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Menu Sidebar Made Easy

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3.08/5 (20 votes)
1 Apr 2005CPOL1 min read 109.8K   2.1K   27   25
A menu class with sidebar and color support

Sample Image - SidebarMenu.jpg

Introduction

This is one of the simplest implementations of a custom drawn popup menu with a gradient sidebar text and other color options. The class named CSidebarMenu can be used just like an ordinary CMenu object. One important thing is that when appending menu items, the MF_OWNERDRAW flag should be mentioned.

Functions

C++
void SetSideBarText(LPCSTR text);
void SetSideBarTextColor(COLORREF color);
void SetSideBarColor(COLORREF start, COLORREF end);
void SetMenuBkgColor(COLORREF color);
void SetHiLitColor(COLORREF color);
void SetMenuTextColor(COLORREF color);
void SetTextHiLitColor(COLORREF color);

The purpose of the above functions is very clear from the function names themselves. The function "SetSideBarColor" takes two colors - one for the starting color of the gradient and the other for the ending color of the gradient. You don't have to use all of the above functions. There is one default implementation so you can use this class just like a CMenu class.

Example

Step 1

Declare a CSideBarMenu object and a menu handler function in your dialog's header file, such as:

C++
class CDemoDlg : public CDialog
{

public:
   ......

protected:
BOOL 
OnInitDialog();
void OnRButtonDown( UINT nFlags, CPoint point );
void MenuHandler(UINT id);
   ......

DECLARE_MESSAGE_MAP()

private:

  CSideBarMenu mnuSideBar;
  ......
}

Step 2

In the implementation function, create the menu, i.e.:

C++
BOOL CDemoDlg::OnInitDialog()
{
 //Creating the menu
 mnuSideBar.CreatePopupMenu();
 mnuSideBar.AppendMenu(MF_STRING|MF_OWNERDRAW,10,"Item 1");
 mnuSideBar.AppendMenu(MF_SEPARATOR|MF_OWNERDRAW,0,"");
 mnuSideBar.AppendMenu(MF_STRING|MF_OWNERDRAW,11,"Item 2");
 mnuSideBar.AppendMenu(MF_SEPARATOR|MF_OWNERDRAW,0,"");
 mnuSideBar.AppendMenu(MF_STRING|MF_OWNERDRAW,12,"Item 3");
 return 1;
}

Step 3

Give the message maps for handling right click mouse event and the menu events:

C++
BEGIN_MESSAGE_MAP(CDemoDlg,CDialog)
ON_WM_RBUTTONDOWN()
ON_COMMAND_RANGE(10,12,MenuHandler)
......
END_MESSAGE_MAP()

Step 4

Implement the mouse handler and the menu selection handler as below:

C++
void CDemoDlg::OnRButtonDown(UINT nFlags, CPoint point)
{
 ClientToScreen(&point);
 mnuSideBar.TrackPopupMenu(TPM_LEFTALIGN, point.x, point.y, this,NULL);
 .....
}

void CDemoDlg::MenuHandler(UINT id)
{
 switch(id)
 {
  case 10:
   MessageBox("Item 1","SideBarMenu Demo");
   break;

  case 11:
   MessageBox("Item 2","SideBarMenu Demo");
   break;

  case 12:
   MessageBox("Item 3","SideBarMenu Demo");
   break;
 }
}

That's it. Enjoy using and modifying the class. All comments are welcome. Have fun with it!

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
Shooting for the Moon.

Comments and Discussions

 
QuestionHow to make it work with Win32? Pin
Kumar Sundaram9-Aug-07 18:42
Kumar Sundaram9-Aug-07 18:42 
AnswerRe: How to make it work with Win32? Pin
Nisamudheen26-Nov-07 15:17
Nisamudheen26-Nov-07 15:17 
QuestionAny idea as to how to support theme support Pin
Vikrant for VC++18-Mar-07 12:07
Vikrant for VC++18-Mar-07 12:07 
GeneralCan't compile! Pin
thompsons8-Dec-05 17:44
thompsons8-Dec-05 17:44 
GeneralRe: Can't compile! Pin
Nisamudheen9-Dec-05 17:15
Nisamudheen9-Dec-05 17:15 
GeneralNice Job Rated a 5 Pin
rkwalker4-Apr-05 15:13
rkwalker4-Apr-05 15:13 
GeneralLooks Great!!! Pin
ThatsAlok1-Apr-05 0:56
ThatsAlok1-Apr-05 0:56 
GeneralGood work, one doubt Pin
Anash P Oommen29-Jan-05 4:27
Anash P Oommen29-Jan-05 4:27 
GeneralRe: Good work, one doubt Pin
Nisamudheen2-Mar-05 23:55
Nisamudheen2-Mar-05 23:55 
GeneralOne doubt Pin
neelimakrishna12-Dec-04 23:50
neelimakrishna12-Dec-04 23:50 
GeneralRe: One doubt Pin
Nisamudheen14-Dec-04 0:23
Nisamudheen14-Dec-04 0:23 
GeneralWorks well, but.... Pin
Doug Knudson25-Oct-04 4:46
Doug Knudson25-Oct-04 4:46 
GeneralRe: Works well, but.... Pin
Nisamudheen25-Oct-04 23:19
Nisamudheen25-Oct-04 23:19 
GeneralNothing, but an empty dialog. Pin
WREY25-Oct-04 3:00
WREY25-Oct-04 3:00 
GeneralRe: Nothing, but an empty dialog. Pin
Doug Knudson25-Oct-04 4:32
Doug Knudson25-Oct-04 4:32 
GeneralRe: Nothing, but an empty dialog. Pin
WREY25-Oct-04 11:46
WREY25-Oct-04 11:46 
GeneralRe: Nothing, but an empty dialog. Pin
Nisamudheen25-Oct-04 23:26
Nisamudheen25-Oct-04 23:26 
Dear William
It is unlikely that the demo didn't work. Tell me which OS you are using. Even though my example was not that descriptive, I have updated it. For these kind of things, I repeat there is no need of AppWizard support.

Thanks
Mohd Nisamudheen
Smile | :)


The key is available to those who wish but turning the key with respect to the requirement is the ability
GeneralRe: Nothing, but an empty dialog. Pin
WREY26-Oct-04 12:05
WREY26-Oct-04 12:05 
GeneralRe: Nothing, but an empty dialog. Pin
Nisamudheen26-Oct-04 19:24
Nisamudheen26-Oct-04 19:24 
GeneralRe: Nothing, but an empty dialog. Pin
WREY27-Oct-04 10:35
WREY27-Oct-04 10:35 
GeneralRe: Nothing, but an empty dialog. Pin
Nisamudheen27-Oct-04 18:33
Nisamudheen27-Oct-04 18:33 

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