MultiColumn Combobox data

[engee30]

Hello

Let's say I've got a Multicolumn Combobox of 3 columns already populated with some text. Each Combobox item has strings under Text, Column 1 and Column 2. I know how to retrieve the Comboitem text eg by:

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Debug.Print cmbColumns.ComboItems(10).Text

But I can't find a similar way to get the strings stored under each of the columns for each Comboitem.
What to do to get access to such data?

[TiKu]

I'm not at home until sunday and don't remember how I've implemented the MultiColumn sample. I'll give you a reply on sunday.

[TiKu]

I'm not sure whether I understood your question correctly. The following code takes a ComboBoxItem object (myComboItem) and retrieves its text for the 2nd and 3rd column:

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  Dim tagObject As Object

  Set tagObject = GetComboTag(myComboItem)
  If Not (tagObject Is Nothing) Then
    If TypeOf tagObject Is CMultiColumnItem Then
      Debug.Print tagObject.Text(2), tagObject.Text(3)
    End If
  End If

In production code, I would put this code into a function that takes a ComboBoxItem object and a column index and returns the text as String.

[engee30]

Sorry for my poor explanation to the problem.
Anyways, you got me right. That's precisely what I wanted to get. Thanks again, TiKu.

[engee30]

Hello

This time I've got a problem changing default colours of the Multicolumn Combo. I'd like to have BackColor & ListBackColor in Black, and ForeColor & ListForeColor in White. I've changed the properties in the Properties Window, but it doesn't seem to work and have any effect. What am I doing wrong, or maybe I'm missing something?
Pete

[TiKu]

Add this declaration to the CMultiColumnItem class:

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  Private Declare Function CreateSolidBrush Lib "gdi32.dll" (ByVal crColor As Long) As Long

Add this variable to the CMultiColumnItem.OwnerDrawItem method:

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Dim hBrush As Long

In this method replace the following code

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    If itemState And OwnerDrawItemStateConstants.odisSelected Then
      If itemState And OwnerDrawItemStateConstants.odisFocus Then
        newBkColor = COLOR_HIGHLIGHT
        newLineColor = COLOR_3DSHADOW
        newTextColor = COLOR_HIGHLIGHTTEXT
      Else
        newBkColor = COLOR_3DFACE
        newLineColor = COLOR_3DSHADOW
        newTextColor = COLOR_BTNTEXT
      End If
    Else
      newBkColor = COLOR_WINDOW
      newLineColor = COLOR_3DSHADOW
      newTextColor = COLOR_WINDOWTEXT
    End If

    ' draw item background
    Call FillRect(hDC, rcItem, GetSysColorBrush(newBkColor))

    ' draw the columns
    hPen = CreatePen(PS_SOLID, 1, GetSysColor(newLineColor))
    If hPen Then
      hPreviousPen = SelectObject(hDC, hPen)
      oldTextColor = SetTextColor(hDC, GetSysColor(newTextColor))

with

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    If itemState And OwnerDrawItemStateConstants.odisSelected Then
      If itemState And OwnerDrawItemStateConstants.odisFocus Then
        newBkColor = GetSysColor(COLOR_HIGHLIGHT)
        newLineColor = GetSysColor(COLOR_3DSHADOW)
        newTextColor = GetSysColor(COLOR_HIGHLIGHTTEXT)
      Else
        newBkColor = GetSysColor(COLOR_3DFACE)
        newLineColor = GetSysColor(COLOR_3DSHADOW)
        newTextColor = GetSysColor(COLOR_BTNTEXT)
      End If
    Else
      newBkColor = vbBlack 'GetSysColor(COLOR_WINDOW)
      newLineColor = GetSysColor(COLOR_3DSHADOW)
      newTextColor = vbWhite 'GetSysColor(COLOR_WINDOWTEXT)
    End If

    ' draw item background
    hBrush = CreateSolidBrush(newBkColor)
    Call FillRect(hDC, rcItem, hBrush)
    Call DeleteObject(hBrush)

    ' draw the columns
    hPen = CreatePen(PS_SOLID, 1, newLineColor)
    If hPen Then
      hPreviousPen = SelectObject(hDC, hPen)
      oldTextColor = SetTextColor(hDC, newTextColor)

Regards
TiKu

[engee30]

Thank you, TiKu. That did the trick.
Kind regards,
Pete

[engee30]

Hi

Is it possible to keep open the DropDownWindow of the Combobox after clicking an item in the DropDown list?
Regards,
Pete

[TiKu]

It can be done using subclassing. In the ListDropDown event, subclass the cmbColumns.hWndListBox window and in the ListCloseUp event unsubclass it. In the message handling function, handle the WM_LBUTTONUP message and make sure that it does not get forwarded to the original message handling function:

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Const WM_LBUTTONUP = &H202
...
Select Case uMsg
  Case WM_LBUTTONUP
    bCallDefProc = False
End Select
...

The code is for usage with my subclassing framework (which is being used by e.g. the Events sample). The line "bCallDefProc = False" tells it to "eat" this message, i.e. to not call DefSubclassProc for it. DefSubclassProc forwards messages to the original message handler.

/EDIT: However, this will not disable the possibility to close the drop-down using the keyboard. For this you'll also have to handle WM_KEYDOWN or WM_KEYUP (I'm not quite sure which one) and "eat" it as well.

Regards
TiKu

[engee30]

Hi TiKu. Oh yes, that subclassing bit of coding did the job. Thanks again.
Kind Regards,
Pete