Windows XP visual themes and style changing

I thought I'd make this a new thread to focus on this particular problem.

My question is: is anyone familiar with the way that Windows XP visual themes work, as well as programs such as Windows Blinds, and if so, could they direct me as to where to find a detailed resource on this topic?

Also, I would like to know why I can only change top-level window styles when using the default XP visual style. When any other theme/style is present, the window style cannot be changed. For example, I cannot add/remove the caption bar or sizing border. This is the code if anyone wants:

Code:

style=GetWindowLong(hwnd,GWL_STYLE);//get current window style
				
if (style&WS_CAPTION) //if we have caption
{
	style&=(~WS_CAPTION); //remove caption and thickframe
	style&=(~WS_SIZEBOX);
	style&=(~WS_SYSMENU);
	style&=(~WS_BORDER);
}
else //otherwise
{
	style|=WS_CAPTION; //put em in
	style|=WS_SIZEBOX;
	style|=WS_SYSMENU;
	style|=WS_BORDER;
}

SetWindowLong(hwnd,GWL_STYLE,style); //change window style
SetWindowPos(hwnd,NULL,rc.left-1,rc.top, rc.right-rc.left,rc.bottom-rc.top,SWP_NOZORDER); //move to update
SetWindowPos(hwnd,NULL,rc.left, rc.top,rc.right-rc.left,rc.bottom-rc.top,SWP_NOZORDER); //move back

The following link should be of use to the topic and explain some things.
http://www.codeproject.com/useritems...%7Cxp%7Cthemes

Thanks velius, I've found out how to disable visual themes for my application. I haven't however, actually done it yet. Doing so requires a header file, uxtheme.h, that I do not have on my computer. I haven't found it anywhere by itself, and I do not feel like downloading the 180mb core SDK from MSDN. Could somebody please post up that header file?

I was thinking about this problem, and I realized what must be happening. Using any visual theme except the XP style, any subsequent repaints of a window (after window creation) do not actually check for a style change. Ie, at window creation, the window style is recorded, and that same style is used throughout the windows entire lifetime. Thus, changing the style through SetWindowLong() will have no effect on that whatsoever. Could anyone shed some light on this behavior?

EDIT: I also need uxtheme.lib.

I managed to download a 40mb version of the SDK, so now I can use the API functions for visual themes. I still can't disable themes for my application however. This is my code:

Code:

int WINAPI WinMain(HINSTANCE hInstance,HINSTANCE hPrevInstance,LPSTR cmd,int shCmd)
{
	//------------------Prevent visual styles-------------------------
	SetThemeAppProperties(NULL);

Any windows created in my application still use the visual theme selected (Classic style). Shouldn't they default to XP style now?

I just found something else awry. When I add that line, SetThemeAppProperties(NULL), changing the window style doesn't work AT ALL, even when using the default Windows XP style. I just don't understand what's going on.

Remember that all of the theme drawing code is handled with the WM_NCPAINT message. Your program does not normally handle it and it is therefore passed on to DefalutWindowProc() which then draws it. There is mostlikely a bug in that feature.

Do you think that I should handle the WM_NCPAINT message myself and make an owner drawn caption and border? I'd prefer working out how to use the system functions properly. Surely there is a way to get them to work.

I dunno, I actually have no intrest in using that feature myself. I just wanted to help you out. So anyways I'd consider patching Windows XP with SP 1 if you haven't yet and then if your using a Microsoft IDE to program with, I'd check for patches for that too. Beyond that it seems you need to use the .Net C++ extention for Manifesting the XP controls.

I have dialup so it's really hard for me to get a hold of those things. Could someone else who has Windows XP sp1, and maybe Visual Studio .NET compile this file and see if it works please?

Note: press alt-c to change window style, alt-q to exit. You'll have to link with comclt32.lib and uxtheme.lib.

From MSDN:

If you apply a region to a top-level window and later remove the region, a visual style is not automatically applied to the window. To apply a visual style to the window, you must create a new window.

Is that what is causing this problem? If it is, it means I WILL have to draw everything myself. What a bother.

You might just need to. One of the things I know for sure is that if you wan the same menu style from Office XP then you must draw it all yourself. So it would stand to reason that that would mean this feature is the same.

Should I use the DrawThemeText() and DrawThemeEdge() functions? I guess if I did that, my window would look like all the others on my screen.

No. What I'd do is come up with 'style' of your own. Then you can use LineTo() and various other functions for rectangles and the such. Just experiement with it.

Do you think that this problem would be addressed by future versions of Windows?

Let's hope it comes after security.