WM_NCCALCSIZE message

Sent when the size and position of a window's client area must be calculated. By processing this message, an application can control the content of the window's client area when the size or position of the window changes.

A window receives this message through its WindowProc function.

#define WM_NCCALCSIZE                   0x0083

Parameters

wParam

If wParam is TRUE, it specifies that the application should indicate which part of the client area contains valid information. The system copies the valid information to the specified area within the new client area.

If wParam is FALSE, the application does not need to indicate the valid part of the client area.

lParam

If wParam is TRUE, lParam points to an NCCALCSIZE_PARAMS structure that contains information an application can use to calculate the new size and position of the client rectangle.

If wParam is FALSE, lParam points to a RECT structure. On entry, the structure contains the proposed window rectangle for the window. On exit, the structure should contain the screen coordinates of the corresponding window client area.

Return value

Type: LRESULT

If the wParam parameter is FALSE, the application should return zero.

If wParam is TRUE, the application should return zero or a combination of the following values.

If wParam is TRUE and an application returns zero, the old client area is preserved and is aligned with the upper-left corner of the new client area.

Return code/value Description
WVR_ALIGNTOP
0x0010
Specifies that the client area of the window is to be preserved and aligned with the top of the new position of the window. For example, to align the client area to the upper-left corner, return the WVR_ALIGNTOP and WVR_ALIGNLEFT values.
WVR_ALIGNRIGHT
0x0080
Specifies that the client area of the window is to be preserved and aligned with the right side of the new position of the window. For example, to align the client area to the lower-right corner, return the WVR_ALIGNRIGHT and WVR_ALIGNBOTTOM values.
WVR_ALIGNLEFT
0x0020
Specifies that the client area of the window is to be preserved and aligned with the left side of the new position of the window. For example, to align the client area to the lower-left corner, return the WVR_ALIGNLEFT and WVR_ALIGNBOTTOM values.
WVR_ALIGNBOTTOM
0x0040
Specifies that the client area of the window is to be preserved and aligned with the bottom of the new position of the window. For example, to align the client area to the top-left corner, return the WVR_ALIGNTOP and WVR_ALIGNLEFT values.
WVR_HREDRAW
0x0100
Used in combination with any other values, except WVR_VALIDRECTS, causes the window to be completely redrawn if the client rectangle changes size horizontally. This value is similar to CS_HREDRAW class style
WVR_VREDRAW
0x0200
Used in combination with any other values, except WVR_VALIDRECTS, causes the window to be completely redrawn if the client rectangle changes size vertically. This value is similar to CS_VREDRAW class style
WVR_REDRAW
0x0300
This value causes the entire window to be redrawn. It is a combination of WVR_HREDRAW and WVR_VREDRAW values.
WVR_VALIDRECTS
0x0400
This value indicates that, upon return from WM_NCCALCSIZE, the rectangles specified by the rgrc[1] and rgrc[2] members of the NCCALCSIZE_PARAMS structure contain valid destination and source area rectangles, respectively. The system combines these rectangles to calculate the area of the window to be preserved. The system copies any part of the window image that is within the source rectangle and clips the image to the destination rectangle. Both rectangles are in parent-relative or screen-relative coordinates. This flag cannot be combined with any other flags.
This return value allows an application to implement more elaborate client-area preservation strategies, such as centering or preserving a subset of the client area.

 

Remarks

The window may be redrawn, depending on whether the CS_HREDRAW or CS_VREDRAW class style is specified. This is the default, backward-compatible processing of this message by the DefWindowProc function (in addition to the usual client rectangle calculation described in the preceding table).

When wParam is TRUE, simply returning 0 without processing the NCCALCSIZE_PARAMS rectangles will cause the client area to resize to the size of the window, including the window frame. This will remove the window frame and caption items from your window, leaving only the client area displayed.

Starting with Windows Vista, removing the standard frame by simply returning 0 when the wParam is TRUE does not affect frames that are extended into the client area using the DwmExtendFrameIntoClientArea function. Only the standard frame will be removed.

Requirements

Requirement Value
Minimum supported client
Windows 2000 Professional [desktop apps only]
Minimum supported server
Windows 2000 Server [desktop apps only]
Header
Winuser.h (include Windows.h)

See also

Reference

DefWindowProc

MoveWindow

SetWindowPos

NCCALCSIZE_PARAMS

Conceptual

Windows

Other Resources

RECT