Binaryworld - How to apply the flat style to a toolbar ... [ VB -> Windows Common Controls ]

All recent Windows applications use a flat toolbar similar to Internet Explorer 's and Microsoft Word's ones. Visual Basic 6 includes a Toolbar control that supports the flat look, but if you are still using VB4 or VB5 and you want to use a flat toolbar without buying a new ActiveX control, you just have to use SetWindowLong API function to add the flat style to your existing toolbar.

As you see, the code is really simple. First, you must retrive the current style of the control using GetWindowLong, than you add the flat style to the current one using Or operator, and finally you set the new style using SetWindowLong. Let's see an example:

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Private Declare Function GetWindow Lib "user32" (ByVal hwnd As Long, _
  ByVal wCmd As Long) As Long
Private Declare Function GetWindowLong Lib "user32" Alias "GetWindowLongA" _
  (ByVal hwnd As Long, ByVal nIndex As Long) As Long
Private Declare Function SetWindowLong Lib "user32" Alias "SetWindowLongA" _
  (ByVal hwnd As Long, ByVal nIndex As Long, ByVal dwNewLong As Long) As Long

Private Const GW_CHILD = 5
Private Const GWL_STYLE = (-16)
Private Const TB_STYLE_FLAT = &H848

Private Sub Form_Load()
  Dim hToolbar As Long
  hToolbar = GetWindow(tbarMyToolbar.hwnd, GW_CHILD)
  SetWindowLong hToolbar, GWL_STYLE, GetWindowLong(hToolbar, _
    GWL_STYLE) Or TB_STYLE_FLAT
End Sub