Using PeekMessage() Loops in a Dialog Box

• Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit (SDK) for Windows version(s) 3.0 and 3.1

When a modal dialog box is created, Windows uses its own message loop, which is stored in USER. If the application takes responsibility for processing messages [using a PeekMessage() loop], then IsDialogMessage() must be used to pass appropriate messages to the dialog box.

The following code fragment demonstrates the correct technique:

  bFlag = TRUE;

  while ((bFlag) || (PeekMessage(&message, hDlg, 0, 0, PM_REMOVE)))
    {
    if (!IsDialogMessage(hDlg, &message))
      {
      TranslateMessage(&message);
      DispatchMessage(&message);
      }
    }

For additional information on the proper use of PeekMessage() loops, please see the following article(s) in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q67293
   TITLE     : Some CTRL Accelerator Keys Conflict with Edit Controls

   -or-

   ARTICLE-ID: Q108936
   TITLE     : Using a Dialog Box as the Main Window of an Application