LB_GETTEXTLEN message

Gets the length of a string in a list box.

Parameters

wParam

The zero-based index of the string.

Windows 95/Windows 98/Windows Millennium Edition (Windows Me) : The wParam parameter is limited to 16-bit values. This means list boxes cannot contain more than 32,767 items. Although the number of items is restricted, the total size in bytes of the items in a list box is limited only by available memory.

lParam

This parameter is not used.

Return value

The return value is the length of the string, in TCHARs, excluding the terminating null character. Under certain conditions, this value may actually be greater than the length of the text. For more information, see the following Remarks section.

If the wParam parameter does not specify a valid index, the return value is LB_ERR.

Remarks

Under certain conditions, the return value is larger than the actual length of the text. This occurs with certain mixtures of ANSI and Unicode, and is due to the operating system allowing for the possible existence of double-byte character set (DBCS) characters within the text. The return value, however, will always be at least as large as the actual length of the text; you can thus always use it to guide buffer allocation. This behavior can occur when an application uses both ANSI functions and common dialogs, which use Unicode.

To obtain the exact length of the text, use the WM_GETTEXT, LB_GETTEXT, or CB_GETLBTEXT messages, or the GetWindowText function.

If the list box has an owner-drawn style, but not the LBS_HASSTRINGS style, the return value is always the size, in bytes, of a DWORD.

Requirements

Requirement	Value
Minimum supported client	Windows Vista [desktop apps only]
Minimum supported server	Windows Server 2003 [desktop apps only]
Header	Winuser.h (include Windows.h)

See also

Reference

CB_GETLBTEXT

LB_GETTEXT

Other Resources

GetWindowText

WM_GETTEXT