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Adding a status bar to an MFC dialog

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16 May 2002CPOL2 min read 450K   10.1K   128   96
Shows how you can have status bars in your dialog based apps

Introduction

Someone asked in the VC++ forum how they can add a status bar to a dialog and I foolishly replied saying that all they had to do was to have a CStatusBar member in their dialog class and that they should call Create() from the OnInitDialog() handler. Then someone else replied saying that it didn't work and then I tried it out myself and to my horror found that nothing happened. Anyhow I just realized, it's not too complicated a task. I thought I'd write a small article on adding a status bar to a dialog. There is an MSDN sample that does this too, but they derive a class from CStatusBar and do some complicated stuff which is not required for the usual simple things we do with status bars.

Eight simple steps

Step 1

I assume that you have a dialog based MFC application ready for use. Take Resource Symbols from the View menu and add two new symbols, ID_INDICATOR_NISH and ID_INDICATOR_TIME. You can use the default values that VS 6 suggests, but sometimes it might suggest an already used value, in which case you might have to manually change it. I had to anyway. I wonder if this is a known bug.

Step 2

Open your String Table and add the two entries there as well - ID_INDICATOR_NISH and ID_INDICATOR_TIME. And set some default values, whatever you want to use. It doesn't really matter.

Step 3

Add a CStatusBar member to your main dialog class.

CStatusBar m_bar;

Step 4

Open the corresponding cpp file and add the following on top of the file :-

static UINT BASED_CODE indicators[] =
{
    ID_INDICATOR_NISH,
    ID_INDICATOR_TIME
};

Step 5

Now we have to create our status bar. A nice place to do this would be in the OnInitDialog function of our CDialog derived class.

m_bar.Create(this); //We create the status bar

m_bar.SetIndicators(indicators,2); //Set the number of panes 

CRect rect;
GetClientRect(&rect);
//Size the two panes
m_bar.SetPaneInfo(0,ID_INDICATOR_NISH, 
    SBPS_NORMAL,rect.Width()-100);      
m_bar.SetPaneInfo(1,ID_INDICATOR_TIME,SBPS_STRETCH ,0);

//This is where we actually draw it on the screen
RepositionBars(AFX_IDW_CONTROLBAR_FIRST,AFX_IDW_CONTROLBAR_LAST,
    ID_INDICATOR_TIME);

Step 6 - background color

By the end of Step 5, we actually have a status bar on screen. The two panes show the default values we set in our string table. But now say, you want to change the background color. This is wholly optional of course. You can add this line to the OnInitDialog(...)

m_bar.GetStatusBarCtrl().SetBkColor(RGB(180,180,180));

Note that we had to get the underlying status bar control to call the SetBkColor function.

Step 7 - adding the clock

Say, you want the right pane to show the current time. First set a timer. Just add this line to the OnInitDialog(...)

SetTimer(100,1000,NULL);

Now add the following code to the WM_TIMER handler

void CDlgStatusBarDlg::OnTimer(UINT nIDEvent) 
{
    if(nIDEvent==100) 
    {
        CTime t1;
        t1=CTime::GetCurrentTime();
        m_bar.SetPaneText(1,t1.Format("%H:%M:%S"));
    }
    CDialog::OnTimer(nIDEvent);
}

Step 8 - showing X and Y co-ordinates

Say, you want to show the X,Y co-ordinates of the mouse as it moves along your dialog. What you need to do is to override OnMouseMove.

void CDlgStatusBarDlg::OnMouseMove(UINT nFlags, CPoint point) 
{
    CString s;
    s.Format("X=%d Y=%d",point.x,point.y);
    m_bar.SetPaneText(0,s);
    CDialog::OnMouseMove(nFlags, point);
}

License

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


Written By
United States United States
Nish Nishant is a technology enthusiast from Columbus, Ohio. He has over 20 years of software industry experience in various roles including Chief Technology Officer, Senior Solution Architect, Lead Software Architect, Principal Software Engineer, and Engineering/Architecture Team Leader. Nish is a 14-time recipient of the Microsoft Visual C++ MVP Award.

Nish authored C++/CLI in Action for Manning Publications in 2005, and co-authored Extending MFC Applications with the .NET Framework for Addison Wesley in 2003. In addition, he has over 140 published technology articles on CodeProject.com and another 250+ blog articles on his WordPress blog. Nish is experienced in technology leadership, solution architecture, software architecture, cloud development (AWS and Azure), REST services, software engineering best practices, CI/CD, mentoring, and directing all stages of software development.

Nish's Technology Blog : voidnish.wordpress.com

Comments and Discussions

 
GeneralThank You! It worked! Pin
Hai Thai22-Sep-18 4:33
Hai Thai22-Sep-18 4:33 
QuestionSome fix in Visual Studio 2015 Pin
Member 1295110515-Jan-17 23:31
Member 1295110515-Jan-17 23:31 
QuestionButtons OverLapping with status bar Pin
P Uday kishore18-Nov-13 18:38
professionalP Uday kishore18-Nov-13 18:38 
Questionhow to change font color? Pin
luiggivillar9-Jan-12 4:27
luiggivillar9-Jan-12 4:27 
QuestionProblem with SetCapture() Pin
Plamen Petrov29-Dec-11 21:27
professionalPlamen Petrov29-Dec-11 21:27 
GeneralMy vote of 5 Pin
A.Health6-Oct-11 3:06
A.Health6-Oct-11 3:06 
GeneralMy vote of 3 Pin
SharanyaMahi4-Oct-11 20:27
SharanyaMahi4-Oct-11 20:27 
Questionhow to revert the Background color? Pin
sally89983-Aug-11 21:54
sally89983-Aug-11 21:54 
GeneralMy vote of 5 Pin
Bhupendra S. Brahme30-Nov-10 1:44
Bhupendra S. Brahme30-Nov-10 1:44 
GeneralMy vote of 5 Pin
wbankovitch21-Oct-10 10:45
wbankovitch21-Oct-10 10:45 
GeneralMy vote of 5 Pin
JongchanAhn7-Jul-10 16:49
JongchanAhn7-Jul-10 16:49 
GeneralThat's great and easy to do it Pin
JongchanAhn7-Jul-10 16:49
JongchanAhn7-Jul-10 16:49 
GeneralThanks Pin
futurejo19-Jan-10 6:38
futurejo19-Jan-10 6:38 
GeneralMy vote of 2 Pin
j1s2chen116-Dec-09 20:16
j1s2chen116-Dec-09 20:16 
GeneralThanks a lot Pin
hnkulkarni31-May-09 22:58
hnkulkarni31-May-09 22:58 
GeneralThanks Pin
nobihai26-Oct-08 5:21
nobihai26-Oct-08 5:21 
GeneralColoring only one pane Pin
CerpinTaxt19-Oct-08 23:46
CerpinTaxt19-Oct-08 23:46 
GeneralNice Article!! Pin
loverjersey28-Aug-08 2:24
loverjersey28-Aug-08 2:24 
QuestionMFC help needed Pin
abc_nus_student22-Nov-07 23:22
abc_nus_student22-Nov-07 23:22 
QuestionAdjusting size of client area of dialog box. Pin
Tushar Jadhav12-Jun-07 23:31
Tushar Jadhav12-Jun-07 23:31 
AnswerRe: Adjusting size of client area of dialog box. Pin
jeromelan10-Jun-08 3:48
jeromelan10-Jun-08 3:48 
Generali m the trainee,thanks for such a grt info Pin
Priti Jain7-Mar-07 18:38
Priti Jain7-Mar-07 18:38 
GeneralThanks for very clear explanations Pin
Raymond_Gimilio20-Feb-07 3:36
Raymond_Gimilio20-Feb-07 3:36 
GeneralSizing Grip Pin
BlueKat15-Dec-05 12:07
BlueKat15-Dec-05 12:07 
GeneralRe: Sizing Grip Pin
SeanNick17-Aug-06 18:20
SeanNick17-Aug-06 18:20 

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