BUG: Default Dialog-Based Application Doesn't Work in Win32s (138971)

The information in this article applies to:

The AppWizard, when used with:
- Microsoft Visual C++, 32-bit Editions 4.0
- Microsoft Visual C++, 32-bit Editions 4.1

This article was previously published under Q138971

SYMPTOMS

A dialog-based application generated using AppWizard will not run properly under Win32s.

CAUSE

When AppWizard generates a dialog-based application, it uses a DIALOGEX resource for the main dialog. Win32s, however, does not support DIALOGEX resources. As a result, the dialog box looks incorrect on Win32s. This problem is documented in the Vcread.wri file that ships with Visual C++ version 4.0 and 4.1.

RESOLUTION

To get your dialog-based application working in Win32s, you must change the DIALOGEX resource to a DIALOG resource, and remove the WS_EX_APPWINDOW style. This can be done as follows:

Open the .rc file as a text file
Search for the DIALOGEX statement and change DIALOGEX to DIALOG.
Remove the line containing the extended style WS_EX_APPWINDOW for this dialog box.
In OnInitDialog() for the main dialog, add the extended style by adding the following line: ModifyStyleEx(0, WS_EX_APPWINDOW);

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a bug in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. We are researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as soon as it becomes available.

Visual C++ versions 4.2 and later do not support building Win32s applications.

MORE INFORMATION

The following is from the .rc file for a dialog-based application:

   ...
   IDD_DIALOGBASED_DIALOG DIALOGEX  0, 0, 185, 92
   STYLE DS_MODALFRAME | WS_POPUP | WS_VISIBLE | WS_CAPTION
   | WS_SYSMENU
   EXSTYLE WS_EX_APPWINDOW
   ...

After the changes, these lines should look like this:

   ...
   IDD_DIALOGBASED_DIALOG DIALOG  0, 0, 185, 92
   STYLE DS_MODALFRAME | WS_POPUP | WS_VISIBLE | WS_CAPTION
   | WS_SYSMENU
   ...

REFERENCES

Visual C++ version 4.0 Vcread.wri file.

Modification Type:	Major	Last Reviewed:	10/24/2003
Keywords:	kbBug kbProgramming kbui kbwizard KB138971