComboBox custom control PROJECT1.MAK Sample project file for MLIST FORM1.FRM Form used by the sample project FORM1.FRX Binary file for Form1 READ.ME This file PLUS.BMP Bitmap used in example PAGE.BMP Ditto *************************************************************************** REGISTRATION Time for the sob story. This ComboBox is Shareware. It is NOT crippled in anyway. When you download this custom control, you have the same custom control that I am using in my everyday VB programming. As a Shareware contributor, I am counting on the honor and moral fiber of every person who downloads this custom control to do the right thing. I have contributed and participated in the Shareware arena for years now. Your small contribution can make a difference to me and my family... Right now, the maximum string size in the ComboBox is 2048 characters. Let me know if this causes a problem. I don't anticipate anyone needing to display more than this number of characters to the screen. If you like and appreciate this custom control... 1) Small time developers like me, send $10.00 to the address listed above 2) Corporate users send $15.00 to the address listed above 3) Register in the Compuserve SWREG forum ID 2737. Registered users may purchase the source... Send $40.00 to me at the above address. Register in the SWREG Forum Id 2738. If you register via CompuServe, the source will be e-mailed to you. Please remember, you may not purchase source unless you are a registered user. This control is written in C++ and has been compiled using both Borland C++ 3.1 and Visual C++ 1.5. You may now register this control in the SWREG on Compuserve. Type GO SWREG. Corporate users should register via mail or register twice in the SWREG Forum, as many of you have already done. *************************************************************************** WARRANTY The control, as is, works the way that I want it to. This does not mean that it will work the way that you want it to. Along those lines, I totally disclaim that the control will do anything whatsoever. This includes any implied abilities and any WARRANTIES, including those for SUITABILITY for a particular purpose, MERCHANTIBILITY, and all that other bull crap. *************************************************************************** PROGRAMMER'S NOTES (or, what I need to know to use this custom control) The MCMBOX ComboBox is an enhanced Combo Box control. The following is a desciption of each additional property, what it does, and how to use it in your own VB programming. For additional control properties, see those properties included in the standard combo box control. MComboBox now contains all standard combo box properties. The ones listed below are additions. LinesInList When you select the down arrow, this property helps determine the overall size of the drop down list box. ItemDefHeight This property is responsible for controlling the height of each individual line item in the list box. It defaults to 195 Twips, the height of the font used by the standard list box. You should adjust this height if you change the font, font size, etc.. DrawRegions This item determines the number of drawing regions on each line. This is basically equivelent to the number of COLUMNS, but this combo box will still scroll like a normal combo box. When setting this property, the control clears the flags for the draw regions and sets them to left aligned, single line, and centered vertically. Consult the Windows API for DrawText to see what exactly these flags mean. ItemLength This is an indexed property which corresponds to the length of each drawing region. If you want a drawing region to be a specific length, set that drawing region's length to the desired setting in twips. For example... MCombo1.DrawRegions = 2 MCombo1.ItemLength(1) = 500 MCombo1.ItemLength(2) = 500 ' Generates an out of index error MCombo1.ItemLength(0) = XXX MCombo1.ItemLength(3) = XXX It is probably a good idea to set the lengths of all drawing regions when you are changing the defaults. DrawFlags This is an indexed property which corresponds to the flags of each drawing region. If you want a drawing region to be drawn in a specific manner, set that drawing region's flags to the desired settings. For specific flags, look up the DrawText API function in the Windows API Reference. In the following example, I setup two drawing regions and set the second drawing region's flags to right justify the text. In this example, the second drawing region displays currency values. Const DT_RIGHT = 2 Const DT_VCENTER = 4 Const DT_SINGLELINE = 32 MCombo1.DrawRegions = 2 MCombo1.DrawFlags(2) = DT_RIGHT + DT_VCENTER + DT_SINGLELINE MCombo.ItemLength(1) = 500 MCombo.ItemLength(2) = 500 If you are planning to include the '&' character in your strings, you should include the DT_NOPREFIX flag to avoid the underline. I do NOT automatically add this flag for you, as I want you to have total control over the flags. ActiveRegion Setting this property affects the next two properties. It defines the DrawingRegion (or index or column) that TextRegion and ListRegion will return. Perhaps an example is in order. My combo box is divided up into three columns, name, account number, dollar amount. I want to get the account number for the currently selected line as well as the first item... MCombo1.ActiveRegion = 2 aString$ = MCombo1.TextRegion ' Gets 2nd column of current text bString$ = MCombo1.ListRegion(0) ' 2nd column of item at index 0 TextRegion This property will return the ActiveRegion in the currently selected text. See the above "ActiveRegion". Corresponds to a DrawRegion of the Text property. These values can also be written to at run time. ListRegion This property will return the ActiveRegion in the item at the specific index. See the above "ActiveRegion". Corresponds to a DrawRegion of the List property. These values can also be written to at run time. DefPicture This is the default bitmap to be displayed in the ImageRegion when a specific bitmap has not been assigned to that items ItemPicture property. Please see the demo on setting your own default picture and ItemPicture properties. ImageType This determines what type of image we are dealing with in our image region. If this property is set to 0, then the ImageRegion property is ignored and only text is displayed. If this image type is valid, then a bitmap/icon is displayed in the ImageRegion. Note that when the image type is set to AlignBitmap, the normal drawing regions no longer apply. Anybody got a problem with that??? ImageRegion This property specifies which region contains the image region. This value should be any number between 1 and the number of DrawRegions. You may not set this property to a value of less than zero or greater then DrawRegions. When setting up your DrawRegions, the following is a good example: MCombo1.DrawRegions = 3 MCombo1.ImageRegion = 1 MCombo1.ItemLength(1) = 100 ' Bitmap or Icon is in here MCombo1.ItemLength(2) = 500 MCombo1.ItemLength(3) = 750 ' Don't leave a space for the ImageRegion in your strings MCombo1.AddItem "Region2" + Chr$(9) + "Region3" MCombo1.AddItem "Region22" + Chr$(9) + "Region33" The ImageRegion is ignored when calculating the "piece" of text that goes in that region. ItemPicture This property is an array of pictures which correspond to the bitmaps for each line item in the list box. If this item is not set by you, then the MComboBox uses the DefPicture property. ' Change the first items picture in the list box MCombo1.ItemPicture(0) = Image1.Picture ItemForeColor This property is an array of color which correspond to the foreground color for each line item in the combo box. If this item is not set by you, then the MComboBox uses the default foreground color property. ' Change the first items foreground color to white MCombo1.ItemForeColor(0) = RGB(255,255,255) ItemBkColor This property is an array of color which correspond to the background color for each line item in the combo box. If this item is not set by you, then the MComboBox uses the default background color property. ' Change the first items background color to black MCombo1.ItemBkColor(0) = RGB(0,0,0) Alignment This property controls the placement of the bitmap when the image type is set to 4, AlignBitmap. See the demo for details, but basically the values for this property are: 1 - Align the bitmap or icon to the left, centered, then the text, centered vertically and left justified. 2 - Align the bitmap or on top, centered, then the text, centered horizontally and vertically. 3 - Align the bitmap or icon to the right, centered, then the text, centered vertically and left justified. 4 - Align the bitmap or icon on bottom, centered, then the text, centered horizontally and vertically. Note that when the image type is set to AlignBitmap, the normal drawing regions no longer apply. Anybody got a problem with that??? FindString Setting this property will cause the combo box to search for a string with the closest match from the current ListIndex. If one is found, that string is set to the current ListIndex if FindResult is set to 0, otherwise, FindIndex is updated and ListIndex is left alone. This is useful for moving items through a combo box while typing the string in an edit control, ie. Search in Help. FindStringExact This property is the same as above, except that it will search for an exact match. HiliteForeColor, This is the default foreground color to use when a line in the combo box is hilited. If these colors are set, then the normal colors are ignored, and the HiliteForeColor is used to draw the text, and HiliteBackColor is used to draw the background. You may force MComboBox to use the default colors by setting this color equal HiliteBackColor. HiliteBackColor, This is the default background color to use when a line in the combo box is hilited. If these colors are set, then the normal colors are ignored, and the HiliteForeColor is used to draw the text, and HiliteBackColor is used to draw the background. You may force MComboBox to use the default colors by setting this color equal HiliteForeColor. ItemHiliteForeColor, This is a property array, which corresponds to each line item in the combo box. Using this property, you can set the foreground and background hilited color of individual line items. MCombo1.ItemHiliteForeColor(0) = RGB(0,0,0) MCombo1.ItemHiliteBackColor(0) = RGB(255,255,255) ItemHiliteBackColor, This is a property array, which corresponds to each line item in the combo box. Using this property, you can set the foreground and background hilited color of individual line items. MCombo1.ItemHiliteForeColor(0) = RGB(0,0,0) MCombo1.ItemHiliteBackColor(0) = RGB(255,255,255) MaskingColor This color is used to mask out colors in your bitmaps when they are included in your MComboBox. For example, lets say that you know you are not going to use the color white in your bitmaps or combo boxes, so, you can set all the pixels in your bitmap, which you want to be transparent to white, and the natural color of the combo box will show through your bitmap wherever the color white is. Think of this as the transparent color, like in Icons, except you get to determine what it is. BorderStyle This property controls the border style of the combo box. Valid values are normal, raised, and inset. RiseColor This is the color of the rising edge of a 3-D combo box. Default color is white. FallColor This is the color of the falling edge of the 3-D combo box. The default color is a dark grey color. Version This property was included by me to insure backwards compatibility. You don't need to be concerned with its use, as I use it for different things. FindDirection This property now determines which direction a FindString and FindStringExact will search the combobox. If set to 0, the search will begin at the currently active ListIndex and search to the bottom of the list. If set to one, MComboBox will begin at the current ListIndex and search to the top of the list. SortColumn When using the DrawRegions property, this property can be used to determine which piece of your string determines the sort order. For example: MCombo1.DrawRegions = 2 MCombo1.SortColumn = 2 MCombo1.AddItem "100" + Chr$(9) + "High" Mlist1.AddItem "101" + Chr$(9) + "Critical" This example would sort the combo box by priority. Only strings added after this property is set will be affected. If this property is changed after the strings are added, you will have to remove all the strings and then re-add them or use the Resort property. Setting this property to 0 sorts based on the entire string. StringCompare This property determines whether compares are case sensitive or case insensitive. This only affects the compare when determining placement in a Sorted combo box. This does not affect FindString and FindStringExact properties. Resort Setting this property to 1 causes the list box to resort itself, provided of course that it is a sorted combo box. Additionally, the sort may fail if there is not enough disk space for resorting. DisableDrawing I added this property to enable the developer to suspend drawing until font changes, position changes, etc. are completed. For example, you might want to set this property to True while you are changing the font characteristics of a line that is visible in the combo box. Before you set the last font attribute, set this value to False, and the line will redisplay itself with the correct font. ItemFontBold This property controls the bold attribute of an individual line item. Set this property to true to cause that lines text to be displayed in bold. A word of caution... Setting the individual font attributes of each line will cause a font for that line to be created. Windows will only support so many fonts. If you are going to be setting individual fonts, consider using the UNIMPLEMENTED property which will accept an actual font handle. See UNIMPLEMENTED for details. MCombo1.ItemFontBold = True ** You should set the font name before setting this property. ** ItemFontItalic This property controls the italicized property of the font for a specific line. If you want a lines text to appear italicized, set this property to true for a specific line. MCombo1.ItemFontItalic = True ** You should set the font name before setting this property. ** ItemFontName This property controls the font name for a specific line of text. You should set this property first and then set the others. See your VB Help for details on this property "FontName". MCombo1.FontName = "MS Sans Serif" ItemFontSize This property controls the individual size for a specific line of text. MCombo1.ItemFontSize = 7.8 ** You should set the font name before setting this property. ** ItemFontStrikeThru Set this property to True if you want the font for a particular line of text to have a line through it. MCombo1.ItemFontStrikeThru = True ** You should set the font name before setting this property. ** ItemFontUnderline Set this property to True if you want the font for a particular line of text to have an underline beneath it. MCombo1.ItemFontUnderline = True ** You should set the font name before setting this property. ** OwnerDraw Set this property to True if you want to control all drawing of a line. See the DrawItem event for handling drawing of a line. ComboBoxStyle This property determines whether the lines in a list box are a fixed height or a variable height. Setting this property to 0 means all the lines in the combo box are a fixed height, as determined by the ItemDefHeight property. If this property is set to 1, then the lines in the combo box are variable height. The property AddItemHeight should be set before adding an item to the list. After that, you can use ItemHeight to adjust the height of a line. The reason for this is because I need the height of the line before the line is displayed, otherwise, the entire list must be redrawn when you change the height of that line with IndItemHeight. AddItemHeight This property determines the height of the next line to be added when the combo box is a variable height combo box. See ComboBoxStyle above. MCombo1.AddItemHeight = 195 ' Default line height ItemHeight This property can be used to adjust the height of a line item after it has been added to the combo box. Be aware that this causes the entire combo box to be redrawn. You might want to disable redrawing while you adjust he height of a lot of lines. MCombo1.ItemHeight(0) = 395 MCombo1.ItemHeight(2) = 595 InString Like FindString, except this property looks for a string in a string. FindColumn Set this propery to the column you want to search when using the FindColumnString property. FindColumnString The string you want to search for in FindColumn. FindResult This property controls the action of MCombo after it finds a string via FindString, FindStringExact, FindColumnString, or InString. If set to 0, then ListIndex is updated, and the image of the combo box is updated as well. If set to one, the list box is not updated. In either case, FindIndex is updated with the ListIndex of the found item, when an item is successfully found. FindIndex This property contains the ListIndex of the last successful find of an item. This property is updated whether FindResult is set to Update List Index or or Update FindIndex. Compare this to ListIndex or previously set FindIndex to see if a find is successful. FindCompare This property was added so you can make the compare function when using FindColumnString either case sensitive or case insensitive. *************************************************************************** New Events SelChange() This event is called whenever a selection in the list box is changed either through the keyboard or the mouse. DrawItem(ListIndex As Integer, ItemAction As Integer, ItemState As Integer, ItemDC As Integer, ItemLeft As Integer, ItemTop As Integer, ItemRight As Integer, ItemBottom As Integer, ItemText As String) This event is called when OwnerDraw is set to True. Owner draw basically forces you be responsible for drawing each and every line item. The following is a brief description of the parameters. Lookup Help for DRAWITEMSTRUCT in your WinAPI help for more details. ListIndex - Index of item being drawn. 0 based. ItemAction - Action being performed (See DRAWITEMSTRUCT) ItemState - State of line (See DRAWITEMSTRUCT) ItemDC - DC to do the drawing with. DON'T use MCombo1.hDC ItemLeft - Left coordinate of rectangle ItemTop - Top coordinate of rectangle ItemRight - Right coordinate of rectangle ItemBottom - Bottom coordinate of rectange ItemText - The text that needs to be drawn *************************************************************************** FORMATTING STRINGS You should place the Tab character between each column in your string. The following example formats a string for the DrawFlags example: MCombo1.AddItem "Robin W. McKean" + Chr$(9) + "$100.00" The following string is for three columns: MCombo1.AddItem "Robin W. McKean"+Chr$(9)+"$100.00"+Chr$(9)+"True" Remember, you do NOT have to include a column for the ImageRegion. If the ImageRegion property was 1 and the DrawRegions property was 3, then the following line would work fine (3-1=2) MCombo1.AddItem "Robin W. McKean"+Chr$(9)+"$100.00" *************************************************************************** REACHING THE AUTHOR I can be reached via U.S. Mail at the address listed above. You can reach me via E-Mail at the following locations... Internet: mckean@netcom.com Compuserve: Robin W. McKean 72622,1403 Shareware South: Robin W. McKean Atlanta, GA I'm on CompuServe amd NetCom once or twice a day. I check Shareware South about once a week. *************************************************************************** REVISION HISTORY 1.00.0000 Initial Release *************************************************************************** ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thanks to everyone who supported MList, the other control which made this control possible. ***************************************************************************