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Status Bar in COM Interop

Right, so here's a nice complex question for you all...

I have a .NET implementation of a namespace extension framework that I've modified to return the IntPtr (handle) to the Explorer Status Bar control using IShellBrowser::GetControlWindow() with FCW_STATUS.

I retrieve the handle and it's not equivalent to IntPtr.Zero.

The problem lies in that I use the .NET StatusBar control and perform the following call:

Code Snippet

IntPtr statusBarHandle = this.GetStatusBarHandle(); //Does the GetControlWindow() call
StatusBar status = (StatusBar) StatusBar.FromHandle(statusBarHandle);

"status" is always null, but the handle is obviously valid as the MSDN documentation on GetControlWindow() states that if a control cannot be accessed that the handle returned will be NULL.

So what I'm essentially asking is this: How do I take the handle I receive back from GetControlWindow() and bind it to a .NET control which I can then manipulate?

Toadflakz Thursday, July 19, 2007 8:04 AM

The only option you have is NativeWindow. Create a derived class from it and bind it to the shell control handle with the Attach() method. Override WndProc() to process the windows messages.

nobugz Friday, July 20, 2007 12:31 PM

Control.FromHandle() can only return managed Control instances that were created with the "new" operator and were instantiated by their CreateHandle() method. Are you confusing a native shell taskbar with a .NET StatusBar control?

nobugz Thursday, July 19, 2007 4:02 PM

I think I might be then... Is there anyway to bind that native shell control to a .NET control in order to manipulate it? Or am I going to have to write a COM ATL/MFC component to do that for me?

Toadflakz Friday, July 20, 2007 7:35 AM

The only option you have is NativeWindow. Create a derived class from it and bind it to the shell control handle with the Attach() method. Override WndProc() to process the windows messages.

nobugz Friday, July 20, 2007 12:31 PM

You can use google to search for other answers

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