COptionSheet: A replacement for CPropertySheet





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COptionSheet with a CSMLStatic page

COptionSheet displaying a page from a group

Environment: VC6 SP5, Win9x, WinNT, Win2000, WinXP

Introduction:

COptionSheet and COptionPage are prime examples of something simple that
takes on a mind of it’s own. I had originally started this as an extension
to the CPropertySheet and CPropertyPage classes but quickly abandoned using
the common control due to how problematic it was to extend it’s functionality.
For some reason, cosmic forces guided me to implement a complete set of stand
alone classes containing the functionality of CPropertySheet and CPropertyPage.

Every effort was made to provide as much compatibility with both CPropertySheet
and CPropertyPage in order to allow changing existing implementations over with
little to now modifications. Included with the source distribution is a help file
containing all of the method and attribute information needed to get started. Even
though some documentation is included, as long as you are familiar with using
property sheets, you should have no problem.

Features:

The COptionSheet collection includes several enhancements over the standard
Property Sheet common control. Those features are listed here:

  • Completely independant of the Windows property sheet common control.
  • Three modes of operations:
    • Options mode using with an abstract interface to a child control for
      displaying a list of all pages.

    • Standard wizard mode similar to that of the property sheet common
      control.

    • Extended wizard mode which extends the property page to the edge
      of the option sheet window.
  • Supports page grouping In non-wizard mode.
  • Includes a sample COptionListBox control (derived from CListBox) allowing
    immediate use of the option sheet class.

  • Includes the COptionPageStaticText class for quickly creating option pages
    which display only information or text. Supports either plain text or
    text formatted with Small Markup Language. (This class uses my CSMLStatic
    class which I recently submitted. Source for CSMLStatic is included in
    this source archive for COptionSheet).

  • Includes documentation.

Using COptionSheet:

Using the COptionSheet is very similar to using a CPropertSheet object with
only a few exceptions. If you are want to use groups, you will need to add
them priort to adding any option pages. You will also need to add some type
of child list control if you are not running in wizard mode (the included
COptionListBox class is for just this purpose although you are free to
create your own).

The following code

// Declare a sheet, group, and some pages
COptionSheet        optionSheet(IDS_DEMOAPP);
COptionListBox      listBox;
COptionPageStaticText myGroup(IDS_INTRO, IDR_INTRODOC);
CProgCtrlPage       myPage1;
CSliderCtrlPage     myPage2;
CSpinCtrlPage       myPage3;

// Set the child list control to use
optionSheet.SetListControl(&listBox);

// Check to use wizard mode.
if(TRUE == useWizardMode) {
   optionSheet.SetWizardMode();
}

// Add in the group
optionSheet.AddGroup(&myGroup);

// Add in the pages
optionSheet.AddPage(&myPage1, &myGroup);
optionSheet.AddPage(&myPage2, &myGroup);
optionSheet.AddPage(&myPage3, &myGroup);

// Run the modal loop
optionSheet.DoModal();

Here are a few things you should keep in mind:

  • If you are converting a CPropertySheet to use COptionSheet, the flag options
    are different. Make sure that you change them to their corresponsing COptionSheet
    values or things may not work right.

  • If you are using wizard mode, and you add a group, keep in mind that the
    groups pages WILL be displayed and that both group pages and normal pages
    will be displayed in the order they were added.

  • You MUST set a child list control before calling DoModal() or an assertion
    will be thrown as COptionSheet does not create a default control for the
    page list (in non-wizard mode).

  • The abstraction layer for child list controls was created so that ANY control
    that can be used for display a list of pages can be created. The supplied
    example (COptionListBox) is derived from a standard CListBox control and
    includes several enhancements. You have the option of using a Tree control,
    Icon list control, or any CWnd derived control you wish to create.

  • COptionSheet WORKS for my purposes – this does not mean that there
    are not any bugs or operational errors hidden somewhere in the code. Let
    me know if you find any and I try to fix the problem as soon as I can.

Downloads

Download demo project – 76Kb
Download source – 136Kb

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