How do you access functionality of an unknown control?

Question

4.00/5 (1 vote)

See more:

The class name of the control I'm referring as viewed by spy++ is TBEGUIFileViewer. I can reference to the object by simply using FromHandle(/*Handle provided by spy++*/).....but I can't use CWnd's function SetWindowText(), etc. I've found this code on msdn which is somewhat related (I'm not sure) but seems hanging....This is the code: (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/6fde5b3k(VS.80).aspx[^])

<br />
   // IDC_MSACALCTRL1 is the ID of the Calendar control OCX embedded <br />
   // on this dialog<br />
   CWnd *pWndCal = GetDlgItem(IDC_MSACALCTRL1);<br />
<br />
   // Use the IUnknown of the control<br />
   LPUNKNOWN pUnk = pWndCal->GetControlUnknown();<br />
<br />
   // From there get the IDispatch interface of control<br />
   LPDISPATCH pDisp = NULL;<br />
   pUnk->QueryInterface(IID_IDispatch, (LPVOID*)&pDisp);<br />
<br />
   // use IDispatch method to invoke the control's functionality<br />
<br />
   return TRUE;  // return TRUE unless you set the focus to a control<br />

What am I going do with LPDISPATCH/IDispatch after? And how am I going access the control? Please help.....Thanks

Posted 7-Sep-10 1:13am

this_is_my_alias

Add a Solution

1 solution

Add a Solution

Add your solution here

Treat my content as plain text, not as HTML

Preview 0

…

Existing Members

Sign in to your account

...or Join us

Download, Vote, Comment, Publish.

Your Email
Password
Forgot your password?

Your Email
This email is in use. Do you need your password?
Optional Password

I have read and agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
Please subscribe me to the CodeProject newsletters

When answering a question please:

Read the question carefully.
Understand that English isn't everyone's first language so be lenient of bad spelling and grammar.
If a question is poorly phrased then either ask for clarification, ignore it, or edit the question and fix the problem. Insults are not welcome.
Don't tell someone to read the manual. Chances are they have and don't get it. Provide an answer or move on to the next question.

Let's work to help developers, not make them feel stupid.

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

Aescleal · Answer 1 · 2010-09-07T01:25:00

It's only going to have an IDispatch if it's an ActiveX control - if it's an ordinary control then you're not going to be able to control it through IDispatch.

The problem you've got isn't that easily solved. As you don't know the interface you're going to have to work out what is does. If you feel perverse enough you could start sending messages to the control and see what it does. That's not likely to be that effective if it has any custom messages, commands or notifications. The sheer number of possibilities is likely to be a bit heavy.

Personally I'd try and find the original developer and ask them to describe the control's interface. If you can't then write your own with similar functionality. It's likely to be easier than trying to reverse engineer the control's interface.

Cheers,

Ash