CommonControls (Replacement of the MS common controls)

[Krool]

This project is intended to replace the MS common controls for VB6.

The „MSCOMCT2.OCX“ can be replaced completly, except the FlatScrollBar. (But this is anyway not supported on the comctl32 v6.0)
The „MSCOMCTL.OCX“ can not yet be replaced fully, as the ToolBar control is not included.
The „COMCT332.OCX“ can not yet be replaced, as the CoolBar (ReBar) is not included.

Following controls are available at the moment:

- Animation
- DTPicker
- ImageCombo
- ImageList
- IPAddress
- ListView
- MonthView
- ProgressBar
- Slider
- StatusBar
- TabStrip
- ToolTip
- TreeView
- UpDown

Unicode is supported for all the stated controls.

At design time (IDE) there is only one dependency. (OLEGuids.tlb)
This is a modified version of the original .tlb from the vbaccelerator website.
But for the compiled .exe there are no dependencies, because the .tlb gets then compiled into the executable.

Everything should be self explained, because all functions and properties have a description.

Notes:
- When using the SetParent API, then you should pass .hWndOwner and not .hWnd to it.

List of revisions:

09-May-2013
- Some enhancements to the SubclassProc.
- StatusBar can process WM_DRAWITEM in Design Mode via ASM Subclassing. (Tooglable compile option)
04-May-2013
- MonthView control does not need to subclass the parent form anymore at creation of the control.
- DTPicker control support now bold dates. (But only on Vista/7 or above)
02-May-2013
- Implemented a GETDISPINFO handling on the ImageCombo and TreeView control.
  Therefore if SelImage/SelectedImage is not specified it will copy it from the Image value. (Same behavior now like the original controls)
01-May-2013
- TreeView control is added.
- Some enhancements and bug fixes to the ListView control.
25-Apr-2013
- Some enhancements to the ListView control.
- Improved the WM_SETFOCUS handling on all concerned controls. SetFocus API can now also be passed to .hWnd directly.
  But when using a SetParent API than you still should pass .hWndOwner and not .hWnd to it.
14-Apr-2013
- CallbackKeyDown, FormatString and FormatSize events are added to the DTPicker control to provide Callback Fields.
- Property Page is implemented to the ProgressBar control.
09-Apr-2013
- Fixed a bug with the property bag concerning the date properties of the DTPicker and MonthView control.
- Property Page is implemented to the MonthView control.
08-Apr-2013
- Const DTM_SETFORMATW on the DTPicker control was incorrect, causing no success on the CustomFormat property.
- Included the MouseIcon/MousePointer property to the DTPicker control.
- Property Page is implemented to the DTPicker control.
- ItemBkColor event is added to the ListView.
14-Mar-2013
- ImageCombo control is added.
10-Mar-2013
- 'Tile' view on the ListView does not cause a crash anymore on Windows XP.
- Fixed a issue on the ListView that the SelectedItem property could not be set to Nothing.
08-Mar-2013
- Minor improvements are done.
27-Feb-2013
- Included the 'Tile' view (and some other enhancements) to the ListView control.
23-Feb-2013
- IPAddress control is added.
- Changes to the KeyAscii/KeyCode value on the KeyPress/KeyDown/KeyUp event will be considered now.
- Included the WM_KEYUP message to the TranslateAccelerator handling.
20-Feb-2013
- Fixed a bug with the WM_MOUSEACTIVATE message on the ListView.
14-Feb-2013
- The Tag, Width and Height properties are now also available when setting to a shadow object. ('Set' command)
- Some minor modifications on the property pages of the ImageList control.
- Minor bugfixes on the ListView.
13-Feb-2013
- Complete remake of the ImageList control. (More comfortable and it works now like the orginal ImageList from MS)
- Picture property of the ListView can now hold icons as well.
07-Feb-2013
- PictureAlignment 'Tile' for the ListView is improved on systems with version 6.1 of comctl32.dll.
06-Feb-2013
- Removed the 'Ex' addition to the whole project.
- Fixed the column headers Left property for the ListView.
05-Feb-2013
- The Name and Parent properties are now also available when setting to a shadow object. ('Set' command)
- Added the column headers Left property for the ListView.
04-Feb-2013
- Some enhancements to the ListView control.
03-Feb-2013
- ListView control is added.
- Modified the OLEGuids.tlb and other components.
- Fixed a scale mode issue with the X and Y coordinates of the OLEDragDrop/OLEDragOver events.
- Improved the BuddyControl property of the UpDown control. (Returns now an object at runtime and it is even available on Form_Load)
- Removed the hWndBuddy property of the UpDown control as now the object provides all information.
24-Jan-2013
- Improved the ImageList property of the TabStrip control. (Returns now an object at runtime and it is even available on Form_Load)
- Renamed the ImageIndex property to Image of the tab object to harmonize more the namings with the original control.
- Removed the ImageListHandle property of the TabStrip control as now the object provides all information.
- Property Page is implemented to the Animation control and some modifications are done on it.
- Included the OLEDrag method for each control.
16-Jan-2013
- Included the MouseIcon/MousePointer property to the MonthView control and improved the WM_SETCURSOR handling for all controls.
07-Jan-2013
- Improved the collections of the property classes. (Issue with internal wrong indexing when adding an item before an existing item)
06-Jan-2013
- Fixed a bug in the StartOfWeek property of the MonthView control.
04-Jan-2013
- Set the VB_Creatable property to false for all property classes. (e.g. Panel on StatusBar control)
30-Dec-2012
- Changed the way of subclassing. (From Friend Functions to ISubclass.cls)
- The #Const declarations for subclassing are therefore not needed anymore.
23-Dec-2012
- IDE doesn't crash anymore when you push the End Button. (Togglable function)
- Fixed a leak on the MonthView control concerning the subclassing of the parent.
20-Dec-2012
- Modified again the OLEGuids.tlb and other components.
- VTable subclasses are reduced to the only necessary ones.
19-Dec-2012
- Modified the OLEGuids.tlb and other components.
- The VB Classes HookIOleIPAO, HookIOleControl and HookIOlePPB are not needed anymore.
17-Dec-2012
- Included the OLEDropMode property and the OLE events for each control.
- Included the Placement property to the TabStrip control.
- Included the Enabled, MouseIcon and MousePointer property to the ProgressBar control.
- Included the Click event to the ProgressBar and Slider control.
- Added a StyleChange event to the StatusBar control.
15-Dec-2012
- Property Page is implemented to the Slider control and a bug is fixed of the TickStyle property.
14-Dec-2012
- Fixed a bug on the StatusBar that the last panel RECT (.Right value) gets calculated wrong,
  but only when running Windows XP, using the comctl32 v6 and activated SizeGrip.
11-Dec-2012
- Added the panels ToolTipText property for the StatusBar.
08-Dec-2012
- Improved the calculation of the X and Y params of the MouseMove, MouseDown and MouseUp events for all controls.
04-Dec-2012
- The panels Picture property of the StatusBar control can be set now at design time as well.
01-Dec-2012
- Optimized the property bags for the TabStrip and StatusBar control.
29-Nov-2012
- StatusBar control is added.
21-Nov-2012
- Subclassing conflicts fixed with the UpDown and ToolTip control.
20-Nov-2012
- Simplified the Tag and ToolTipText property for the TabStrip control.
18-Nov-2012
- Unicode support added for all controls.
15-Nov-2012
- The design time properties of the ToolTip control can now also be modified at run time.
- TabMinWidth property added to the TabStrip control.
11-Nov-2012
- First release.

[Hack]

What is the benefit of using these over the existing controls?

Does each control have the same properties? Do they have new properties?

[Krool]

The benefit is that these controls are linked to the comctl32.dll, that means they support the latest API calls, functions, properties and visual styles (themes).

The existing common controls 6.0 from MS are not linked to the comctl32.dll, so they doesn't support the visual styles (themes).
Reason why: The controls of the comct32.dll are compiled directly into the common controls 6.0 from MS, but as of state of a old version of comctl32.dll

Only the common controls 5.0 from MS are linked to the comctl32.dll, but the COM hull is very old and so they have a leak of the latest functions and properties. Also controls like the DTPicker, MonthView or UpDown are not included.

[Jonney]

The benefit is that these controls are linked to the comctl32.dll, that means they support the latest API calls, functions, properties and visual styles (themes).

The existing common controls 6.0 from MS are not linked to the comctl32.dll, so they doesn't support the visual styles (themes).
Reason why: The controls of the comct32.dll are compiled directly into the common controls 6.0 from MS, but as of state of a old version of comctl32.dll

Only the common controls 5.0 from MS are linked to the comctl32.dll, but the COM hull is very old and so they have a leak of the latest functions and properties. Also controls like the DTPicker, MonthView or UpDown are not included.

Can you please change the OLEGuids.tlb to a new name to avoid conflicts with my existing OLEGuids.tlb in system32 folder?

[Bonnie West]

Excellent work!

What is the benefit of using these over the existing controls?

Does each control have the same properties? Do they have new properties?

In addition to what Krool stated, some folks, myself included, prefer that their apps have no dependencies whatsoever.

The controls have most of the necessary (similarly named) properties and methods and many of them have some new ones as well (the VisualStyles property for instance).

Can you please change the OLEGuids.tlb to a new name to avoid conflicts with my existing OLEGuids.tlb in system32 folder?

Open CommonControlsEx.vbp in any text editor and edit this line:

Reference=*\G{5B1EACE0-EDEB-11E1-AFF1-0800200C9A66}#1.0#0#..\..\..\..\WINDOWS\system32\OLEGuids.tlb#OLE Guid and interface definitions

to:

Reference=*\G{5B1EACE0-EDEB-11E1-AFF1-0800200C9A66}#1.0#0#OLEGuids\OLEGuids.tlb#OLE Guid and interface definitions

[Krool]

Can you please change the OLEGuids.tlb to a new name to avoid conflicts with my existing OLEGuids.tlb in system32 folder?

You can just rename the file "OLEGuids.tlb" at your own, for example to "OLEGuids2.tlb"
That is no problem, because the uuid and library name differs from the original. They can co-exist without conflicts.
You just need to re-register it in the IDE. (Project -> References... -> Browse for file)

[Jonney]

You can just rename the file "OLEGuids.tlb" at your own, for example to "OLEGuids2.tlb"
That is no problem, because the uuid and library name differs from the original. They can co-exist without conflicts.
You just need to re-register it in the IDE. (Project -> References... -> Browse for file)

Thanks. I understood.
If you can add Unicode support, then those control can be used on PC with whatever locale setting.
How about others control built by CreateWindowEx such as Listview/Treeview? Listview support more new features such as Grouping now.

[Krool]

Update released.

[Bonnie West]

Thanks for the update!

[Krool]

Update released.

All controls support now Unicode and some other minor improvements are done.

[Jonney]

Update released.

All controls support now Unicode and some other minor improvements are done.

Fairly support Unicode.
But because of nature of MS BUTTON, it doesn't an unicode compatible control.
Never mind, just leave this because it's hard to fully support Unicode for a Command button.

DrawText hDC, StrPtr(Button.Caption), -1, RectText, DT_CALCRECT Or DT_WORDBREAK
Button.Caption can never be held Unicode string, internal conversion has been done before you call DrawTextW.

[Bonnie West]

Button.Caption can never be held Unicode string, internal conversion has been done before you call DrawTextW.

This function will retrieve any button's caption, even if VB displays their Unicode captions as ?????.

Private Declare Function DefWindowProcW Lib "user32.dll" (ByVal hWnd As Long, ByVal uMsg As Long, ByVal wParam As Long, ByVal lParam As Long) As Long

Private Function GetCaption(ByRef oButton As Object) As String
    Const WM_GETTEXT = &HD&, WM_GETTEXTLENGTH = &HE&
    Dim Button_hWnd As Long

    On Error GoTo 1
    Button_hWnd = oButton.hWnd
    GetCaption = Space$(DefWindowProcW(Button_hWnd, WM_GETTEXTLENGTH, 0&, 0&))
    DefWindowProcW Button_hWnd, WM_GETTEXT, Len(GetCaption) + 1&, StrPtr(GetCaption)
1   On Error GoTo 0
End Function

VB's Button controls (CommandButton, CheckBox or OptionButton) can actually contain Unicode captions (via DefWindowProcW + WM_SETTEXT). VB doesn't display them properly though.

[Krool]

Update released.

[Krool]

Update released.

[Krool]

Update released.

[Bonnie West]

Thanks for including the StatusBar control!

[Krool]

Update released.

[Krool]

Update released.

[Krool]

Update released.

[Jonney]

Update released.

Thank you for consistent update.

[gibra]

Good Work!

[robi_thakur]

its really an amazing work,god bless you.Bro can you add listview and treeview with displayable unicode support?
it will great achievment if it possible

[Jonney]

Edited: Remove my Post regarding Balloon tooltips, Win8 has fixed the problem.

[Jonney]

Confirmed it is OS problem. The balloon tooltips works perfect on Win8.

Edited: CommonControlsEx works On Win8.

[Krool]

Update released.

ListView control is added.

Groups and 'Tile' View are for the moment not included.
It can replace 100% the ListView from „MSCOMCTL.OCX". (Exception: ToolTipText of the ListSubItems)
But it has also many properties, methods and events more than the original.

[Jonney]

Update released.

ListView control is added.

Groups and 'Tile' View are for the moment not included.
It can replace 100% the ListView from „MSCOMCTL.OCX". (Exception: ToolTipText of the ListSubItems)
But it has also many properties, methods and events more than the original.

Thank you for additional Listview.
From Vista/Win7,MS added lots of new features into Listview, such as enhanced grouping, Checkbox on Header,etc.
Please consider adding checkbox and Text Edit for subitems.

[Krool]

Please consider adding checkbox and Text Edit for subitems.

The comctl32.dll does not provide the ability to edit the labels of the subitems.

[Krool]

Update released.

ImageList control is completly rewritten. (It is not compatible with the previous version)

It works now like the original ImageList from MS but with some improvements, for example that the Style flag of the ListImages Draw method can be combined with multiples styles. (That was not possible in the original ImageList from MS) or that the Overlay function returns an icon instead of a bitmap or that the BackColor can be turned on or off (UseBackColor property).

[brandoncampbell]

Awesome work! I am by far not knocking the work but asking a question.. Is the tab control text a little too far to the right?

[Krool]

Is the tab control text a little too far to the right?

I noticed that too. I think that is due to the new appearance of Windows 7.

[brandoncampbell]

I think it has something to do with Mnemonics if you don't put the _ before the text it looks fine.

[Niya]

I must say I'm truly impressed. Were I still using VB6, this would have been an incredible source of knowledge. I tended to write alot of my own controls(I still do in VB.Net) and I always want to learn as much as possible about creating them. I thought I had a good handle on it it but one glance at your source code, and even what you described about them being linked to ComCtl32.Dll showed me just how little I actually knew about control authoring in VB6. I tip my hat to you sir.

[Krool]

Update released.

ImageCombo control is added.

The biggest advantage is that you can set the style property. ('DropDownCombo', 'DropDownList' or 'SimpleCombo')
That was not possible on the original ImageCombo control. (It was always as 'DropDownCombo')
Also new is the 'ItemDrag' event, similar to the one used in the ListView control.

[brandoncampbell]

Nice work dude

[Koalf]

Very, very good work. Many thanks to you. I do not like to link to Microsofts Ocx-files (Mscommctl.....). With your controls i don't need that. My exe work so without registrations on every PC. And: i can do more things. I can change the WM_PAINT - message to what i will. I can change the colors, i can add a picture, i can paint the control. I must only change your code a little bit. Awsome.
Thank you very much!!!!!

[Krool]

Update released.

[Krool]

Update released.