TreeView Control

Drag and Drop

This one look me a while to work out, but here it is. 

Firstly, add a TreeView control to your project and name it tvProject. Next, add an Image List Control, set the image size to 16x16, add a 3 images, and set their keys to Root, FolderClosed and Item. 

Then, set the TreeView's OLEDragMode to 1-ccOLEDragAutomatic, and its OLEDropMode to 1-ccOLEDropManual. Also, set its ImageList property to the ImageList control you have just added. 

The following code will allow you to move nodes and its children around on the control (like in explorer when you drag folders to new locations etc). 


'// variable that tells us if
'// we are dragging (ie the user is dragging a node from this treeview control
'// or not (ie the user is trying to drag an object from another 
'// control and/or program)
Private blnDragging As Boolean 

Private Sub Form_Load()
    '// fill the control with some dummy nodes
    With tvProject.Nodes
        .Add , , "Root", "Root Item", "Root"
        '// add some child folders
        .Add "Root", tvwChild, "ChildFolder1", "Child Folder 1", "FolderClosed"
        .Add "Root", tvwChild, "ChildFolder2", "Child Folder 2", "FolderClosed"
        .Add "Root", tvwChild, "ChildFolder3", "Child Folder 3", "FolderClosed"
        '// add some children to the folders
        .Add "ChildFolder1", tvwChild, "Child1OfFolder1", "Child 1 Of Folder 1", "Item"
        .Add "ChildFolder1", tvwChild, "Child2OfFolder1", "Child 2 Of Folder 1", "Item"
        .Add "ChildFolder2", tvwChild, "Child1OfFolder2", "Child 1 Of Folder 2", "Item"
    End With
End Sub

Private Sub tvProject_MouseDown(Button As Integer, Shift As Integer, x As Single, y As Single)
    Dim nodNode As Node
    '// get the node we are over
    Set nodNode = tvProject.HitTest(x, y)
    If nodNode Is Nothing Then Exit Sub '// no node
    '// ensure node is actually selected, just incase we start dragging.
    nodNode.Selected = True
End Sub

'// occurs when the user starts dragging
'// this is where you assign the effect and the data.
Private Sub tvProject_OLEStartDrag(Data As MSComctlLib.DataObject, AllowedEffects As Long)
    '// Set the effect to move
    AllowedEffects = vbDropEffectMove
    '// Assign the selected item's key to the DataObject
    Data.SetData tvProject.SelectedItem.Key
    '// we are dragging from this control
    blnDragging = True
End Sub

'// occurs when the object is dragged over the control.
'// this is where you check to see if the mouse is over
'// a valid drop object 
Private Sub tvProject_OLEDragOver(Data As MSComctlLib.DataObject, Effect As Long, Button As Integer, Shift As Integer, x As Single, y As Single, State As Integer)
    Dim nodNode As Node
    '// set the effect
    Effect = vbDropEffectMove
    '// get the node that the object is being dragged over
    Set nodNode = tvProject.HitTest(x, y)
    If nodNode Is Nothing Or blnDragging = False Then
        '// the dragged object is not over a node, invalid drop target
        '// or the object is not from this control.
        Effect = vbDropEffectNone
    End If
End Sub

'// occurs when the user drops the object
'// this is where you move the node and its children.
'// this will not occur if Effect = vbDropEffectNone
Private Sub tvProject_OLEDragDrop(Data As MSComctlLib.DataObject, Effect As Long, Button As Integer, Shift As Integer, x As Single, y As Single)
    Dim strSourceKey As String
    Dim nodTarget    As Node
    '// get the carried data
    strSourceKey = Data.GetData(vbCFText)
    '// get the target node
    Set nodTarget = tvProject.HitTest(x, y)
    '// if the target node is not a folder or the root item
    '// then get it's parent (that is a folder or the root item)
    If nodTarget.Image <> "FolderClosed" And nodTarget.Key <> "Root" Then
        Set nodTarget = nodTarget.Parent
    End If
    '// move the source node to the target node
    Set tvProject.Nodes(strSourceKey).Parent = nodTarge
    '// NOTE: You will also need to update the key to reflect the changes
    '// if you are using it
    '// we are not dragging from this control any more
    blnDragging = False
    '// cancel effect so that VB doesn't muck up your transfer
    Effect = 0
End Sub

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James Crowley

James Crowley United Kingdom

James first started this website when learning Visual Basic back in 1999 whilst studying his GCSEs. The site grew steadily over the years while being run as a hobby - to a regular monthly audien...

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