home / articles / docking dialogs

Dynamic child window positioning

by Hans Bühler

This article replaces my former article "Dynamic child window positioning" (cdxCDynamicControlsManager).
See the what's new section to find out whether it's worth changing your code.

What's this article about?

=>

The image below shows the docked dialog:

What classes are part of this release?

• cdxCDynamicWnd, cdxCDynamicWndEx
  General base class(es) used to implement dynamic child window repositioning in any CWnd-derived class.

• cdxCDynamicDialog
  A CDialog replacement that allows you to dynamically move your controls.

• cdxCDynamicChildDlg
  The same as a dialog base-class for child window dialogs.

• cdxCDynamicFormView
  A CFormView, now supports the scrollbars, knows its own size perfectly and stuff!

• cdxCDynamicPropSheet, cdxCDynamicPropPage
  The dynamic CPropertySheet / CPropertyPage replacement.

• cdxCDynamicBar, cdxCDynamicBarDlg and cdxCDynamicBarT<>
  A controlbar with an embedded dialog that is dynamically moving its childs.
  The bar itself uses the CSizingControlBar library by Cristi Posea, published at www.datamekanix.com.

What's new in contrast to my former cdxCDynamicControlsMananger + associated classes?

• New and better code :)
  This is why we can not simply replace a cdxCDynamicControlsManager code into a cdxCDynamicWnd code. :(

• Now works with HWNDs and IDs instead of CWnds.
  Therefore you don't need to explicitely create DDX control variables anymore. *

• Supports "dynamic maps" - as known from message map macros.
  These maps map IDs to a resizable control. *

• Now uses ::DeferWindowPos() instead of ::SetWindowPos() to decrease flickering (for all classes). *

• Anti-Flickering system for cdxCDynamicDialog (looks much better!). *

• Supports scrolling in CFormView (and any other class, if you enable it by hand). *

• "Auto-Positioning" feature for dynamic dialogs & property pages. *

• Support for dialogs that are meant to be "child control dialogs" - if often embedd dialogs and this class helps to make your child controls remain in a suitable place :)

• A ControlBar solution.

* ~ Suggested by users of my cdxCDynamicControlsManager :)

However, since I rewrote much of the code of the cdxCDynamicControlsManager, you cannot switch from that class to my new cdxCDynamicWnd without further work to be done; converting a cdxCSizingDialog into a cdxCDynamicDialog would need help by you.

A documentation file is included in the sub-directory codex/doc/.

Any suggestions & bug-reports are welcome.

Download

(the .zip file includes the sources of CSizingControlBar v2.43)

Copyright © 1998-2019 DataMekanix. All rights reserved.