VB IDE like interface [PARTLY RESOLVED]

[TheVader]

Hi, how would I go about creating a VB-like IDE, with a combobox popping up displaying possible code?

I know how to get the caret position in the box, but I need to know the X and Y coordinates so I can give the combobox its correct position. Can anybody help me with this?

[RobDog888]

Here is an example from allapi.net

Private Type POINTAPI
    X As Long
    Y As Long
End Type
Private Type RECT
    Left As Long
    Top As Long
    Right As Long
    Bottom As Long
End Type
Private Declare Function WindowFromPoint Lib "user32" (ByVal xPoint As Long, ByVal yPoint As Long) As Long
Private Declare Function GetCursorPos Lib "user32" (lpPoint As POINTAPI) As Long
Private Declare Function ExtTextOut Lib "gdi32" Alias "ExtTextOutA" (ByVal hdc As Long, ByVal X As Long, ByVal Y As Long, ByVal wOptions As Long, ByVal lpRect As Any, ByVal lpString As String, ByVal nCount As Long, lpDx As Long) As Long
Private Declare Function GetWindowRect Lib "user32" (ByVal hwnd As Long, lpRect As RECT) As Long
Private Declare Function GetTextExtentPoint32 Lib "gdi32" Alias "GetTextExtentPoint32A" (ByVal hdc As Long, ByVal lpsz As String, ByVal cbString As Long, lpSize As POINTAPI) As Long
Private Declare Function GetWindowDC Lib "user32" (ByVal hwnd As Long) As Long
Private Sub Form_MouseUp(Button As Integer, Shift As Integer, X As Single, Y As Single)
    'KPD-Team 1998
    'URL: [url]http://www.allapi.net/[/url]
    'E-Mail: [email][email protected][/email]
    Dim Pt As POINTAPI, mWnd As Long, WR As RECT, nDC As Long
    Dim TextSize As POINTAPI, CX As Long, CY As Long
    'Get the current cursor position
    GetCursorPos Pt
    'Get the window under the cursor
    mWnd = WindowFromPoint(Pt.X, Pt.Y)
    'Get the window's position
    GetWindowRect mWnd, WR
    'Get the window'zs device context
    nDC = GetWindowDC(mWnd)
    'Get the height and width of our text
    GetTextExtentPoint32 nDC, "Hello !", Len("Hello !"), TextSize
    For CX = 1 To WR.Right - WR.Left Step TextSize.X
        For CY = 1 To WR.Bottom - WR.Top Step TextSize.Y
            'Draw the text on the window
            ExtTextOut nDC, CX, CY, 0, ByVal 0&, "Hello !", Len("Hello !"), ByVal 0&
        Next
    Next
End Sub
Private Sub Form_Paint()
    Me.CurrentX = 0
    Me.CurrentY = 0
    Me.Print "Click on this form," + vbCrLf + "Hold the mouse button," + vbCrLf + "drag the mouse over another window," + vbCrLf + "release the mouse button" + vbCrLf + "and see what happens!"
End Sub

[TheVader]

Thanks for the reply. I couldn't really get that GetTextExtentPoint32 code to work properly. It doesn't seem to return usable values, though (the X value increases just by one with every character). However, by setting the ScaleMode of the form to Character, I can simply use the Len method to measure the length. It's not an ideal solution since it only supports 'standard' fonts (Courier New, 10pt), but for now it works.