Building a dialog and keep it totally unvisible during load.

[norbert doerre]

I'd like to make the following small Dialog unvisible on start of the DLL containing it:

'-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
' DIALOG
'-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
sub Watch(tfVisible as long)
	'INPUT:
	'tfVisible = 1: Dialog sichtbar
	'tfVisible = 0: Dialog unsichtbar
	LOCAL hDlg AS LONG
	DIALOG NEW 0, "I B D WinInfo",,, 200, 80,, %WS_EX_TOOLWINDOW, TO hDlg 'Window nicht in Taskbar zeigen
	CONTROL ADD TEXTBOX, hDlg, 40, "", 4, 4, 190, 70, %ES_MULTILINE OR %ES_WANTRETURN OR %WS_VSCROLL, %WS_EX_CLIENTEDGE
	Dialog Show Modeless hDlg Call DlgProc
	'Die Reichweite des Mauscursors auf den MCADD-Frame beschränken.
	'0& anstelle von GetHwndFrame() würde sich auf den gesamten Desktop-Inhalt beziehen.
	if tfVisible = 0 then
	   SetWindowPos hDlg, %HWND_NOTOPMOST, GetHwndFrame(), 0, 0, 0, %SWP_HIDEWINDOW or %SWP_NOSIZE OR %SWP_NOMOVE
	ElseIf tfVisible = 1 Then
	   SetWindowPos hDlg, %HWND_TOPMOST, GetHwndFrame(), 0, 0, 0, %SWP_SHOWWINDOW or %SWP_NOSIZE OR %SWP_NOMOVE
	end if
End Sub

As you can see, the above dialog is startable with option tfVisible.
When the DLL starts the dialog flickers for a tenth of a second and then disappears. But I'd like it to be unvisible at all with tfVisible = 0. How could I achive this even if the dialog is built during the load of the DLL?

[Adam J. Drake]

DIALOG SHOW STATE hDlg, %SW_HIDE
DIALOG SHOW MODELESS Call DlgProc

[norbert doerre]

Hide dialog

Adam, thanks for your hint - and all is running perfectly.

[Michael Mattias]

This may be semantic .. or one of those "it doesn't translate well" things ....but

When the DLL starts ...

DLLs do not "start"

(or "End" for that matter).

How could I achive this even if the dialog is built during the load of the DLL?

When a DLL is loaded to a process space, nothing else is happening except for the execution of whatever you have coded in your entry-point function (LIBMAIN).

MCM

[norbert doerre]

Private comment

Michael, sorry for my bad English. I'm working on it.... But simply try to write Your last comment in German via email to me, because this is not a forum for semantic, and You'll certainly get back my more eloquent answer.

[Edwin Knoppert]

A dll starts and ends in it's libmain()

[Michael Mattias]

Start and end must be a European thing.

(And you should know better, Edwin. DLLs are "loaded" and "unloaded." It's PROCEDURES which "start" and "end."')

Mr. Doerre, we might have made a guess that English may not be your primary language if you would have completed your forum profile to show your location.

When I see someone is from a European country I watch out for translation issues when responding. (Yes, that makes me one of those insensitive culturally-deficient Yanks. Tough.)

MCM

[Cliff Nichols]

Sorry Edwin, technically MCM is correct.
From the help files

LIBMAIN (or its synonym DLLMAIN) is an optional user-defined function called by Windows each time a DLL is loaded into, and unloaded from, memory

Start/Stop could be correct if thinking only in terms of your process (Parent program) that in the scope of it, Start = LOAD and Stop = UnLoad

But this would only be true if your process was the only process to have contact with the dll.

Robert,
Somewhere here is an example that uses SDK to create its Window but be invisible until told to show (unfortunately I have been searching for that sample again now that I need it, so there is no flicker of a Window showing) although I am glad you found a solution for your problem.

By the way, if I ever get back to ole' deutchesland again, I will have to look you up and we can make a run to the "Green Goose"

[Michael Mattias]

> MCM is correct.

I get that a lot.