Q69079: HOWTO: How to Give a 3-D Effect to Windows Controls

Article: Q69079
Product(s): Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit
Version(s): WINDOWS:3.1
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kb16bitonly kbCtrl kbSDKPlatform
Last Modified: 10-JUN-1999

3.00 3.10
WINDOWS
kbprg

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit (SDK) 3.1 
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SUMMARY
=======

It is possible for an application to give edit controls, list boxes, and static
text a three-dimensional (3-D) appearance. Each control can be made to appear
recessed into the surface of its parent dialog box, or raised above it. This
article contains the code necessary to implement this effect.

MORE INFORMATION
================

There are three steps required to give a particular control a 3-D appearance:

1. Remove the WS_BORDER attribute from the control specification in the dialog
  box template. This will cause the background of the control to "blend" into
  the background of the dialog box.

2. In the WM_PAINT message of the control's parent dialog function, post a
  user-defined message to the dialog function. Return FALSE for the processing
  of WM_PAINT message so that all other painting will take place. By posting
  the user-defined message, the Dialog Manager will do its painting first, then
  the three-dimensional appearance will be added.

3. During the processing of the user defined message, call DrawIndent() for each
  control. DrawIndent() will draw a highlight color on the right side and
  bottom of the control, and a shadow color on the top and left sides of the
  control. This will give the appearance that the control is recessed into the
  dialog box. To make the control appear raised above the dialog, reverse the
  highlight and shadow colors in the DrawIndent() function call.

On systems with a monochrome display, DrawIndent() will only draw a single black
border.

The following code shows how to use DrawIndent():

     ...

     case WM_PAINT:
        PostMessage(hDlg, WM_COMMAND, IDM_REPAINT, 0L);
        return FALSE;

     case WM_COMMAND:
        switch (wParam)
          {
          case IDM_REPAINT:
            DrawIndent(hDlg, IDD_FIELD1);
            DrawIndent(hDlg, IDD_FIELD2);

              ...

            DrawIndent(hDlg, IDD_FIELDN);
            break;

     ...

The following is the code for DrawIndent():

     void DrawIndent(HWND hDlg, int ID)

     // Assumptions:
     // 
     // hDlg        is a valid window handle.
     // ID          is a valid control ID.
     // bMonochrome is a flag that is TRUE for a monochrome system.
     // 

     {
     RECT rRect;
     HDC  hDC;
     HPEN hOldPen;

     GetClientRect(GetDlgItem(hDlg, ID), (LPRECT)&rRect);

     // By modifying the parameters this way, things are centered a bit
     // better.

     rRect.left   -= 2;
     rRect.bottom -= 1;
     rRect.top    -= 3;

     hDC = GetDC(GetDlgItem(hDlg, ID));

     // Draw the Shadow

     hOldPen = SelectObject(hDC, GetStockObject(BLACK_PEN));

     MoveTo(hDC, rRect.left-1, rRect.bottom+1);
     LineTo(hDC, rRect.left-1, rRect.top-1);
     LineTo(hDC, rRect.right+1, rRect.top-1);

     if (!bMonochrome)

      {
      MoveTo(hDC, rRect.left-2, rRect.bottom+2);
      LineTo(hDC, rRect.left-2, rRect.top-2);
      LineTo(hDC, rRect.right+2, rRect.top-2);

      // On color systems, select the highlight color
      SelectObject(hDC, GetStockObject(WHITE_PEN));
      }

     // Draw the Highlight (still shadow for mono systems)

     MoveTo(hDC, rRect.right+1, rRect.top-1);
     LineTo(hDC, rRect.right+1, rRect.bottom+1);
     LineTo(hDC, rRect.left-1, rRect.bottom+1);

     if (!bMonochrome)

      {
      MoveTo(hDC, rRect.right+2, rRect.top-2);
      LineTo(hDC, rRect.right+2, rRect.bottom+2);
      LineTo(hDC, rRect.left-2, rRect.bottom+2);
      }

     // Housekeep

     SelectObject(hDC, hOldPen);
     ReleaseDC(GetDlgItem(hDlg, ID), hDC);
     }

REFERENCES
==========

For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft
Knowledge Base:

  Q97361 Adding 3-D Controls Using CTL3D.DLL

Additional query words: 3.00 3.10

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Keywords          : kb16bitonly kbCtrl kbSDKPlatform 
Technology        : kbAudDeveloper kbWin3xSearch kbSDKSearch kbWinSDKSearch kbWinSDK310
Version           : WINDOWS:3.1
Issue type        : kbhowto

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