Show modeless form from a DLL

I have started to move an application I have written in VBA over to VB with
the intention of compiling it as a DLL.
One of the first things I have noticed is that if I call a modeless form
from the DLL it is a system wide form and appears in the task bar.

Is it possible to call a modeless form from a DLL and have it behave like a
modeless VBA UserForm.

Regards
Tom Roberts
__________________________
MechWest Design & Drafting
Perth, Western Australia

 

I have no clue how relevant this would be to your problem, but I was
thinking about a case where I'd want to have a seperate file included in a
VB routine and couldn't figure out how I would access when needed. (Sorry,
I can't remember exactly what I was thinking about.)

I was thinking that I could put in a RES file and copy it out to a temp
folder when I needed. If there isn't a better solution, maybe you could do
that with a DVB containing your form, then when needed, copy it to the temp
folder and load it into Acad.

 

To follow up on my own post I found that using the SetParent API function
solves my problem
So the DLL class code that exposes a method to show the form looks like
this:

'--------------------------
Option Explicit
Private Declare Function SetParent Lib "user32" (ByVal hWndChild As Long,
ByVal hWndNewParent As Long) As Long
Private Declare Function GetParent Lib "user32" (ByVal hwnd As Long) As Long

Public Sub ShowAbout()
frmAbout.Show vbModeless
SetParent frmAbout.hwnd, GetAcadHwnd
End Sub

Private Function GetAcadHwnd() As Long
GetAcadHwnd = GetParent(GetParent(Application.ActiveDocument.hwnd))
End Function
'--------------------------

After referencing the compiled DLL file in a VBA macro and creating an
instance of the object I can call the ShowAbout method and the form is shown
as a modeless form floating in the main AutoCAD window.

--
Regards
Tom Roberts
__________________________
MechWest Design & Drafting
Perth, Western Australia

 

Thank you very much for posting the solution.

 

Hi Tom,

is it possible to insert complex VB control like datagrid?.
How we could exchange data between VB & VBA?.

Thanks a lot

 

If you start a new ActiveX DLL project in VB you can create an interface
using any controls you have a license for.
Compile the DLL and start a new VBA project in AutoCAD.
You can now reference (Tools -> References menu) the DLL and utilise the
interface you created in VB.

--
Regards
Tom Roberts
__________________________
MechWest Design & Drafting
Perth, Western Australia