[VBnet Text API] SendMessage: Align Text Box Contents Using Tabstops


	Visual Basic Text API Routines SendMessage: Align Text Box Contents Using Tabstops

Posted:	Wednesday January 8, 1997
Updated:	Monday December 26, 2011

Applies to:	VB4-32, VB5, VB6, and VB2, VB3 and VB4-16 with appropriate declarations
Developed with:	VB4-32, Windows 95
OS restrictions:	None
Author:	VBnet - Randy Birch

Related:	VBnet CoolTabs GetTextExtentPoint32: Right-Align List Box Data SetWindowLong: Right-Align List Box Data and/or the Scrollbar SetWindowLong: Right-Align List Contents in a Combo SendMessage: Align Text Box Contents Using Tabstops SendMessage: Align List Box Contents Using Tabstops WM_LBUTTONDOWN: Substitute a Tabbed List for a Combo's Dropdown List WM_LBUTTONDOWN: Substitute a ListView for a Combo's Dropdown List

Prerequisites

None.

Like its sister List box method above, this routine sets tabstops in a Textbox (or RichTextBox).

BAS Module Code

None.

Form Code

This demonstrates calling the method from the textbox Load event. For a project with many textboxes having individual tabstop settings, the Load code below could be incorporated into its own routine where the textbox is passed as a parameter.:

Option Explicit

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Private Declare Function SendMessage Lib "user32" _
   Alias "SendMessageA" _
  (ByVal hwnd As Long, _ 
   ByVal wMsg As Long, _ 
   ByVal wParam As Long, _
   lParam As Any) As Long

Private Const EM_SETTABSTOPS = &HCB


Sub Form_Load()
 
   'set up the tabstops 
    ReDim tabstop(0 To 2) As Long
  
   'assign values to the tabs for the second, third and fourth 
   'column (the initial text is flush against the text box edge)
    tabstop(0) = 90
    tabstop(1) = 130
    tabstop(2) = 185
  
   'set the tabs
    Call SendMessage(Text1.hwnd, EM_SETTABSTOPS, 3, tabstop(0))
    Text1.Refresh

End Sub

Comments

Once a set of tabstops are set, they remain set even after clearing a textbox. To clear (reset) the tabstops to the default settings, call SendMessage with EM_SETTABSTOPS passing ByVal 0& as both wParam and lParam.

The values assigned to the tabstop array may appear somewhat arbitrary. In fact, they are based on a control's measurement system - 'dialog units'. Computing the dialog units for occasional use is not a trivial task, so I have created a tabstop-creating utility to do the work for you. Check out the VBnet CoolTabs page for more information.

The wParam and lParam members of the SendMessage call as used above mean:

wParam: 3 - the total number of tabstops to set.
lParam: tabstop(0) - the array of tabstops with the index passed representing the first tabstop to use.

To populate the Textbox, use the tab character between strings when adding items ...

Text1.Text = item1 & vbTab & item2 & vbTab & item3 & vbTab & item4

vbTab is a 32-bit VB-defined constant; users of VB2 or 3 should use instead either chr$(9), or define your own variable for the tab character, i.e. tb = chr$(9). Remember that the word ' Tab ' is a reserved keyword in all versions of Visual Basic.

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