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                           Using Static Controls
 
Static controls can be used in dialog windows and client windows. There is
usually very little interaction between an application and the static
control once the control is created. However, an application can change the
state of the static control.
 
Static controls also are associated with a long-word handle which may be set
and queried by an application. By default, icon and bitmap static controls
use this handle to contain a handle to their display object. Applications
can modify this handle by using the SM_SETHANDLE and SM_QUERYHANDLE messages
to change static-control appearance.
 
Static Controls in a Dialog Window
 
Static controls are most commonly used as labels and separators in dialog
windows. As such, they are defined as part of a dialog template in the
application resource file. Once the dialog window is displayed, the static
controls do not interact with the application unless the application changes
their state. Typically, an application might change the text or position of
a static control. These operations are achieved by using the
WinSetWindowText and WinSetWindowPos functions.
 
When defining icon or bitmap static controls in a dialog template, the text
for the control is interpreted as the resource ID of the bitmap or the icon.
There are two ways that the text can be interpreted. If the first byte is
'#', the rest of the text is assumed to be an ASCII decimal representation
of the icon-or bitmap-resource ID. If the first byte of the text is 0xFF,
the second byte is the low byte of the resource ID, and the third byte is
the high byte of the resource ID. The following are two sample Resource
Compiler definitions:
 
CONTROL "#256",ID_ICON1, 140, 20, 0, 0, WC_STATIC,
    SS_ICON | WS_VISIBLE
 
CONTROL 0xFF000100, ID_ICON2, 140, 20, 0, 0, WC_STATIC,
    SS_ICON | WS_VISIBLE
 
Each definition specifies an SS_ICON static control that uses an icon with
resource ID 256 (0x0100). The icon is assumed to be in the current
application resource file.
 
The window handle for a static-control window can be obtained by calling the
WinWindowFromID function using the dialog-window handle and the window ID of
the static control as defined in the dialog template.
 
Static Controls in Client Windows
 
Applications can create static-control windows in non-dialog windows by
calling the WinCreateWindow function with a WC_STATIC window class. The
appearance of the control is defined by the style parameter to the
WinCreateWindow function.
 
If the application creates a control with SS_ICON or SS_BITMAP style, it
must ensure that the resource ID specified by the window text corresponds to
an actual resource in the application resource file or the static control
will not be created.
 
Once created, the static-control window can be moved and sized just like any
other child window. An application can obtain the window handle of the
static control by calling the WinWindowFromID function, supplying the parent
window and the window ID of the static control.
 
Changing the Static-Control Handle
 
The static-window handle contains a handle to an icon or bitmap.
Applications can query and set this handle by using the SM_QUERYHANDLE and
SM_SETHANDLE messages. Setting the handle causes the static item to be
redrawn, so the handle must be a valid icon or bitmap handle.
 
For non-icon and non-bitmap static-control items, the handle is available
for use by the application and has no effect on the appearance of the
control.
 
Default Static-Control Behavior
 
This section describes all the messages specifically handled by the
predefined static-control class.
 
Message               Description
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
WM_PAINT              Draws the static control based on its style
                      attributes.
 
WM_CREATE             Sets the window text for static-text controls. Loads
                      the bitmap or icon resource for the bitmap or icon
                      static controls. Returns TRUE if the resource cannot
                      be loaded.
 
WM_DESTROY            Frees the text for static-text controls. Destroys the
                      bitmap or icon for the bitmap and icon static
                      controls. The icon for a sysicon static control is not
                      destroyed, because it belongs to the system.
 
WM_ADJUSTWINDOWPOS    Adjusts the SWP structure so that the new window size
                      matches the bitmap, icon, or sysicon dimensions
                      associated with the control.
 
WM_QUERYWINDOWPARAMS  Returns the requested window parameters.
 
WM_SETWINDOWPARAMS    Allows the window text to be set for static-text
                      controls only.
 
WM_ENABLE             Invalidates the entire control window, forcing it to
                      be redrawn.
 
WM_QUERYDLGCODE       Returns the predefined constant DLGC_STATIC.
 
WM_MOUSEMOVE          Sets the mouse pointer to the arrow pointer and
                      returns TRUE.
 
WM_SETFOCUS           Sets the focus to the next sibling window that can
                      accept the focus, or if no such sibling exists, it
                      sets the focus to the parent window.
 
SM_SETHANDLE          Sets the handle associated with the static control and
                      invalidates the control window, forcing it to be
                      redrawn.
 
SM_QUERYHANDLE        Returns the handle associated with the static-control
                      window.
 
WM_MATCHMNEMONIC      Returns TRUE if the mnemonic passed in the mp1
                      parameter matches the mnemonic in the control-window
                      text.
 
WM_HITTEST            Returns HT_TRANSPARENT for the following static
                      control styles: SS_GROUPBOX, SS_FGNDRECT,
                      SS_HALFTONERECT, SS_BKGNDRECT, SS_FGNDFRAME,
                      SS_HALFTONEFRAME, SS_BKGNDFRAME. For other styles,
                      returns the WinDefWindowProc function.
 
 
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