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Q96760: PRB: Gray Box Appears Using SDK Custom Control in App Studio

Article: Q96760
Product(s): Microsoft C Compiler
Version(s): 1.0,1.5,1.51,1.52,2.0,2.1,4.0,5.0,6.0
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): _IK920 kbVC kbVC100 kbVC150 kbVC151 kbVC152 kbVC200 kbVC210 kbVC400 kbVC500 kbVC600 kbG
Last Modified: 27-NOV-2001

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The information in this article applies to:

- The App Studio, used with:
   - Microsoft Visual C++ for Windows, 16-bit edition, versions 1.0, 1.5, 1.51, 1.52 
   - Microsoft Visual C++, 32-bit Editions, versions 1.0, 2.0, 2.1, 4.0, 5.0, 6.0 
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SYMPTOMS
========

In the App Studio, or Developer Studio, an attempt to install a "User- Defined"
control fails and a gray box appears instead of the visual representation of the
control.

CAUSE
=====

The App Studio dialog editor supports the following procedures for
"User-Defined" controls:

- Specify a location for the control in the dialog box

- Specify a caption for the control

- Specify the window class for the control

- Specify a 32-bit hexadecimal value for the control style

These procedures are described in the "Working with User-Defined Controls"
section in the "Using the Dialog Editor" chapter of both the Visual C++ version
1.0 "App Studio User's Guide" and the Visual C++, 32-bit Edition, versions 2.x
and 4.0, Books Online.

RESOLUTION
==========

Even though the dialog editor does not display a visual representation of the
user-defined control, you can change the size and position of the gray box to
reflect the desired placement of the control within the dialog box.

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

Visual C++ for Windows (16-bit) supports installing and design-time testing for
VBX version 1.0 controls. For 32-bit systems, OLE Controls (OCX) is the
preferred custom control architecture. Building and using OLE Controls is fully
supported in Visual C++ versions 2.0 and above. See MFC Technical Note 27
included with these versions of Visual C++ for more information.

Versions 3.0 and later of the Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit (SDK)
define an dynamic-link library (DLL) interface for custom controls. The Dialog
Editor provided with the Windows SDK supports installing custom controls and
testing their functions. Section 20.2.5 of the Windows SDK "Guide to
Programming" manual for version 3.1 documents this interface.

Typically, a user-defined control implemented as a DLL registers a WNDCLASS
structure in its LibMain() procedure. Once a user-defined control is installed
into a dialog box in App Studio, double click on the gray box to change the
properties of the control and enter the window class and any style information.

Additional query words:

======================================================================
Keywords          : _IK920 kbVC kbVC100 kbVC150 kbVC151 kbVC152 kbVC200 kbVC210 kbVC400 kbVC500 kbVC600 kbGrpDSTools 
Technology        : kbVCsearch kbAudDeveloper
Version           : :1.0,1.5,1.51,1.52,2.0,2.1,4.0,5.0,6.0
Issue type        : kbprb

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