C / C++ / MFC

30-Sep-02 16:30

I'm trying to write a dialog based application that has a tab control but I'm having trouble figuring out how to add the 'pages' to the tabs. It's my understanding that I can create the tabs at design time using the resoure editor but then how do I add the tabs to a tab control? The only function I could find was CTabCtrl::InsetItem but none of it's overloads take a resoure ID, so I guess my question is how do I take a resource defined dialog and add it to a tab control?

Any help on this would be very much appreciated.

- monrobot13

Ravi Bhavnani30-Sep-02 17:07

30-Sep-02 17:07

The "tab" that you add to a tab control is not the same as the property page added to a property sheet. Tab control tabs are just the "top" part of the property sheet.

To simulate the behavior of a property sheet, you'll need to create a modeless dialog for each page, and show the appropriate dialog (and hide the others) at the proper time. The tab control notifies you when a new tab is selected. A couple of things to remember:

Set the tab control's "transparent" bit (in the resource editor) to true.
Call BringWindowToTop() followed by SetFocus() to properly show the selected modeless dialog.

This may sound like a lot of work but it's not. Using a CTabCtrl and modeless dialogs gives you more control than using a modeless CPropertySheet and CPropertyPages.

/ravi

Let's put "civil" back in "civilization"
http://www.ravib.com
ravib@ravib.com

Daniel Strigl30-Sep-02 19:58

Daniel Strigl

30-Sep-02 19:58

Have you any sample application?

--
Nice greets, Daniel.

Michael P Butler30-Sep-02 22:08

Michael P Butler

30-Sep-02 22:08

Have a look at

http://www.codeproject.com/tabctrl/cxtabcontrol.asp[^]

Michael

"Time and tide melts the snowman."
-- The Doctor (Doctor Who: Time and the Rani

Ravi Bhavnani1-Oct-02 4:42

1-Oct-02 4:42

Hi Daniel,

I don't have a sample app, but can email you a code fragment if you like. I'll need your email address.

/ravi

Let's put "civil" back in "civilization"
http://www.ravib.com
ravib@ravib.com

Ravi Bhavnani1-Oct-02 7:24

1-Oct-02 7:24

Here's the fragment I emailed you - hotmail mail has recently been bouncing and I wasn't sure if you'd get my reply.

CDlgHolding represents a tabbed dialog that can display 3 types of holdings (stock, cash and margin debt). Each type is represented by a modeless dialog. CDlgHolding contains a tab control, creates the modeless dialogs, and shows the appropriate one based on the user's selection. Here's a screenshot[^].

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// CDlgHolding dialog
 
BEGIN_MESSAGE_MAP(CDlgHolding, CDialog)
	//{{AFX_MSG_MAP(CDlgHolding)
	ON_NOTIFY(TCN_SELCHANGE, TAB_CTRL, OnTabSelected)
	//}}AFX_MSG_MAP
END_MESSAGE_MAP()
 
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// CDlgHolding message handlers
 
BOOL CDlgHolding::OnInitDialog() 
{
	CDialog::OnInitDialog();
	
  // Initialize tab control
  CTabCtrl* pTabCtrl = (CTabCtrl *) GetDlgItem (TAB_CTRL);
  ASSERT (pTabCtrl != NULL);
  pTabCtrl->InsertItem (0, " Stock Holding ");
  pTabCtrl->InsertItem (1, " Cash Holding ");
  pTabCtrl->InsertItem (2, " Margin Debt ");
 
  // Create tabbed dialogs
  VERIFY (m_dlgStockHolding.Create (IDD_STOCK_HOLDING, this));
  VERIFY (m_dlgCashHolding.Create (IDD_CASH_HOLDING, this));
  VERIFY (m_dlgMarginHolding.Create (IDD_MARGIN_HOLDING, this));
  updateTabSelection();
 
  // Set focus to default tab
  m_dlgStockHolding.SetFocus();

  return FALSE; // return TRUE unless you set the focus to a control
                // EXCEPTION: OCX Property Pages should return FALSE
}
 
void CDlgHolding::OnTabSelected
  (NMHDR* pNMHDR, LRESULT* pResult) 
{
  // Set new current tab
  CTabCtrl* pTabCtrl = (CTabCtrl *) GetDlgItem (TAB_CTRL);
  ASSERT (pTabCtrl != NULL);
  long nCurrentTab = pTabCtrl->GetCurSel();
 
  // Hide all tabbed dialogs
  m_dlgStockHolding.ShowWindow (SW_HIDE);
  m_dlgCashHolding.ShowWindow (SW_HIDE);
  m_dlgMarginHolding.ShowWindow (SW_HIDE);
 
  // Get window of visible tabbed dialog
  CWnd* pWndCurrentTab = NULL;
  switch (nCurrentTab) {
    case 0:
      pWndCurrentTab = &m_dlgStockHolding;
      break;
    case 1:
      pWndCurrentTab = &m_dlgCashHolding;
      break;
    case 2:
      pWndCurrentTab = &m_dlgMarginHolding;
      break;
    default:
      ASSERT (FALSE);
      break;
  }
 
  // Resize and show dialog
  if (pWndCurrentTab != NULL) {
      CRect rectCtrl;
      GetDlgItem (FRAME_TAB_DIALOG)->GetWindowRect (&rectCtrl);
      ScreenToClient (&rectCtrl);

      pWndCurrentTab->MoveWindow (&rectCtrl, TRUE);
      pWndCurrentTab->ShowWindow (SW_SHOW);
      pWndCurrentTab->Invalidate();
      pWndCurrentTab->UpdateWindow();
      pWndCurrentTab->BringWindowToTop();
      pWndCurrentTab->SetFocus();
  }
 
  // Return normally
	*pResult = 0;
}
 
// End DlgHolding.cpp

Hope this helps!

/ravi

Let's put "civil" back in "civilization"
http://www.ravib.com
ravib@ravib.com

monrobot131-Oct-02 12:36

1-Oct-02 12:36

Thanks for the example Ravi it helped out quite a bit. I just have two questions, in the statement:

GetDlgItem (FRAME_TAB_DIALOG)->GetWindowRect (&rectCtrl)

what is FRAME_TAB_DIALOG? Also I noticed that your always simply getting a pointer to the tab control instead of having a member variable for it, is getting a pointer better than using a member variable?

Thanks again.

- monrobot13

Ravi Bhavnani1-Oct-02 17:03

1-Oct-02 17:03

FRAME_TAB_DIALOG is just a static frame control I use to position the modeless dialogs. Because the control's visible style is "false", it doesn't interfere with the display but yet gives me a good idea of where the modeless dialogs will appear when I'm in the resource editor.

monrobot13 wrote:
is getting a pointer better than using a member variable?
No - actually what I'm doing is slightly more inefficient. Imho, it's better to relate a member variable (of class CTabCtrl) with the tab control rather than calling GetDlgItem() and doing the cast. It's just a habit. A bad one. Smile | :)

/ravi

Let's put "civil" back in "civilization"
http://www.ravib.com
ravib@ravib.com

monrobot132-Oct-02 13:24

2-Oct-02 13:24

Thanks again Ravi, your help has been very much appreciated.

- monrobot13

Ravi Bhavnani2-Oct-02 13:27

2-Oct-02 13:27

Glad to be of help!

/ravi

Let's put "civil" back in "civilization"
http://www.ravib.com
ravib@ravib.com

monrobot133-Oct-02 13:23

3-Oct-02 13:23

Hey Again,

I've finally tried implementing your CTabCtrl example and I'm having some trouble with it. I've implemented the code that you sent me but it still isn't working. The dialog with the tab control will load up and show the tab that I inserted, but it wont show the dialog that's supposed to be on the tab. Here's my OnInitDialog function:

BOOL CDataManDlg::OnInitDialog() 
{
	CDialog::OnInitDialog();
	
	m_tabData.InsertItem (0, " Media Sales ");
	m_tabData.InsertItem (1, " Temp Garbage ");
	VERIFY (m_dlgSales.Create (IDD_MEDIASALES_DIALOG, this));
	m_dlgSales.SetFocus ();
		
	return FALSE;
}

I added a bogus tab so that I could test the TCN_SELCHANGE handler and when I click onto the first tab it creates the dialog but it's not inside the tab control, it's way off to the side. Here's my TCN_SELCHANGE handler:

void CDataManDlg::OnTabSelected(NMHDR* pNMHDR, LRESULT* pResult) 
{
	// Set a new current tab.
	int nCurrentTab = m_tabData.GetCurSel ();

	// Hide all the tabs.
	m_dlgSales.ShowWindow (SW_HIDE);

	// Get window of visible tabbed dialog.
	CWnd* pWndCurrentTab = NULL;
	switch (nCurrentTab) {
	case 0:
		pWndCurrentTab = &m_dlgSales;
		break;
	case 1:
		break;
	default:
		ASSERT (FALSE);
		break;
	}

	// Resize and show the dialog
	if (pWndCurrentTab != NULL) {
		CRect rectCtrl;
		GetDlgItem (FRAME_TAB_DIALOG)->GetWindowRect (&rectCtrl);
		ScreenToClient (&rectCtrl);

		pWndCurrentTab->MoveWindow (&rectCtrl, TRUE);
        pWndCurrentTab->ShowWindow (SW_SHOW);
		pWndCurrentTab->Invalidate ();
		pWndCurrentTab->UpdateWindow ();
		pWndCurrentTab->BringWindowToTop ();
		pWndCurrentTab->SetFocus ();
	}
	
	*pResult = 0;
}

I'm just wondering if you could tell what I'm doing wrong here, and would it be possible for you to send me a complete VC6 project?

Thanks again for the help it's been very much appreciated.

-monrobot13

monrobot133-Oct-02 13:35

3-Oct-02 13:35

Man, sorry for so many posting but I'm really trying to get this working. I got the TCN_SELCHANGE handler to work by changing the style of the dialog (that should be in the CTabCtrl) to child and it's border to none (maybe I'm an idiot for not doing that in the first place) but the dialog still wont show on the initialization. Again any help would be much appreciated.

- monrobot13

Ravi Bhavnani3-Oct-02 15:24

3-Oct-02 15:24

changing the style of the dialog (that should be in the CTabCtrl) to child and it's border to none
Sorry, I should've mentioned that! Blush | :O

the dialog still wont show on the initialization.
The dialog should only show up when the tab selection message is handled.

when I click onto the first tab it creates the dialog but it's not inside the tab control, it's way off to the side.
If it's showing up at a bad location, check the location of the FRAME_TAB_DIALOG static control.

Sorry, but I can't send you a sample VC++ project because I snipped the code I sent you from a much larger codebase. Frown | :(

/ravi

Let's put "civil" back in "civilization"
http://www.ravib.com
ravib@ravib.com

monrobot135-Oct-02 8:38

5-Oct-02 8:38

I think I got it all working now Smile | :)

Thanks a lot for you help Ravi I don't think I could have got it working without it.

Cheers!

- monrobot13

Ravi Bhavnani5-Oct-02 8:41

5-Oct-02 8:41

Glad to be of help! I just pointed you in the right direction - you did all the work!

/ravi

Let's put "civil" back in "civilization"
http://www.ravib.com
ravib@ravib.com

Daniel Strigl2-Oct-02 10:40

Daniel Strigl

2-Oct-02 10:40

Thanks for the code...

One question: Why do you call all this member functions?

pWndCurrentTab->MoveWindow (&rectCtrl, TRUE);
pWndCurrentTab->ShowWindow (SW_SHOW);
pWndCurrentTab->Invalidate();
pWndCurrentTab->UpdateWindow();
pWndCurrentTab->BringWindowToTop();
pWndCurrentTab->SetFocus();

It is not enough to call the MoveWindow and the ShowWindow function?

Why do you call Invalidate and UpdateWindow? Does the system not automaticly paint the window after ShowWindow?

Does I need to call BringWindowToTop? And why?

--
Nice greets, Daniel.

Ravi Bhavnani2-Oct-02 10:54

2-Oct-02 10:54

Hi Daniel,

I call Invalidate() and UpdateWindow() to force an immediate repaint. The latter is necessary as a workaround for the painting bug in static controls.

I call SetFocus() to ensure that focus is transferred to the first control in the modeless dialog, which is what the user would expect.

/ravi

Let's put "civil" back in "civilization"
http://www.ravib.com
ravib@ravib.com

Daniel Strigl2-Oct-02 19:17

Daniel Strigl

2-Oct-02 19:17

And why do you call BringWindowToTop? Does it not automatic drawn on the top?

--
Nice greets, Daniel.

Ravi Bhavnani3-Oct-02 5:01