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Modifying the System Menu in C++ with MFC

Did you know that you can modify the Windows system menu from C++ using MFC? In this article Ben shows you exactly how to do it.

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By: Ben Watson

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January 01, 2003

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Modifying the System Menu in C++ with MFC
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The system menu is a standard feature of every Windows application. It is managed by Windows so normally we don't have to worry about it at all. However, sometimes it is nice to be able to modify the system menu according to our own program with things that Windows can't automatically do for us.

As my main example, I will be using a tool I've created called BabelOn. This is a C++/MFC program that accesses a web-service to translate text into foreign languages. It uses a toolbox window, so we don't see the system menu icon in the upper-left corner, however the menu can still be accessed with Ctrl-Space or by right-clicking on the title bar. The menu has been modified to contain two extra commands: About BabelOn, and Exit. Exit is needed because the default action for close (Alt-F4) has been overridden in the program to hide the window and allow tray access.

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