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How to Create a Header Control

  • Article

This topic demonstrates how to create a header control and position it within the parent window's client area. You can create a header control by using the CreateWindowEx function and specifying the WC_HEADER window class and the appropriate header control styles. This window class is registered when the common control DLL is loaded. To ensure that this DLL is loaded, use the InitCommonControlsEx function.

What you need to know

Technologies

Prerequisites

  • C/C++
  • Windows User Interface Programming

Instructions

The following C++ code example first calls the InitCommonControlsEx function to load the common control DLL. It then calls the CreateWindowEx function to create a header control. The control is initially hidden. The HDM_LAYOUT message is used to calculate the size and position of the control within the parent window. The control is then repositioned and made visible.

// DoCreateHeader - creates a header control that is positioned along 
//     the top of the parent window's client area. 
// Returns the handle to the header control. 
// hwndParent - handle to the parent window. 
// 
// Global variable 
//    g_hinst - handle to the application instance 
extern HINSTANCE g_hinst; 
//
// child-window identifier
int ID_HEADER;
//
HWND DoCreateHeader(HWND hwndParent) 
{ 
        HWND hwndHeader; 
        RECT rcParent; 
        HDLAYOUT hdl; 
        WINDOWPOS wp; 
 
        // Ensure that the common control DLL is loaded, and then create 
        // the header control. 
        INITCOMMONCONTROLSEX icex;  //declare an INITCOMMONCONTROLSEX Structure
        icex.dwSize = sizeof(INITCOMMONCONTROLSEX);
        icex.dwICC = ICC_LISTVIEW_CLASSES;   //set dwICC member to ICC_LISTVIEW_CLASSES    
                                             // this loads list-view and header control classes.
    InitCommonControlsEx(&icex); 
 
        if ((hwndHeader = CreateWindowEx(0, WC_HEADER, (LPCTSTR) NULL, 
                WS_CHILD | WS_BORDER | HDS_BUTTONS | HDS_HORZ, 
                0, 0, 0, 0, hwndParent, (HMENU) ID_HEADER, g_hinst, 
                (LPVOID) NULL)) == NULL) 
            return (HWND) NULL; 
 
        // Retrieve the bounding rectangle of the parent window's 
        // client area, and then request size and position values 
        // from the header control. 
        GetClientRect(hwndParent, &rcParent); 
 
        hdl.prc = &rcParent; 
        hdl.pwpos = ℘ 
        if (!SendMessage(hwndHeader, HDM_LAYOUT, 0, (LPARAM) &hdl)) 
            return (HWND) NULL; 
 
        // Set the size, position, and visibility of the header control. 
        SetWindowPos(hwndHeader, wp.hwndInsertAfter, wp.x, wp.y, 
            wp.cx, wp.cy, wp.flags | SWP_SHOWWINDOW); 
 
        return hwndHeader; 
}

About Header Controls

Header Control Reference

Using Header Controls