How to access dialog items between ctor and DoModal

[Sen7inel]

I want to create a resource-based dialog, and before displaying it with DoModal, get a pointer to a dialog item. If I do..

CDialog d(ID_RS);
blabla = ..d.GetDlgItem(ID_RS2);
d.DoModal();

.. the program crashes at GetDlgItem. It seems the the resource isn't actually loaded until DoModal.. How can I initialize the dialog completely before displaying it modally?

 

[firelex]

It is true - before you call DoModal the ressources are not loaded. You can do any changes (e.g. SetText) with variables.

 

[teriviret]

A dialog resource is just a template. It describes how big to make the dialog, what window styles to apply, the number and types of controls in the dialog, and their attributes. The dialog and its control windows are not actually created until DoModal is called.

A good way to initialize the dialog is to override the OnInitDialog method and do the initialization there. This is called just once, right after the dialog and its control windows are created, but just before they are actually displayed on the screen.