Adding a drop arrow to a toolbar button

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

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Kirk Stowell

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Codejock Software

United States

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Re: Cannot click arrow

Kirk Stowell

10:21 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
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Re: Cannot click arrow

Rummey

10:55 14 Mar '05

This is the relevant code:

This is in my class:

BEGIN_MESSAGE_MAP(CKBToolBarCtrl, CToolBarCtrl)

//{{AFX_MSG_MAP(CKBToolBarCtrl, CToolBarCtrl)
ON_WM_SIZE()
ON_WM_KEYDOWN()
//ON_CONTROL_REFLECT(0, OnCommand)
ON_NOTIFY(TBN_DROPDOWN, IDR_IETOOLBAR , OnHandleMenu)
//}}AFX_MSG_MAP
END_MESSAGE_MAP()

This is in my .h file

afx_msg void OnHandleMenu(NMHDR *pNMHDR, LRESULT* pResult);

As you can see, I have IDR_IETOOLBAR in the middle. I have tried all kinds of constants and nothing works.

In the function, OnHandleMenu, the first line is ASSERT(0);. My intention is for that to alert me when the function gets called so I know the event is being captured. That has never happened. So my conclusion is that the event is not being captured correctly.

Thank you!

Mike

Re: Cannot click arrow

Kirk Stowell

4:29 15 Mar '05

Hi Mike,

If you are handling the message in an owner window such as CMainFrame then you would use ON_NOTIFY because the toolbar sends the TBN_DROPDOWN message to the owner window to "notify" the owner of the event that occured. If you are handling the message in a derived class then you would need to use ON_NOTIFY_REFLECT instead of ON_NOTIFY. If you want to use a derived class then I would suggest using CToolBar instead of CToolBarCtrl.

Here is an example of how you would implement this.

ToolBarEx.h:

// ToolBarEx.h : header file
//
#if !defined(__TOOLBAREX_H__)
#define __TOOLBAREX_H__
 
#if _MSC_VER > 1000
#pragma once
#endif // _MSC_VER > 1000

#include <afxtempl.h>
 
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// CToolBarEx window

class CToolBarEx : public CToolBar
{
public:
    CToolBarEx();
    virtual ~CToolBarEx();
 
public:
    //{{AFX_VIRTUAL(CToolBarEx)
    //}}AFX_VIRTUAL
    void SetDropArrow(UINT nCmdID, UINT nMenuID);
 
protected:
    virtual void ShowPopupMenu(UINT nCmdID);
    
    //{{AFX_MSG(CToolBarEx)
    afx_msg void OnTBDropDown(NMTOOLBAR* pNMTB, LRESULT *pResult);
    //}}AFX_MSG

    DECLARE_MESSAGE_MAP()
 
    CMap<UINT, UINT, UINT, UINT> m_mapCmd2Mnu;
};
 
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

//{{AFX_INSERT_LOCATION}}
// Microsoft Visual C++ will insert additional declarations immediately before the previous line.

#endif // !defined(__TOOLBAREX_H__)

ToolBar.cpp:

// ToolBarEx.cpp : implementation file
//

#include "stdafx.h"
#include "Resource.h"
#include "ToolBarEx.h"
 
#ifdef _DEBUG
#define new DEBUG_NEW
#undef THIS_FILE
static char THIS_FILE[] = __FILE__;
#endif
 
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// CToolBarEx

CToolBarEx::CToolBarEx()
{
}
 
CToolBarEx::~CToolBarEx()
{
}
 
BEGIN_MESSAGE_MAP(CToolBarEx, CToolBar)
    //{{AFX_MSG_MAP(CToolBarEx)
    ON_NOTIFY_REFLECT(TBN_DROPDOWN, OnTBDropDown)
    //}}AFX_MSG_MAP
END_MESSAGE_MAP()
 
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// CToolBarEx message handlers

void CToolBarEx::ShowPopupMenu(UINT nCmdID)
{
    UINT nMenuID;
    if (!m_mapCmd2Mnu.Lookup( nCmdID, nMenuID ))
        return;
 
    CMenu menu;
    if ( menu.LoadMenu( nMenuID ))
    {
        CMenu* pPopup = menu.GetSubMenu( 0 );
        ASSERT( pPopup );
 
        CRect rc;
        SendMessage( TB_GETRECT, nCmdID, ( LPARAM )&rc );
        ClientToScreen( &rc );
 
        pPopup->TrackPopupMenu( TPM_LEFTALIGN | TPM_LEFTBUTTON | TPM_VERTICAL,
            rc.left, rc.bottom, this, &rc );
    }
}
 
void CToolBarEx::OnTBDropDown(NMTOOLBAR* pNMTB, LRESULT *pResult)
{
    ShowPopupMenu( pNMTB->iItem );
    *pResult = 0;
}
 
void CToolBarEx::SetDropArrow(UINT nCmdID, UINT nMenuID) 
{
    int iItem = CommandToIndex( nCmdID );
    if (iItem != -1)
    {
        GetToolBarCtrl( ).SendMessage( TB_SETEXTENDEDSTYLE, 0,
            ( LPARAM )TBSTYLE_EX_DRAWDDARROWS );
        
        SetButtonStyle( iItem, 
            GetButtonStyle( iItem ) | TBSTYLE_DROPDOWN );
 
        m_mapCmd2Mnu.SetAt(nCmdID, nMenuID);
    }
}

Now in your CMainFrame class all you need to do is call SetDropArrow for as many command + menu combinations you wish to add, for example:

m_wndToolBar.SetDropArrow( ID_FILE_NEW,  IDR_MENU1 );
m_wndToolBar.SetDropArrow( ID_FILE_OPEN, IDR_MENU2 );

Let me know if this helps.

Kirk Stowell
Codejock Software
www.codejock.com

Re: Cannot click arrow

Rummey

4:53 15 Mar '05

Kirk, Thank you so much! That post was very enlightening! I have my drop down working, and I learned more about how to manage my code in my project. Again, thank you so much for your time! Mike
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Re: Cannot click arrow

Kirk Stowell

5:06 15 Mar '05

You are quite welcome, glad I could help. Kirk Stowell Codejock Software www.codejock.com
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Re: Cannot click arrow

CodeHead

8:50 2 Sep '05

Thanks for the help with this Kirk. One additional question. I have an Update CCmdUI handler for each item in my popup, since I want certain items checked. It looks like the handler isn't called unti I actually click on an item, rather before the menu is displayed. I tried adding the handler to my mainframe class, but that didn't get called at all. Any ideas? TIA Eric
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Re: Cannot click arrow

Kirk Stowell

10:49 2 Sep '05

Hi Eric,

I just tried this using the sample and it seems to work ok for me. I changed IDR_MENU1 to have 4 menu items "Item One", "Item Two", "Item Three" and "Item Four". I then added command handlers to CMainFrame. The command handlers _have_to_ be added to the owner of the popup menu, in this case CMainFrame.

In MainFrm.h add:



enum EnumItem { item1, item2, item3, item4 };

 

class CMainFrame : public CMDIFrameWnd

{

    snip...

 

protected:  // control bar embedded members

    CStatusBar  m_wndStatusBar;

    CToolBar    m_wndToolBar;

    EnumItem m_item;

 

    snip...

 

    //{{AFX_MSG(CMainFrame)

    afx_msg int OnCreate(LPCREATESTRUCT lpCreateStruct);

    afx_msg void OnOntoolbardroparrowItemone();

    afx_msg void OnUpdateOntoolbardroparrowItemone(CCmdUI* pCmdUI);

    afx_msg void OnOntoolbardroparrowItemtwo();

    afx_msg void OnUpdateOntoolbardroparrowItemtwo(CCmdUI* pCmdUI);

    afx_msg void OnOntoolbardroparrowItemthree();

    afx_msg void OnUpdateOntoolbardroparrowItemthree(CCmdUI* pCmdUI);

    afx_msg void OnOntoolbardroparrowItemfour();

    afx_msg void OnUpdateOntoolbardroparrowItemfour(CCmdUI* pCmdUI);

    //}}AFX_MSG

 

    snip...

 

};

In MainFrm.cpp add:



    snip...

 

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

// CMainFrame construction/destruction

 

CMainFrame::CMainFrame()

{

    // TODO: add member initialization code here

    m_item = item2;

}

 

    snip...

 

BEGIN_MESSAGE_MAP(CMainFrame, CMDIFrameWnd)

    //{{AFX_MSG_MAP(CMainFrame)

    ON_WM_CREATE()

    ON_COMMAND(ID_ONTOOLBARDROPARROW_ITEMONE, OnOntoolbardroparrowItemone)

    ON_UPDATE_COMMAND_UI(ID_ONTOOLBARDROPARROW_ITEMONE, OnUpdateOntoolbardroparrowItemone)

    ON_COMMAND(ID_ONTOOLBARDROPARROW_ITEMTWO, OnOntoolbardroparrowItemtwo)

    ON_UPDATE_COMMAND_UI(ID_ONTOOLBARDROPARROW_ITEMTWO, OnUpdateOntoolbardroparrowItemtwo)

    ON_COMMAND(ID_ONTOOLBARDROPARROW_ITEMTHREE, OnOntoolbardroparrowItemthree)

    ON_UPDATE_COMMAND_UI(ID_ONTOOLBARDROPARROW_ITEMTHREE, OnUpdateOntoolbardroparrowItemthree)

    ON_NOTIFY(TBN_DROPDOWN, AFX_IDW_TOOLBAR, OnToolbarDropDown)

    ON_COMMAND(ID_ONTOOLBARDROPARROW_ITEMFOUR, OnOntoolbardroparrowItemfour)

    ON_UPDATE_COMMAND_UI(ID_ONTOOLBARDROPARROW_ITEMFOUR, OnUpdateOntoolbardroparrowItemfour)

    //}}AFX_MSG_MAP

END_MESSAGE_MAP()

 

    snip...

 

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

// CMainFrame message handlers

 

void CMainFrame::OnOntoolbardroparrowItemone() {

    m_item = item1;

}

void CMainFrame::OnUpdateOntoolbardroparrowItemone(CCmdUI* pCmdUI) {

    pCmdUI->SetCheck(m_item == item1);

}

void CMainFrame::OnOntoolbardroparrowItemtwo() {

    m_item = item2;

}

void CMainFrame::OnUpdateOntoolbardroparrowItemtwo(CCmdUI* pCmdUI) {

    pCmdUI->SetCheck(m_item == item2);

}

void CMainFrame::OnOntoolbardroparrowItemthree() {

    m_item = item3;

}

void CMainFrame::OnUpdateOntoolbardroparrowItemthree(CCmdUI* pCmdUI) {

    pCmdUI->SetCheck(m_item == item3);

}

void CMainFrame::OnOntoolbardroparrowItemfour() {

    m_item = item4;

}

void CMainFrame::OnUpdateOntoolbardroparrowItemfour(CCmdUI* pCmdUI) {

    pCmdUI->SetCheck(m_item == item4);

}

You will also need to add the 4 menu items to IDR_MENU1 but that should be all you need to do.

Cheers,

Kirk Stowell
Codejock Software
www.codejock.com

-- modified at 16:50 Friday 2nd September, 2005

Re: Cannot click arrow

CodeHead

2:52 6 Sep '05

Thanks for the quick reply Kirk!
It does seem to work fine on the sample, but for some reason in my application, the update handler is called only AFTER I click on the menu item.
I have
ON_UPDATE_COMMAND_UI(IDM_PLAN_VIEW_SLATS, OnUpdatePlanViewSlats)
ON_COMMAND(IDM_PLAN_VIEW_SLATS, OnPlanViewSlats)
in my message map for my CMainFrame class. OnPlanViewSlats never gets called at all, when I click on the menu item. It's almost as if the mapping of the command handler is going to the update handler. I'll let you know what I find out.
Thanks again,
Eric

-- modified at 8:54 Tuesday 6th September, 2005

How can I do it in a docking toolbar?

PaulaPaziani

6:42 25 Jul '03

Doesn´t work in a docking toolbar, so how can I add a WM_NOTIFY, if my frame doens´t have this option?
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How to do it in C#?

Carl Mercier

11:18 23 Feb '03

Hi, Does anyone know how to do this in C# for a button that is on a form (not in a toolbar)? Thanks!
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Good Job

Old Timer

2:57 8 Jan '03

Made the modifications needed for Visual C++ .NET and it worked perfect. Been trying to implement this for awhile with no success. Thanks for the article Everybody gotta be somebody
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VC++.NET Problem

Anonymous

13:28 12 Aug '02

When trying to use this code under Visual C++ .NET, I get the error: f:\Program Development\NET Working Development\NTPDevStd\MainFrm.cpp(28): error C2440: 'static_cast' : cannot convert from 'void (__thiscall CMainFrame::* )(NMTOOLBARA ,LRESULT )' to 'void (__thiscall CCmdTarget::* )(NMHDR ,LRESULT )' Could anyone please help me here?
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Re: VC++.NET Problem

Kirk Stowell

4:44 13 Aug '02

The problem is the prototype for OnToolbarDropDown is incorrect for .NET, change NMTOOLBAR to NMHDR in CMainFrame for example:

mainfrm.h:

afx_msg void OnToolbarDropDown(NMHDR* pNMHDR, LRESULT *pResult);

mainfrm.cpp:

void CMainFrame::OnToolbarDropDown(NMHDR* pNMHDR, LRESULT *pResult)
{
	NMTOOLBAR* pNMTBar = (NMTOOLBAR*)pNMHDR;
 
	CWnd *pWnd = NULL;
	UINT nID = 0;
 
	// Switch on button command id's.
	switch (pNMTBar->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, pNMTBar->iItem, (LPARAM)&rc);
	pWnd->ClientToScreen(&rc);
	
	pPopup->TrackPopupMenu( TPM_LEFTALIGN | TPM_LEFTBUTTON | TPM_VERTICAL,
		rc.left, rc.bottom, this, &rc);
 
	*pResult = 0;
}

Hope this helps...

Best regards,
Kirk Stowell

Looking for great GUI Tools?
http://www.codejock.com/

Re: VC++.NET Problem

haoshenghan

0:05 1 May '04

Thank you very much.
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Re: VC++.NET Problem

Bausch

23:17 23 May '06

You have to declare and then cast the pointer to NMTOOLBAR* void CMainFrame::OnDropDown(NMHDR* pnmtb, LRESULT plr) { NMTOOLBAR value = (NMTOOLBAR*) pnmtb; .... .... }
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Re: VC++.NET Problem

Ani

18:51 4 Jul '06

change line:
afx_msg void OnToolbarDropDown(NMTOOLBAR* pnmh, LRESULT* plRes);
to
afx_msg void OnToolbarDropDown(NMHDR* pnmhdr, LRESULT* plRes);

and changed the function :
void CMainFrame::OnToolbarDropDown(NMTOOLBAR* pnmhdr, LRESULT *plr)
{
...
}
to
void CMainFrame::OnToolbarDropDown(NMHDR* pnmhdr, LRESULT *plr)
{
//insert the line
NMTOOLBAR* pnmtb = (NMTOOLBAR*)pnmhdr;

...
}

it's working.

or removing line:
//ON_NOTIFY(TBN_DROPDOWN, AFX_IDW_TOOLBAR, OnToolbarDropDown)
and override OnNotify(...)

BOOL CMainFrame::OnNotify(WPARAM wParam, LPARAM lParam, LRESULT* pResult)
{
// TODO: 在此添加专用代码和/或调用基类
if( wParam == AFX_IDW_TOOLBAR )
{
NMTOOLBAR* pnmtb = (NMTOOLBAR*)lParam;
if( pnmtb->hdr.code == TBN_DROPDOWN )
{
OnToolbarDropDown( pnmtb,pResult );
}

}

return CFrameWnd::OnNotify(wParam, lParam, pResult);
}
it's working too.

Visual C++

Re: VC++.NET Problem

karthikeyan nithiyanandavelu

19:49 1 Jan '07

I am also getting the same problem...
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Re: VC++.NET Problem

dangero

17:04 19 Jun '08

I had the same problem. Here's how you fix it: Change your toolbar declaration to be like this: void CMainFrame::OnToolbarDropDown(NMHDR * pnmh, LRESULT plr) Then on the first line on the OnToolbarDropDown, cast it back... NMTOOLBAR pnmtb = (NMTOOLBAR*)pnmh; You'll also have to update the definition in the header file, but it seems to work.
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Absolutely brilliant

DanPetitt

10:08 9 Aug '02

Well done, just followed your steps and got a nice little drop-down. Brilliant. Easy to read articles like this are exactly why I love CodeProject!
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Redo/Undo Dropdown Window

Anonymous

5:13 20 Jun '02

In Visual Studio, clicking the dropdown buttons for the redo/undo will bring up a window which allows you to redo/undo multiple steps. Does anyone know how to implement this functionality? Thanks! Raymond
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A very little addition

Morozov Alexey

13:56 19 Feb '02

Better you should use your IDR_MAIN_FRAME's submenus but not separate menu resource.
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Text Menus

swinefeaster

12:29 28 Oct '01

This is great, but using a drop down text menus defeats the whole purpose of the drop arrow. What would be more useful is how to add a drop down toolbar which would show more buttons vertically. cheers, swine ==================================== Check out Aephid Photokeeper, the POWERFUL digital photo album solution at http://www.aephid.com
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Doing this in a CDialog window

Jeremy Davis

5:36 20 Mar '00

The ON_NOTIFY message map won't work in a CDialog window so.... Use classwizard to override WM_NOTIFY, and generate OnNotify(). Then in OnNotify add... switch (((LPNMHDR)lParam)->code) { case TBN_DROPDOWN: etc. etc. } For more info see "Using Drop-down Buttons in a Toolbar Control" in MSDN
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Trouble with doing this in a CDialog

Jeremy Davis

3:29 21 Feb '00

When I try to compile this when place in a CDialog, the ON_NOTIFY bit brings up an error saying something like... Can't convert from CMyDialogClass to CCmdTarget. So the CDialog has to be a CmdTarget? Any idea how this could be done
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Bug in VC6 MFC with dropdown arrows in toolbars

Martin Speiser

3:55 21 Jan '00

If you implement a button with a dropdown array with the MFC implementation of VC6, be sure to read the article Q190501 "BUG: Resizing CToolbar with Dropdown Arrow Buttons Freezes Apps" in the MS Knowledge Base
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