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A-Shell Consolidated Reference

Updated February 2015

Parameter winstylex (Integer) provides another set of flags of the same type as winstyle. These correspond to the dwStyleEx parameter in the WIN32 API CreateWindowsEx() function.

For what it’s worth, the addition of this second set of flags is what distinguishes CreateWindowEx() from the earlier CreateWindow(); even Microsoft is guilty of not seeing far enough into the future to prevent having to add more parameters to functions over time. We have the advantage, though, of being able to use variable length argument lists, so at least we do not have to create a whole new "Ex" version of a function just to add another parameter.

Symbol

Value

Description

WS_EX_DLGMODALFRAME

&h00000001

The window has a double border; the window can, optionally, be created with a title bar by specifying the WS_CAPTION style in the dwStyle parameter.

WS_EX_NOPARENTNOTIFY

&h00000004

The child window created with this style does not send the WM_PARENTNOTIFY message to its parent window when it is created or destroyed.

WS_EX_TOPMOST

&h00000008

The window should be placed above all non-topmost windows and should stay above them, even when the window is deactivated. To add or remove this style, use the SetWindowPos function.

WS_EX_ACCEPTFILES

&h00000010

The window accepts drag-drop files.

WS_EX_TRANSPARENT

&h00000020

The window should not be painted until siblings beneath the window (that were created by the same thread) have been painted. The window appears transparent because the bits of underlying sibling windows have already been painted.

WS_EX_TOOLWINDOW

&h00000080

The window is intended to be used as a floating toolbar. A tool window has a title bar that is shorter than a normal title bar, and the window title is drawn using a smaller font. A tool window does not appear in the taskbar or in the dialog that appears when the user presses ALT+TAB. If a tool window has a system menu, its icon is not displayed on the title bar. However, you can display the system menu by right-clicking or by typing ALT+SPACE.

WS_EX_WINDOWEDGE

&h00000100

The window has a border with a raised edge.

WS_EX_CLIENTEDGE

&h00000200

The window has a border with a sunken edge.

WS_EX_CONTEXTHELP

&h00000400

Adds a "?" button to the right end of the capture bar of a dialog; clicking the button sends exitcode -70. Note that in order to use this feature, you must specify MBF_SYSMENU but not either of the min/max buttons.

WS_EX_STATICEDGE

&h00200000

The window has a three-dimensional border style intended to be used for items that do not accept user input.

WS_EX_STATICEDGE

&h00800000

The window is layered.  (This is an advanced Windows variation mainly relevant for windows with complex drawing requirements, shape, blending, etc.   Consult the Windows API documentation for more details.

Hex-Decimal Values

 

History

2015 February, A-Shell 1403:  Improve operation of WS_EX_CONTEXTHELP.