CXTabCtrl: an easier tab control for dialogs and forms

• Download demo project - 30 Kb

Introduction

When I first started using Microsoft VC++, I found it boring to put a tab control in a form or in a dialog. I had to create the dialogs, fill in the TCITEM structure for each of my tabs, and finally insert them into the tab control. With CXTabCtrl it is far simpler, as is illustrated below:-

InitDialog (CDialog) or InitialUpdate (CFormView) 

...
m_pMyDlg = new CMyDlg;
m_pMyDlg->Create(CMyDlg::IDD, &m_tabctrl /*CXTabCtrl variable*/);
m_tabctrl.AddTab(m_pMyDlg, "Tab caption", 0 /* image number*/);
...

The OnSelChange that you previously had to implement in the dialog (or form) to show the correct dialog is now in the CXTabCtrl, so you don't have to worry about it. You can even disable a tab so the user cannot see its contents.

m_tabctrl.EnableTab(1 /*index*/, FALSE);

You can also change the color for the following states of each tab:-

Selected tab

Unselected tab

Disabled tab

A mouse over tab

You can select a tab from it's caption, or dynamically change a tab. In addition to this, you can select the previous or next tab with the SelectNextTab method.