NetUIHWND and DirectUIHWND

Question

Using Spy++ tool, it seems that some Microsoft apps use NetUIHWND and DirectUIHWND window classes; e.g.: Word 2010's ribbon seems to be a NetUIHWND, instead Windows Live Messenger window seems to be a DirectUIHWND.

These window classes seem to host kind of cool graphics (with shadows, gradients, etc.); is it possible to use these window classes in our own Win32 C++ apps? Is there any documentation about them?

Answer 1

Yes, it has been around for a while already. But it gets especially a lots of usage in Windows7. Unfortunately, they keep this one to themselves, it is undocumented. You can try to reverse-engineer it, use a ListView as a guide to what it might do. But your code will almost certainly break in the next version of Windows. Which I think was the point of not documenting it, they need something they don't have to keep backwards compatible to be able to improve the look-and-feel of the operating system.

Answer 2

NetUIHWND and DirectUIHWND are the Win32 class types for different GUI toolsets. From Win32 perspective they are a self drawn panel.

So you wouldn't use these classes directly, you would use the other GUI toolsets to build the UI.

Answer 3

Not sure about the Messenger UI, but you can use the ribbon control in your own apps.

• On WTL: https://www.codeproject.com/Articles/54116/Relook-your-Old-and-New-Native-Applications-with-a
• On MFC: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/mfc/reference/cmfcribbonbar-class

Answer 4

Use the Microsoft Active Accessibility API:

There is no need to reverse engineer this thing, you can enumerate this class structure using the Microsoft Active Accessibility API.