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Gradient Menus in MFC

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14 May 2000 239.8K   5.7K   64   30
Create Popup menus in MFC with a gradient and text on the left side

Sample Image - Gradient Menus.jpg

Introduction

Here's a bit of eye-candy I whipped up to drop into our product: epAssist.

The program has a system tray icon and a context menu comes up when you click on the icon. One problem with tray icons, is that it can be easy for users to confuse what the menu for your program looks like.

My first solution was to place a disabled menu item with the application name at the top of the menu, but this didn't have the effect I needed. Upon searching my favorite developer site, I found a few menu classes that could act like the Windows Start Menu.

I based my menu off these articles and a few others, making as few changes as required to get the effect I needed. The class presented here is by no means original, but I believe that the way the components are put together produces an original and impressive UI component.

The first and easiest use of this class is to place a context menu on the screen. The sample code below shows how to setup and use the simple interface this menu exposes. There are a few shortcomings. First, the menu does not send Command UI messages for enabling/checking menu items. Secondly, messages are sent to the window that owns the menu. If you look at the sample application, you will notice that the view handles ID_APP_EXIT1 and posts ID_APP_EXIT to the MainFrame. If the view handled ID_APP_EXIT and posted it to the frame, standard MFC command routing would have the view intercepting the message first (again!)

C++
#include "GradientMenu.h"
void CGrMenuTestView::OnContextMenu(CWnd* pWnd, CPoint point) 
{
	// Set up the colours.. Might want these in program options
	COLORREF rgb1(RGB(0, 0, 0));
	COLORREF rgb2(RGB(128, 128, 255));
	COLORREF rgbText(RGB(255, 255, 255));

	// Create a menu, set the width of gradient
	CGradientMenu oMenu(24, TRUE);
	oMenu.LoadMenu(IDR_POPUP_MENU);

	// Select colours and set the title for the 1st menu
	// sub menus will take the name of the item selected in the parent.
	oMenu.SetGradientColors(rgb1, rgb2, rgbText);
	oMenu.SetTitle((CString)"Test");

	// Show the menu!
	oMenu.TrackPopupMenu(0, point.x, point.y, this);

	// Done!
}

That's it! You need to give the root menu a title, but the sub-menus will get their title from their parent.

For the main program menu, I simply faked it out. The main menu has no popups, but handles the WM_COMMAND and puts a popup under the menu item. See the sample for full details.

License

This article has no explicit license attached to it but may contain usage terms in the article text or the download files themselves. If in doubt please contact the author via the discussion board below.

A list of licenses authors might use can be found here.


Written By
Web Developer Golden Crater Corp
Canada Canada
Jim is the President of Golden Crater Corp. (formerly Golden Crater Software) which produces:

Tiny eBook Reader - Read eBooks anywhere, on any web enabled device or phone.

Doberman BMS - Home Automation and Building Management System bridging and enhancing several automation hardware platforms.

Comments and Discussions

 
Generalsystray menu Pin
Tapdonce12-Jul-09 15:40
Tapdonce12-Jul-09 15:40 
QuestionHere is a problem Sir... Pin
rootdial27-Jul-06 23:26
rootdial27-Jul-06 23:26 
Generalmenu Pin
Anonymous14-Mar-04 12:30
Anonymous14-Mar-04 12:30 
QuestionHow to set check on menus Pin
Snillet2k30-Dec-02 7:01
Snillet2k30-Dec-02 7:01 
AnswerRe: How to set check on menus Pin
as_sound_as10-Jan-07 5:37
as_sound_as10-Jan-07 5:37 
Generalnice.. Pin
yary19-Dec-02 2:21
yary19-Dec-02 2:21 
Generalfast right click bug Pin
Martin Madreya24-Oct-02 5:39
sussMartin Madreya24-Oct-02 5:39 
Generalbug report Pin
3-Dec-01 11:54
suss3-Dec-01 11:54 
GeneralWish List Pin
16-Oct-01 19:31
suss16-Oct-01 19:31 
QuestionBitmaps Menus? Pin
Jon Newman11-Oct-01 6:18
Jon Newman11-Oct-01 6:18 
GeneralProblem with Windows XP.... Pin
1-Oct-01 1:32
suss1-Oct-01 1:32 
GeneralRe: Problem with Windows XP.... Pin
Jim Koornneef3-Oct-01 4:03
Jim Koornneef3-Oct-01 4:03 
GeneralRe: Problem with Windows XP.... Pin
Jase Jennings16-Feb-02 11:54
Jase Jennings16-Feb-02 11:54 
GeneralMenu is shown during MOVING Dialog Pin
Hamed19-Sep-01 19:26
Hamed19-Sep-01 19:26 
GeneraloMenu.GetSubMenu(0)->TrackPopupMenu(...) does not work Pin
3-Apr-01 19:37
suss3-Apr-01 19:37 
QuestionNo Colors in SubMenu ? Pin
1-Mar-01 1:21
suss1-Mar-01 1:21 
AnswerRe: No Colors in SubMenu ? Pin
Jim Koornneef1-Mar-01 15:26
Jim Koornneef1-Mar-01 15:26 
GeneralMy wislist item for this cool class... Pin
Jason Troitsky20-Nov-00 3:20
Jason Troitsky20-Nov-00 3:20 
GeneralRetrieving the command ID(s) Pin
Dan Scott8-Sep-00 6:00
Dan Scott8-Sep-00 6:00 
GeneralRe: Retrieving the command ID(s) Pin
Mazhekin7-Sep-04 2:34
Mazhekin7-Sep-04 2:34 
Generalvery very nice !!!, but ... Pin
guy_almo24-Aug-00 5:13
guy_almo24-Aug-00 5:13 
GeneralRe: very very nice !!!, but ... Pin
25-Jun-01 0:26
suss25-Jun-01 0:26 
GeneralGood work Pin
Ken Koornneef9-Aug-00 7:51
sussKen Koornneef9-Aug-00 7:51 
GeneralNot working in VC5 Pin
sten struikenkamp19-Jul-00 5:52
sten struikenkamp19-Jul-00 5:52 
GeneralRe: Not working in VC5 Pin
Jim Koornneef9-Aug-00 2:57
Jim Koornneef9-Aug-00 2:57 

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