Programming Windows®, Fifth Edition

Hit-Testing in Your Programs

Earlier I discussed how Windows Explorer responds to mouse clicks and double-clicks. Obviously, the program (or more precisely the list view control that Windows Explorer uses) must first determine exactly which file or directory the user is pointing at with the mouse.

This is called “hit-testing.” Just as DefWindowProc must do some hit-testing when processing WM_NCHITTEST messages, a window procedure often must do hit-testing of its own within the client area. In general, hit-testing involves calculations using the x and y coordinates passed to your window procedure in the lParam parameter of the mouse message.

A Hypothetical Example

Here’s an example. Suppose your program needs to display several columns of alphabetically ...