Thread: Retrieving strings from a listbox

I'm having a major problem retrieving strings from a listbox and i don't have a clue as to what's wrong. Actually, i know exactly what's wrong but i don't know why it is. Anyways, here's the code segment:

Code:

HWND hList = GetDlgItem(hwnd, IDC_LIST1);
count = SendMessage(hList, LB_GETCOUNT, 0, 0);

while(count >= 0)
{ 
     SendMessage(hList, LB_GETTEXT, count, (LPARAM)buf);
     fpROM = fopen(buf, "rb");

... continues.

As you can see i'm trying to extract a string - specifically a file path - and then reading the file. The problem is that it doesn't even get to there! After running this through the debugger, when it hits the SendMessage line, it gives an error for the value hList, stating:

unused CXX0030: Error: expression cannot be evaluated.

I have NO idea why this is since i've used SendMessage before without error and SendMessage expects a HWND as the first argument.

I'm totally stumped, any ideas??

IDC_LIST1 is a listbox?

or

try casting the wpram, lparam

SendMessage(hList, LB_GETCOUNT, (WPARAM)0, (LPARAM)0);

Originally posted by novacain
IDC_LIST1 is a listbox?

Yup.

try casting the wpram, lparam

SendMessage(hList, LB_GETCOUNT, (WPARAM)0, (LPARAM)0);

I've tried that, but it seems it's having a problem with the handle to the listbox. I'm using Visual Studio.NET btw.

When using the debugger, does hList have a value or is it zero? With the code fragments given, all we can do is assume that by the time you call SendMessage() the handle is valid.

Here's my DialogProc:

Code:

BOOL CALLBACK DlgProc(HWND hDlg, UINT Message, WPARAM wParam, LPARAM lParam)
{
      switch(Message)
      {
      case WM_INITDIALOG:
               SendMessage(hDlg, WM_SETICON, ICON_SMALL, (LPARAM)LoadIcon(NULL,MAKEINTRESOURCE(IDI_ICON1)));
               SendMessage(hDlg, WM_SETICON, ICON_BIG, (LPARAM)LoadIcon(NULL, MAKEINTRESOURCE(IDI_ICON1)));		break;
      case WM_CLOSE:
	EndDialog(hDlg, 0);
	break;
      case WM_COMMAND:
	switch(LOWORD(wParam))
	{
	case IDEXIT:
  	        EndDialog(hDlg, 0);
	        break;
	case ID_FILE_EXIT:
	        EndDialog(hDlg, 0);
                        break;
	case ID_HELP_ABOUT:
	        DialogBox(GetModuleHandle(NULL), MAKEINTRESOURCE(IDD_ABOUT), hDlg, AboutDlgProc);
	        break;
	case IDCLEAR:
	        SendDlgItemMessage(hDlg, IDC_LIST1, LB_RESETCONTENT, 0, 0);
	        break;
	case IDADD:
	{
	        char filename[MAXBUFFER] = "";
	        OPENFILENAME ofn;
	        ZeroMemory(&ofn, sizeof(ofn));

	        ofn.lStructSize = sizeof(OPENFILENAME);
	        ofn.hwndOwner   = hDlg;
	        ofn.lpstrFilter = "GameBoy Roms (*.gb)\0*.gb\0";
	        ofn.lpstrFile   = filename;
	        ofn.nMaxFile    = MAXBUFFER;
	        ofn.Flags       = OFN_EXPLORER | OFN_FILEMUSTEXIST | OFN_HIDEREADONLY | OFN_ALLOWMULTISELECT;
	        ofn.lpstrDefExt = "gb";

	        if(GetOpenFileName(&ofn))
	       {
	               if(ofn.nFileOffset < lstrlen(ofn.lpstrFile))
	              {
		    SendDlgItemMessage(hDlg, IDC_LIST1, LB_ADDSTRING, 0, (LPARAM)ofn.lpstrFile);
	               }
		else
	               {
		  char *temp = ofn.lpstrFile + ofn.nFileOffset;
		  while(*temp != '\0')
		  {
		       SendDlgItemMessage(hDlg, IDC_LIST1, LB_ADDSTRING, 0, (LPARAM)temp);
							                        temp += strlen(temp) + 1;
		   }
		}
	}
	break;
         }
         case IDREMOVE:
        {
               int index = SendMessage(hList, LB_GETCURSEL, 0, 0);
               SendMessage(hList, LB_DELETESTRING, (WPARAM)index, 0);
	break;
         }
         case IDGENERATE:
         {
               int count, position, c, temp = 0, index = 0, fpos = 0;
               char romName[16], *buf = "";
				
               FILE *fpBIN, *fpBINhead, *fpROM;

               fpBINhead = fopen("tmpBINhead", "wb");
               fpBIN     = fopen("tmpBIN", "wb");

               HWND hList = GetDlgItem(hDlg, IDC_LIST1);
               count = SendMessage(hList, LB_GETCOUNT, 0, 0);

               while(count >= 0)
               { 
	      SendMessage(hList, LB_GETTEXT, (WPARAM)count, (LPARAM)buf);      // <--- THIS IS THE PROBLEM.  "buf" stays empty and, therefore, the next line produces an error and crashes the program.
	
	      fpROM = fopen(buf, "rb");

... continues.

edit: sorry if the code looks a bit sloppy in format, hard to get it to look right. Anyways, It's the single SendMessage call that doesn't do what it's supposed to, every other SendMessage call work perfectly.

>>> SendMessage(hList, LB_GETTEXT, (WPARAM)count, (LPARAM)buf);

You get the count of the number of items, say 5, then ask to retrieve the text for item 5, but the items are numbered 0 - 4. This should fail with LB_ERR.

I just did a check (a simple if() block) and apperently that single SendMessage ALWAYS returns LB_ERR. Why? I have no idea...

Man, this is frustrating...

Where are you allocating the storage for your string that is returned? You create a pointer, but it is not pointing to any memory.

Originally posted by adrianxw
Where are you allocating the storage for your string that is returned? You create a pointer, but it is not pointing to any memory.

I've changed it from

Code:

char *buf = "";

to

Code:

char buf[255];

... still doesn't work.

>>> Man, this is frustrating...

What is frustrating is not being able to see any of the values while the thing is running, I expect it would take me seconds to see what was wrong if I had the thing running in the debugger!

count: is this value correct after the LB_GETCOUNT call, (i.e. you have 5 items in the box it sets count to 5)? If it is, then we know that the problem is not with your handle. I did ask you about that earlier, but you didn't say.

If it is correct, are you now sure you are passing the right value to the LB_GETTEXT message, i.e. LB_GETCOUNT - 1, (or not sending LB_GETTEXT at all if count = 0)?

Just ran a check and, yes, the 'count' variable keeps an accurate number of listbox entries.

edit:

If it is correct, are you now sure you are passing the right value to the LB_GETTEXT message, i.e. LB_GETCOUNT - 1, (or not sending LB_GETTEXT at all if count = 0)?

Yea, that was it!! Shoot, damn logic errors, thanks a lot for your help.

I did actually mention that in my 5:44 message - I assumed you had fixed that.

Still, all's well that ends well as they say.