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ListView Grouping XP Style

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4.64/5 (56 votes)
27 May 2004CPOL1 min read 368.3K   6.8K   195   99
Group ListView items by any column, XP style.

Sample Image - GroupListView.jpg

Introduction

The controls included with Microsoft’s IDE have always been feature rich. However, Microsoft always seems to leave out as many features as they include. The ListView control is no exception to this rule. This project aims at exposing and wrapping a few cool features. First to note is the ability to group items. In Windows Explorer’s View menu, the “Arrange Icon by” menu has a “Show in Groups” option. This allows the ListView to arrange items logically into groups, generally based on file type. The next feature is the ability to set an image as the background of a ListView, whether tiled or a single image. Your My Music folder demonstrates the concept, with a music note image in the lower right hand corner. This project extends the standard ListView with the help of the Windows API to give a more feature rich control.

Code

All the dirty work happens in the ListviewAPI class. Don’t be intimidated if you’ve never used any Windows API. The code simply wraps the SendMessage API using a handful of overrides. The rest is just constants required by the API (documentation available on MSDN).

I’ll spare a long explanation. Download the test project and see for yourself. I included a bitmap file (Note.bmp) to use for setting the background image. You’ll notice, there is extra padding at the bottom of the bitmap. This is because setting the image yOffsetPercent to 100 causes the image to drop below the bottom of the ListView. However, setting the offset to 99 or less causes strange positioning when resizing the window.

History

  • May 25, 2004 - Support for bolded group headers

License

This article, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)


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Comments and Discussions

 
QuestionIn fact, what I'm really concerned about is how to enable the "Tiles" view Pin
Member 121873364-Dec-15 21:31
Member 121873364-Dec-15 21:31 
QuestionLVS_ICON mode Pin
Plamen Petrov16-May-12 3:43
professionalPlamen Petrov16-May-12 3:43 
GeneralMy vote of 4 Pin
David Crow9-Dec-10 9:39
David Crow9-Dec-10 9:39 
GeneralXPListview groupings doesn't show... Pin
nardz.slasher22-Jul-07 15:38
nardz.slasher22-Jul-07 15:38 
GeneralRe: XPListview groupings doesn't show... Pin
TylerBrinks23-Jul-07 5:43
TylerBrinks23-Jul-07 5:43 
GeneralIterating thru items Pin
michaeldjackson29-Jan-07 11:26
michaeldjackson29-Jan-07 11:26 
QuestionDon't see anything? Pin
Aloys Akkerman11-Aug-06 0:52
Aloys Akkerman11-Aug-06 0:52 
AnswerRe: Don't see anything? Pin
Aloys Akkerman13-Aug-06 11:26
Aloys Akkerman13-Aug-06 11:26 
AnswerRe: Don't see anything? Pin
Moshe Taieb23-Oct-06 21:59
Moshe Taieb23-Oct-06 21:59 
GeneralGrouping Does not work in win2000 Pin
ahaudi3-Aug-06 22:04
ahaudi3-Aug-06 22:04 
GeneralRe: Grouping Does not work in win2000 Pin
TylerBrinks6-Aug-06 8:40
TylerBrinks6-Aug-06 8:40 
QuestionSource code use Pin
dai yuan20-Jul-06 22:42
dai yuan20-Jul-06 22:42 
AnswerRe: Source code use Pin
TylerBrinks22-Jul-06 7:15
TylerBrinks22-Jul-06 7:15 
GeneralRe: Source code use Pin
dai yuan23-Jul-06 15:20
dai yuan23-Jul-06 15:20 
GeneralRe: Source code use Pin
Blue(Shanghai)27-Mar-07 18:26
Blue(Shanghai)27-Mar-07 18:26 
GeneralFound some problem Pin
Punprom Kasemsant2-Jun-06 3:13
Punprom Kasemsant2-Jun-06 3:13 
Generalimprovement emptyAutoGroupText for empty cells Pin
Josema23-Mar-06 14:04
Josema23-Mar-06 14:04 
QuestionHow can I change the Color of the Collumns Headers Pin
dvadim23-Mar-06 4:46
dvadim23-Mar-06 4:46 
AnswerRe: How can I change the Color of the Collumns Headers Pin
TylerBrinks6-Aug-06 8:39
TylerBrinks6-Aug-06 8:39 
Generalall event do not execute after a MessageBox Show Pin
byshome19-Mar-06 21:58
byshome19-Mar-06 21:58 
GeneralSelectedIndex Pin
mrabie16-Mar-06 17:37
mrabie16-Mar-06 17:37 
GeneralRe: SelectedIndex Pin
mrabie16-Mar-06 18:43
mrabie16-Mar-06 18:43 
Please ignor my question.Sorry for this post i got mix up between listview and listbox
AnswerRe: SelectedIndex Pin
Silvestre Gl17-Jul-07 7:22
Silvestre Gl17-Jul-07 7:22 
QuestionRe: SelectedIndex Pin
Silvestre Gl17-Jul-07 7:28
Silvestre Gl17-Jul-07 7:28 
GeneralRe: SelectedIndex Pin
Member 37080494-Dec-09 10:48
Member 37080494-Dec-09 10:48 

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