(VB6) SSTabEx: SSTab replacement. Themed and with new features

[Eduardo-]

Note: this control has been superseded by NewTab control and is no longer updated/maintained.

This control is a direct replacement of the SSTab control.
It fully replaces the SSTab control (TabCtl32.ocx), while adding more features.


Download from GitHub.

Read the help documentation online.

Some enhancements are:

• It supports Windows visual styles or themes
• The background color of the tabs can be changed (property TabBackColor)
• Another Style has been added (along with the two available in the original): it can be also rendered with the TabStrip look alike.
• Several new events and properties available
• More control at design time, for example the controls can be moved from one tab to another (that is available in a property page)
• Since many properties that define the appearance can be customized, the customized values can be saved (from a property page) and restored into another SSTabEx control.
• It fixes the focus to hidden controls issue that the original SSTab suffers when navigating with the tab key.

Themed in Windows 10:


Not themed but TabBackColor changed (and also Style = ssStyleTabStrip):


One note: if you use the Tab property of the control in code, you'll have to change it to TabSel.
I couldn't use Tab as a property name because it is a VB6 reserved keyword.

It should work in any Windows version from Windows 2000.
(Not tested, just tested on XP SP3 and Windows 10).

For documentation, there are two files:

• docs/Readme - Notes.txt, and explains things related to the component development and compiling.
• And docs/tabexctl_reference.html that is the control documentation, from the point of view of using the control. The same information is in a property page.

Read the help documentation online.

Changelog:
2022-06-28 Validation added: TabsPerRow property now doesn't accept 0 as a value.
2022-06-27 Fix in Property Page "General". Some validations were missing and change behavior when a text field gets focused (.
2022-06-26 Fix in CheckContainedControlsConsistency procedure.
2022-06-26 Fixed errors when the control was used in VBA.
2022-06-25 Behavior change: when an OLE element is dragged over an inactive tab, the drop is disabled.
2022-06-25 Fixed: OLEDropMode property was not applying value changed at design time.
2022-06-25 Removed dependency on vba6.dll for the compiled ocx.
2022-06-19 Fixed bug introduced in 2022-08-06 fix
2022-06-12 Fixed issue regarding gaps between tabs when control is themed and noticiable mostly when the backcolor is different to the tab color.
2022-06-08 Improved compatibility with Krool's controls (fixed an issue with .hWnd of the controls).
2021-11-30 Added ContainedControlMove method
2021-11-28 fix in ContainedControlLeft property
2021-11-16 important bug fix in TabVisible property
2021-10-27 bug fix in TabVisible property when no visible tab is left, and after that a tab is made visible.
2021-10-23 improvements regarding disabled state (Enabled = False).
2021-07-02 fixed bug in tab appearance when TabSeparation > 0 and control is themed.
2021-07-02 fixed bug in font when TabOrientation is set to bottom.
2021-06-27 changed constant names in cDlg to avoid conflict with other components.
2021-06-27 fixed bug related to tab border width when VisualStyles = False and Style = ssStyleTabbedDialog.
2021-06-27 fixed bug related to tab background color glitch when VisualStyles = False, Style = ssStyleTabbedDialog, BackColor <> TabBackColor and mouse hovers over a tab being screen DPI = 100%.
2021-05-06 Updated documentation
2021-04-07 Added property AutoTabHeight.
2021-04-07 The automatic tab width when Style is set to ssStyleTabStrip or when the control is themed and Style is ssStyleTabStrip or ssStylePropertyPage has been changed to add a little space between tabs.
2021-04-06 Made some minor corrections to the interface with the help of VBCompareInterface and VBCopyInterface - https://www.vbforums.com/showthread.php?890861
2021-04-06 Changed/reorganized folders and files locations.
2021-04-06 Removed file subclass.cls (GSubclass class), and changed isubclass.cls to cIBSSubclass.cls, mSubclass.bas to mBSSubclass.bas and mPropsDB to mBSPropsDB (These files are all under the 'subclass' folder. Whatch that if you are updating from a previous version in an existing project).
2021-04-06 Added IDE protection for the subclassing code when it runs in source code. It does not cover all and every situation, but most normal situations that can crash the IDE are covered, like when the UserControl goes into zombie state or start compiling with an instance of the control open at design time. This code doesn't get added to the compiled version (it is automatically excluded).
2021-04-02 Changed the ToolBoxBitmap.

[cut, full version in Changelog.txt inside]
2018-02-06: Initial release

Download from GitHub.