Create new combo boxes based on items selected in preview combo box

I am trying to write a very simple Windows Forms application program using Visual C++ 2005. The title says it all but I would like to expand on it a little.

What I am ultimately trying to do, is give a list of several different options (through the drop down combo boxes) that lead to more options (more combo boxes). For example, lets say that I have 1 combo box to start with 2 items in the list (yes and no). I need to be able to create a new combo box with their own unique items based on what was selected. If 'yes' was selected then I need to create a combo box that lists 4 or 5 items. If 'no' is selected then I need to create a different combo box with 1 or 2 items.

Ultimately, when all the required choices have been made, I need to print out the answers chosen to a file.

I am not new to programming but I am new to using Visual C++ 2005 (I am used to using Dev-C++ and Code::Blocks). Windows programming is a bit new to me as well (currently on chapter 3 of "Programming Windows" by Charles Petzold). So , here is a summary of what I am needing to know.

1. How do I create a combo box based on which item was selected from a previous combo box.

2. What is the least time consuming way of writing all of the chosen answers to a file?

3. Reading the book I listed above, am I on the right track to learning how to use and code with Visual C++ 2005?

Ok, after spending several days toying with this I managed to figure out part of the problem myself.

Instead of creating new combo boxes based on the items selected in a previous combo box I changed it up a bit. I have 1 combo box with a list of several items (labled 1-5 for simplicity reasons). Then I have a series of checkboxes that are disabled (Enabled = false). Then I just plugged in this code and got the results I was looking for ...

Code:

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private: System::Void comboBox1_SelectedIndexChanged(System::Object^  sender, System::EventArgs^  e) {
                                if (this->comboBox1->Text == "1"){
                                        this->checkBox1->Enabled = true;
                                  }
                                else {
                                        this->checkBox1->Enabled = false;
                                }
                        }

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For the first time I would like to thank everyone for not helping me so far. I learned a lot of things (like how much normal C++ works with Visual C++ 2005 almost flawlessly). I guess thats the magic of .NET?

Anyhow, part of the problem still remains. I need to collect all the information from ComboBoxes, CheckBoxes and TextBoxes and output all the information into a file. Since I pretty much know how to get variables and values to a file with C++ I don't think I should have to much trouble doing it with Visual C++. :)

Oh the irony! Thanks for nothing! :)

Is this what you're attempting to accomplish?

Code:

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#pragma comment( lib, "user32.lib" )

#include <windows.h>
#include <string.h>

#define ID_LIST 1
#define ID_TEXT 2

LRESULT CALLBACK WindowProcedure (HWND, UINT, WPARAM, LPARAM);

char szClassName[ ] = "ComboBox App";


int WINAPI WinMain (HINSTANCE hThisInstance,
                                        HINSTANCE hPrevInstance,
                                        LPSTR lpszArgument,
                                        int nCmdShow)
{
        HWND hwnd;           
        MSG messages;         
        WNDCLASSEX wincl;     
        wincl.hInstance = hThisInstance;
        wincl.lpszClassName = szClassName;
        wincl.lpfnWndProc = WindowProcedure;   
        wincl.style = CS_DBLCLKS;             
        wincl.cbSize = sizeof (WNDCLASSEX);
        wincl.hIcon = LoadIcon (NULL, IDI_APPLICATION);
        wincl.hIconSm = LoadIcon (NULL, IDI_APPLICATION);
        wincl.hCursor = LoadCursor (NULL, IDC_ARROW);
        wincl.lpszMenuName = NULL;             
        wincl.cbClsExtra = 0;                 
        wincl.cbWndExtra = 0;                 
        wincl.hbrBackground = (HBRUSH) COLOR_BACKGROUND;
        if (!RegisterClassEx (&wincl))
                return 0;
        hwnd = CreateWindowEx (
                0,               
                szClassName,     
                "ComboBox App",   
                WS_OVERLAPPEDWINDOW,
                CW_USEDEFAULT,     
                CW_USEDEFAULT,     
                544,               
                375,               
                HWND_DESKTOP,     
                NULL,             
                hThisInstance,     
                NULL               
                );
        ShowWindow (hwnd, nCmdShow);

        while (GetMessage (&messages, NULL, 0, 0))
        {
                TranslateMessage(&messages);
                DispatchMessage(&messages);
        }
        return messages.wParam;
}

void FillListBox(HWND hwndList, DWORD items)
{
        TCHAR *pVarName1[] = {"Yes", "No"};
        TCHAR *pVarName2[] = {"Yes_1","No_1" };
        TCHAR *pVarName3[] = {"No_1_Second", "No_2_Second","No_3_second", "Go to Finished" };
        TCHAR *pVarName4[] = {"Yes_1_Second", "Yes_2_Second","Yes_3_Second", "Go to Finished" };
        TCHAR *pVarName5[] = {"Terminate App", "Go Back to Start"};
        switch(items)
        {
                case 1:
                        SendMessage( hwndList, CB_RESETCONTENT, 0, 0 );
                        for(int i=0; i<2; i++)
                                SendMessage(hwndList, CB_ADDSTRING, 0, (LPARAM)pVarName1[i]);
                        SendMessage(hwndList, CB_SETCURSEL, 0, 0);
                        break;
                case 2:
                        SendMessage( hwndList, CB_RESETCONTENT, 0, 0 );
                        for(int i=0; i<2; i++)
                                SendMessage(hwndList, CB_ADDSTRING, 0, (LPARAM)pVarName2[i]);
                        SendMessage(hwndList, CB_SETCURSEL, 0, 0);
                        break;
                case 3:
                        SendMessage( hwndList, CB_RESETCONTENT, 0, 0 );
                        for(int i=0; i<4; i++)
                                SendMessage(hwndList, CB_ADDSTRING, 0, (LPARAM)pVarName3[i]);
                        SendMessage(hwndList, CB_SETCURSEL, 0, 0);
                        break;
                case 4:
                        SendMessage( hwndList, CB_RESETCONTENT, 0, 0 );
                        for(int i=0; i<4; i++)
                                SendMessage(hwndList, CB_ADDSTRING, 0, (LPARAM)pVarName4[i]);
                        SendMessage(hwndList, CB_SETCURSEL, 0, 0);
                        break;
                case 5:
                        SendMessage( hwndList, CB_RESETCONTENT, 0, 0 );
                        for(int i=0; i<2; i++)
                                SendMessage(hwndList, CB_ADDSTRING, 0, (LPARAM)pVarName5[i]);
                        SendMessage(hwndList, CB_SETCURSEL, 0, 0);
                        break;
                default:
                        break;
        }
}

LRESULT CALLBACK WindowProcedure (HWND hwnd, UINT message, WPARAM wParam, LPARAM lParam)
{
        static HWND hwndList, hwndText;
        int iIndex, iLength, cxChar, cyChar;
        TCHAR pVarName[30];
        switch (message)                  /* handle the messages */
        {
                case WM_CREATE:
                        cxChar = LOWORD(GetDialogBaseUnits());
                        cyChar = HIWORD(GetDialogBaseUnits());
                        hwndText = CreateWindow(TEXT("static"),NULL, WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE |
                                SS_LEFT, cxChar, cyChar,
                                GetSystemMetrics(SM_CXSCREEN), cyChar,
                                hwnd, (HMENU)ID_TEXT,
                                (HINSTANCE)GetWindowLong(hwnd, GWL_HINSTANCE),
                                NULL);
                        hwndList =  CreateWindow(TEXT("Combobox"), NULL, WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE |
                                LBS_STANDARD, cxChar, cyChar*3,
                                cxChar*16 + GetSystemMetrics(SM_CXVSCROLL),
                                cyChar*5, hwnd, (HMENU)ID_LIST,
                                (HINSTANCE)GetWindowLong(hwnd, GWL_HINSTANCE),
                                NULL);
                        FillListBox(hwndList, 1);

                        GetWindowText(hwndList, pVarName, 30);
                        SetWindowText(hwndText, pVarName);
                        return 0;

                case WM_COMMAND:

                        if( LOWORD(wParam)==ID_LIST && HIWORD(wParam)==CBN_SELCHANGE)
                        {
                                GetWindowText(hwndList, pVarName, 30);     
                                if( strcmp(pVarName,"Yes") == 0)
                                {
                                        SetWindowText(hwndText, pVarName);
                                        FillListBox(hwndList, 2);
                                }
                                else if( strcmp(pVarName,"No") == 0)
                                {
                                        SetWindowText(hwndText, pVarName);
                                        FillListBox(hwndList, 3);
                                }
                                else if( strcmp(pVarName,"Yes_1") == 0)
                                {
                                        SetWindowText(hwndText, pVarName);
                                        FillListBox(hwndList, 4);
                                }
                                else if( strcmp(pVarName,"Go to Finished") == 0)
                                {
                                        SetWindowText(hwndText, pVarName);
                                        FillListBox(hwndList, 5);
                                }
                                else if( strcmp(pVarName,"Go Back to Start") == 0)
                                {
                                        SetWindowText(hwndText, pVarName);
                                        FillListBox(hwndList, 1);
                                }
                                else if( strcmp(pVarName,"Terminate App") == 0)
                                {
                                        SetWindowText(hwndText, "App to be terminated");       
                                        MessageBox(NULL, "We Will Terminate App", "TERMINATE", MB_OK);
                                        PostQuitMessage (0); 
                                }
                                else    SetWindowText(hwndText, pVarName);
                        } 
                        return 0;   

                case WM_DESTROY:
                        PostQuitMessage (0);      /* send a WM_QUIT to the message queue */
                        break;
                default:
                        return DefWindowProc (hwnd, message, wParam, lParam);
        }
        return 0;
}

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