MSCOMCTL TreeView Versus Windows Form TreeView

plop plop

15y8.2kC#

Hi all.

I'm coding a project in visuel C#, and in VBA.

The connection between the two is made with a COM object.

I have created a TreeView in VBA with the librairie MSCOMCTL. And i want to send this TreeView Object to C#

The thing is that C# windows Forms TreeView seems to be not compatible with VBA MSCOMCTL treeView.

Is there any tips or idea to fix this ?

any help is welcome !

18 Replies

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Vulpes15y ago
Accepted answer
Well, I think that's why it's failing because you haven't created a root node first.

I'd try something like this:

object nullissimo = Type.Missing;
object root = "Parts";
myTree.Nodes.Add(ref nullissimo, ref nullissimo, ref root, ref root, ref nullissimo, ref nullissimo);

foreach(PARTNERSHIP part in Partener)
{
object RelationShip = mscomctl.TreeRelationshipConstants.tvwChild;
object CodePart = part.PARTNERSHIP_CODE.ToString();
object rootTitle = part.PARTNERSHIP_NAME.ToString();
myTree.Nodes.Add(ref root, ref RelationShip, ref CodePart, ref rootTitle, ref nullissimo, ref nullissimo);
}
Vulpes15y ago
OK, in that case, I'd try adding an ImageList control (from the same COM dll) to your form and then add some images to it using the example in this link (http://visualbasic.freetutes.com/learn-vb6-advanced/lesson4/p3.html).

If that works, you can then associate the ImageList object with the TreeView rather than trying to create your own programatically.

The only way to add images at runtime appears to be to use the LoadPicture() function which you mentioned earlier. However, I can't think of any way in which we can use that from C#.
plop plop15y ago
I don't need to add dynamically the images.
So i would rather add the images at "compile-time".
In fact, i'm not sure i can add images at run-time with a COM object ?
Vulpes15y ago
The trouble with the link is that the images are being added at design time rather than programatically.

Could you in fact do this or do you need to add the images to the control dynamically?
plop plop15y ago
The code given in your last link can be a good exemple of "how to add" images to TreeView in VBA.
Vulpes15y ago
What code do you use to add images to the TreeView in VBA?
plop plop15y ago
Thank you for your aanswer !

But look at my code, it's what i did. I can't create an instance of listImages ... it has no contructor, plus it's a imageKistClass method.

In the link you found, they use a "loadPicture" method but it seems that there is no equivalent method to that ... or at least i can't find it ... that's why i use the "Bitmap.FromFile" method which i think is the cause of my issue.
Vulpes15y ago
In fact, I've just found some old VB6 stuff here (http://visualbasic.freetutes.com/learn-vb6-advanced/lesson4/p4.html) and it looks like you need to create an instance of the ListImage class and add that to status.ListImages. Hopefully, there will be a 'FromFile' method or similar.
Vulpes15y ago
My initial thought is that the .NET Bitmap class may not be compatible with the ImageList control.

Is there an Image class, or similar, included in MSCOMCTL.DLL that you could use instead?
plop plop15y ago
Thank you very much for your answer !
that's work perfectly ... but this solution leads to another question :

i'm trying to add an imageList to my treeview. Above the code :

object bt = Bitmap.FromFile("C:\\Documents and Settings\\...\\Incubation-16.ico");
object index = 0;
object name = "AM-Company";
mscomctl.ImageListClass status = new mscomctl.ImageListClass();
status.ListImages.Add(ref index,ref name,ref bt);
myTree.ImageList = status;

The error returned is : Invalid picture
I tried to load the picture with other methods ... the same error is displayed. If you have any solution to that i'm interested !
Thank you again ! thank you a lot !!!
plop plop15y ago
This element is my first node. it's have to be considered as the root this way ...
Vulpes15y ago
So I take it that 'id' is either the index ID or the key of a node which you've already added (possibly the root).

If it is an index ID, I'd try using its key instead and see if the element can then be found.
plop plop15y ago
I already read a lot of documentation concerning the add method withous any solution to this problem.

I changed the paramaters like you suggested :

myTree.Nodes.Add(ref id, ref RelationShip, ref CodePart, ref rootTitle, ref nullissimo1, ref nullissimo2);

Now the returned error is : Element not found.
Vulpes15y ago
The signature of the Add() method is different to what I was expecting with 6 optional parameters rather than 3 but I've found some documentation which I think will be applicable (http://www.developerfusion.com/article/77/treeview-control/2/).

Are you able to determine which parameter is throwing the error?

I suspect it will be first one (Relative) and couldn't understand why it was the same as the third one (Key).
plop plop15y ago
that's what i already did. Have a look please to my code :

foreach(PARTNERSHIP part in Partener)
{
         object nullissimo = Type.Missing;
         object CodePart = part.PARTNERSHIP_CODE.ToString();
         object RelationShip = mscomctl.TreeRelationshipConstants.tvwFirst;
         object rootTitle = part.PARTNERSHIP_NAME.ToString();
         myTree.Nodes.Add(ref CodePart, ref RelationShip, ref CodePart, ref rootTitle, ref nullissimo, ref nullissimo);
}

myTree is a mscomctl.TreeViewClass
The error returned for the add method is : Element not found
I'm using Visual studio 2008, Microsoft Office 2003 on Windows XP.
Thank you again for your help.
Vulpes15y ago
If you're having problems with optional parameters in the Nodes.Add() method, then C# 4.0 (VS 2010) should sort them out as it now supports named and optional parameters.

However, if you're using an earlier version you'll need to pass something for the three optional parameters. In order to use the defaults, I'd use Type.Missing for parameters passed by value or:

object missing = Type.Missing;

and then 'ref missing' if they're passed by reference.
plop plop15y ago
First of all thank for your answer !

Yes, i tried using the MSCOMCTL TreeView in my C# application. But i got issues with MSCOMCTL method.
i'm trying to resolve that since 2 days with any improvement.
I think that C# can't understand parameters of MSCOMCTL methods. For exemple, C# does not accept any argument for : myTreeView.Nodes.Add or at least has issues with it at compilation.

Is there any solution to build a MSCOMCTL treeview cleanly in C# ? i begin doubt about it !
Vulpes15y ago
To ease the interop pain, have you tried using the MSCOMCTL TreeView in your C# application rather than the standard Windows Forms TreeView?

If you're using a 64-bit OS, then you may have problems using MSCOMCTL.OCX.

If relevant, check out this thread for a possible solution (http://www.c-sharpcorner.com/Forums/Thread/111898/mscomctl-ocx-raising-exception-in-64-bit-os-win-7.aspx).