HOWTO: How To Disable Push Buttons on a DialogBar in MFC

Push-button controls on a DialogBar cannot be disabled by calling EnableWindow. The following code has no effect: This article describes how to implement push-button controls that can be disabled.

Controls on a DialogBar behave like the bitmaps on a Toolbar. They can be enabled or disabled by manually adding an ON_UPDATE_COMMAND_UI within the message map of the appropriate class (such as CMainFrame).

Step-by-Step Example

After you have placed a control on your DialogBar, such as a push-button with a resource ID of IDC_BUTTON1, use the following steps to manage the state of the control:

1. Within the declaration of your class, add the declaration for a handler function:

      afx_msg void OnUpdateButton1(CCmdUI* pCmdUI);
   						

2. Within the implementation of your class, add a manual entry in the message map:

      BEGIN_MESSAGE_MAP(CMainFrame, CMDIFrameWnd)
          //{{AFX_MSG_MAP(CMainFrame)
          ...
          //}}AFX_MSG_MAP
          ON_UPDATE_COMMAND_UI(IDC_BUTTON1, OnUpdateButton1)
      END_MESSAGE_MAP()
   						

3. Provide the definition of the handler function, as follows:

      void CMainFrame::OnUpdateButton1(CCmdUI* pCmdUI)
      {
          pCmdUI->Enable( TRUE );
      }