INFO: Updating the Application Status Bar on Demand (98473)

SUMMARY

In an application developed with the Microsoft Foundation Classes (MFC), by default a status bar updates its panes only during idle processing.

An application can force a status bar to update its panes immediately by implementing an alternative to the idle processing mechanism. The application sends an update message to the status bar and then instructs the status bar to redraw its window. To update the status bar, send the WM_IDLEUPDATECMDUI message, discussed in MFC Tech Note #24, to the status bar then call the UpdateWindow() function. The sample code below demonstrates the member function to add to the CMainFrame window class.

   /*
    * Compile options needed: None
    */ 

   void CMainFrame::MyUpdatePane()
   {
      m_wndStatusBar.SendMessage(WM_IDLEUPDATECMDUI);
      m_wndStatusBar.UpdateWindow();
   }