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Dynamic submenus

Anneke Sicherer-Roetman

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20 Mar 2000

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Some handy functions for adding and deleting submenus and menuitems in runtime

Sample Image - DynMenu.gif

Here are some short handy functions for adding and deleting submenus and menu items in runtime.

To add a menu with some items in the file menu at a specified index, use:

C++

MenuItemData data[] ={
  ID_COMMAND_1, "First Item",
  ID_COMMAND_2, "Second Item",
  0, NULL
};
CMenu *pMenu = AddSubMenu(pMainFrm, file_menu_index, sub_menu_index, "Dynamic Menu", data);

To append an item to the menu later on, use:

C++

AddSubMenuItem(pMenu, ID_COMMAND_3, "Third Item");

To remove a submenu again, use:

C++

RemoveSubMenu(pMainFrm, file_menu_index, sub_menu_index);

To remove only one item, use:

C++

RemoveSubMenuItem(pMenu, ID_COMMAND_1);

That's all. Enjoy!

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Written By

Anneke Sicherer-Roetman

Web Developer

Netherlands

This member has not yet provided a Biography. Assume it's interesting and varied, and probably something to do with programming.

Comments and Discussions

Hi all.

I already know the solution, though I'm getting quite a lot of mails how did I solve this problem.

Window's main menu has items, which are submenus, and submenus has items
which are usually final items, or (somtimes) further submenus. Usual menu looks like this:

menu=
submenu1 submenu2 submenu3 ....
item11 item21 item31
item12 item22 ...
... ...
etc.

But the menus are stored dynamically, means: menu has only pointers to
each submenu, and when You call GetSubmenu(GetMainMenu(MainWindow,...));
it returns You the pointer to that submenu. But it is stored in some other
way (I've forgotten how and don't understand why), so when You set this
item, it seams to be changed (no error code). But it loads every time
dynamically - from the previous definition (From the resource file or menu
created firs time) and draws as You created it for the first time.

It is running on the main menu correctly, because it does not
reload from the resource. The main menu remains same all the time.

So the solution is:

when submenu1 has defined constatnt MI_ITEM1, submenu2 MI_ITEM2, etc:

//In windows API:
switch (msg)
case WM_COMMAND :
switch ( LOWORD(wParam) ) {
case ( MI_ITEM1 ) :
//Dynamically create submenu
PopupMenu = CreateMenu(...);
AppendMenu(PopupMenu, "Label 11", ..., CMD_ITEM11);
...

// show submenu:
TrackPopupMenuEx(PopupMenu, TPM_LEFTALIGN |
TPM_LEFTBUTTON, actualpos.x, actualpos.y, hWnd, NULL);

return TRUE;

switch (CMD_ITEM11) : ActionItem11();

// Using MFC:

CWhatEver::OnSubmenu1Click ( CWnd *pWnd, CPoint actualpos)
{
...
//Dynamically create submenu
PopupMenu = CreateMenu(...);
AppendMenu(PopupMenu, "Label 11", ..., CMD_ITEM11);
...

// show submenu:
TrackPopupMenuEx(PopupMenu, TPM_LEFTALIGN |
TPM_LEFTBUTTON, actualpos.x, actualpos.y, hWnd, NULL);

...
}

CWhatEver::OnItem11Click ( CWnd *pWnd, CPoint actualpos)
//means, when You click CMD_ITEM1
{
...
ActionItem11();
...
}

I hope it was understandable Smile | :)

Smile | :)

.

Email me for further questions.

Greetings

Martin Vrbovsky.

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