Using colors in CEdit and CStatic

• Download source files with demo project - 16 Kb

Introduction

I created these two classes to make changing the color of your Edit Box text and your Static text easy. I didn't need all the overhead of a CRichEditCtrl , but I did need to change the color of my text as well as the background color of the box. CStatic didn't have an easy way of changing the color of your text either.

These classes are derived from CEdit and CStatic.

How to Use

Include the files ColorEdit.cpp, ColorEdit.h and Color.h in your project if your just working with Edit Boxes. If you want to incorporate colored static text also you would add the files ColorStatic.cpp, ColorStatic.h.

In your dialogs header file add :

#include "ColorEdit.h"
#include "ColorStatic.h" //only if using colored static text.

public:
	CColorEdit m_ebCtl;
	CColorStatic m_stText; //only if using colored static text.

There are two ways you can associate your control id's with the classes. From now on I will assume you are using both classes.

In your dialogs .cpp file add :

void YourDlg::DoDataExchange(CDataExchange* pDX)
{
	CDialog::DoDataExchange(pDX);
	//{{AFX_DATA_MAP(CYourDlg)
	
	//}}AFX_DATA_MAP
	DDX_Control(pDX, IDC_ST_TEXT, m_stText);
	DDX_Control(pDX, IDC_EB_CTL, m_ebCtl);
}

or

BOOL CYourDlg::OnInitDialog()
{	
    // TODO: Add extra initialization here
    m_ebCtl.SubclassDlgItem(IDC_EB_CTL,this);
    m_stText.SubclassDlgItem(IDC_ST_TEXT,this);
}

Now that this is finished it is time to use the class. There are three functions available for Edit Boxes and two for Static Text.

They are as follows:

There are three functions available Currently:
SetBkColor(COLORREF crColor) // Works for both classes
SetTextColor(COLORREF crColor) // Works for both classes
SetReadOnly(BOOL flag = TRUE) //This function is for CColorEdit only.

In the file Color.h is the following code:

// Color.h
// Colorref's to use with your Programs

#define RED        RGB(127,  0,  0)
#define GREEN      RGB(  0,127,  0)
#define BLUE       RGB(  0,  0,127)
#define LIGHTRED   RGB(255,  0,  0)
#define LIGHTGREEN RGB(  0,255,  0)
#define LIGHTBLUE  RGB(  0,  0,255)
#define BLACK      RGB(  0,  0,  0)
#define WHITE      RGB(255,255,255)
#define GRAY       RGB(192,192,192)

These are just a few I picked out but add as many colors as you need.

Here is how easy it is to use:

    m_ebCtl.SetTextColor(BLUE); //Changes the Edit Box text to Blue
    m_ebCtl.SetBkColor(WHITE);  //By default your background color is the
                                //same as your system color(color of dialog)
    m_ebCtl.SetReadOnly();      //This makes it so nobody can edit the text.
                                //If you disable the box it does not let you
                                //change colors.
    m_stText.SetTextColor(RED); //Changes the Static Text to Red
    m_stText.SetBkColor(GREEN); //You probably will not use it, but it's here.

I hope someone out there finds this useful :)

This article has no explicit license attached to it but may contain usage terms in the article text or the download files themselves. If in doubt please contact the author via the discussion board below.

A list of licenses authors might use can be found here