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First Posted 15 Dec 1999
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Adding a drop arrow to a toolbar button

By | 15 Dec 1999 | Article
Demonstrates how to use the new toolbar styles to add dropdown arrows to toolbar buttons
  • Download demo project - 28 Kb
  • Sample Image - toolbar_droparrow.gif

    If you wanted to add a drop menu like the ones seen in internet explorer, it is pretty straight forward. This approach for will work for both Visual C++ 5 and 6, however you may want to read up on the enhancements to the toolbar class for VC 6.0.

    First off, after your toolbar has been created in CMainFrame::OnCreate(), you will need to make a call to the following

    DWORD dwExStyle = TBSTYLE_EX_DRAWDDARROWS;
    m_wndToolBar.GetToolBarCtrl().SendMessage(TB_SETEXTENDEDSTYLE, 0, (LPARAM)dwExStyle);
    

    This will enable your toolbar to handle drop arrows. The next thing you will need to do, is to actually add the drop arrow to your desired button. This will be done via the SetButtonStyle() method:

    DWORD dwStyle = m_wndToolBar.GetButtonStyle(m_wndToolBar.CommandToIndex(ID_FILE_OPEN));
    dwStyle |= TBSTYLE_DROPDOWN;
    m_wndToolBar.SetButtonStyle(m_wndToolBar.CommandToIndex(ID_FILE_OPEN), dwStyle);
    

    Now, you will need to add a message handler for the drop arrow, as well a menu to the application resources. Assuming you already know how to create a menu, ( if not, click on the resource tab, select the resource name ie: MyApp Resources, then right click. Select insert, then select Menu, then press the New button ) and assuming that the resource id for our menu is IDR_MENU1, add the following code to CMainFrame's message map:

    BEGIN_MESSAGE_MAP(CMainFrame, CMDIFrameWnd)
    	//{{AFX_MSG_MAP(CMainFrame)
    	...
    	ON_NOTIFY(TBN_DROPDOWN, AFX_IDW_TOOLBAR, OnToolbarDropDown)
    	//}}AFX_MSG_MAP
    END_MESSAGE_MAP()
    

    Add the following method to CMainFrame's .cpp file:

    void CMainFrame::OnToolbarDropDown(NMTOOLBAR* pnmtb, LRESULT *plr)
    {
    	CWnd *pWnd;
    	UINT nID;
    
    	// Switch on button command id's.
    	switch (pnmtb->iItem)
    	{
    	case ID_FILE_OPEN:
    		pWnd = &m_wndToolBar;
    		nID  = IDR_MENU1;
    		break;
    	default:
    		return;
    	}
    	
    	// load and display popup menu
    	CMenu menu;
    	menu.LoadMenu(nID);
    	CMenu* pPopup = menu.GetSubMenu(0);
    	ASSERT(pPopup);
    	
    	CRect rc;
    	pWnd->SendMessage(TB_GETRECT, pnmtb->iItem, (LPARAM)&rc);
    	pWnd->ClientToScreen(&rc);
    	
    	pPopup->TrackPopupMenu( TPM_LEFTALIGN | TPM_LEFTBUTTON | TPM_VERTICAL,
    		rc.left, rc.bottom, this, &rc);
    }
    

    Then add the following to CMainFrame's .h file:

    	//{{AFX_MSG(CMainFrame)
    	...
    	afx_msg void OnToolbarDropDown(NMTOOLBAR* pnmh, LRESULT* plRes);
    	//}}AFX_MSG
    

    License

    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

    About the Author

    Kirk Stowell

    CEO
    Codejock Software
    United States United States

    Member



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    QuestionDropdown arrow on the bottom of the button PinmemberBruno Scopigno5:04 28 Mar '12  
    QuestionImplementing windows explorer 'views' type of menu PinmemberSharanyaMahi20:20 5 Dec '11  
    Generaldropdown toolbar instead of menu Pinmembermimosa11:21 22 Jun '10  
    QuestionHow do I add menu item function and update function for multiple and dynamic menu items Pinmemberakira3223:17 26 Oct '08  
    GeneralI used the vs2008 to compile the demo source code Pinmemberakira3216:03 26 Oct '08  
    AnswerRe: I used the vs2008 to compile the demo source code Pinmemberakira3217:21 26 Oct '08  
    GeneralBUG: CToolBar, drop-down, XP theme, and Internet Explorer PinmemberDamir Valiulin19:47 3 May '06  
    GeneralMoving Arrow to Left of button PinmemberHamid Reza Mohammadi5:12 2 Dec '05  
    Questionboth arrows and not? Pinsussnoaa14:04 28 Jul '05  
    Generalreplacing button icons Pinmemberprrem2:52 24 Feb '05  
    GeneralDrop Down Button in Internet Explorer Standard Toolbar PinmemberAtif Goheer9:26 10 Jan '04  
    GeneralRe: Drop Down Button in Internet Explorer Standard Toolbar PinmemberBill SerGio, The Infomercial King4:29 4 Aug '04  
    GeneralRe: Drop Down Button in Internet Explorer Standard Toolbar PinmemberAlexey Petuschak4:18 10 Sep '05  
    GeneralCannot click arrow Pinmemberpinguin75120:01 26 Jul '03  
    GeneralRe: Cannot click arrow PinmemberTux15:26 9 Feb '04  
    GeneralRe: Cannot click arrow Pinmemberrlaley22:34 18 Jan '05  
    GeneralRe: Cannot click arrow PinsussRummey7:04 13 Mar '05  
    GeneralRe: Cannot click arrow PinmemberKirk Stowell4:21 14 Mar '05  
    GeneralRe: Cannot click arrow PinmemberRummey5:35 14 Mar '05  
    GeneralRe: Cannot click arrow PinmemberKirk Stowell10:21 14 Mar '05  
    Is the ON_NOTIFY event getting fired? Do you have the notification handler declaired for the owner of the toolbar?
     
    Kirk Stowell
    Codejock Software
    www.codejock.com
    GeneralRe: Cannot click arrow PinmemberRummey10:55 14 Mar '05  
    GeneralRe: Cannot click arrow PinmemberKirk Stowell4:29 15 Mar '05  
    GeneralRe: Cannot click arrow PinmemberRummey4:53 15 Mar '05  
    GeneralRe: Cannot click arrow PinmemberKirk Stowell5:06 15 Mar '05  
    GeneralRe: Cannot click arrow PinmemberCodeHead8:50 2 Sep '05  

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