Column header click event in flat listview

Hello

For aesthetic reasons, the listviews in my program are made to look flat, and I had to use custom API calls to do that, because the "flat appearance" property in VB6 does not work.

Code:

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Private Declare Function FindWindowEx Lib "user32" Alias "FindWindowExA" (ByVal hWnd1 As Long, ByVal hWnd2 As Long, ByVal lpsz1 As String, ByVal lpsz2 As String) As Long
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

Public Sub flattenLvHeader(ByRef lv As Object)
  ' hSysHeader = FindWindowEx(lv.hWnd, 0, "SysHeader32", vbNullString) ' For VB5 listviews
  hSysHeader = FindWindowEx(lv.hWnd, 0, "msvb_lib_header", vbNullString) ' For VB6 listviews
  SetWindowLong hSysHeader, GWL_STYLE, GetWindowLong(hSysHeader, GWL_STYLE) And Not HDS_BUTTONS
End Sub

(...)

Call flattenLvHeader(ListView1)

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However, that prevents the event from firing when the user clicks on a listview header, and I need that event to let the user sort the listview by clicking a column header.

Does anyone know how to make a listview look flat so that clicking on the column header still fires an event?

What version of listview you use?

- Microsoft Windows Common Controls 5.0 (SP2)
- Microsoft Windows Common Controls 6.0 (SP6)

Microsoft Windows Common Controls 6.0 (SP6)

See the HDS_FLAT flag

Header Control Styles (Windows)
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/lib...(v=vs.85).aspx

Can't say that I know what to do with that. Replacing HDS_BUTTONS with HDS_FLAT (which I found from one source only that it should be &H200, is that even correct?) makes the listview headers no longer flat.

Ah you need to understand how to set/unset Bits and Masking.

I suspect you just want to Or HDS_FLAT, but definitely try and figure out how to set bits, using VB.

Code:

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SetWindowLong hSysHeader, GWL_STYLE, GetWindowLong(hSysHeader, GWL_STYLE) Or HDS_FLAT

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Thank you, unfortunately that does not make the listview header flat as "And Not HDS_BUTTONS" does.

Code:

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Private Const HDS_FLAT As Long = &H200

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Your project must not be manifested for CC 6.0 ?
honestly I can't even get your FindWindow call to work.

I don't know how a project is manifested for CC 6.0, but "Project > Components > Microsoft Windows Common Controls 6.0 (SP6)" is ticked, and if I try to untick it I get "Can't remove control or reference; in use", and I'm running it in Windows XP using "Windows Classic style", and the VBP file has:

Code:

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Object={831FDD16-0C5C-11D2-A9FC-0000F8754DA1}#2.0#0; mscomctl.ocx

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What else should I check?

the code you posted doesn't work either. *shrugs*

The code I posted works just fine here. It also works in the compiled program when run on Windows XP, 7 and 10.

Uses these constants:

Code:

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Private Const HDS_BUTTONS As Long = &H2
Private Const GWL_STYLE = -16
Private hSysHeader As Long

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Hi OldClock,

Just to start, I always use the VB6 SP6 ListView as well (Microsoft Windows Common Controls 6.0 (SP6), mscomctl.ocx).

It sounds like you're determined to get it working with the ListView headers. But I'll share the way I've long done it. I assume you're using the ListView in "Report" mode.

I also often use the "Flat" mode for its appearance. I'm unclear why you say that doesn't work. It works fine for me. I suppose it does still leave the black single-pixel border around the control, and also the headers still have a 3D appearance, but the list itself is flat.

Here's a picture of how it looks for me:

Attachment 140961

Now, regarding clicking the headers, the ColumnClick event also works just fine. However, I'm not entirely sure why but long ago, I abandoned using the column headers. I always just turn them off. In their place, I use labels correctly placed above the columns. And sometimes, these labels are clickable, allowing me to do certain things to the listview (such as sort it, etc). I might even occasionally popup a context menu when the label is clicked.

Using labels does have a couple of downsides though. For one, you can't resize your column widths, or rearrange them. If you need these features, you'll need to stick with the listview column headers.

I just thought I'd provide information about my experiences with listview.

Regards,
Elroy

Setting appearance to flat does indeed change something, but the effect is incomplete. One must manually change the column headers to look consistent.

Example working project:
https://filebin.net/o48wzeqbmx6oi84s


Screenshot:
https://filebin.net/o48wzeqbmx6oi84s...907_190407.png
Attachment 140963
Listview appearance from the left: 3D, flat, 3D and API-flattened, flat and API-flattened.

Unfortunately, the column header click event does not fire for the really flat listviews - 3 and 4.

It may be possible with subclassing, but I can't figure out what messages and notifications are involved.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by OldClock

Unfortunately, the column header click event does not fire for the really flat listviews - 3 and 4.

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As explained in the Microsoft article Header Control Styles (post #4) about HDS_BUTTONS flag:

Quote:

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Each item in the control looks and behaves like a push button.

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Of course, if you remove the HDS_BUTTONS, the listview will lost this feature, of course ColumnClick event doesn't fire anymore.

Has anyone found a solution for flat and clickable header?

You would be better off starting a new thread on the subject. There's a fair chance that this one won't get all that many views, and it never got to a solution anyways. You'll get more eyes on the question with a new thread.