CreateDialogIndirect

Article
06/30/2006

This function creates a modeless dialog box from a dialog box template in memory.

HWND CreateDialogIndirect( 
HINSTANCE hInstance, 
LPCDLGTEMPLATE lpTemplate, 
HWND hWndParent, 
DLGPROC lpDialogFunc);

Parameters

hInstance
[in] Handle to the module that creates the dialog box.
lpTemplate
[in] Long pointer to a global memory object containing a template that CreateDialogIndirect uses to create the dialog box. A dialog box template consists of a header that describes the dialog box, followed by one or more additional blocks of data that describe each of the controls in the dialog box. The template can use either the standard format or the extended format.

In a standard template, the header is a DLGTEMPLATE structure followed by additional variable-length arrays. The data for each control consists of a DLGITEMTEMPLATE structure followed by additional variable-length arrays.

In an extended dialog box template, the header uses the DLGTEMPLATEEX format and the control definitions use the DLGITEMTEMPLATEEX format.

After CreateDialogIndirect returns, you can free the template, which is only used to get the dialog box started.
hWndParent
[in] Handle to the window that owns the dialog box.
lpDialogFunc
[in] Long pointer to the dialog box procedure. For more information about the dialog box procedure, see DialogProc.

Return Values

The window handle to the dialog box indicates success. NULL indicates failure. To get extended error information, call GetLastError.

Remarks

The CreateDialogIndirect macro uses the CreateWindowEx function to create the dialog box. CreateDialogIndirect then sends a WM_INITDIALOG message to the dialog box procedure. The function displays the dialog box if the template specifies the WS_VISIBLE style. Finally, CreateDialogIndirect returns the window handle to the dialog box.

After CreateDialogIndirect returns, you can use the ShowWindow function to display the dialog box (if it is not already visible). To destroy the dialog box, use the DestroyWindow function.

In a standard dialog box template, the DLGTEMPLATE structure and each of the DLGITEMTEMPLATE structures must be aligned on DWORD boundaries. The creation data array that follows a DLGITEMTEMPLATE structure must also be aligned on a DWORD boundary. All of the other variable-length arrays in the template must be aligned on WORD boundaries.

In an extended dialog box template, the DLGTEMPLATEEX header and each of the DLGITEMTEMPLATEEX control definitions must be aligned on DWORD boundaries. The creation data array, if any, that follows a DLGITEMTEMPLATEEX structure must also be aligned on a DWORD boundary. All of the other variable-length arrays in the template must be aligned on WORD boundaries.

When you create a dialog box by calling CreateDialogIndirect, the dialog box may not receive messages because an internal structure is not aligned on DWORD boundaries. To get around this problem, call the GetClassInfo function on the class for the system's dialog box, and examine the value of the cbWndExtra parameter of the WNDCLASS structure that GetClassInfo retrieves.

All character strings in the dialog box template, such as titles for the dialog box and buttons, must be Unicode strings.

Windows CE does not support all styles in the DLGTEMPLATE structure. This structure is in the template identified by the lpTemplate parameter*.*

Requirements

Runs on	Versions	Defined in	Include	Link to
Windows CE OS	1.0 and later	Winuser.h		Dlgmgr.lib

Note This API is part of the complete Windows CE OS package as provided by Microsoft. The functionality of a particular platform is determined by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and some devices may not support this API.

Last updated on Tuesday, July 13, 2004

Share via

CreateDialogIndirect

Additional resources