Draw a frame around a control

[Moonshot]

Hi I am using a Data grid on my form and in order for the appearance to 'Fit In' with the style of my form - I need to draw a '3D Light' type frame around it - (I know I could nest it in another control - but I would like to keep the number of controls on the form to a minimum for speed)

Does anybody know how I can do this?

[kovan]

you can create ur own control 2 ways

1. by subclassing the original
2. by creating an activex that is a datagrid within a frame


i personally would go with just putting the datagrid in a frame without any subclassing or new activex, its faster than both of these methods..

[Moonshot]

Yeah but can you use an API function to star trek the code to a level of effiency - I just wanna streamline

[kovan]

if u use api's to do what i just said it will be slower than just putting the control in a frame, and a lot more code

[brucevde]

Adding a control won't affect the speed that much. Anyways, to draw fancy boxes use the DrawEdge API. It can draw several types of 3D boxes. Just remember that most API's which deal with coordinates are using pixels and not twips.

Add this code to a Form and run the app. You should see two boxes, one that looks like a Frame Control and the other a depressed button.

Private Type Rect
    Left As Long
    Top As Long
    Right As Long
    Bottom As Long
End Type
 
Private Const BDR_RAISEDINNER = &H4
Private Const BDR_RAISEDOUTER = &H1
Private Const BDR_SUNKENINNER = &H8
Private Const BDR_SUNKENOUTER = &H2
 
Private Const BF_BOTTOM = &H8
Private Const BF_LEFT = &H1
Private Const BF_RIGHT = &H4
Private Const BF_TOP = &H2
Private Const BF_RECT = (BF_LEFT Or BF_TOP Or BF_RIGHT Or BF_BOTTOM)
 
Private Const EDGE_BUMP = (BDR_RAISEDOUTER Or BDR_SUNKENINNER)
Private Const EDGE_ETCHED = (BDR_SUNKENOUTER Or BDR_RAISEDINNER)
Private Const EDGE_RAISED = (BDR_RAISEDOUTER Or BDR_RAISEDINNER)
Private Const EDGE_SUNKEN = (BDR_SUNKENOUTER Or BDR_SUNKENINNER)
 
Private Declare Function DrawEdge Lib "user32" (ByVal hDC As Long, qrc As Rect, ByVal edge As Long, ByVal grfFlags As Long) As Long
 
Private Sub Form_Paint()
    DrawBox
End Sub
 
Private Sub DrawBox()
    Dim udtRect As Rect
    Dim lngStatus As Long
    
    udtRect.Left = 10
    udtRect.Bottom = 100
    udtRect.Top = 10
    udtRect.Right = 100
    
    lngStatus = DrawEdge(Me.hDC, udtRect, EDGE_ETCHED, BF_RECT)
 
    udtRect.Left = 120
    udtRect.Bottom = 100
    udtRect.Top = 10
    udtRect.Right = 210
    
    lngStatus = DrawEdge(Me.hDC, udtRect, EDGE_SUNKEN, BF_RECT)
 
End Sub