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CMenuXP - The Office XP Style Menu

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4.94/5 (114 votes)
13 Jul 2003CPOL2 min read 1.3M   27.9K   242   342
Owner drawn menu with the Office XP visual style

Sample Image - MenuXP.gif

Menus in dialog windows : Sample Image (Menus in Dialog Window)- MenuXP_dlg.gif

Introduction

This article presents an implementation of an owner drawn menu with the Office XP and Visual Studio .NET visual style.

Using the code

To use the CMenuXP class in your projects, you have to add 3 macros in your code:

  1. In the header file of the class that handles the menu (probably the MainFrame):
    #include "Tools/MenuXP.h"    // Before the declaration of the class
    // ...
    
    DECLARE_MENUXP()             // Into the definition of the class
  2. In the source file of the same class:
    IMPLEMENT_MENUXP(className, baseClass);
  3. In the message map of the class:
    BEGIN_MESSAGE_MAP(className, baseClass)
        // ...
        ON_MENUXP_MESSAGES()   // <-- Added line
    END_MESSAGE_MAP()

To make borders flat, I subclass the popup menu window managed by the system. To make it possible, you have to add those 2 calls in your code:

  1. In the InitInstance method of your CWinApp derived class:
    CMenuXP::InitializeHook();
  2. In the ExitInstance method of your CWinApp derived class:
    CMenuXP::UninitializeHook();

To make the menubar flat, you must do this call:

CMenuXP::UpdateMenuBar (pFrameWnd); // pFrameWnd refers to the frame that 
                                    // contains the MenuBar

The best place for this call depends of the frame type:

  • For MDI application, into the OnUpdateFrameMenu method of the child windows.
  • For SDI application, into the LoadFrame method of the main frame.

Finally, don't forget the last call:

CMenuXP::SetXPLookNFeel (pFrameWnd); // refers to the frame that contains 
                                     // the MenuBar

Without this call, menus will appear in a standard mode.

    To draw the menu items, I reused some classes already presented in my article: Office XP look & feel.

    History

    • 02/08/2002 - First release.
    • 01/06/2003 - Adding flat borders and flat menubar.
    • 05/31/2003 - Kris Wojtas has updated the source code to allow MenuXP to draw "radio", "check" state and gradient under bitmaps.
    • 06/02/2003 - Corrections, radio items support (thanks to Kris Wojtas) and new demos (flat controls and dialog based sample). You can get the latest update to this article at www.azsoft.free.fr.
    • 14 Jul 03 - further update by Kris:

      Sample Image

    License

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


    Written By
    Web Developer CSC
    France France
    Jean-Michel LE FOL is a GraphTalk product architect.
    GraphTalk is a set of products which cover the whole scope of the development process. GraphTalk is used by the main insurance compagnies over the world.
    The development team is currently based in France near Paris.

    Comments and Discussions

     
    BugOnDrawItem error Pin
    Rui Frazao10-Sep-12 13:33
    Rui Frazao10-Sep-12 13:33 
    GeneralRe: OnDrawItem error Pin
    wangningyu30-Aug-14 1:03
    wangningyu30-Aug-14 1:03 
    GeneralRe: OnDrawItem error Pin
    wangningyu31-Aug-14 18:18
    wangningyu31-Aug-14 18:18 
    GeneralMy vote of 4 Pin
    Lương Thông Đạt19-Apr-11 17:48
    Lương Thông Đạt19-Apr-11 17:48 
    QuestionHow did it redraw the background of the menu bar? Pin
    lihnux10-Jun-10 15:42
    lihnux10-Jun-10 15:42 
    GeneralMenubar background bug Pin
    sapero_13-Dec-09 11:23
    sapero_13-Dec-09 11:23 
    QuestionWould not see why VS2008 is the menu? Pin
    lee eun sung2-Dec-09 17:49
    lee eun sung2-Dec-09 17:49 
    Generalimages for submenus (i know how) Pin
    Toxa-TLT22-Sep-09 2:41
    Toxa-TLT22-Sep-09 2:41 
    GeneralLisence for this code Pin
    ramanujamkv29-Jun-09 19:06
    ramanujamkv29-Jun-09 19:06 
    GeneralRe: License for this code Pin
    Jean-Michel LE FOL29-Jun-09 22:25
    Jean-Michel LE FOL29-Jun-09 22:25 
    GeneralRe: License for this code Pin
    ramanujamkv30-Jun-09 0:14
    ramanujamkv30-Jun-09 0:14 
    GeneralI'm new player,english is very poor,my skype ID is "liu_zheng82" we are make friend Pin
    mimijiang31-May-09 21:59
    mimijiang31-May-09 21:59 
    GeneralThe system nenu was mess up Pin
    johnxwang15-Oct-08 9:34
    johnxwang15-Oct-08 9:34 
    GeneralRe: The system nenu was mess up Pin
    johnxwang15-Oct-08 9:45
    johnxwang15-Oct-08 9:45 
    QuestionExcellent project. Did anyone try to implement this in a non-mfc app (.c file) Pin
    Sukar16-Jun-08 8:32
    Sukar16-Jun-08 8:32 
    GeneralBig icons Pin
    Nguyen Hoang Quynh2-Mar-08 23:02
    Nguyen Hoang Quynh2-Mar-08 23:02 
    Questionsystem menu is bad in SDI? Pin
    Ajean9-Apr-07 15:58
    Ajean9-Apr-07 15:58 
    Generalhelp i can not make menu item greyed. Pin
    Richard Chan26-Nov-06 6:06
    Richard Chan26-Nov-06 6:06 
    GeneralRe: help i can not make menu item greyed. Pin
    Ogottogottogott13-Dec-06 21:23
    Ogottogottogott13-Dec-06 21:23 
    GeneralIt doesn't work with dialog based programme Pin
    sting_lee5-Jul-06 21:56
    sting_lee5-Jul-06 21:56 
    QuestionChanging Menu Font at run-time ??? Pin
    ana_v1235-Apr-06 21:22
    ana_v1235-Apr-06 21:22 
    QuestionCMenuXP on certain menus Pin
    myst4ever26-Feb-06 13:28
    myst4ever26-Feb-06 13:28 
    AnswerRe: CMenuXP on certain menus Pin
    Parampreet Sidhu2-Mar-07 5:02
    Parampreet Sidhu2-Mar-07 5:02 
    GeneralBug: It doesn't work with right to left style Pin
    kdehairy15-Feb-06 22:42
    kdehairy15-Feb-06 22:42 
    QuestionAnyone can help to solve this? Pin
    Fransiscusherry7-Jan-06 13:01
    Fransiscusherry7-Jan-06 13:01 

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