WinNativeCommonCtls Package

The WinNativeCommonCtls built-in package is a VB6-compatible replacement for Microsoft Common Controls 6.0 (the legacy MSCOMCTL.OCX), reimplemented on top of the Win32 ComCtl32 controls in COMCTL32.DLL and MSFTEDIT.DLL. It ships eight controls that mirror the MSCOMCTL member names where possible, with the same property / method / event spellings VB6 developers will recognise.

The package is a built-in package shipped with twinBASIC. Add it through Project → References (Ctrl-T) → Available Packages.

Why this package exists
Controls
Enumerations
Cross-control members
Control type constants
See also

Why this package exists

VB6 projects that depend on MSCOMCTL.OCX cannot run unmodified in modern environments — the OCX is unsigned, requires per-machine registration with admin rights, ships with known security advisories, and is not available on non-Windows hosts at all. WinNativeCommonCtls removes the dependency: drop a ListView, TreeView, ProgressBar, Slider, ImageList, DTPicker, MonthView, or UpDown onto a Form and twinBASIC creates the underlying Win32 ComCtl32 control directly, with no OCX involved.

The control names, property names, event signatures, and the vb… / tvw… / lvw… / sld… / Prb… member-name conventions all match the original MSCOMCTL.OCX API, so VB6 code that uses the original controls usually compiles and runs unchanged once the package reference is in place.

Controls

Eight controls, each a leaf class that inherits from a <Name>BaseCtl where the entire API is declared:

DTPicker – date / time picker: dropdown calendar, single-date Value, custom format strings, optional spin-button and checkbox variants
ImageList – off-screen image collection that feeds icons to ListView and TreeView through the Icons / SmallIcons / ImageList properties; not visible at run time
ListView – multi-column list with four View modes (Icon / SmallIcon / List / Report), label-edit, checkboxes, column-header icons, and per-item state
MonthView – full-month calendar grid with multi-month layout (MonthColumns × MonthRows), multi-day selection, bold-day callbacks for highlighting, week numbers, and a today indicator
ProgressBar – standard / smooth / marquee progress indicator with three visual states (Normal / Error / Paused), horizontal or vertical orientation
Slider – trackbar / slider with tick marks, optional selection range, vertical or horizontal orientation, and a draggable thumb with floating tip
TreeView – hierarchical tree of Node objects with sorting, label-edit, checkboxes, image lists, and per-node bold / color overrides
UpDown – spin control with up / down arrows: pure Min / Max / Value / Increment (no auto-buddy)

ListView, TreeView, and ImageList include collection sub-objects — see the folder index pages for the full hierarchy.

Enumerations

Module-level enumerations shared across multiple controls live under Enumerations; per-control nested enumerations (ListViewConstants, PrbState, TickStyleConstants, …) are documented on the page of the control that declares them.

Enumerations – the ten user-facing enumerations declared in shared modules

Cross-control members

Every control inherits the standard VB-package members from BaseControl / BaseControlRect / BaseControlRectDockable / BaseControlFocusable (or BaseControlNotFocusable, where the control cannot take focus). Inherited members include:

Positioning and layout — Name, Left, Top, Width, Height, Anchors, Dock, Visible, Enabled, Move, Refresh, ZOrder, Container, Parent, Index, Tag, hWnd
Appearance — BackColor / ForeColor / Font (where focusable), Appearance, VisualStyles, MousePointer / MouseIcon
Tooltips, drag-and-drop, validation — ToolTipText, DragMode / DragIcon, Drag, CausesValidation, Validate event
Focus (focusable controls only) — SetFocus, TabIndex, TabStop, GotFocus / LostFocus events
Help integration — HelpContextID, WhatsThisHelpID
OLE drag-and-drop — OLEDropMode, the OLEDrag method, and the OLEStartDrag / OLEGiveFeedback / OLESetData / OLEDragOver / OLEDragDrop / OLECompleteDrag events. See OLEDropConstants
Transparency — Opacity (Double, 0–100, percentage) and TransparencyKey (OLE_COLOR, -1 to disable). Both require Windows 8 (target OS 6.2+) for child controls; on older OS versions they are silently no-ops

Each control’s reference page lists the control-specific members — own properties, methods, events, and nested enums — without re-enumerating the entire inherited base every time.

Control type constants

Every control answers to one of the vb… values in ControlTypeConstants:

Constant	Value	Control
vbProgressBar	21	ProgressBar
vbTreeView	22	TreeView
vbSlider	26	Slider
vbUpDown	27	UpDown
vbDTPicker	28	DTPicker
vbMonthView	29	MonthView
vbListView	30	ListView
vbImageList	31	ImageList

Each control’s ControlType property returns its constant at run time, allowing generic For Each loops over a form’s Controls collection to discriminate between controls.