HeaderToolbar

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• Download MDI demo project - 76 Kb
• Download source - 5 Kb

Introduction

When I wanted a quick and nice header for my SDI project I could not find any, so I made my own. Some of the code is for beginners. It is not made for learning, but just for saving some time. There are some comments on the code, but almost all of it should be crystal clear, even for beginners. The header supports different colors on text, text shadows, and background, change of font size and type, change of placement of the text in the header. It does also have a gradient effect on the background. In the new update I've implemented support for adding pictures in the back of the text. I've also included a MDI project which include a CView class that with the same toolbar. Please see history for other changes done.

Using the code

The CHeaderToolbar is inherit its functions from CToolBar, and it is assumed as regular toolbar like the default "new, open, save"-toolbar in SDI/MDI projects.

When you create a toolbar it is really important that you call the SetDrawRect(Rect) function. The creation process for a default header toolbar is like this:

    CRect Size;

    Size.SetRect(0,0,0,30);

    if (!m_headerdefault.CreateEx(this, TBSTYLE_TRANSPARENT , 
      WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE | CBRS_TOP, Size))
    {
        TRACE0("Failed to create header\n");
    }

    //The rect is transparent, until you set the drawrect...

    m_headerdefault.SetDrawRect(Size);

The Size rect is only used to set the height on creation. If the creation is successful you will get a header with default colors. To manipulate the other settings you can use these functions:

    //Background

    void SetDrawRect(CRect Rect); 
     //Required, or else the toolbar is transparent

    void SetGradient(BOOL Activate); //TRUE OR FALSE

    void SetGradientStartColor(COLORREF GradientStart); 
     //This also sets the default color when gradient is off

    void SetGradientEndColor(COLORREF GradientEnd); //End gradient color


    //Border

    void SetRemoveBorder(BOOL OnOff);
    BOOL GetRemoveBorder();

    //Text

    void SetWindowText(CString InputText); //Outputtext on screen

    void GetWindowText(CString &OutputText); //Returns current text

    void SetFont(CString FontName); //Set the font name (as text)

    void SetFontSize(int NewSize); //Set the point-size

    void SetTextCol(COLORREF Col); //Set the text color

    void SetTextShadowCol(COLORREF Col); //Sets the color of the shadow

    void SetPlaceMent(int Place); 
     //DT_LEFT, DT_CENTER and DT_RIGHT is available 

     //options. (MSDN: CDC -> DrawText())

Each time you use the different functions to change layout, the header refreshes. If you want to change more options and stop the redrawing use the SetRedraw(FALSE) to the toolbar, and then SetRedraw() to enable redrawing again.

Border fix and picture support

In this version I've got a great solution for getting rid of the border around each toolbar. I want to say thanks to Christian Wieninger at codeguru.com for telling me. As default the border is drawn, to remove it you can use SetRemoveBorder(TRUE). Here is an example of how it looks like:

At the left the border is drawn, at the right it is gone. At the bottom there is a picture included. For adding a picture check out these functions:

    //Picture loading

    void LoadBackgroundPicture(CString Path); 
     //Load the picture from any locations at your harddrive

    void SetStrech(BOOL OnOff); //Stretch to fit on/off

    void SetPicturePlaceMent(int Place); 
     //Placement of the picture (DT_LEFT, DT_CENTER and DT_RIGHT)

    void SetVAlign(BOOL OnOff); 
     //Vertical align picture to always fit on/off

    BOOL GetStrech(); //Returns the status of strech.

Toolbars in CView

When I made the MDI example I got a request on how to implement a toolbar in a CView window. In the example I've added the HeaderToolbar to each of the MDI views and on the MainFrm.

History

• v1.1 - Update: Added picture support, border fix and optimized the redraw function (thanks barto at codeproject.com). All these updates removed the known issues header (nice!)
• v1.0 - First release

Todo

• Multi line - Sometimes you maybe need to show more info
• Text scrolling - A nice textscroller if you need to show more than one line
• Progress bar - That way you don't need the status bar at the bottom.