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*
*  McKean Consulting
*  Robin W. McKean
*  1042 Braddock Circle
*  Woodstock GA  30188
*
*  MLIST.VBX	V4.00.0000
*
*  Multi-Column List Box Control for Visual Basic 3.0
*
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MLIST is a custom control for managing the way your data appears in a list
box.  MLIST is a property for property replacement of the standard List Box
control which comes with Visual Basic 3.0.  In addition, there are many more
features which MLIST can do that you can't do with the normal List Box.  Some
of these features are:

	* Set up owner draw columnar data in the list box.  This is NOT a
	  MULTI-COLUMN list box.  MLIST now has this feature, but the MLIST
	  List Box scrolls vertically, like a normal list box.  Your data is
	  arranged in columns, with specific drawing flags setup for each
	  "Drawing Region".  Think of each line as being broken up into
	  different areas, each with its own drawing flags and data.

	* Make a drawing region a bitmap or a checkbox.  You have control
	  over the entire list's bitmaps through the default bitmap property,
	  or you can set individual lines bitmap properties.

	* Control individual line colors in the list box

	* Total control over the checked and unchecked states of lines

	* Now MLIST has aligned bitmaps as well.  You specifiy the bitmap,
	  the text, and the alignment (top, bottom, right, left), and MLIST
	  will draw the text and the bitmap in the area you define.

	* New in verions 4.00.  You can now have true MUTLIPLE COLUMN list
	  boxes, with bitmaps and check boxes.  Multiple columns are set
	  up through setting the LBS_MULTICOLUMN style for the list box.
	  You control the width of each item.  This attribute differs in
	  that each line has a certain width.  So it may take two or more
	  columns of items to actually fill a line

	* Checking and Selecting a range of line items

	* Properties to find closest match and find exact matches in the
	  list box.

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This ZIP file contains:

	MLIST.VBX     	VB version of the MLIST custom control
	PROJECT1.MAK	Sample project file for MLIST
	FORM1.FRM	Form used by the sample project
	READ.ME		This file
	PLUS.BMP	Bitmap used in example
	PAGE.BMP	Ditto

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REGISTRATION

Time for the sob story.  This Multi-Column List Box is Shareware.  It is
NOT crippled in anyway.  When you download this custom control, you have
the same custom control that I am using in my everyday VB programming.
As a Shareware contributor, I am counting on the honor and moral fiber of
every person who downloads this custom control to do the right thing.  I
have contributed and participated in the Shareware arena for years now.
Your small contribution can make a difference to me and my family...  Right
now, the maximum string size in the List Box is 255 characters.  Let me
know if this causes a problem.  I don't anticipate anyone needing to display
more than this number of characters to the screen.

If you like and appreciate this custom control...

  1)  Small time developers like me, send $10.00 to the address listed above
  2)  Corporate users send $15.00 to the address listed above

For Source...

  Send $25.00 to me at the above address.

  This control is written in C and has been compiled using both Borland C++
  3.00 and Visual C++ 1.0.


You may now register this control in the SWREG on Compuserve.  Type GO SWREG.
If you want the source, you will still have to write me...

( I am waiting for my SWREG id ).

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WARRANTY

The control, as is, works the way that I want it to.  This does not mean
that it will work the way that you want it to.   Along those lines, I
totally disclaim that the control will do anything whatsoever.  This
includes any implied abilities and any WARRANTIES, including those for
SUITABILITY for a particular purpose, MERCHANTIBILITY, and all that other
bull crap.

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PROGRAMMER'S NOTES (or, what I need to know to use this custom control)

The Multi-Column List Box is an enhanced List Box control.  The following
is a desciption of each additional control.  What it does, and how to
use it in your own VB programming.  For additional control properties, see
those for properties included in the standard list box control.  MLIST now
contains all standard controls.  The ones listed below are additions.

ItemHeight

This property is responsible for controlling the height of each individual
line item in the list box.  It defaults to 195 Twips, the height of the
font used by the standard list box.  You should adjust this height if you
change the font, font size, etc..

I'm not sure whether or not this property will change the height of the lines
after the list box has already been created.  I did not design the list box
control to have the height of the items change dynamically.  Set the height
of this item at design time, and the font, and your list box will be fine.
Experiment with this during run-time if you like, and let me know how it
works out, and how I can make this item work more to your liking.

DrawRegions

This item determines the number of drawing regions on each line.  This is
basically equivelent to the number of COLUMNS, but this list box will still
scroll like a normal list box.  When setting this property, the control
clears the flags for the draw regions and sets them to left aligned, single
line, and centered vertically.  Consult the Windows API for DrawText to
see what exactly these flags mean.

ItemLength

This is an indexed property which corresponds to the length of each drawing
region.  If you want a drawing region to be a specific length, set that
drawing region's length to the desired setting in twips.  For example...

	MList1.DrawRegions = 2
	MList.ItemLength(1) = 500
	MList.ItemLength(2) = 500

	' Generates an out of index error
	MList1.ItemLength(0) = XXX
	MList1.ItemLength(3) = XXX

It is probably a good idea to set the lengths of all drawing regions when you
are changing the defaults.

DrawFlags

This is an indexed property which corresponds to the flags of each drawing
region.  If you want a drawing region to be drawn in a specific manner, set
that drawing region's flags to the desired settings.  For specific flags,
look up the DrawText API function in the Windows API Reference.  In the
following example, I setup two drawing regions and set the second drawing
region's flags to right justify the text.  In this example, the second
drawing region displays currency values.

	Const DT_RIGHT = 2
	Const DT_VCENTER = 4
	Const DT_SINGLELINE = 32

	MList1.DrawRegions = 2
	MList1.Flags(2) = DT_RIGHT + DT_VCENTER + DT_SINGLELINE
	MList.ItemLength(1) = 500
	MList.ItemLength(2) = 500

ActiveRegion

Setting this property affects the next two properties.  It defines the
DrawingRegion (or index or column) that TextRegion and ListRegion will
return.  Perhaps an example is in order.

My list box is divided up into three columns, name, account number, dollar
amount.  I want to get the account number for the currently selected line
as well as the first item...

	MList1.ActiveRegion = 2
	aString$ = MList1.TextRegion	' Gets 2nd column of current text
	bString$ = MList1.ListRegion(0)	' 2nd column of item at index 0

TextRegion

This property will return the ActiveRegion in the currently selected text.
See the above "ActiveRegion".  Corresponds to a DrawRegion of the Text property.
These values can also be written to at run time.

ListRegion

This property will return the ActiveRegion in the item at the specific index.
See the above "ActiveRegion".  Corresponds to a DrawRegion of the List property.
These values can also be written to at run time.

DefPicture

This is the default bitmap to be displayed in the ImageRegion when a specific
bitmap has not been assigned to that items ItemPicture property.  Please see
the demo on setting your own default picture and ItemPicture properties.

ImageType

This determines what type of image we are dealing with in our image region.
If this property is set to 0, then the ImageRegion property is ignored and
only text is dislayed.  If this image type is valid, then a checkbox or
bitmap is displayed in the ImageRegion.

Note that when the image type is set to AlignBitmap, the normal drawing
regions no longer apply.  Anybody got a problem with that???

ImageRegion

This property specifies which region contains the image region.  This value
should be any number between 1 and the number of DrawRegions.  You may not
set this property to a value of less than zero or greater then DrawRegions.
When setting up your DrawRegions, the following is a good example:

	MList1.DrawRegions = 3
	MList1.ImageRegion = 1

	MList1.ItemLength(1) = 100		' Bitmap is in here
	MList1.ItemLength(2) = 500
	MList1.ItemLength(3) = 750

	' Don't leave a space for the ImageRegion in your strings
	MList1.AddItem "Region2" + Chr$(9) + "Region3"
	MList1.AddItem "Region22" + Chr$(9) + "Region33"

The ImageRegion is ignored when calculating the "piece" of text that goes in
that region.

Checked

This property is very similar to the Selected property.  In a Multi-Column
list box with the ImageType set 2 (CheckBox), this property will return to
you whether or not that line item is checked or not.  For example:

	For X% = 0 To MList1.ListCount - 1

		If MList1.Checked(X%) Then
			Debug.Print "I am Checked! "; X%
		Else
			Debug.Print "I am not checked! "; X%
		End If
	Next X%

	' Check the first item
	MList1.Checked(0) = True

ItemPicture

This property is an array of pictures which correspond to the bitmaps for
each line item in the list box.  If this item is not set by you, then
the MList uses the DefPicture property.

	' Change the first items picture in the list box
	MList1.ItemPicture(0) = Image1.Picture

ItemForeColor

This property is an array of color which correspond to the foreground color
for each line item in the list box.  If this item is not set by you, then
the MList uses the default foreground color property.

	' Change the first items foreground color to white
	MList1.ItemForeColor(0) = RGB(255,255,255)

ItemBkColor

This property is an array of color which correspond to the background color
for each line item in the list box.  If this item is not set by you, then
the MList uses the default background color property.

	' Change the first items background color to black
	MList1.ItemBkColor(0) = RGB(0,0,0)

Alignment

This property controls the placement of the bitmap when the image type is
set to 4, AlignBitmap.  See the demo for details, but basically the values
for this property are:

1 - 	Align the bitmap to the left, centered, then the text, centered
	vertically and left justified.
2 -	Align the bitmap on top, centered, then the text, centered
	horizontally and vertically.
3 - 	Align the bitmap to the right, centered, then the text, centered
	vertically and left justified.
4 -	Align the bitmap on bottom, centered, then the text, centered
	horizontally and vertically.

Note that when the image type is set to AlignBitmap, the normal drawing
regions no longer apply.  Anybody got a problem with that???

MultiColumn

This turns the list box into a true multiple column list box.  The list box
will scroll horizontal instead of vertical.  A default item width is provided,
but you, the developer, should override this property.  This property should
be set to true for multi-column, or false (the default) for normal list box
behavior.

ItemWidth

The property specifies the width of each line in a multiple column list box.
The width is set in Twips.  The normal drawing regions still apply, but I
can't think of a reason why someone would want to divide line items in a 
column list box into more columns.

FindString

Setting this property will cause the list box to search for a string with
the closest match from the current ListIndex.  If one is found, that string
is set to the current ListIndex.  This is useful for moving items through
a list box while typing the string in an edit control, ie.  Search in Help.

FindStringExact

This property is the same as above, except that it will search for an exact
match.

RangeStart

This property marks the beginning line item for RangeSelected or RangeChecked.
The offset is 0 based, so the first item is 0.

RangeEnd

This property marks the ending line item for RangeSelected or RangeChecked.

RangeSelected

All items in the range RangeStart to RangeEnd are marked as selected in the
list box.  If the list box is not multi-select, then this is ignored.

	MList1.RangeStart = 0
	MList1.RangeEnd = 3
	MList1.RangeSelected = True

RangeChecked

All items in the range RangeStart to RangeEnd are marked as checked in the
list box.

	MList1.RangeStart = 0
	MList1.RangeEnd = 3
	MList1.RangeChecked = False

SetHzScroll

When all is said and done, and you are through setting up your list box, and
your columns extend past the displayable area of the list box, setting this
property to True will cause the MLIST control to add up all of the drawing
regions and add a horizontal scroll bar to the list box if one is neccessary.

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FORMATTING STRINGS

You should place the Tab character between each column in your string.  The
following example formats a string for the DrawFlags example:

	MList1.AddItem "Robin W. McKean" + Chr$(9) + "$100.00"

The following string is for three columns:

	MList1.AddItem "Robin W. McKean"+Chr$(9)+"$100.00"+Chr$(9)+"True"

Remember, you do NOT have to include a column for the ImageRegion.  If
the ImageRegion property was 1 and the DrawRegions property was 3, then
the following line would work fine (3-1=2)

	MList1.AddItem "Robin W. McKean"+Chr$(9)+"$100.00"

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REACHING THE AUTHOR

I can be reached via U.S. Mail at the address listed above.  You can reach
me via E-Mail at the following locations...

Compuserve:		Robin W. McKean
			72622,1403

Shareware South:	Robin W. McKean
			Atlanta, GA

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REVISION HISTORY

3.00.0000	Initial release of the MLIST.VBX Custom Control
3.01.0000	Fixed "Bad Index" error message when setting Selected
		property to True|False.
		Added ItemData property to control.
		Added ListIndex property to control.
		Fixed an apparent bug in the VB API that was passing right
		mouse button clicks to the Click event, but not the left
		mouse button.
3.02.0000	Fixed a ton of problems.  Namely, the page down didn't work.
		Delete current controls and rebuild to fix this problem.
		Added ALL default controls for the standard list box.
		Tested all of them before uploading.
3.03.0000	Fixed the index problem with the List property.  If anything,
		I am guilty of being over enthusiastic.  I apologize to those
		who got the previous version and thought it sucked.  Probably
		because it did.  I added bitmaps and checkboxes as well as
		the ability to change the color of a specific line.  You can
		also change the bitmap of a specific line item.
3.04.0000	Fixed the bug with setting the Checked property, and then not
		having the user be able to double click it or click the box
		to change it back.  Added the AlignBitmap image type and
		the Alignment property.
4.00.0000	Added the Multicolumn property and item width.  Added the
		FindString and FindStringExact properties for searching
		the list box.  Added the range properties for checking
		and selecting multiple line items.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank Simon, Kevin, and Neil for their input.  A great C++
programmer does not a good VB programmer make...  Please, Please, Please,
take a few minutes to notify me if there are any bugs.  I hate bugs...

Thanks to Paul for the check box problem.

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