Changing forms Borderstyle at Runtime...Heres How!

Im changing a forms Borderstyle dynamically in code via an option on a form. Altho i set the Form.Bordertyle to either 0 or 1 the form doesnt keep or remove the border. This only happens if i set this state at designtime. How do i force the screen to take the new borderstyle into effect? Thanks

I do believe that you cannot change the border style in runtime...its a Design time only setting. (Unless you want to start messing with the API's and "paint" a new border. I have seen it done with Buttons / Textboxes....just not forms)

I found out how to do it. As the Borderstyle of a form is a readonly property, you cannot just set it at runtime. You have to use the API to set the 'bits' then redraw the screen using the API gain. Heres how to do it:

Create a new class and paste the following into it:

VB Code:

' Win32 APIs used to toggle border styles.
Private Declare Function GetWindowLong Lib "user32" Alias "GetWindowLongA" _
    (ByVal hWnd As Long, ByVal nIndex As Long) As Long
 
Private Declare Function SetWindowLong Lib "user32" Alias "SetWindowLongA" _
    (ByVal hWnd As Long, ByVal nIndex As Long, ByVal dwNewLong As Long) As Long
    
Private Declare Function SetWindowPos Lib "user32" (ByVal hWnd As Long, _
    ByVal hWndInsertAfter As Long, ByVal x As Long, ByVal y As Long, _
    ByVal cx As Long, ByVal cy As Long, ByVal wFlags As Long) As Long
 
Private Const GWL_STYLE = (-16)
Private Const WS_CAPTION = &HC00000
 
' Force total pRedraw that shows new styles.
Private Const SWP_FRAMECHANGED = &H20
Private Const SWP_NOMOVE = &H2
Private Const SWP_NOZORDER = &H4
Private Const SWP_NOSIZE = &H1
 
Private mhWnd As Long
 
Public Property Let Titlebar(ByVal Value As Boolean)
   ' Set WS_CAPTION On or Off as requested.
   Call fFlipBit(WS_CAPTION, Value)
End Property
 
Public Property Get Titlebar() As Boolean
   ' Return value of WS_CAPTION bit.
   Titlebar = CBool(fStyle And WS_CAPTION)
End Property
 
Public Property Set Client(ByVal obj As Form)
   ' Store reference to client form.
   Set mClient = obj
   ' Cache hWnd as it'll be accessed frequently.
   If mClient Is Nothing Then
      mhWnd = 0
   Else
      mhWnd = mClient.hWnd
   End If
End Property
 
Public Sub pRedraw()
   ' Redraw window with new style.
   Const swpFlags As Long = _
      SWP_FRAMECHANGED Or SWP_NOMOVE Or _
      SWP_NOZORDER Or SWP_NOSIZE
   Call SetWindowPos(mhWnd, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, swpFlags)
End Sub
 
Private Function fStyle(Optional ByVal NewBits As Long = 0) As Long
   '
   ' Set new style bits.
   '
   If NewBits Then
      Call SetWindowLong(mhWnd, GWL_STYLE, NewBits)
   End If
   ' Retrieve current style bits.
   fStyle = GetWindowLong(mhWnd, GWL_STYLE)
End Function
 
Private Function fFlipBit(ByVal Bit As Long, ByVal Value As Boolean) As Boolean
Dim lStyle As Long
   
   ' Retrieve current style bits.
   lStyle = GetWindowLong(mhWnd, GWL_STYLE)
   
   ' Set requested bit On or Off and Redraw.
   If Value Then
      lStyle = lStyle Or Bit
   Else
      lStyle = lStyle And Not Bit
   End If
   Call SetWindowLong(mhWnd, GWL_STYLE, lStyle)
   Call pRedraw
   
   ' Return success code.
   fFlipBit = (lStyle = GetWindowLong(mhWnd, GWL_STYLE))
End Function

Then in your form declaration code where you want to set/unset the border:

VB Code:

Private mclsStyle As clsStyle

Then in the Form_Load event

VB Code:

Set mclsStyle = New clsStyle
    Set mclsStyle.Client = UltiMame

Then to Actually do the change:

VB Code:

mclsStyle.Titlebar = Abs(1) 'Sets the form WITH a border

or

VB Code:

mclsStyle.Titlebar = Abs(0) 'Sets the form WITHOUT a border

For more information, visit www.TheScarms.com as its to their credit this code has been modified from. The original code on this site did a lot more but i managed to condense it down to just the essentials for doing the job

Changing the form border style at runtime has been dealt with in this thread...