Retrieving Handles to Menus and Submenus

 Last reviewed: November 2, 1995
Article ID: Q67688
The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit (SDK) versions 3.0 and 3.1
  • Microsoft Win32 Application Programming Interface (API) included with: 

        - Microsoft Windows NT versions 3.5 and 3.51
    - Microsoft Windows 95 version 4.0

To change the contents of a menu, you must have its handle. The handle of the menu associated with a given window is available through the GetMenu() function.

To obtain a reference to a particular text item in the menu, use the GetMenuString() function. The definition for this function is 

   GetMenuString(hMenu, wIDItem, lpString, nMaxCount, wFlag)
where 

   hMenu     = The menu handle
   wIDItem   = The ID of the item or the zero-based offset of the
               item within the menu
   lpString  = The buffer that is to receive the text
   nMaxCount = The length of the buffer
   wFlag     = MF_BYCOMMAND or MF_BYPOSITION
If a menu item has a mnemonic, the text will contain an ampersand (&) character preceding the mnemonic character.

To obtain the handle to a submenu of the menu bar, use the GetSubMenu() function. The second parameter, nPos, is the zero-based offset from the beginning of the menu.

Additional reference words: 3.00 3.10 3.50 3.51 4.00 95
KBCategory: kbui
KBSubcategory: UsrMen

THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THE MICROSOFT KNOWLEDGE BASE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. MICROSOFT DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS OR SPECIAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES SO THE FOREGOING LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY.

Last reviewed: November 2, 1995
© 1998 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Terms of Use.