PRB: Some VB.EXE Main Menu Commands Invisible at Run Time (73699)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Visual Basic Standard Edition for Windows 1.0
  • Microsoft Visual Basic Standard Edition for Windows 2.0
  • Microsoft Visual Basic Standard Edition for Windows 3.0
  • Microsoft Windows 3.0
This article was previously published under Q73699

SYMPTOMS

If you shrink the width of VB.EXE's main menu (and Properties Bar) such that menu commands automatically wrap to the next line, wrapped menu commands may be invisible at run time in the VB.EXE environment.

WORKAROUND

You can work around this visibility problem by using the ALT key to access the invisible menu commands on the shrunken menu, or by avoiding shrinking the width beyond the point where the menus wrap.

MORE INFORMATION

Steps to Reproduce Problem

  1. Start Visual Basic (VB.EXE).
  2. Place the mouse pointer on the far right side of the Properties Bar such that the mouse changes to a double-headed pointer, ready for resizing the Properties Bar.
  3. Press and hold down the left button of the mouse and drag the right edge of the Properties Bar toward the left side of the screen so that the Bar ends up being about 3 inches in width, then release the mouse button. This should cause the Window and Help menu commands to automatically wrap the next line.
  4. From the Run menu, choose Start, or press F5. The Window and Help menus are now invisible because they are wrapped beyond the edge of their window.
  5. Click the Immediate Window (in the lower right corner) and bring the Immediate Window in front of the Form1 window.
  6. Try bringing up either the Window menu by pressing ALT+W or the Help menu by pressing ALT+H. You will see the appropriate menu on the screen, but it will appear disconnected below the Main Menu (or Properties Bar) even though the menu is still functional. If you don't perform step 5, you won't be able to select the invisible menus with the ALT key (or with the mouse).
This behavior is due to the way that Windows version 3.0 manipulates menus and the design of the Visual Basic version 1.0 for Windows interface. To avoid this behavior, Microsoft recommends keeping the main menu sufficiently wide so that menus are not wrapped.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:12/12/2003
Keywords:kbprb KB73699
©2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.