Is there a known problem with the (Visual C++) property pages of CW controls under Windows NT 4 SP6 (they behaved normally under NT 4 SP4)?

[melissa 483]

I'm using CWGraph controls in my Visual C++ project. In my new OS environment (NT 4/SP6), I can't use the property page of a graph (or any other CW control). Clicking on a tab (e.g., Style) closes the property sheet; after that, no CW control's property sheet will even open again. Only restarting Visual Studio allows me to display a CW control's property page again. I tried the workaround described in the NI knowledge base, suggesting to activate the pushpin on the property page dialog box. That buys normal behavior only while that property page is open. Subsequently, no other property page can even be opened.


Summary:
(this worked) Windows NT 4 SP4, IE5, Visual Studio 6 SP4, Measurement Studio 1.0.1

(this does not work) Windows NT 4 SP6, IE5, Visual Studio 6 SP4, Measurement Studio 1.0.1

Incidentally, I noticed that comdlg32.dll changed sometime between SP4 and SP6...

Thanks in advance for any insight.

[Jason F.]

This behavior is caused by certain revisions of the libraries Microsoft installs that controls inherit their functionality from. I tried reproducing this on a similar machine with NT4 SP6, IE5, VS6 SP4 and it worked fine (the property pages didn't disappear, and when I used the pushpin I could click on subsequent objects and the property page would switch to the proper one, that is how the pushpin mode is supposed to work so you might want to double check if that is not working for you). The only difference I can see is that I installed Visual Studio and ComponentWorks after NT4 was upgraded to SP6.

What I can suggest you try is uninstall Visual Studio and Measurement Studio, then reinstall them in the proper order (reapplying SP4 to VS), and maybe this will put the cor
rect revisions of the files you need to get your property pages to work again. If that doesn't work then you will have to go with the pushpin mode, which I'm sure you've already seen outlined in the KnowledgeBase entry found here:

http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/3efedde4322fef19862567740067f3cc/862567530005f09c85256377005a08a7?OpenDocument

Again, this isn't really something caused by the design of the ComponentWorks controls themselves but rather specific revisions of the libraries Microsoft's installers have put on your system that the controls use to function.

Jason F
Applications Engineer
National Instruments
www.ni.com/ask