How to Give a 3-D Effect to Windows Controls

The information in this article applies to:

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

SUMMARY

It is possible for an application to give edit controls, list boxes, and static text a three-dimensional (3-D) appearance. Each control can be made to appear recessed into the surface of its parent dialog box, or raised above it. This article contains the code necessary to implement this effect.

MORE INFORMATION

There are three steps required to give a particular control a 3-D appearance:

1. Remove the WS_BORDER attribute from the control specification in the dialog template. This will cause the background of the control to "blend" into the background of the dialog.

2. In the WM_PAINT message of the control's parent dialog function, post a user-defined message to the dialog function. Return FALSE for the processing of WM_PAINT so that all other painting will take place. By posting the user-defined message, the Dialog Manager will do its painting first, then the three-dimensional appearance will be added.

3. During the processing of the user defined message, call DrawIndent() for each control. DrawIndent() will draw a highlight color on the right side and bottom of the control, and a shadow color on the top and left sides of the control. This will give the appearance that the control is recessed into the dialog box. To make the control appear raised above the dialog, reverse the highlight and shadow colors in the DrawIndent() function call.

The following code shows how to use DrawIndent():

    ...

    case WM_PAINT:
       PostMessage(hDlg, WM_COMMAND, IDM_REPAINT, 0L);
       return FALSE;

    case WM_COMMAND:
       switch (wParam)
         {
         case IDM_REPAINT:
           DrawIndent(hDlg, IDD_FIELD1);
           DrawIndent(hDlg, IDD_FIELD2);

             ...

           DrawIndent(hDlg, IDD_FIELDN);
           break;

    ...

void DrawIndent(HWND hDlg, int ID)

// Assumptions:
//
// hDlg        is a valid window handle.
// ID          is a valid control ID.
// bMonochrome is a flag that is TRUE for a monochrome system.
//

  RECT rRect;
  HDC  hDC;
  HPEN hOldPen;

  GetClientRect(GetDlgItem(hDlg, ID), (LPRECT)&rRect);

  // By modifying the parameters this way, things are centered a bit
  // better.

  rRect.left   -= 2;
  rRect.bottom -= 1;
  rRect.top    -= 3;

  hDC = GetDC(GetDlgItem(hDlg, ID));

  // Draw the Shadow

  hOldPen = SelectObject(hDC, GetStockObject(BLACK_PEN));

  MoveTo(hDC, rRect.left-1, rRect.bottom+1);
  LineTo(hDC, rRect.left-1, rRect.top-1);
  LineTo(hDC, rRect.right+1, rRect.top-1);

  if (!bMonochrome)
    {
    MoveTo(hDC, rRect.left-2, rRect.bottom+2);
    LineTo(hDC, rRect.left-2, rRect.top-2);
    LineTo(hDC, rRect.right+2, rRect.top-2);

    // On color systems, select the highlight color
    SelectObject(hDC, GetStockObject(WHITE_PEN));
    }

  // Draw the Highlight (still shadow for mono systems)

  MoveTo(hDC, rRect.right+1, rRect.top-1);
  LineTo(hDC, rRect.right+1, rRect.bottom+1);
  LineTo(hDC, rRect.left-1, rRect.bottom+1);

  if (!bMonochrome)
    {
    MoveTo(hDC, rRect.right+2, rRect.top-2);
    LineTo(hDC, rRect.right+2, rRect.bottom+2);
    LineTo(hDC, rRect.left-2, rRect.bottom+2);
    }

  // Housekeep

  SelectObject(hDC, hOldPen);
  ReleaseDC(GetDlgItem(hDlg, ID), hDC);

For additional information, please see the following article(s) in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q97361
   TITLE     : Adding 3-D Controls Using CTL3D.DLL