TextBoxW Control

Provides an enhanced text box with support for Unicode, password characters, balloon tips, network address validation, drag-and-drop files, and OLE drag-and-drop.

Enumerations

TxtCharacterCasingConstants

Character casing constants.

Constant	Value	Description
TxtCharacterCasingNormal	0	Normal (no case conversion)
TxtCharacterCasingUpper	1	Convert to uppercase
TxtCharacterCasingLower	2	Convert to lowercase

TxtIconConstants

Balloon tip icon constants.

Constant	Value	Description
TxtIconNone	0	No icon
TxtIconInfo	1	Information icon
TxtIconWarning	2	Warning icon
TxtIconError	3	Error icon

TxtNetAddressFormatConstants

Network address format constants.

Constant	Value	Description
TxtNetAddressFormatString	0	String format
TxtNetAddressFormatHostName	1	Host name format
TxtNetAddressFormatIPv4	2	IPv4 format
TxtNetAddressFormatIPv6	3	IPv6 format

TxtNetAddressTypeConstants

Network address type constants.

Constant	Value	Description
TxtNetAddressTypeNone	0	None
TxtNetAddressTypeIPv4	1	IPv4 address
TxtNetAddressTypeIPv6	2	IPv6 address
TxtNetAddressTypeIPv6WithScope	3	IPv6 address with scope
TxtNetAddressTypeDNS	4	DNS name
TxtNetAddressTypeNetBIOS	5	NetBIOS name
TxtNetAddressTypeUnspecified	6	Unspecified type
TxtNetAddressTypeNamedPipe	7	Named pipe
TxtNetAddressTypeEmailAddress	8	Email address
TxtNetAddressTypeURL	9	URL address
TxtNetAddressTypeURLKnownSuffix	10	URL with known suffix
TxtNetAddressTypeFriendlyDNS	11	Friendly DNS name
TxtNetAddressTypeDNSSimpleLabel	12	Single-label DNS name
TxtNetAddressTypeAddressMask	13	Address mask
TxtNetAddressTypeFileName	14	File name
TxtNetAddressTypeAny	15	Any address
TxtNetAddressTypeAnyLocal	16	Any local address
TxtNetAddressTypeIPv4MappedIPv6	17	IPv4-mapped IPv6 address
TxtNetAddressTypeIPv4TranslatedIPv6	18	IPv4-translated IPv6 address
TxtNetAddressTypeIPv4TeredoIPv6	19	Teredo IPv6 address

Properties

Name

Public Property Get Name() As String

Returns the name used to identify the object in code.

Tag

Public Property Get Tag() As String
Public Property Let Tag(ByVal Value As String)

Stores extra data needed by the program.

Parent

Public Property Get Parent() As Object

Returns the object that contains the object.

Container

Public Property Get Container() As Object
Public Property Set Container(ByVal Value As Object)

Returns/sets the container of the object.

Left

Public Property Get Left() As Single
Public Property Let Left(ByVal Value As Single)

Returns/sets the distance between the internal left edge of the object and the left edge of its container.

Top

Public Property Get Top() As Single
Public Property Let Top(ByVal Value As Single)

Returns/sets the distance between the internal top edge of the object and the top edge of its container.

Width

Public Property Get Width() As Single
Public Property Let Width(ByVal Value As Single)

Returns/sets the width of the object.

Height

Public Property Get Height() As Single
Public Property Let Height(ByVal Value As Single)

Returns/sets the height of the object.

Visible

Public Property Get Visible() As Boolean
Public Property Let Visible(ByVal Value As Boolean)

Returns/sets whether the object is visible.

ToolTipText

Public Property Get ToolTipText() As String
Public Property Let ToolTipText(ByVal Value As String)

Returns/sets the tooltip text displayed when the mouse hovers.

WhatsThisHelpID

Public Property Get WhatsThisHelpID() As Long
Public Property Let WhatsThisHelpID(ByVal Value As Long)

Returns/sets the associated context help ID.

DragIcon

Public Property Get DragIcon() As IPictureDisp
Public Property Let DragIcon(ByVal Value As IPictureDisp)
Public Property Set DragIcon(ByVal Value As IPictureDisp)

Returns/sets the icon displayed during drag-and-drop operations.

DragMode

Public Property Get DragMode() As Integer
Public Property Let DragMode(ByVal Value As Integer)

Returns/sets the drag mode (manual or automatic).

hWnd

Public Property Get hWnd() As LongPtr

Returns the control handle.

hWndUserControl

Public Property Get hWndUserControl() As LongPtr

Returns the UserControl handle.

Font

Public Property Get Font() As StdFont
Public Property Let Font(ByVal NewFont As StdFont)
Public Property Set Font(ByVal NewFont As StdFont)

Returns/sets the font.

VisualStyles

Public Property Get VisualStyles() As Boolean
Public Property Let VisualStyles(ByVal Value As Boolean)

Returns/sets whether visual styles are enabled. Requires comctl32.dll version 6.0 or later.

BackColor

Public Property Get BackColor() As OLE_COLOR
Public Property Let BackColor(ByVal Value As OLE_COLOR)

Returns/sets the background color.

ForeColor

Public Property Get ForeColor() As OLE_COLOR
Public Property Let ForeColor(ByVal Value As OLE_COLOR)

Returns/sets the foreground color.

Enabled

Public Property Get Enabled() As Boolean
Public Property Let Enabled(ByVal Value As Boolean)

Returns/sets whether the object can respond to user events.

AllowDropFiles

Public Property Get AllowDropFiles() As Boolean
Public Property Let AllowDropFiles(ByVal Value As Boolean)

Returns/sets whether drag-and-drop files are allowed.

OLEDragMode

Public Property Get OLEDragMode() As Integer
Public Property Let OLEDragMode(ByVal Value As Integer)

Returns/sets the OLE drag mode.

OLEDragDropScroll

Public Property Get OLEDragDropScroll() As Boolean
Public Property Let OLEDragDropScroll(ByVal Value As Boolean)

Returns/sets whether auto-scrolling is enabled during OLE drag-and-drop.

OLEDropMode

Public Property Get OLEDropMode() As OLEDropModeConstants
Public Property Let OLEDropMode(ByVal Value As OLEDropModeConstants)

Returns/sets whether the object can act as an OLE drop target.

MousePointer

Public Property Get MousePointer() As CCMousePointerConstants
Public Property Let MousePointer(ByVal Value As CCMousePointerConstants)

Returns/sets the type of mouse pointer displayed when the mouse hovers. See common enumerations.

MouseIcon

Public Property Get MouseIcon() As IPictureDisp
Public Property Let MouseIcon(ByVal Value As IPictureDisp)
Public Property Set MouseIcon(ByVal Value As IPictureDisp)

Returns/sets the custom mouse icon.

MouseTrack

Public Property Get MouseTrack() As Boolean
Public Property Let MouseTrack(ByVal Value As Boolean)

Returns/sets whether events are triggered when the mouse enters or leaves the control.

RightToLeft

Public Property Get RightToLeft() As Boolean
Public Property Let RightToLeft(ByVal Value As Boolean)

Returns/sets the right-to-left display direction.

RightToLeftMode

Public Property Get RightToLeftMode() As CCRightToLeftModeConstants
Public Property Let RightToLeftMode(ByVal Value As CCRightToLeftModeConstants)

Returns/sets the right-to-left mode. See common enumerations.

BorderStyle

Public Property Get BorderStyle() As Integer
Public Property Let BorderStyle(ByVal Value As Integer)

Returns/sets the border style.

Text

Public Property Get Text() As String
Public Property Let Text(ByVal Value As String)

Returns/sets the text content.

Default

Public Property Get Default() As Boolean
Public Property Let Default(ByVal Value As Boolean)

Returns/sets whether this is the default button (activated by pressing Enter).

Alignment

Public Property Get Alignment() As AlignmentConstants
Public Property Let Alignment(ByVal Value As AlignmentConstants)

Returns/sets the text alignment.

AllowOnlyNumbers

Public Property Get AllowOnlyNumbers() As Boolean
Public Property Let AllowOnlyNumbers(ByVal Value As Boolean)

Returns/sets whether only numeric input is allowed.

Locked

Public Property Get Locked() As Boolean
Public Property Let Locked(ByVal Value As Boolean)

Returns/sets whether editing is locked (scrolling and selection are still allowed).

HideSelection

Public Property Get HideSelection() As Boolean
Public Property Let HideSelection(ByVal Value As Boolean)

Returns/sets whether the highlight of the selected text is hidden when the control loses focus.

PasswordChar

Public Property Get PasswordChar() As String
Public Property Let PasswordChar(ByVal Value As String)

Returns/sets the password masking character.

UseSystemPasswordChar

Public Property Get UseSystemPasswordChar() As Boolean
Public Property Let UseSystemPasswordChar(ByVal Value As Boolean)

Returns/sets whether to use the system default password character.

MultiLine

Public Property Get MultiLine() As Boolean
Public Property Let MultiLine(ByVal Value As Boolean)

Returns/sets whether multi-line text input is accepted.

MaxLength

Public Property Get MaxLength() As Long
Public Property Let MaxLength(ByVal Value As Long)

Returns/sets the maximum number of characters. 0 means no limit.

ScrollBars

Public Property Get ScrollBars() As Integer
Public Property Let ScrollBars(ByVal Value As Integer)

Returns/sets the scroll bar style.

CueBanner

Public Property Get CueBanner() As String
Public Property Let CueBanner(ByVal Value As String)

Returns/sets the cue banner text (displayed when the control is empty).

CueBannerAlways

Public Property Get CueBannerAlways() As Boolean
Public Property Let CueBannerAlways(ByVal Value As Boolean)

Returns/sets whether the cue banner is always displayed (even when the control has focus).

CharacterCasing

Public Property Get CharacterCasing() As TxtCharacterCasingConstants
Public Property Let CharacterCasing(ByVal Value As TxtCharacterCasingConstants)

Returns/sets the character casing conversion mode.

WantReturn

Public Property Get WantReturn() As Boolean
Public Property Let WantReturn(ByVal Value As Boolean)

Returns/sets whether pressing Enter in a multi-line text box inserts a line break.

IMEMode

Public Property Get IMEMode() As CCIMEModeConstants
Public Property Let IMEMode(ByVal Value As CCIMEModeConstants)

Returns/sets the Input Method Editor (IME) mode. See common enumerations.

NetAddressValidator

Public Property Get NetAddressValidator() As Boolean
Public Property Let NetAddressValidator(ByVal Value As Boolean)

Returns/sets whether network address validation is enabled.

NetAddressType

Public Property Get NetAddressType() As TxtNetAddressTypeConstants
Public Property Let NetAddressType(ByVal Value As TxtNetAddressTypeConstants)

Returns/sets the type of network address validation.

AllowOverType

Public Property Get AllowOverType() As Boolean
Public Property Let AllowOverType(ByVal Value As Boolean)

Returns/sets whether overtype mode is allowed.

OverTypeMode

Public Property Get OverTypeMode() As Boolean
Public Property Let OverTypeMode(ByVal Value As Boolean)

Returns/sets whether overtype mode is active.

Modified

Public Property Get Modified() As Boolean
Public Property Let Modified(ByVal Value As Boolean)

Returns/sets whether the text has been modified.

TextLength

Public Property Get TextLength() As Long

Returns the text length.

SelStart

Public Property Get SelStart() As Long
Public Property Let SelStart(ByVal Value As Long)

Returns/sets the starting position of the selection.

SelLength

Public Property Get SelLength() As Long
Public Property Let SelLength(ByVal Value As Long)

Returns/sets the length of the selection.

SelText

Public Property Get SelText() As String
Public Property Let SelText(ByVal Value As String)

Returns/sets the text of the selection.

LeftMargin

Public Property Get LeftMargin() As Long
Public Property Let LeftMargin(ByVal Value As Long)

Returns/sets the left margin.

RightMargin

Public Property Get RightMargin() As Long
Public Property Let RightMargin(ByVal Value As Long)

Returns/sets the right margin.

Methods

Refresh

Public Sub Refresh()

Forces a complete repaint of the object.

Copy

Public Sub Copy()

Copies the selection to the clipboard.

Cut

Public Sub Cut()

Cuts the selection to the clipboard.

Paste

Public Sub Paste()

Pastes the clipboard contents into the control.

Clear

Public Sub Clear()

Clears all text.

Undo

Public Sub Undo()

Undoes the last operation.

CanUndo

Public Function CanUndo() As Boolean

Returns whether an undo operation is available.

ResetUndoQueue

Public Sub ResetUndoQueue()

Resets the undo queue.

OLEDrag

Public Sub OLEDrag()

Initiates an OLE drag-and-drop operation.

GetLine

Public Function GetLine(ByVal LineIndex As Long) As String

Gets the text content of the specified line.

GetLineCount

Public Function GetLineCount() As Long

Gets the number of text lines.

ScrollToLine

Public Sub ScrollToLine(ByVal LineIndex As Long)

Scrolls to the specified line.

ScrollToCaret

Public Sub ScrollToCaret()

Scrolls to the caret position.

CharFromPos

Public Function CharFromPos(ByVal X As Long, ByVal Y As Long) As Long

Gets the character index from coordinates.

GetLineFromChar

Public Function GetLineFromChar(ByVal CharIndex As Long) As Long

Gets the line number from a character index.

ShowBalloonTip

Public Sub ShowBalloonTip(ByVal Title As String, ByVal Text As String, ByVal Icon As TxtIconConstants)

Displays a balloon tip.

HideBalloonTip

Public Sub HideBalloonTip()

Hides the balloon tip.

ValidateNetAddress

Public Function ValidateNetAddress() As Long

Validates the network address. Returns 0 if valid.

ShowNetAddressErrorTip

Public Sub ShowNetAddressErrorTip()

Displays a network address error tip based on the validation result.

NetAddressFormat

Public Property Get NetAddressFormat() As TxtNetAddressFormatConstants

Returns the network address format.

NetAddressString

Public Property Get NetAddressString() As String

Returns the network address string.

NetAddressPortNumber

Public Property Get NetAddressPortNumber() As Long

Returns the network address port number.

NetAddressPrefixLength

Public Property Get NetAddressPrefixLength() As Long

Returns the network address prefix length.

Drag

Public Sub Drag(Optional ByRef Action As Variant)

Starts, ends, or cancels a drag operation.

SetFocus

Public Sub SetFocus()

Moves the focus to the control.

ZOrder

Public Sub ZOrder(Optional ByRef Position As Variant)

Sets the Z-order.

Events

Click

Public Event Click()

Occurs when the user clicks the control.

DblClick

Public Event DblClick()

Occurs when the user double-clicks the control.

Change

Public Event Change()

Occurs when the text content changes.

MaxText

Public Event MaxText()

Occurs when the entered text exceeds the MaxLength limit.

DropFiles

Public Event DropFiles(ByVal Files As Variant)

Occurs when files are dragged and dropped onto the control. Files is an array of file paths.

Scroll

Public Event Scroll()

Occurs when the text scrolls.

ContextMenu

Public Event ContextMenu(ByVal X As Single, ByVal Y As Single, ByRef Handled As Boolean)

Occurs when a context menu is requested. Set Handled to True to cancel the default menu.

PreviewKeyDown

Public Event PreviewKeyDown(KeyCode As Integer, Shift As Integer)

Occurs before the KeyDown event, for preprocessing keyboard input.

PreviewKeyUp

Public Event PreviewKeyUp(KeyCode As Integer, Shift As Integer)

Occurs before the KeyUp event.

KeyDown

Public Event KeyDown(KeyCode As Integer, Shift As Integer)

Occurs when a keyboard key is pressed.

KeyUp

Public Event KeyUp(KeyCode As Integer, Shift As Integer)

Occurs when a keyboard key is released.

KeyPress

Public Event KeyPress(KeyAscii As Integer)

Occurs when an ANSI key is pressed and released.

MouseDown

Public Event MouseDown(Button As Integer, Shift As Integer, X As Single, Y As Single)

Occurs when a mouse button is pressed.

MouseMove

Public Event MouseMove(Button As Integer, Shift As Integer, X As Single, Y As Single)

Occurs when the mouse is moved.

MouseUp

Public Event MouseUp(Button As Integer, Shift As Integer, X As Single, Y As Single)

Occurs when a mouse button is released.

MouseEnter

Public Event MouseEnter()

Occurs when the mouse enters the control area.

MouseLeave

Public Event MouseLeave()

Occurs when the mouse leaves the control area.

OLECompleteDrag

Public Event OLECompleteDrag(Effect As Long)

Occurs when an OLE drag-and-drop operation is completed.

OLEDragDrop

Public Event OLEDragDrop(Data As DataObject, Effect As Long, Button As Integer, Shift As Integer, X As Single, Y As Single)

Occurs when data is dropped during an OLE drag-and-drop operation.

OLEDragOver

Public Event OLEDragOver(Data As DataObject, Effect As Long, Button As Integer, Shift As Integer, X As Single, Y As Single, State As Integer)

Occurs when data is dragged over the control during an OLE drag-and-drop operation.

OLEGiveFeedback

Public Event OLEGiveFeedback(Effect As Long, DefaultCursors As Boolean)

Occurs during an OLE drag-and-drop operation to provide feedback.

OLESetData

Public Event OLESetData(Data As DataObject, DataFormat As Integer)

Occurs when data is set during an OLE drag-and-drop operation.

OLEStartDrag

Public Event OLEStartDrag(Data As DataObject, AllowedEffects As Long)

Occurs when an OLE drag-and-drop operation starts.

Code Examples

Basic Usage

' Set up a multi-line text box
With TextBoxW1
    .MultiLine = True
    .ScrollBars = 3
    .MaxLength = 5000
    .WantReturn = True
    .CueBanner = "Please enter content..."
End With

' Use as a password box
With TextBoxW1
    .PasswordChar = "*"
    .UseSystemPasswordChar = True
    .MaxLength = 20
End With

' Network address validation
TextBoxW1.NetAddressValidator = True
TextBoxW1.NetAddressType = TxtNetAddressTypeURL

Private Sub Command1_Click()
    If TextBoxW1.ValidateNetAddress() = 0 Then
        MsgBox "Address is valid: " & TextBoxW1.NetAddressString
    Else
        TextBoxW1.ShowNetAddressErrorTip
    End If
End Sub

' Balloon tip
TextBoxW1.ShowBalloonTip "Input Error", "Please enter a valid email address", TxtIconError

' Drag-and-drop files
Private Sub TextBoxW1_DropFiles(ByVal Files As Variant)
    Dim i As Long
    For i = LBound(Files) To UBound(Files)
        Debug.Print "File: " & Files(i)
    Next i
End Sub