Dialogbox from within a DLL

I have been tasked with trying to create a text editor completely within a dll. Basically, they want to pass a user directory name to a dll and it will launch a dialogbox with an edit control inside it.

I have to use "pure" C to create the dll.

I have written the entire project and it works fine as a stand alone executable but I am unable to understand how to launch a dialog inside a dll.

I learn best by example, so a sample of how I could spawn a dialog box from within the dll would be of great help.

Thanks for any help.

(By the way, they are explicit about not using .Net or C++)

If you're saying .net and .dll, why not ask Microsoft? It's not as though .dll is magic somehow; code doesn't change.

Microsoft doesn't have any example that I have been able to find. It is my understanding that the code shouldn't be much different for a dll but I have been unable to get a dialog or a window to launch from within my dll. I can get message boxes to work just fine.

Again, I cannot use .Net for this project and Microsoft pushes it and/or C++ in all of the examples I have found. :(

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JustMax

Microsoft doesn't have any example that I have been able to find.

---

See there's this thing, it's called the internet, and the way it works is that certain words are specially marked with a "link" -- you click on them, and a new page is opened that (usually) is related to the words you clicked on. These words are often marked by the browser in a certain way -- a different color, such as red, perhaps.

With that in mind, reread the past reply.

Thank you for your attempt to belittle me. I am only asking for help. If you are above that, I am sure there are plenty of other postings.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JustMax

Thank you for your attempt to belittle me. I am only asking for help. If you are above that, I am sure there are plenty of other postings.

---

Well, if you don't want a link to an example making a dialog box without using C++ or .net, then what do you want?

Tabstop,
I guess that, if I were smart enough to 'mouse over' I would have seen it was a link. I am sorry for my public showing of my ignorance.

Thank you for the link. I will try it but I am not sure that the code to create and launch the dialog is my problem. Since I am realitively new at dlls, I am not sure I am creating the right initialization in the dllMain (or if that is even where I begin to call the editor's window.

Thanks for the input and please accept my appology.

Not a problem -- I had a choice between snark and a straightforward "what was wrong with the link" and I did not choose wisely the first time.

I have to admit, I have not made that many dlls, but I have used even fewer dllMain functions. It gets called when the program runs LoadLibrary, so it shouldn't really have all your code in it or anything. You would have the functions that do all the work, and they get called by the main program as needed, just like any other API functions. (Well, I think they have to call GetProcAddress first.)

(Edit: I guess my point is, just write a function or functions that pops up a dialog box and does whatever it's supposed to do with it -- and test it just like a plain old source file. Then when making a .dll, your function or functions won't change much if at all, but the calling program will have to do a bit more work.)

I think I could make this work if the bosses would allow it. What they want is, in their code, to call a dll which then does all the displaying and editing of text files (they also need open and save dialogs), closes and returns control back to the main program.

I have written it in a C application and it all works but they want it in a dll for some reason. They do not want to add anything but a "Launch Editor" button to their code.

Lots of reading and examples on DLL's here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/libr...89(VS.85).aspx

I would first create a DLL project with a simple function like "void LaunchEditor()". Have it just do a MessageBox() at first. Then create a project that uses/tests the DLL by calling LaunchEditor(). Once you have those nuts and bolts in place, you can start filling in the DLL with the real code you've already written.

gg

I have done what MS says and still nothing. If I paste the code to call the dialog into my main program, I can get it to launch but the not from the dll.

Any ideas?

If I had any hair left, I would pull it out!!

I get an exception in the dll in the "DisplayMyMessage" portion I call if with this:

Code:

---

//=========================
        hwndGoto = CreateDialog(NULL,
                                MAKEINTRESOURCE(DLG_GOTO),
                                hWnd,
                                (DLGPROC)GoToProc);
        ShowWindow(hwndGoto, SW_SHOW);
//==========================


LRESULT DisplayMyMessage(HINSTANCE hinst, HWND hwndOwner, LPSTR lpszMessage)
{
    HGLOBAL hgbl;
    LPDLGTEMPLATE lpdt;
    LPDLGITEMTEMPLATE lpdit;
    LPWORD lpw;
    LPWSTR lpwsz;
    LRESULT ret;
    int nchar;
        HInst = hinst;
        hWnd = hwndOwner;
    hgbl = GlobalAlloc(GMEM_ZEROINIT, 1024);
    if (!hgbl)
        return -1;
 
    lpdt = (LPDLGTEMPLATE)GlobalLock(hgbl);
 
    // Define a dialog box.
 
    lpdt->style = WS_POPUP | WS_BORDER | WS_SYSMENU | DS_MODALFRAME | WS_CAPTION;
    lpdt->cdit = 3;        // Number of controls
    lpdt->x  = 10;  lpdt->y  = 10;
    lpdt->cx = 100; lpdt->cy = 100;

    lpw = (LPWORD)(lpdt + 1);
    *lpw++ = 0;            // No menu
    *lpw++ = 0;            // Predefined dialog box class (by default)

    lpwsz = (LPWSTR)lpw;
    nchar = 1 + MultiByteToWideChar(CP_ACP, 0, "My Dialog", -1, lpwsz, 50);
    lpw += nchar;

    //-----------------------
    // Define an OK button.
    //-----------------------
    lpw = lpwAlign(lpw);    // Align DLGITEMTEMPLATE on DWORD boundary
    lpdit = (LPDLGITEMTEMPLATE)lpw;
    lpdit->x  = 10; lpdit->y  = 70;
    lpdit->cx = 80; lpdit->cy = 20;
    lpdit->id = IDOK;      // OK button identifier
    lpdit->style = WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE | BS_DEFPUSHBUTTON;

    lpw = (LPWORD)(lpdit + 1);
    *lpw++ = 0xFFFF;
    *lpw++ = 0x0080;        // Button class

    lpwsz = (LPWSTR)lpw;
    nchar = 1 + MultiByteToWideChar(CP_ACP, 0, "OK", -1, lpwsz, 50);
    lpw += nchar;
    lpw = lpwAlign(lpw);    // Align creation data on DWORD boundary
    *lpw++ = 0;            // No creation data

    //-----------------------
    // Define a Help button.
    //-----------------------
    lpw = lpwAlign(lpw);    // Align DLGITEMTEMPLATE on DWORD boundary
    lpdit = (LPDLGITEMTEMPLATE)lpw;
    lpdit->x  = 55; lpdit->y  = 10;
    lpdit->cx = 40; lpdit->cy = 20;
    lpdit->id = ID_HELP;    // Help button identifier
    lpdit->style = WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE | BS_PUSHBUTTON;

    lpw = (LPWORD)(lpdit + 1);
    *lpw++ = 0xFFFF;
    *lpw++ = 0x0080;        // Button class atom

    lpwsz = (LPWSTR)lpw;
    nchar = 1 + MultiByteToWideChar(CP_ACP, 0, "Help", -1, lpwsz, 50);
    lpw += nchar;
    lpw = lpwAlign(lpw);    // Align creation data on DWORD boundary
    *lpw++ = 0;            // No creation data

    //-----------------------
    // Define a static text control.
    //-----------------------
    lpw = lpwAlign(lpw);    // Align DLGITEMTEMPLATE on DWORD boundary
    lpdit = (LPDLGITEMTEMPLATE)lpw;
    lpdit->x  = 10; lpdit->y  = 10;
    lpdit->cx = 40; lpdit->cy = 20;
    lpdit->id = ID_TEXT;    // Text identifier
    lpdit->style = WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE | SS_LEFT;

    lpw = (LPWORD)(lpdit + 1);
    *lpw++ = 0xFFFF;
    *lpw++ = 0x0082;        // Static class
//===========================
//====  FOR SOME REASON *lpszMessage is a bad pointer (I think)
//vvv                                                                          vvvvvvvvvvvvvv
    for (lpwsz = (LPWSTR)lpw; *lpwsz++ = (WCHAR)*lpszMessage++;);
    lpw = (LPWORD)lpwsz;
    lpw = lpwAlign(lpw);    // Align creation data on DWORD boundary
    *lpw++ = 0;            // No creation data

    GlobalUnlock(hgbl);
    ret = DialogBoxIndirect(hinst,
                          (LPDLGTEMPLATE)hgbl,
                          hwndOwner,
                          (DLGPROC)showDLLDialog());
    GlobalFree(hgbl);
    return ret;
}

---

Are you allowed to trash the first parameter to CreateDialog? How do you call DisplayMyMessage?

AFter many changes, I can get the message box before and after the call to launch the main dialog box. Here is the code:

Code:

---

// ConDLL.cpp : Defines the entry point for the DLL application.
//

#include "stdafx.h"
#include "commdlg.h"
#include "richedit.h"
#include "resource1.h"
#include "resource.h"

//  Function Prototypes

BOOL WINAPI MainDlgProc( HWND, UINT, WPARAM, LPARAM );
BOOL SaveEditAsStream( HWND );
DWORD CALLBACK RTFSaveStreamCallback( DWORD, LPBYTE, LONG, LONG * );
BOOL LoadEditAsStream( HWND );
DWORD CALLBACK RTFLoadStreamCallback( DWORD, LPBYTE, LONG, LONG * );
BOOL GetNewTextColor( HWND );
void CreateMenubar( HWND );
void CloseTheFile(HWND);

//  Global Variables

HINSTANCE hInst;                                    //  Program instance handle
HANDLE hRichEdit;                                      //  RICHED32.DLL handle
DWORD dwTextColor;                                      //  Current text color
char *initialText = "This editor will allow you to view tests that you have created.  The following \n"
                                                  "options are available by clicking “File” from the menu:\n\n"
                                                  "\tTo open a test, select the “Open” option from the menu.\n\n"
                                                  "\tIf you change the results of a test, you can save the changes by selecting \n\t\tthe “Save” option from the menu.\n\n"
                                                  "\tYou may also close the file and discard any changes by selecting “Close” from the menu.\n\n"
                                                  "\tTo return to the main program, select “Exit” from the menu.\n";
char currentFileName;


//  Program Entry Points
BOOL APIENTRY DllMain( HINSTANCE hInstance/*HANDLE hModule*/,
                      DWORD  ul_reason_for_call,
                      LPVOID lpReserved
                                        )

  hInst = hInstance;                      //  Save program instance in global

  MessageBox( NULL, initialText, "Test Viewer", MB_OK | MB_ICONEXCLAMATION );
//  Call main dialog box
/**/  CreateDialog( NULL, MAKEINTRESOURCE( MAIN_DLG ), NULL, MainDlgProc );
//  This is the line that should launch the main dialog window 
    MessageBox( NULL, "After call for MainDlgProc", "Test Viewer", MB_OK | MB_ICONEXCLAMATION );
  return( TRUE );
}

//  Main Dialog Proc

BOOL WINAPI MainDlgProc( HWND hDlg, UINT msg, WPARAM wParam, LPARAM lParam )
{
        static HICON hIcon;
        static HICON hIconSm;
  MessageBox( NULL, "We're in MainDlgProc", "Test Viewer", MB_OK | MB_ICONEXCLAMATION );


  switch( msg )
  {
      case WM_INITDIALOG:
      {
        CHARFORMAT cf;
                CreateMenubar(hDlg);

        if( GetDlgItem( hDlg, RICHTEXT_EDIT ) )                        //  Sanity Check
        {
            dwTextColor = 0x00000000;

            memset( &cf, 0, sizeof(CHARFORMAT) );      //  Initialize structure
                       

            cf.cbSize = sizeof(CHARFORMAT);            //  Initialize RichEdit
            cf.dwMask = CFM_COLOR | CFM_FACE | CFM_SIZE;  //  control structure
            cf.crTextColor = dwTextColor;
            cf.yHeight = 32;
            strcpy( cf.szFaceName, "Courier" );
                        // Set the icon
                        hIcon = (HICON)LoadImage(GetModuleHandle(NULL), MAKEINTRESOURCE(IDI_ICON1), IMAGE_ICON, 32, 32, 0);
                        hIconSm = (HICON)LoadImage(GetModuleHandle(NULL), MAKEINTRESOURCE(IDI_ICON2), IMAGE_ICON, 16, 16, 0);

            //  Set character formatting and background color
            SendDlgItemMessage( hDlg, RICHTEXT_EDIT, EM_SETCHARFORMAT, 4, (LPARAM)&cf );
            SendDlgItemMessage( hDlg, RICHTEXT_EDIT, EM_SETBKGNDCOLOR, TRUE, 0 );
                        SendMessage(hDlg, WM_SETICON, IDI_ICON1  , (LPARAM)hIcon);
                        SendMessage(hDlg, WM_SETICON, ICON_SMALL, (LPARAM)hIconSm);
                        break;
        }
        return( TRUE );                  //  End of dialog initialization code
      }

      case WM_COMMAND:
        if( wParam == /*ID_FILE_CLOSE*/ 102 )                        //  "Color" button pressed
        {
            CloseTheFile(hDlg);
                        SetFocus( GetDlgItem( hDlg, RICHTEXT_EDIT ) );      //  Back to edit control
            break;
        }
        if( wParam == /*ID_FILE_SAVE*/ 103)                          //  "Save" button pressed
        {
            SaveEditAsStream( hDlg );      //  Save rich edit contents to file
            SetFocus( GetDlgItem( hDlg, RICHTEXT_EDIT ) );      //  Back to edit control
            break;
        }
        if( wParam == /*ID_FILE_OPEN*/ 101)                          //  "Load" button pressed
        {
            LoadEditAsStream( hDlg );          //  Load RTF file into richedit
            SetFocus( GetDlgItem( hDlg, RICHTEXT_EDIT ) );      //  Back to edit control
            break;
        }
                if( wParam == 50001 )
                {
            GetNewTextColor( hDlg );
            SetFocus( GetDlgItem( hDlg, RICHTEXT_EDIT ) );      //  Back to edit control
            break;
        }
        if( wParam == ID_FILE_EXIT )              //  Close dialog if Esc pressed
        {
            EndDialog( hDlg, TRUE );
            return( TRUE );
        }
        break;

          case WM_DESTROY:
                  DestroyIcon(hIcon);
                  DestroyIcon(hIconSm);
                  PostQuitMessage(0);
                  break;


  }
  return( FALSE );
}                                                        //  End of MainDlgProc
//  ==========================================================

//  Set up menu

void CreateMenubar(HWND hwnd) {  // Set up the menu
  HMENU hMenubar;
  HMENU hMenu, cMenu;
  MessageBox( NULL, "CreateMenubar", "Test Viewer", MB_OK | MB_ICONEXCLAMATION );

  hMenubar = CreateMenu();
  hMenu = CreateMenu();
  cMenu = CreateMenu();

  //  Menu Options  -------------------------------------------
  //      File Options
  AppendMenu(hMenubar, MF_POPUP, (UINT_PTR)hMenu, TEXT("&File"));
  AppendMenu(hMenu, MF_STRING, /*ID_FILE_OPEN*/ 101, TEXT("&Open"));
  AppendMenu(hMenu, MF_STRING, /*ID_FILE_CLOSE*/ 102, TEXT("&Close"));
  AppendMenu(hMenu, MF_STRING, /*ID_FILE_SAVE*/ 103, TEXT("&Save&"));
  AppendMenu(hMenu, MF_STRING, ID_FILE_EXIT, TEXT("E&xit"));
  //      Settings Options
  //AppendMenu(hMenubar, MF_POPUP, (UINT_PTR)cMenu, TEXT("Se&ttings"));
  //AppendMenu(cMenu, MF_STRING, ID_SETTINGS_FONT, TEXT("Font Co&lor"));
  //AppendMenu(cMenu, MF_STRING, 50002, TEXT("&Background Color"));
  SetMenu(hwnd, hMenubar);
}
//  ==============================================================

---

The main progam only loads and unloads the dll:

Code:

---

theLib = LoadLibrary("ConDLL.dll");
FreeLibrary(theLib);

---

The problem is in the createdialog call on DllMain. I cannot get that dialog to show.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JustMax

The problem is in the createdialog call on DllMain. I cannot get that dialog to show.

---

so check the return value and if it fails - look at the GetLastError

Ok, I have started from scratch. I created a dll that has one function named DoItAll. It only has three commands. The first displays a message box saying "we're here" the second should display the dialog IDD_DIALOG1, and the third command shows another message box saying " we have passed the dialog call."
I created a simple dialog box that only has two buttons in it, inside this project. Then I built the dll.

From my main program, I load the library and call DoItAll. I see the two message boxes but not the dialog box.

Can anyone make this scenereo work? If so, can you tell me how?

Thanks

Is your client actually calling DoItAll(), or are you still just calling LoadLibrary()?

gg

I have tried both.
I am making headway though. I have found that, if I don't let Visual Studio create the dialog resource for me, I can get it to display. I am in the process of defining all of the components I need for the editor now.

You guys have been a great help to me. I really appreciate it.

>> I have tried both.
Don't do anything in DllMain. The client should call DoItAll() directly. You're DllMain() should simply return TRUE.

gg

dllMain is empty now. Here is the next issue:

I am now able to launch the dialog box from the dll but, if I add an edit control, I get an "Unhandled exception at 0x00000000 in Win2PRG.exe: 0xC0000005: Access violation reading location 0x00000000."

If I remark it out and add a button instead, it works fine. Here is the code, you can see where I have remarked out some controls to test with:

Code:

---

extern "C" __declspec(dllexport) LRESULT DisplayMyMessage(HINSTANCE hinst, HWND hwndOwner, LPSTR lpszMessage)
{
    HGLOBAL hgbl;
    LPDLGTEMPLATE lpdt;
    LPDLGITEMTEMPLATE lpdit;
    LPWORD lpw;
    LPWSTR lpwsz;
    LRESULT ret;
    int nchar;

    hgbl = GlobalAlloc(GMEM_ZEROINIT, 1024);
    if (!hgbl)
        return -1;
 
    lpdt = (LPDLGTEMPLATE)GlobalLock(hgbl);
 
    // Define a dialog box.
 
    lpdt->style = WS_POPUP | WS_BORDER | WS_SYSMENU | DS_MODALFRAME | WS_CAPTION;
    lpdt->cdit = 2;        // Number of controls
    lpdt->x  = 1;  lpdt->y  = 1;
    lpdt->cx = 200; lpdt->cy = 100;

    lpw = (LPWORD)(lpdt + 1);
    *lpw++ = 0;            // No menu
    *lpw++ = 0;            // Predefined dialog box class (by default)

    lpwsz = (LPWSTR)lpw;
    nchar = 1 + MultiByteToWideChar(CP_ACP, 0, "My Dialog", -1, lpwsz, 50);
    lpw += nchar;

    //-----------------------
    // Define an OK button.
    //-----------------------
    lpw = lpwAlign(lpw);    // Align DLGITEMTEMPLATE on DWORD boundary
    lpdit = (LPDLGITEMTEMPLATE)lpw;
    lpdit->x  = 100; lpdit->y  = 70; //position (left, top)
    lpdit->cx = 40; lpdit->cy = 15; //width and height
    lpdit->id = IDOK;      // OK button identifier
    lpdit->style = WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE | BS_DEFPUSHBUTTON;

    lpw = (LPWORD)(lpdit + 1);
    *lpw++ = 0xFFFF;
    *lpw++ = 0x0080;        // Button class
    lpwsz = (LPWSTR)lpw;
    nchar = 1 + MultiByteToWideChar(CP_ACP, 0, "OK", -1, lpwsz, 50);
    lpw += nchar;
    lpw = lpwAlign(lpw);    // Align creation data on DWORD boundary
    *lpw++ = 0;            // No creation data

    //-----------------------
    // Define a Help button.
    //-----------------------
    //lpw = lpwAlign(lpw);    // Align DLGITEMTEMPLATE on DWORD boundary
    //lpdit = (LPDLGITEMTEMPLATE)lpw;
    //lpdit->x  = 155; lpdit->y  = 70; //position (left, top)
    //lpdit->cx = 40;  lpdit->cy = 15; //width and height
    //lpdit->id = ID_HELP;    // Help button identifier
    //lpdit->style = WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE | BS_PUSHBUTTON;
    //lpw = (LPWORD)(lpdit + 1);
    //*lpw++ = 0xFFFF;
    //*lpw++ = 0x0080;        // Button class atom
    //lpwsz = (LPWSTR)lpw;
    //nchar = 1 + MultiByteToWideChar(CP_ACP, 0, "Help", -1, lpwsz, 50);
    //lpw += nchar;
    //lpw = lpwAlign(lpw);    // Align creation data on DWORD boundary
    //*lpw++ = 0;            // No creation data

        //-----------------------
        //  Define a EDIT.
        //-----------------------
    lpw = lpwAlign (lpw);

    lpdit = (LPDLGITEMTEMPLATE) lpw;
    lpdit->x  = 10; lpdit->y  = 10;
    lpdit->cx = 80; lpdit->cy = 12;
    lpdit->id = ID_EDIT;    // Help button identifier
    lpdit->style = ES_LEFT | WS_BORDER | WS_TABSTOP | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE;

    lpw = (LPWORD) (lpdit + 1);
    *lpw++ = 0xFFFF;
    *lpw++ = 0x0081;                // edit class atom
    /*lpwsz = (LPWSTR) lpw;
    lstrcpyW(lpwsz, L"Edit");        // button label (Unicode)
    lpw = (LPWORD) (lpwsz + lstrlenW(lpwsz) + 1);*/
    *lpw++ = 0;                      // no creation data



        //-----------------------
    // Define a static text control.
    //-----------------------
    //lpw = lpwAlign(lpw);    // Align DLGITEMTEMPLATE on DWORD boundary
    //lpdit = (LPDLGITEMTEMPLATE)lpw;
    //lpdit->x  = 10; lpdit->y  = 10;
    //lpdit->cx = 20; lpdit->cy = 10;
    //lpdit->id = ID_TEXT;    // Text identifier
    //lpdit->style = WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE/* | SS_LEFT*/ ;
    //lpw = (LPWORD)(lpdit + 1);
    //*lpw++ = 0xFFFF;
    //*lpw++ = 0x0082;        // Static class

    //for (lpwsz = (LPWSTR)lpw; *lpwsz++ = (WCHAR)*lpszMessage++;);
    //lpw = (LPWORD)lpwsz;
    //lpw = lpwAlign(lpw);    // Align creation data on DWORD boundary
    //*lpw++ = 0;            // No creation data

    GlobalUnlock(hgbl);
    ret = DialogBoxIndirect(hinst,
                          (LPDLGTEMPLATE)hgbl,
                          hwndOwner,
                          (DLGPROC)GoToProc);
    GlobalFree(hgbl);
    return ret;
}

---

Why are using dialog templates manually instead of just using a resource editor? You're making it much harder than it needs to be.

gg

Actually, my boss is making this much harder than it needs to be (but he's the one with the checkbook). If I create the dialog box with the resource editor, I cannot get the control to display at all (I posted that earlier).

I have been tasked with creating a text editor that will be completely contained in a dll. My boss wants to pass me a variable that will identify the user, from that point he wants my dll to open a text editor, allow the user to open a text file (view, change, and save it), then exit my dll and return to his application.

I am using Microsoft's example to create a dialog because I could not get a text editing dialog to work (in a dll) when I created it in the resource editor. I can do all of it in a stand alone application with no problem, it is doing it "completely" in a dll that is the issue.

Any ideas?

Using the resource editor, create your dialog resource and compile it into the DLL. In Visual Studio, you're simply editing a resource of/for the DLL project. When you call DialogBox(), the first parameter, hInstance, needs to be the HINSTANCE of your DLL. This is given to you in DllMain() for DLL_PROCESS_ATTACH, which you can save off into a global for later use.

gg

I tried that earlier:

"Ok, I have started from scratch. I created a dll that has one function named DoItAll. It only has three commands. The first displays a message box saying "we're here" the second should display the dialog IDD_DIALOG1, and the third command shows another message box saying " we have passed the dialog call."
I created a simple dialog box that only has two buttons in it, inside this project. Then I built the dll.

From my main program, I load the library and call DoItAll. I see the two message boxes but not the dialog box."

That was when I switched to the template, which got the dialog to display but I cannot add the edit control without causing an error.

Forget about using templates, there's no need.
This is as simple as it gets:

Code:

---

#include <windows.h>
#include "resource.h"

HINSTANCE g_hInst = 0;

BOOL WINAPI DllMain(HINSTANCE hInst, DWORD Reason, LPVOID Reserved)
{
    if (Reason == DLL_PROCESS_ATTACH)
        g_hInst = hInst;
    return TRUE;
}//DllMain

INT_PTR CALLBACK DialogProc(HWND hwndDlg, UINT uMsg,
                            WPARAM wParam, LPARAM lParam)
{
    return FALSE;
}//DialogProc

extern "C" __declspec(dllexport)
LRESULT DisplayMyMessage(HWND hwndOwner)
{
    return (LRESULT)DialogBox(g_hInst, MAKEINTRESOURCE(IDD_DIALOG1),
                              hwndOwner, &DialogProc);
}//DisplayMyMessage

---

That should show your dialog. Start modifying it from there.

gg

I'll give it a shot. Thanks for the help.

Tried it and still got nothing. I added:
MessageBox(NULL,"Inside DiplayMyMessage.","Con2DLL",MB_OK);

just before the return statement and now I see a my message box, so I know I am calling the function correctly, it just will not show a dialog box containing my edit control.

I'll bet your about as frustrated with me as I am with this dll.

Thanks for your efforts.

>> I see a my message box
And if you change the text in the message box and re-compile, do you see the change? Just ensure you're using some old, stagnant copy of the dll...

Post your resource file describing the dialog.

gg

Here is my calling program:

Code:

---

// Win2PRG.cpp : Defines the entry point for the application.
//
#include "stdafx.h"
#include "Win2PRG.h"
#include "commdlg.h"
#define MAXMODULE        50

typedef void (WINAPI*cfunc)();
cfunc DoItAll;
cfunc DisplayMyMessage;

OPENFILENAME ofn;

int APIENTRY _tWinMain(HINSTANCE hInstance,
                    HINSTANCE hPrevInstance,
                    LPTSTR    lpCmdLine,
                    int      nCmdShow)
{
      HINSTANCE hLib=LoadLibrary("Con2DLL.DLL");
      if(hLib==NULL)
          {           
                  MessageBox(NULL,"Unable to load library!","Error",MB_OK);
            return 0;
      }     
          char mod[MAXMODULE];     
          GetModuleFileName((HMODULE)hLib, (LPTSTR)mod, MAXMODULE);
      MessageBox(NULL,"Library Loaded!!","Error",MB_OK);
      DisplayMyMessage =(cfunc)GetProcAddress((HMODULE)hLib, "DisplayMyMessage");
            if((DisplayMyMessage==NULL))
          {           
                  MessageBox(NULL,"Unable to load function(s).","Error",MB_OK);
            FreeLibrary((HMODULE)hLib);
            return 0;
      }     
          DisplayMyMessage();
          FreeLibrary((HMODULE)hLib); 

 }

---

Here is my dll code:

Code:

---

#include <windows.h>
#include "resource.h"

HINSTANCE g_hInst = 0;

BOOL WINAPI DllMain(HINSTANCE hInst, DWORD Reason, LPVOID Reserved )
{
    if (Reason == DLL_PROCESS_ATTACH)
        g_hInst = hInst;
    return TRUE;
}//DllMain

INT_PTR CALLBACK DialogProc(HWND hwndDlg, UINT uMsg,
                            WPARAM wParam, LPARAM lParam)
{
    return FALSE;
}//DialogProc

extern "C" __declspec(dllexport)
LRESULT DisplayMyMessage(HWND hwndOwner)
{
                MessageBox(NULL,"Inside DiplayMyMessage.","Con2DLL",MB_OK);
                DialogBox(g_hInst, MAKEINTRESOURCE(IDD_DIALOG1),
                              hwndOwner, &DialogProc);
    return (LRESULT)DialogBox(g_hInst, MAKEINTRESOURCE(IDD_DIALOG1),
                              hwndOwner, &DialogProc);
}//DisplayMyMessage

---

and here is the text from inside the most recent Con2DLL.rc:

Code:

---

// Microsoft Visual C++ generated resource script.
//
#include "resource.h"

#define APSTUDIO_READONLY_SYMBOLS
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
//
// Generated from the TEXTINCLUDE 2 resource.
//
#include "afxres.h"

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
#undef APSTUDIO_READONLY_SYMBOLS

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// English (U.S.) resources

#if !defined(AFX_RESOURCE_DLL) || defined(AFX_TARG_ENU)
#ifdef _WIN32
LANGUAGE LANG_ENGLISH, SUBLANG_ENGLISH_US
#pragma code_page(1252)
#endif //_WIN32

#ifdef APSTUDIO_INVOKED
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
//
// TEXTINCLUDE
//

1 TEXTINCLUDE
BEGIN
    "resource.h\0"
END

2 TEXTINCLUDE
BEGIN
    "#include ""afxres.h""\r\n"
    "\0"
END

3 TEXTINCLUDE
BEGIN
    "\r\n"
    "\0"
END

#endif    // APSTUDIO_INVOKED


/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
//
// Dialog
//

IDD_DIALOG1 DIALOGEX 0, 0, 236, 158
STYLE DS_LOCALEDIT | DS_SETFONT | DS_FIXEDSYS | WS_CHILD | WS_DISABLED |
    WS_CAPTION | WS_SYSMENU
CAPTION "Property Page"
FONT 8, "MS Shell Dlg", 0, 0, 0x0
BEGIN
    LTEXT          "TODO: layout property page",IDC_STATIC,73,74,90,8
    EDITTEXT        IDC_EDIT1,7,7,222,144,ES_AUTOHSCROLL
END


/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
//
// DESIGNINFO
//

#ifdef APSTUDIO_INVOKED
GUIDELINES DESIGNINFO
BEGIN
    IDD_DIALOG1, DIALOG
    BEGIN
        LEFTMARGIN, 7
        RIGHTMARGIN, 229
        TOPMARGIN, 7
        BOTTOMMARGIN, 151
    END
END
#endif    // APSTUDIO_INVOKED

#endif    // English (U.S.) resources
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////



#ifndef APSTUDIO_INVOKED
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
//
// Generated from the TEXTINCLUDE 3 resource.
//


/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
#endif    // not APSTUDIO_INVOKED

---

I could have been a plumber, ya know!! :)

You have two problems. First, remove WS_CHILD from the dialog. WS_DISABLED probably isn't all that useful either.
Second, you're not declaring the DLL function correctly in the client. Two ways to fix this:

Code:

---

#include <windows.h>

extern "C" __declspec(dllimport)
LRESULT DisplayMyMessage(HWND hwndOwner);

#pragma comment(lib, "Con2DLL.lib")

int main()
{
    DisplayMyMessage(0);
    return 0;
}//main

---

Or...

Code:

---

#include <windows.h>
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

typedef LRESULT (*DisplayMyMessage_pfn)(HWND);

int main()
{
    HMODULE hmod = LoadLibraryA("Con2DLL.dll");
    if (!hmod)
    {
        cerr << "LoadLibrary failed, le = " << GetLastError() << endl;
        return 1;
    }//if

    DisplayMyMessage_pfn dm =
        (DisplayMyMessage_pfn)GetProcAddress(hmod, "DisplayMyMessage");
    if (!dm)
    {
        FreeLibrary(hmod);
        cerr << "GerProcAddress failed, le = " << GetLastError() << endl;
        return 1;
    }//if

    dm(0);

    FreeLibrary(hmod);
    return 0;
}//main

---

gg

I don't know who you are but you're my hero!!!

Thank you soooo much.

I think the main problem was that I was calling it from a Win32 Project instead of a console project in VS.

Thank you for all the time you put into this.

One more question:
How can I change the edit control to a richtext control?

I tried just deleting the edit control and adding the richtext control, but it went back to not displaying my dialog.

I got it, I forgot to load the richedd.dll.