The "tree view" common control does not have any built-in method for
searching the entire tree, or for selecting an item contained within the
tree when given a specific item label. This article provides code that
returns the location of any item in a tree when given a specific label to
search for.
The GetItemByName() function takes the window handle of the tree control,
HTREEITEM, which points to the item in the tree to start searching and a
string for which to search.
Back to the top
Sample Code
#include <windows.h>
#include <commctrl.h>
// Note: If you have items with more than 50 characters
// of text, you'll need to increase this value.
#define MAXTEXTLEN 50
HTREEITEM GetItemByName(HWND hWnd, HTREEITEM hItem,
LPCTSTR szItemName)
{
// If hItem is NULL, start search from root item.
if (hItem == NULL)
hItem = (HTREEITEM)SendMessage(hWnd, TVM_GETNEXTITEM,
TVGN_ROOT, 0);
while (hItem != NULL)
{
char szBuffer[MAXTEXTLEN+1];
TV_ITEM item;
item.hItem = hItem;
item.mask = TVIF_TEXT | TVIF_CHILDREN;
item.pszText = szBuffer;
item.cchTextMax = MAXTEXTLEN;
SendMessage(hWnd, TVM_GETITEM, 0, (LPARAM)&item);
// Did we find it?
if (lstrcmp(szBuffer, szItemName) == 0)
return hItem;
// Check whether we have child items.
if (item.cChildren)
{
// Recursively traverse child items.
HTREEITEM hItemFound, hItemChild;
hItemChild = (HTREEITEM)SendMessage(hWnd, TVM_GETNEXTITEM,
TVGN_CHILD, (LPARAM)hItem);
hItemFound = GetItemByName(hWnd, hItemChild, szItemName);
// Did we find it?
if (hItemFound != NULL)
return hItemFound;
}
// Go to next sibling item.
hItem = (HTREEITEM)SendMessage(hWnd, TVM_GETNEXTITEM,
TVGN_NEXT, (LPARAM)hItem);
}
// Not found.
return NULL;
}
For example, to search the entire tree for the word "Jeff" and then
highlight that word, you can use the following code:
Using Windows SDK:
HTREEITEM hItem;
hItem = GetItemByName(hWndTreeCtrl, NULL, "Jeff");
if (hItem != NULL)
SendMessage(hWndTreeCtrl, TVM_SELECTITEM, TVGN_CARET,
(LPARAM)hItem);
Using MFC:
HTREEITEM hItem = GetItemByName(m_TreeCtrl.GetSafeHwnd(),
NULL, "Jeff");
if (hItem != NULL)
m_TreeCtrl.SelectItem(hItem);
Back to the top
This article was written about products for which Microsoft no longer offers support. Therefore, this article is offered "as is" and will no longer be updated.
Help and Support
