hbrBackground (WNDCLASSEX) problems in Windows XP

I've been having some trouble getting my window to have the standard background colour when Windows XP themes are enabled.

If I set the hbrBackground to COLOR_WINDOW when I have the classic Windows standard theme on, my window's background colour is the same as any other normal window background (for example a message box).

When I switch on a Windows XP theme, Windows then seems to interpret COLOR_WINDOW and COLOR_WINDOW+1 as both white. I've tried all the likely colour constants I can think of and none of them are what I'm looking for.

The colour that I'm after is the colour which is set in the following location in Windows XP:

Control Panel -> Display -> Appearance -> Advanced -> 3D Objects

Can anyone help me out on this one?

I've done a forum search but nothing has come up relating exactly to my problem.

Thanks for the help,

Daniel

Is there supposed to be a difference between COLOR_WINDOW and COLOR_WINDOW + 1? Do other constants result in different colors?

I've had trouble in the past with XP themes and visual appearance. It seems the theme system was not completed adequately, and as a result strange behavior often occurs.

Using Windows XP Visual Styles

gg

I'm not sure whether that article is what I'm looking for since it is mainly talking about how to use the new XP common controls, but I'm going to have a good look when I get some time later. Thanks Codeplug.

I'm wondering what old pre-Windows XP application windows use as their hbrBackground property because Windows XP doesn't display all pre-Windows XP application windows with a white background, which is what my app is doing.

dan

You're looking for COLOR_BTNFACE.

Code:

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wc.hbrBackground = (HBRUSH) (COLOR_BTNFACE + 1);

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