How to disable/enable menu items when using CMFCMenuBar in Visual Studio 2008 Feature Pack

Hi Blade_Bao,

This stuff with ID_WINDOW_NEW was just an example how to use UPDATE_COMMAND_UI. :)

My hope was that you will use this example and implement your own UPDATE_COMMAND_UI handlers for your needs. But if you need an example with:

press [File]->[open], then [edit]->[cut] & [edit]->[copy] will be disabled

you will get such an example. :)

By default the VS IDE wizard will generate you a project where the File/New and File/Open commands are handled by the parent of your application class (in your case by CWinAppEx).
So lets assume that your application class is CTestApp (this is an example name, you have to change this name with the name of your application class). You have to find the:

// Standard file based document commands
ON_COMMAND(ID_FILE_NEW, &CWinAppEx::OnFileNew)
ON_COMMAND(ID_FILE_OPEN, &CWinAppEx::OnFileOpen)

lines in the message map of your application class, and replace this lines with:

// Standard file based document commands
ON_COMMAND(ID_FILE_NEW, &CWinAppEx::OnFileNew)
ON_COMMAND(ID_FILE_OPEN, &CTestApp::OnFileOpen)

After that add the BOOL m_bEnabled; member to your application class and init this member as TRUE in the constructor.

Add the afx_msg void OnFileOpen(); in you application class (int he header file) and provide implementation for this handler. The implementation could be something like:

void CTestApp::OnFileOpen()
{
	m_bEnabled = FALSE;
	CWinAppEx::OnFileOpen();
}

Now you can add the UPDATE_COMMAND_UI handlers for Copy and Cut to the message map of your application class:

ON_UPDATE_COMMAND_UI(ID_EDIT_COPY, &CTestApp::OnUpdateEditCopy)
ON_UPDATE_COMMAND_UI(ID_EDIT_CUT, &CTestApp::OnUpdateEditCut)

In you application class header add:

afx_msg void OnUpdateEditCopy(CCmdUI *pCmdUI);
afx_msg void OnUpdateEditCut(CCmdUI *pCmdUI);

And provide implementations for this handlers:

void CTestApp::OnUpdateEditCopy(CCmdUI *pCmdUI)
{
	pCmdUI->Enable(m_bEnabled);
}

void CTestApp::OnUpdateEditCut(CCmdUI *pCmdUI)
{
	pCmdUI->Enable(m_bEnabled);
}

And now, after clicking the File/Open you will notice that your Copy and Cut menu items will be disabled. Also you should know that in the above scenario there is no mechanism to enable this menu items once they are disabled.

You can generate the UPDATE_COMMAND_UI handlers by using your IDE. Please investigate the examples that I provided for you and try to solve your problem by using them. :)

Regards,
Nuri Ismail

To Nuri Ismail:

But my programe is based on SDI, so only one window will be created. Using ID_WINDOW_NEW can not solve my problem.

What I want to do is to press one menu item then diable some of others.

eg:
press [File]->[open], then [edit]->[cut] & [edit]->[copy] will be disabled

So can you help me with that?

Thank you so much!

Hi Nuri Ismail:

What you said really helps me a lot. Thanks so much for your help. :)

Cheers!

Blade Bao