by Anonymous (267 Submissions)
Category: Windows API Call/Explanation
Compatability: Visual Basic 5.0
Difficulty: Unknown Difficulty
Originally Published: Mon 26th April 1999
Date Added: Mon 8th February 2021
Rating: 
(1 Votes)
Create Multi-Column Menus in Visual Basic Using the WIN32
API Declarations
cbSize As Long
fMask As Long
fType As Long
fState As Long
wID As Long
hSubMenu As Long
hbmpChecked As Long
hbmpUnchecked As Long
dwItemData As Long
dwTypeData As String
cch As Long
End Type
Private Const MF_MENUBARBREAK = &H20& ' columns with a separator line
Private Const MF_MENUBREAK = &H40& ' columns w/o a separator line
Private Const MF_STRING = &H0&
Private Const MF_HELP = &H4000&
Private Const MFS_DEFAULT = &H1000&
Private Const MIIM_ID = &H2
Private Const MIIM_SUBMENU = &H4
Private Const MIIM_TYPE = &H10
Private Const MIIM_DATA = &H20
Private Declare Function GetMenu Lib "user32" (ByVal hwnd As Long) As Long
Private Declare Function GetMenuItemInfo Lib "user32" Alias "GetMenuItemInfoA" (ByVal hMenu As Long, ByVal un As Long, ByVal B As Boolean, lpMenuItemInfo As MENUITEMINFO) As Long
Private Declare Function SetMenuItemInfo Lib "user32" Alias "SetMenuItemInfoA" (ByVal hMenu As Long, ByVal un As Long, ByVal bool As Boolean, lpcMenuItemInfo As MENUITEMINFO) As Long
Private Declare Function DrawMenuBar Lib "user32" (ByVal hwnd As Long) As Long
Private Declare Function GetSubMenu Lib "user32" (ByVal hMenu As Long, ByVal nPos As Long) As Long
VBcoders
' 2.Add a CommandButton to Form1.
' 3.On the Tools menu, click Menu Editor. Create a menu consisting of at least two top level menus containing at least four submenu items each.
' 4.Add the following code to Form1:
Private Sub Command1_Click()
' Splitting a menu here demonstrates that this can be done dynamically.
Dim mnuItemInfo As MENUITEMINFO, hMenu As Long, hSubMenu As Long
Dim BuffStr As String * 80 ' Define as largest possible menu text.
hMenu = GetMenu(Me.hwnd) ' retrieve menu handle.
BuffStr = Space(80)
With mnuItemInfo ' Initialize the UDT.
.cbSize = Len(mnuItemInfo) ' 44
.dwTypeData = BuffStr & Chr(0)
.fType = MF_STRING
.cch = Len(mnuItemInfo.dwTypeData) ' 80
.fState = MFS_DEFAULT
.fMask = MIIM_ID Or MIIM_DATA Or MIIM_TYPE Or MIIM_SUBMENU
End With
' Use item break point position for the '3' below (zero-based list).
hSubMenu = GetSubMenu(hMenu, 0)
If GetMenuItemInfo(hSubMenu, 2, True, mnuItemInfo) = 0 Then
MsgBox "GetMenuItemInfo failed. Error: " & Err.LastDllError, , "Error"
Else
mnuItemInfo.fType = mnuItemInfo.fType Or MF_MENUBARBREAK
If SetMenuItemInfo(hSubMenu, 2, True, mnuItemInfo) = 0 Then
MsgBox "SetMenuItemInfo failed. Error: " & Err.LastDllError, , "Error"
End If
End If
DrawMenuBar (Me.hwnd) ' Repaint top level Menu.
End Sub
Private Sub Form_Load()
' This works for either an API-created menu or a native VB Menu.
Dim mnuItemInfo As MENUITEMINFO, hMenu As Long, hSubMenu As Long
Dim BuffStr As String * 80 ' Define as largest possible menu text.
hMenu = GetMenu(Me.hwnd) ' Retrieve menu handle.
BuffStr = Space(80)
With mnuItemInfo ' Initialize the UDT
.cbSize = Len(mnuItemInfo) ' 44
.dwTypeData = BuffStr & Chr(0)
.fType = MF_STRING
.cch = Len(mnuItemInfo.dwTypeData) ' 80
.fState = MFS_DEFAULT
.fMask = MIIM_ID Or MIIM_DATA Or MIIM_TYPE Or MIIM_SUBMENU
End With
' Use item break point position for the '3' below (zero-based list).
hSubMenu = GetSubMenu(hMenu, 1)
If GetMenuItemInfo(hSubMenu, 2, True, mnuItemInfo) = 0 Then
MsgBox "GetMenuItemInfo failed. Error: " & Err.LastDllError, , "Error"
Else
mnuItemInfo.fType = mnuItemInfo.fType Or MF_MENUBREAK
If SetMenuItemInfo(hSubMenu, 2, True, mnuItemInfo) = 0 Then
MsgBox "SetMenuItemInfo failed. Error: " & Err.LastDllError, , "Error"
End If
End If
DrawMenuBar (Me.hwnd) ' Repaint top level Menu.
End Sub
