You cannot change the state of a menu item from its command user-interface handler if the menu is attached to a dialog box in Visual C++

1. Add an ON_WM_INITMENUPOPUP entry to the message map:

   BEGIN_MESSAGE_MAP(CTestDlg, CDialog)
   	//}}AFX_MSG_MAP
   
   	ON_WM_INITMENUPOPUP()
   END_MESSAGE_MAP()
   					

2. Add a OnInitMenuPopup member function to your dialog box class and copy the following code (note that this code is taken largely from CFrameWnd::OnInitMenuPopup in WinFrm.cpp):

   void CTestDlg::OnInitMenuPopup(CMenu *pPopupMenu, UINT nIndex,BOOL bSysMenu)
   {
       ASSERT(pPopupMenu != NULL);
       // Check the enabled state of various menu items.
   
       CCmdUI state;
       state.m_pMenu = pPopupMenu;
       ASSERT(state.m_pOther == NULL);
       ASSERT(state.m_pParentMenu == NULL);
   
       // Determine if menu is popup in top-level menu and set m_pOther to
       // it if so (m_pParentMenu == NULL indicates that it is secondary popup).
       HMENU hParentMenu;
       if (AfxGetThreadState()->m_hTrackingMenu == pPopupMenu->m_hMenu)
           state.m_pParentMenu = pPopupMenu;    // Parent == child for tracking popup.
       else if ((hParentMenu = ::GetMenu(m_hWnd)) != NULL)
       {
           CWnd* pParent = this;
              // Child windows don't have menus--need to go to the top!
           if (pParent != NULL &&
              (hParentMenu = ::GetMenu(pParent->m_hWnd)) != NULL)
           {
              int nIndexMax = ::GetMenuItemCount(hParentMenu);
              for (int nIndex = 0; nIndex < nIndexMax; nIndex++)
              {
               if (::GetSubMenu(hParentMenu, nIndex) == pPopupMenu->m_hMenu)
               {
                   // When popup is found, m_pParentMenu is containing menu.
                   state.m_pParentMenu = CMenu::FromHandle(hParentMenu);
                   break;
               }
              }
           }
       }
   
       state.m_nIndexMax = pPopupMenu->GetMenuItemCount();
       for (state.m_nIndex = 0; state.m_nIndex < state.m_nIndexMax;
         state.m_nIndex++)
       {
           state.m_nID = pPopupMenu->GetMenuItemID(state.m_nIndex);
           if (state.m_nID == 0)
              continue; // Menu separator or invalid cmd - ignore it.
   
           ASSERT(state.m_pOther == NULL);
           ASSERT(state.m_pMenu != NULL);
           if (state.m_nID == (UINT)-1)
           {
              // Possibly a popup menu, route to first item of that popup.
              state.m_pSubMenu = pPopupMenu->GetSubMenu(state.m_nIndex);
              if (state.m_pSubMenu == NULL ||
               (state.m_nID = state.m_pSubMenu->GetMenuItemID(0)) == 0 ||
               state.m_nID == (UINT)-1)
              {
               continue;       // First item of popup can't be routed to.
              }
              state.DoUpdate(this, TRUE);   // Popups are never auto disabled.
           }
           else
           {
              // Normal menu item.
              // Auto enable/disable if frame window has m_bAutoMenuEnable
              // set and command is _not_ a system command.
              state.m_pSubMenu = NULL;
              state.DoUpdate(this, FALSE);
           }
   
           // Adjust for menu deletions and additions.
           UINT nCount = pPopupMenu->GetMenuItemCount();
           if (nCount < state.m_nIndexMax)
           {
              state.m_nIndex -= (state.m_nIndexMax - nCount);
              while (state.m_nIndex < nCount &&
               pPopupMenu->GetMenuItemID(state.m_nIndex) == state.m_nID)
              {
               state.m_nIndex++;
              }
           }
           state.m_nIndexMax = nCount;
       }
   }
   					

Back to the top

   // Make sure command has not become disabled before routing.	
   CTestCmdUI state;
   state.m_nID = nID;
   OnCmdMsg(nID, CN_UPDATE_COMMAND_UI, &state, NULL);
   if (!state.m_bEnabled)
   {
      TRACE1("Warning: not executing disabled command %d\n", nID);
      return TRUE;
   }
				

Back to the top

Steps to Reproduce the Behavior

1. Create an MFC dialog-based application by using AppWizard.
2. Create a new menu resource and add the File and File/Exit menu items to it.
3. Set this menu as the menu for the dialog box in the dialog box Properties window. To do this, open the dialog resource in the dialog editor. In the Properties window, click select Menu. The ID of the new menu resource is displayed in the Menu property editor drop-down list.
4. Add an UPDATE_COMMAND_UI handler for File/Exit menu item. To do this, right-clicking File/Exit in the menu editor, and then click Add Event Handler. In the Event Handler wizard, add the UPDATE_COMMAND_UI handler to the project CDialog derived class. Click Add and Edit to create the handler, and then add one of these statements to the generated handler method:

   	pCmdUI->Enable(FALSE); //Not calling the handler, but does not show as disabled
   	pCmdUI->SetCheck(TRUE); // Does not show check mark before the text.
   	pCmdUI->SetRadio(TRUE); // Does not show dot before the text.
   	pCmdUI->SetText("Close"); //Does not change the text.
   					

5. Build and run the application.

Back to the top