win32 select all on edit ctrl (textbox) - c++

Question

I am creating my textbox with these options. I can Copy / Cut / Paste / Undo, but when I hit Select All it doesn't select all. I can right click and click Select All but CTRL + A doesn't do anything. Why?
wnd = CreateWindow("EDIT", 0,
WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE | ES_MULTILINE | WS_HSCROLL | WS_VSCROLL | ES_AUTOHSCROLL | ES_AUTOVSCROLL,
x, y, w, h,
parentWnd,
NULL, NULL, NULL);

Answer 1

Ctrl+A is not a built-in accelerator like Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V. This is why you see WM_CUT, WM_PASTE and WM_COPY messages defined, but there is no WM_SELECTALL.
You have to implement this functionality yourself. I did in my MFC app like this:
static BOOL IsEdit( CWnd *pWnd )
{
if ( ! pWnd ) return FALSE ;
HWND hWnd = pWnd->GetSafeHwnd();
if (hWnd == NULL)
return FALSE;
TCHAR szClassName[6];
return ::GetClassName(hWnd, szClassName, 6) &&
_tcsicmp(szClassName, _T("Edit")) == 0;
}
BOOL LogWindowDlg::PreTranslateMessage(MSG* pMsg)
{
if(pMsg->message==WM_KEYDOWN)
{
if ( pMsg->wParam=='A' && GetKeyState(VK_CONTROL)<0 )
{
// User pressed Ctrl-A. Let's select-all
CWnd * wnd = GetFocus() ;
if ( wnd && IsEdit(wnd) )
((CEdit *)wnd)->SetSel(0,-1) ;
}
}
return CDialog::PreTranslateMessage(pMsg);
}
Note, I stole IsEdit from this page: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/145616
I point that out partly because I want to give credit, and partly because I think the IsEdit function (comparing classname strings) is dorky and I want to give blame.

Answer 2

You could simply use EM_SETSEL message to the textbox,
According to MSDN ,
If the start is 0 and the end is –1, all the text in the edit control is selected. If the start is –1, any current selection is deselected.
so,
SendMessage(hwndEdit,EM_SETSEL,0,-1);
Will work fine.

Answer 3

I tend to use MFC (forgive me) instead of Win32 so I cannot answer this definitively, but I noticed this comment added to a page on an MS site concerning talking with an Edit control (a simple editor within the Edit control):
The edit control uses WM_CHAR for
accepting characters, not WM_KEYDOWN
etc. You must Translate() your
messages or you ironically won't be
able to edit the text in the edit
control.
I don't know if this applies to BoltBait's response, but I suspect it does.
(I found this at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb775462(VS.85).aspx)

Answer 4

You need to capture that keystroke and do the select all yourself.
Here is some C# code for use with a RichTextBox:
protected override void OnKeyDown(KeyEventArgs e)
{
// Ctrl-A does a Select All in the editor window
if (e.Control && (e.KeyCode == Keys.A))
{
this.SelectAll();
e.Handled = true;
}
}
Sorry, I don't have Win32 code for you.

Answer 5

The strange thing is that Ctrl+A DOES work (as select all), if you do NOT specify ES_MULTILINE
But that doesn't help if you need multiline
The MSDN documentation for ES_MULTILINE doesn't appear to say anything about this.

Answer 6

Could it be that something else is stealing Ctrl+A? Use Spy++ to verify that it reaches your edit control.

Answer 7

Why not add an accelerator for Ctrl+a to SelectAll?