The required format of UserControl items in the .grc files always caused a headache. In this document, we’ll explain the meaning of the different numbers behind the UserControl definition. Let’s see them type by type. The examples were mostly taken from DG_Test, which is part of the development kit.

 

UserControl 257

This control is a collection of special controls; it encapsulates controls which are very different in appearance, but not in functionality. Basically this control consists of a button, which pops up a palette when clicked. The content of the button is updated as the user moves the mouse above the palette.

Examples: material, pen, layer palette pop-up.

The generic format of this control is:

UserControl   87 82 33 19 257   0x0001   0x1100   0   /* Line Pen Setting */

Let’s see the ‘numbers’ one by one:

Item	Description	Example
UserControl	the type of the dialog item
87 82 33 19	the item’s rectangle (top, left, width, height)
257	the type of the user control
0x0001	defines the subtype of the user control (see the constants starting with T257_ in UCDefs.h)	0x0001 is T257_PEN, so this is a pen control
0x1100	the upper byte modifies the appearance of the user control (see the constants starting with CS257_ in UCDefs.h) Note: not all the flags are valid for all types of controls the lower byte is always 00	0x11 is CS257_HEADER | CS257_SMALLFONT, so the pop-up palette will have a header, and the menu items and the header will use the small application font.
0	used in textual pop-ups only T257_TEXT and T257_MENU; it contains the id of the 'STR#' resource containing the menu items Note: due to a bug in the dialog manager, this cannot be used at the moment

 

UserControl 258

This control is an icon-based pop-up control. The icons coming from the specified resource appear on the pop-up palette.

Example: suspend groups selector on the control box.

The generic format of this control is:

UserControl   12  8  66 22  258  2  14  0  1  32520

Let’s see the ‘numbers’ one by one:

Item	Description
UserControl	the type of the dialog item
12 8 66 22	the item’s rectangle (top, left, width, height)
258	the type of the user control
2	specifies the number of rows you would like to see the icons
14	tells the total number of icons
0	always
1	modifies the appearance of the user control (combination of the constants starting with CS258_ in UCDefs.h)  1 is CS258_HEADER ⇒ the pop-up palette will have a header  2 is CS258_MOUSEPOSOPEN ⇒ the pop-up palette will appear relative to the mouse position, (as opposed to the control’s rectangle)  4 is CS258_SIMPLEFRAME ⇒ the pop-up palette will have a simpler frame (Windows only)
32510	id of the icon resource; contains all the icons. This icon is cut into pieces to create the individual icons. This also servers as the resource ID of the title strings, if the popup palette has a header (CS258_HEADER).

 

UserControl 259

This control is an icon-based control. The icons coming from the specified resource are layed out flat.

Example: type selector in the library browser.

The generic format of this control is:

UserControl   12  8  30  28  259  1  3  0  0  32510

Let’s see the ‘numbers’ one by one:

Item	Description
UserControl	the type of the dialog item
12 8 30 28	the item’s rectangle (top, left, width, height)
259	the type of the user control
1	specifies the number of rows you would like to see the icons
3	tells the total number of icons
0	always
0	always
32510	id of the icon resource; contains all the icons

 

UserControl 261

This control is the line type pop-up control. The content of the button is updated as the user moves the mouse above the palette. The specialty of this control is that it calls back to the server application to draw the line type into the control.

Example: any line type pop-up.

The generic format of this control is:

UserControl   42  0  260  40  261  0x0100   /* Line type for Line Tool */

Let’s see the ‘numbers’ one by one:

Item	Description	Example
UserControl	the type of the dialog item
42 0 260 40	the item’s rectangle (top, left, width, height)
261	the type of the user control
0x0100	the upper byte modifies the appearance of the user control (see the constants starting with CS261_ in UCDefs.h) the lower byte is always 00	0x01 is CS261_HEADER, so the pop-up palette will have a header.