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How to: Create a Dialog Box (C++)

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The location and size of a C++ dialog box, and the location and size of controls within it, are measured in dialog units. The values for individual controls and the dialog box appear in the lower right of the Visual Studio status bar when you select them.

Note

If your project doesn't already contain an .rc file, see Creating a New Resource Script File.

How To

The Dialog Editor enables you:

To create a new dialog box

  1. In Resource View, right-click your .rc file and select Add Resource.

  2. In the Add Resource dialog box, select Dialog in the Resource Type list, then choose New.

    If a plus sign (+) appears next to the Dialog resource type, it means that dialog box templates are available. Select the plus sign to expand the list of templates, select a template, and choose New.

    The new dialog box opens in the Dialog Editor.

You can also open existing dialog boxes in the Dialog Box editor for editing.

To create a dialog box that a user can't exit

You can create a runtime dialog box that a user can't exit. This kind of dialog box is useful for logons, and for application or document locks.

  1. In the Properties pane for the dialog box, set the System Menu property to false.

    This setting disables the dialog box system menu and Close button.

  2. In the dialog box form, delete the Cancel and OK buttons.

    At run time, a user can't exit a modal dialog box that has these characteristics.

To enable testing of this kind of dialog box, the test dialog box function detects when Esc is pressed. Esc is also known as the VK_ESCAPE virtual key. No matter how the dialog box is designed to behave at run time, you can end test mode by pressing Esc.

Note

For MFC applications, to create a dialog box that users cannot exit, you must override the default behavior of OnOK and OnCancel because even if you delete the associated buttons, the dialog box can still be dismissed by pressing Enter or Esc.

To specify the location and size of a dialog box

There are properties you can set in the Properties Window to specify where a dialog box will appear onscreen.

  • The Boolean Center property.

    If you set the value to True, the dialog box will always appear in the center of the screen. If you set this property to False, you can then set the XPos and YPos properties.

  • The XPos and YPos properties that are used to explicitly define where onscreen the dialog box will appear.

    These position properties are offset values from the upper left-hand corner of the viewing area, which is defined as {X=0, Y=0}.

  • The Absolute Align property that affects position.

    If True, the coordinates are relative to the screen. If False, the coordinates are relative to the dialog owner's window.

To test a dialog box

When you're designing a dialog box, you can simulate and test its run-time behavior without compiling your program. In this mode, you can:

  • Type text, select from combo-box lists, turn options on or off, and choose commands.

  • Test the tab order.

  • Test the grouping of controls such as radio buttons and check boxes.

  • Test the keyboard shortcuts for controls in the dialog box.

Note

Connections to dialog box code made by using wizards aren't included in the simulation.

When you test a dialog box, it typically displays at a location that's relative to the main program window. If you've set the dialog box Absolute Align property to True, the dialog box displays at a position that's relative to the upper-left corner of the screen.

  1. When the Dialog Editor is the active window, go to menu Format > Test Dialog.

  2. To end the simulation, press Esc or select the Close button in the dialog box you're testing.

Requirements

Win32

See also

Dialog Editor
How to: Manage Dialog Box Controls