FIX: Cannot Disable UserControl on Modal Form (171972)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Visual Basic Control Creation Edition for Windows 5.0
  • Microsoft Visual Basic Learning Edition for Windows 5.0
  • Microsoft Visual Basic Professional Edition for Windows 5.0
  • Microsoft Visual Basic Enterprise Edition for Windows 5.0
This article was previously published under Q171972

SYMPTOMS

A UserControl created in Visual Basic and placed on a form that is opened modally does not respond to attempts made to disable it. Setting the Enabled property of the control behaves as expected on a non-modal form, but setting Enabled = False on a modal form has no effect.

RESOLUTION

You can use the Windows API function EnableWindow to enable/disable the ActiveX control.

  1. In the General Declaration section of the module, place the following declaration: (This must be declared as Private if it is included in a form module.) 
          Private Declare Function EnableWindow Lib "user32" Alias _
         "EnableWindow" (ByVal hwnd As Long, ByVal fEnable As Long) As Long
  2. The hWnd property, like all UserControl properties, requires a public property method to expose the property as part of the object's interface. Since you will not be setting a value, the Property Get is all that is needed. 
          Public Property Get hWnd() as Long
         hWnd=UserControl.hWnd
      End Property
  3. Next, you need to associate this method with the hWnd property of the control:

    1. From the Tools menu, select Procedure Attributes.
    2. Select "hWnd" from the Name drop-down list.
    3. Click the Advanced button.
    4. From the Procedure ID drop-down list, choose "hWnd." Click OK.
  4. The EnableWindow function can now be called to enable or disable the UserControl. To disable the UserControl: 
          Dim result as Long
      result = EnableWindow(Me.UserControl1.hWnd, 0)
    To enable the UserControl: 
          Dim result as Long
      result = EnableWindow(Me.UserControl1.hWnd, 1)

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a bug in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. This bug has been fixed in Visual Basic 6.0.

MORE INFORMATION

Steps to Reproduce Behavior

  1. Create a new "ActiveX Control" project.
  2. Add the following code to the UserControl: 
          Public Property Get enabled() As Boolean
           enabled = UserControl.enabled
      End Property

      Public Property Let enabled(vNewValue As Boolean)
           UserControl.enabled = vNewValue
      End Property

      Private Sub UserControl_Click()
          MsgBox "Control is not Disabled."
      End Sub
  3. From the Tools menu, select Procedure Attributes.
  4. Click the Advanced button.
  5. From the Procedure ID drop-down, chose "Enabled." Click OK.
  6. Add a "Standard EXE" project.
  7. Close the UserControl window, and add the UserControl to Form1.
  8. Add two CommandButtons to Form1. Set the following properties. 
          Name: Command1    Caption: "Enable Control"
      Name: Command2    Caption: "Disable Control"
  9. Add the following code to Form1. 
          Private Sub Command1_Click()
         Me.UserControl11.Enabled = True
      End Sub

      Private Sub Command2_Click()
         Me.UserControl11.Enabled = False
      End Sub
  10. Add a standard module to the project.
  11. Add the following code to Module1: 
          Public Sub Main()
             Form1.Show vbModal
           End Sub
  12. Run the project.
  13. Note that clicking on the button labeled "Disable Control" does not prevent the message box from appearing when the UserControl is clicked.
  14. Stop the project and open Module1.
  15. In Sub Main(), change: 
           Form1.Show vbModal
    to: 
           Form1.Show
  16. Run the project again, and note that the "Disable Control" button now functions as expected and the message box does not appear.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:12/10/2003
Keywords:kbbug kbfix KB171972
©2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.