350 Chapter 15: Creating a Custom iTool Widget Interface
Adding a Status Bar iTool Developer’s Guide
Adding a Status Bar
iTool status bars are created using the CW_ITSTATUSBAR compound widget.
Statusbars can be used to display any type of information, but are commonly used to
provide user feedback or information about the item underneath the mouse cursor.
See “Status Messages” on page 287 for additional information on status bars. The
signature of the CW_ITSTATUSBAR function is:
Result = CW_ITSTATUSBAR(Parent, UI [, KEYWORDS])
where:
• Parent is the widget ID of the base widget on which the status bar will be
displayed.
• UI is the user interface object associated with the interface.
• KEYWORDS are keywords either handled explicitly by the widget or passed
through to the widgets that make up the compound widget.
Modifying Status Bar Contents
In many cases, the contents of the status bar are updated automatically based on the
position of the mouse pointer, selected manipulator, or other condition. You can
programmatically update the contents of a status bar using the StatusMessage and
ProbeStatusMessage methods of the IDLitIMessaging class as described in “Status
Messages” on page 287.
Resizing Status Bars
The CW_ITSTATUSBAR compound widget defines a separate procedure,
CW_ITSTATUSBAR_RESIZE, that accepts as an argument the new width of the
status bar. This procedure handles all calculations necessary to properly resize the
status bar, taking into account the number of status bar segments present and any
padding used. See “CW_ITSTATUSBAR” on page 408 for complete details.
