VB6 Textbox fontweight manipulation

Question

I have a VB6 application where I want to manipulate certain parts of a string I am outputting inside a textbox.

txtPhoneNums.Text = "Home:  " + strHomeNo + vbCrLf _
                    + "Mobile: " + strMobileNo + vbCrLf + "Work:  " + strWorkNo + vbCrLf

It's nested inside an if statement that carries out various validations. I want to be able for example, in the above snippet to highlight the word "Work" and the appended string value "strWorkNo" in red and fontweighted bold. Can I do this easily without creating multiple textboxes (and leaving the other two values as default appearance?)

Thanks.

Image added for clarity. I want the two null field strings to be red and bold. enter image description here

The standard vb6 textbox does not allow you to mix formats, you will need to look for the RichTextBox Control. As a side note I would also prefer to use & instead of + — Matt Donnan, Aug 28 '12 at 14:05
Hi, Thanks. :) How would the syntax appear if txtPhoneNums.Text was a RichTextBox instead? — GrumP, Aug 28 '12 at 14:09

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 28 '12 at 15:28

You want to use the RichTextBox. I would recommend that you don't try to mess around with the rich text format (RTF) itself, but instead use the standard methods.

Your code would be changed as follows:

Option Explicit

Private Sub Command1_Click()
    WritePhoneNums "01020239", "07749383", "0234394349"
End Sub

Private Sub WritePhoneNums(ByRef strHomeNo As String, ByRef strMobileNo As String, ByRef strWorkNo As String)

    Dim nPosBeginningOfWorkNo As Long
    Dim nPosCurrent As Long

    txtPhoneNums.TextRTF = vbNullString ' Clear existing code.

    ' Clear style to default.
    ApplyNormalStyle txtPhoneNums

    ' Enter standard text. The selection will be at the end of the text when finished.
    txtPhoneNums.SelText = "Home:  " + strHomeNo + vbCrLf _
                         & "Mobile: " + strMobileNo + vbCrLf + "Work:  "

    ' Save the cursor position, write the work number, and then save the cursor position again.
    nPosBeginningOfWorkNo = txtPhoneNums.SelStart
    txtPhoneNums.SelText = strWorkNo
    nPosCurrent = txtPhoneNums.SelStart

    ' From this information, select the preceding text, and make it "selected".
    txtPhoneNums.SelStart = nPosBeginningOfWorkNo
    txtPhoneNums.SelLength = nPosCurrent - nPosBeginningOfWorkNo
    ApplyHighlightedStyle txtPhoneNums

    ' Reset the selection to the end, and reset the text style.
    txtPhoneNums.SelStart = nPosCurrent
    txtPhoneNums.SelLength = 0
    ApplyNormalStyle txtPhoneNums

    txtPhoneNums.SelText = vbCrLf

End Sub

Private Sub ApplyNormalStyle(ByRef txt As RichTextBox)
    txt.SelBold = False
    txt.SelColor = vbBlack
End Sub

Private Sub ApplyHighlightedStyle(ByRef txt As RichTextBox)
    txt.SelBold = True
    txt.SelColor = vbRed
End Sub

Great answer, thanks. I ended up doing it slightly differently in the end as I have a large volume of possible scenarios, this method is very complete & well coded. Excellent reference. — GrumP, Aug 29 '12 at 12:05

VB6 Textbox fontweight manipulation

1 Answers1