Search code examples
windowsshelldelphidrop-down-menudelphi-xe6

How to simulate drop-down form in Delphi?


How can i create a "drop-down" window using Delphi?

Everything beyond this point is research effort; and is in no way related to the answer.

Research Effort

Making a proper drop-down requires a lot of pieces to carefully work together. I assume people don't like the difficult question, and would rather i asked seven separate questions; each one addressing one tiny piece of the problem. Everything that follows is my research effort into solving the deceptively simple problem.


Note the defining characteristics of a drop-down window:

enter image description here

  • 1. The drop-down extends outside it's "owner" window
  • 2. The "owner" window keeps focus; the drop-down never steals focus
  • 3. The drop-down window has a drop-shadow

This is the Delphi variation of the same question i asked about in WinForms:

The answer in WinForms was to use the ToolStripDropDown class. It is a helper class that turns any form into a drop-down.

Lets do it in Delphi

I will start by creating a gaudy dropdown form, that serves as the example:

enter image description here

Next i will drop a button, that will be the thing i click to make the drop-down appear:

enter image description here

And finally i will wire-up some initial code to show the form where it needs to be in the OnClick:

procedure TForm3.Button1MouseDown(Sender: TObject; 
      Button: TMouseButton; Shift: TShiftState; X, Y: Integer);
var
    frmPopup: TfrmPopup;
    pt: TPoint;
begin
    frmPopup := TfrmPopup.Create(Self);

    //Show the form just under, and right aligned, to this button
    pt := Self.ClientToScreen(Button1.BoundsRect.BottomRight);
    Dec(pt.X, frmPopup.ClientWidth);

    frmPopup.Show(Self, Self.Handle, pt);
end;

Edit: Changed it to MouseDown rather than Click. Click is incorrect, as the drop-down is shown without the need to click. One of the unresolved issues is how to hide a drop-down if the user mouse-downs the button again. But we'll leave that for the person who answers the question to solve. Everything in this question is research effort - not a solution.

And we're off:

enter image description here

Now how to do it the right way?

First thing we notice right away is the lack of a drop-shadow. That's because we need to apply the CS_DROPSHADOW window style:

procedure TfrmPopup.CreateParams(var Params: TCreateParams);
const
    CS_DROPSHADOW = $00020000;
begin
    inherited CreateParams({var}Params);

    Params.WindowClass.Style := Params.WindowClass.Style or CS_DROPSHADOW;
end;

That fixes that:

enter image description here

Focus Stealing

The next issue is that calling .Show on the popup causes it to steal focus (the title bar of the application indicates that it has lost focus). Sertac comes up with the solution to this.

  • when the popup receives it's WM_Activate message indicating that it is receiving focus (i.e. Lo(wParam) <> WA_INACTIVE):
  • send the parent form a WM_NCActivate(True, -1) to indicate that it should draw itself like it still has focus

We handle the WM_Activate:

protected
   procedure WMActivate(var Msg: TWMActivate); message WM_ACTIVATE;

and the implementation:

procedure TfrmPopup.WMActivate(var Msg: TWMActivate);
begin
    //if we are being activated, then give pretend activation state back to our owner
    if (Msg.Active <> WA_INACTIVE) then
        SendMessage(Self.PopupParent.Handle, WM_NCACTIVATE, WPARAM(True), -1);

    inherited;
end;

So the owner window looks like it still has focus (who knows if that is the correct way to do it - it only looks like it still has focus):

enter image description here

Rolling up

Fortunately, Sertac already solves the problem of how to dismiss the window whenever the user clicks away:

  • when the popup receives it's WM_Activate message indicating that it is losing focus (i.e. Lo(wParam) = WA_INACTIVE):
  • send the owner control a notification that we are rolling up
  • Free the popup form

We add that to our existing WM_Activate handler:

procedure TfrmPopup.WMActivate(var Msg: TWMActivate);
begin
    //if we are being activated, then give pretend activation state back to our owner
    if (Msg.Active <> WA_INACTIVE) then
        SendMessage(Self.PopupParent.Handle, WM_NCACTIVATE, WPARAM(True), -1);

    inherited;

    //If we're being deactivated, then we need to rollup
    if Msg.Active = WA_INACTIVE then
    begin
        //TODO: Tell our owner that we've rolled up

        //Note: The parent should not be using rollup as the time to read the state of all controls in the popup.
        //      Every time something in the popup changes, the drop-down should give that inforamtion to the owner
        Self.Release; //use Release to let WMActivate complete
    end;
end;

Sliding the dropdown

Dropdown controls use AnimateWindow to slide the drop-down down. From Microsoft's own combo.c:

if (!(TEST_EffectPUSIF(PUSIF_COMBOBOXANIMATION))
      || (GetAppCompatFlags2(VER40) & GACF2_ANIMATIONOFF)) {
   NtUserShowWindow(hwndList, SW_SHOWNA);
} 
else 
{
   AnimateWindow(hwndList, CMS_QANIMATION, (fAnimPos ? AW_VER_POSITIVE :
            AW_VER_NEGATIVE) | AW_SLIDE);
}

After checking if animations should be used, they use AnimateWindow to show the window. We can use SystemParametersInfo with SPI_GetComboBoxAnimation:

Determines whether the slide-open effect for combo boxes is enabled. The pvParam parameter must point to a BOOL variable that receives TRUE for enabled, or FALSE for disabled.

Inside our newly consecrated TfrmPopup.Show method, we can check if client area animations are enabled, and call either AnimateWindow or Show depending on the user's preference:

procedure TfrmPopup.Show(Owner: TForm; NotificationParentWindow: HWND;
      PopupPosition: TPoint);
var
    pt: TPoint;
    comboBoxAnimation: BOOL;
begin
    FNotificationParentWnd := NotificationParentWindow;

    //We want the dropdown form "owned" by (i.e. not "parented" to) the OwnerWindow
    Self.Parent := nil; //the default anyway; but just to reinforce the idea
    Self.PopupParent := Owner; //Owner means the Win32 concept of owner (i.e. always on top of, cf Parent, which means clipped child of)
    Self.PopupMode := pmExplicit; //explicitely owned by the owner

    //Show the form just under, and right aligned, to this button
    Self.BorderStyle := bsNone;
    Self.Position := poDesigned;
    Self.Left := PopupPosition.X;
    Self.Top := PopupPosition.Y;

    if not Winapi.Windows.SystemParametersInfo(SPI_GETCOMBOBOXANIMATION, 0, @comboBoxAnimation, 0) then
        comboBoxAnimation := False;

    if comboBoxAnimation then
    begin
        //200ms is the shell animation duration
        AnimateWindow(Self.Handle, 200, AW_VER_POSITIVE or AW_SLIDE or AW_ACTIVATE);
    end
    else
        inherited Show;
end;

Edit: Turns out there is SPI_GETCOMBOBOXANIMATION which should probably use over SPI_GETCLIENTAREAANIMATION. Which points to the depths of difficulty hidden behind the subtle "How to simulate a drop-down". Simulating a drop-down requires a lot of stuff.

The problem is that Delphi forms pretty much fall over dead if you try to use ShowWindow or AnimateWindow behind their back:

enter image description here

How to solve that?

It's also odd that Microsoft itself uses either:

  • ShowWindow(..., SW_SHOWNOACTIVATE), or
  • AnimateWindow(...) *(without AW_ACTIVATE)

to show the drop-down listbox without activation. And yet spying on a ComboBox with Spy++ i can see WM_NCACTIVATE flying around.

In the past people have simulated a slide window using repeated calls to change the Height of the drop-down form from a timer. Not only is this bad; but it also changes the size of the form. Rather than sliding down, the form grows down; you can see all the controls change their layout as the drop-down appears. No, having the drop-down form remain it's real size, but slide down is what is wanted here.

I know AnimateWindow and Delphi have never gotten along. And the question has been asked, a lot, long before Stackoverflow arrived. I even asked about it in 2005 on the newsgroups. But that can't stop me from asking again.

I tried to force my form to redraw after it animates:

AnimateWindow(Self.Handle, 200, AW_VER_POSITIVE or AW_SLIDE or AW_ACTIVATE);
Self.Repaint;
Self.Update;
Self.Invalidate;

But it doesn't work; it just sits there mocking me:

enter image description here

Now showing again when i want to close-up

If a combobox is dropped down, and the user tries to MouseDown on the button, the real Windows ComboBox control does not simply show the control again, but instead hides it:

enter image description here

The drop-down also knows that it is currently "dropped-down", which is useful so that it can draw itself as if it is in "dropped down" mode. What we need is a way to know that the drop-down is dropped down, and a way to know that the drop-down is no longer dropped down. Some kind of boolean variable:

private
   FDroppedDown: Boolean;

And it seems to me that we need to tell the host that we're closing up (i.e. losing activation). The host then needs to be responsible for destroying the popup. (the host cannot be responsible for destroying the popup; it leads to an unresolvable race condition). So i create a message used to notify the owner that we're closing up:

const
   WM_PopupFormCloseUp = WM_APP+89;

Note: I don't know how people avoid message constant conflicts (especially since CM_BASE starts at $B000 and CN_BASE starts at $BC00).

Building on Sertac's activation/deactivation routine:

procedure TfrmPopup.WMActivate(var Msg: TWMActivate);
begin
    //if we are being activated, then give pretend activation state back to our owner
    if (Msg.Active <> WA_INACTIVE) then
        SendMessage(Self.PopupParent.Handle, WM_NCACTIVATE, WPARAM(True), -1);

    inherited;

    //If we're being deactivated, then we need to rollup
    if Msg.Active = WA_INACTIVE then
    begin
        //DONE: Tell our owner that we've rolled up
        //Note: We must post the message. If it is Sent, the owner
        //will get the CloseUp notification before the MouseDown that
        //started all this. When the MouseDown comes, they will think
        //they were not dropped down, and drop down a new one.
        PostMessage(FNotificationParentWnd, WM_PopupFormCloseUp, 0, 0);

        Self.Release; //use release to give WM_Activate a chance to return
    end;
end;

And then we have to change our MouseDown code to understand that the drop-down is still there:

procedure TForm3.Edit1MouseDown(Sender: TObject; Button: TMouseButton; Shift: TShiftState; X, Y: Integer);
var
    frmPopup: TfrmPopup;
    pt: TPoint;
begin
    //If we (were) dropped down, then don't drop-down again.
    //If they click us, pretend they are trying to close the drop-down rather than open a second copy
    if FDroppedDown then
    begin
        //And since we're receiving mouse input, we by defintion must have focus.
        //and since the drop-down self-destructs when it loses activation, 
        //it can no longer be dropped down (since it no longer exists)
        Exit;
    end;

    frmPopup := TfrmPopup.Create(Self);

    //Show the form just under, and right aligned, to this button
    pt := Self.ClientToScreen(Edit1.BoundsRect.BottomRight);
    Dec(pt.X, frmPopup.ClientWidth);

    frmPopup.Show(Self, Self.Handle, pt);
    FDroppedDown := True;
end;

And i think that's it

Aside from the AnimateWindow conundrum, i may have been able use my research effort to solve all the problems i can think of in order to:

Simulate a drop-down form in Delphi

Of course, this could all be for naught. It might turn out there's a VCL function:

TComboBoxHelper = class;
public
   class procedure ShowDropDownForm(...);
end;

In which case that would be the correct answer.


Solution

  • At the bottom of procedure TForm3.Button1Click(Sender: TObject); you call frmPopup.Show; change that to ShowWindow(frmPopup.Handle, SW_SHOWNOACTIVATE); and after that you need to call frmPopup.Visible := True; else the components on the form won't show

    So the new procedure looks like this:

    uses
      frmPopupU;
    
    procedure TForm3.Button1Click(Sender: TObject);
    var
      frmPopup: TfrmPopup;
      pt: TPoint;
    begin
      frmPopup := TfrmPopup.Create(Self);
      frmPopup.BorderStyle := bsNone;
    
      //We want the dropdown form "owned", but not "parented" to us
      frmPopup.Parent := nil; //the default anyway; but just to reinforce the idea
      frmPopup.PopupParent := Self;
    
      //Show the form just under, and right aligned, to this button
      frmPopup.Position := poDesigned;
      pt := Self.ClientToScreen(Button1.BoundsRect.BottomRight);
      Dec(pt.X, frmPopup.ClientWidth);
      frmPopup.Left := pt.X;
      frmPopup.Top := pt.Y;
    
      //  frmPopup.Show;
      ShowWindow(frmPopup.Handle, SW_SHOWNOACTIVATE);
      //Else the components on the form won't show
      frmPopup.Visible := True;
    end;
    

    But this won't prevent you popup from stealing focus. Inorder for preventing that, you need to override the WM_MOUSEACTIVATE event in your popup form

    type
      TfrmPopup = class(TForm)
    ...
        procedure WMMouseActivate(var Message: TWMMouseActivate); message WM_MOUSEACTIVATE;
    ...
      end;
    

    And the implementation

    procedure TfrmPopup.WMMouseActivate(var Message: TWMMouseActivate);
    begin
      Message.Result := MA_NOACTIVATE;
    end;
    

    I've decided to play arround with your popup window: The first thing I added was a close button. Just a simple TButton which in its onCLick Event calls Close:

    procedure TfrmPopup.Button1Click(Sender: TObject);
    begin
      Close;
    end;
    

    But that would only hide the form, in order for freeing it I added a OnFormClose event:

    procedure TfrmPopup.FormClose(Sender: TObject; var Action: TCloseAction);
    begin
      Action := caFree;
    end;
    

    Then finally I thought it would be funny to add a resize function

    I did that by overriding the WM_NCHITTEST Message :

    procedure TfrmPopup.WMNCHitTest(var Message: TWMNCHitTest);
    const
      EDGEDETECT = 7; //adjust to suit yourself
    var
      deltaRect: TRect; //not really used as a rect, just a convenient structure
    begin
      inherited;
    
      with Message, deltaRect do
      begin
        Left := XPos - BoundsRect.Left;
        Right := BoundsRect.Right - XPos;
        Top := YPos - BoundsRect.Top;
        Bottom := BoundsRect.Bottom - YPos;
    
        if (Top < EDGEDETECT) and (Left < EDGEDETECT) then
          Result := HTTOPLEFT
        else if (Top < EDGEDETECT) and (Right < EDGEDETECT) then
          Result := HTTOPRIGHT
        else if (Bottom < EDGEDETECT) and (Left < EDGEDETECT) then
          Result := HTBOTTOMLEFT
        else if (Bottom < EDGEDETECT) and (Right < EDGEDETECT) then
          Result := HTBOTTOMRIGHT
        else if (Top < EDGEDETECT) then
          Result := HTTOP
        else if (Left < EDGEDETECT) then
          Result := HTLEFT
        else if (Bottom < EDGEDETECT) then
          Result := HTBOTTOM
        else if (Right < EDGEDETECT) then
          Result := HTRIGHT;
      end;
    end;
    

    So finally I've ended up with this :

    unit frmPopupU;
    
    interface
    
    uses
      Windows, Messages, SysUtils, Variants, Classes, Graphics, Controls, Forms,
      Dialogs, StdCtrls;
    
    type
      TfrmPopup = class(TForm)
        Button1: TButton;
        procedure Button1Click(Sender: TObject);
        procedure FormClose(Sender: TObject; var Action: TCloseAction);
        procedure FormCreate(Sender: TObject);
      private
        procedure WMMouseActivate(var Message: TWMMouseActivate); message WM_MOUSEACTIVATE;
        procedure WMNCHitTest(var Message: TWMNCHitTest); message WM_NCHITTEST;
      public
        procedure CreateParams(var Params: TCreateParams); override;
      end;
    
    implementation
    
    {$R *.dfm}
    
    { TfrmPopup }
    
    procedure TfrmPopup.Button1Click(Sender: TObject);
    begin
      Close;
    end;
    
    procedure TfrmPopup.CreateParams(var Params: TCreateParams);
    const
      CS_DROPSHADOW = $00020000;
    begin
      inherited CreateParams({var}Params);
      Params.WindowClass.Style := Params.WindowClass.Style or CS_DROPSHADOW;
    end;
    
    procedure TfrmPopup.FormClose(Sender: TObject; var Action: TCloseAction);
    begin
      Action := caFree;
    end;
    
    procedure TfrmPopup.FormCreate(Sender: TObject);
    begin
      DoubleBuffered := true;
      BorderStyle := bsNone;
    end;
    
    procedure TfrmPopup.WMMouseActivate(var Message: TWMMouseActivate);
    begin
      Message.Result := MA_NOACTIVATE;
    end;
    
    procedure TfrmPopup.WMNCHitTest(var Message: TWMNCHitTest);
    const
      EDGEDETECT = 7; //adjust to suit yourself
    var
      deltaRect: TRect; //not really used as a rect, just a convenient structure
    begin
      inherited;
    
      with Message, deltaRect do
      begin
        Left := XPos - BoundsRect.Left;
        Right := BoundsRect.Right - XPos;
        Top := YPos - BoundsRect.Top;
        Bottom := BoundsRect.Bottom - YPos;
    
        if (Top < EDGEDETECT) and (Left < EDGEDETECT) then
          Result := HTTOPLEFT
        else if (Top < EDGEDETECT) and (Right < EDGEDETECT) then
          Result := HTTOPRIGHT
        else if (Bottom < EDGEDETECT) and (Left < EDGEDETECT) then
          Result := HTBOTTOMLEFT
        else if (Bottom < EDGEDETECT) and (Right < EDGEDETECT) then
          Result := HTBOTTOMRIGHT
        else if (Top < EDGEDETECT) then
          Result := HTTOP
        else if (Left < EDGEDETECT) then
          Result := HTLEFT
        else if (Bottom < EDGEDETECT) then
          Result := HTBOTTOM
        else if (Right < EDGEDETECT) then
          Result := HTRIGHT;
      end;
    end;
    
    end.
    

    Hope you can use it.

    Full and functional code

    The following unit was tested only in Delphi 5 (emulated support for PopupParent). But beyond that, it does everything a drop-down needs. Sertac solved the AnimateWindow problem.

    unit DropDownForm;
    
    {
        A drop-down style form.
    
        Sample Usage
        =================
    
            procedure TForm1.SpeedButton1MouseDown(Sender: TObject; Button: TMouseButton; Shift: TShiftState; X, Y: Integer);
            var
                pt: TPoint;
            begin
                if FPopup = nil then
                    FPopup := TfrmOverdueReportsPopup.Create(Self);
                if FPopup.DroppedDown then //don't drop-down again if we're already showing it
                    Exit;
    
                pt := Self.ClientToScreen(SmartSpeedButton1.BoundsRect.BottomRight);
                Dec(pt.X, FPopup.Width);
    
                FPopup.ShowDropdown(Self, pt);
            end;
    
        Simply make a form descend from TDropDownForm.
    
            Change:
                type
                    TfrmOverdueReportsPopup = class(TForm)
    
            to:
                uses
                    DropDownForm;
    
                type
                    TfrmOverdueReportsPopup = class(TDropDownForm)
    }
    
    interface
    
    uses
        Forms, Messages, Classes, Controls, Windows;
    
    const
        WM_PopupFormCloseUp = WM_USER+89;
    
    type
        TDropDownForm = class(TForm)
        private
            FOnCloseUp: TNotifyEvent;
            FPopupParent: TCustomForm;
            FResizable: Boolean;
            function GetDroppedDown: Boolean;
    {$IFNDEF SupportsPopupParent}
            procedure SetPopupParent(const Value: TCustomForm);
    {$ENDIF}
        protected
            procedure CreateParams(var Params: TCreateParams); override;
            procedure WMActivate(var Msg: TWMActivate); message WM_ACTIVATE;
            procedure WMNCHitTest(var Message: TWMNCHitTest); message WM_NCHITTEST;
    
            procedure DoCloseup; virtual;
    
            procedure WMPopupFormCloseUp(var Msg: TMessage); message WM_PopupFormCloseUp;
    
    {$IFNDEF SupportsPopupParent}
            property PopupParent: TCustomForm read FPopupParent write SetPopupParent;
    {$ENDIF}
      public
            constructor Create(AOwner: TComponent); override;
    
            procedure ShowDropdown(OwnerForm: TCustomForm; PopupPosition: TPoint);
            property DroppedDown: Boolean read GetDroppedDown;
            property Resizable: Boolean read FResizable write FResizable;
    
            property OnCloseUp: TNotifyEvent read FOnCloseUp write FOnCloseUp;
      end;
    
    implementation
    
    uses
        SysUtils;
    
    { TDropDownForm }
    
    constructor TDropDownForm.Create(AOwner: TComponent);
    begin
        inherited;
    
        Self.BorderStyle := bsNone; //get rid of our border right away, so the creator can measure us accurately
        FResizable := True;
    end;
    
    procedure TDropDownForm.CreateParams(var Params: TCreateParams);
    const
        SPI_GETDROPSHADOW = $1024;
        CS_DROPSHADOW = $00020000;
    var
        dropShadow: BOOL;
    begin
        inherited CreateParams({var}Params);
    
        //It's no longer documented (because Windows 2000 is no longer supported)
        //but use of CS_DROPSHADOW and SPI_GETDROPSHADOW are only supported on XP (5.1) or newer
        if (Win32MajorVersion > 5) or ((Win32MajorVersion = 5) and (Win32MinorVersion >= 1)) then
        begin
            //Use of a drop-shadow is controlled by a system preference
            if not Windows.SystemParametersInfo(SPI_GETDROPSHADOW, 0, @dropShadow, 0) then
                dropShadow := False;
    
            if dropShadow then
                Params.WindowClass.Style := Params.WindowClass.Style or CS_DROPSHADOW;
        end;
    
    {$IFNDEF SupportsPopupParent} //Delphi 5 support for "PopupParent" style form ownership
        if FPopupParent <> nil then
            Params.WndParent := FPopupParent.Handle;
    {$ENDIF}
    end;
    
    procedure TDropDownForm.DoCloseup;
    begin
        if Assigned(FOnCloseUp) then
            FOnCloseUp(Self);
    end;
    
    function TDropDownForm.GetDroppedDown: Boolean;
    begin
        Result := (Self.Visible);
    end;
    
    {$IFNDEF SupportsPopupParent}
    procedure TDropDownForm.SetPopupParent(const Value: TCustomForm);
    begin
        FPopupParent := Value;
    end;
    {$ENDIF}
    
    procedure TDropDownForm.ShowDropdown(OwnerForm: TCustomForm; PopupPosition: TPoint);
    var
        comboBoxAnimation: BOOL;
        i: Integer;
    
    const
        AnimationDuration = 200; //200 ms
    begin
        //We want the dropdown form "owned" by (i.e. not "parented" to) the OwnerForm
        Self.Parent := nil; //the default anyway; but just to reinforce the idea
        Self.PopupParent := OwnerForm; //Owner means the Win32 concept of owner (i.e. always on top of, cf Parent, which means clipped child of)
    {$IFDEF SupportsPopupParent}
        Self.PopupMode := pmExplicit; //explicitely owned by the owner
    {$ENDIF}
    
        //Show the form just under, and right aligned, to this button
    //  Self.BorderStyle := bsNone; moved to during FormCreate; so can creator can know our width for measurements
        Self.Position := poDesigned;
        Self.Left := PopupPosition.X;
        Self.Top := PopupPosition.Y;
    
        //Use of drop-down animation is controlled by preference
        if not Windows.SystemParametersInfo(SPI_GETCOMBOBOXANIMATION, 0, @comboBoxAnimation, 0) then
            comboBoxAnimation := False;
    
        if comboBoxAnimation then
        begin
            //Delphi doesn't react well to having a form show behind its back (e.g. ShowWindow, AnimateWindow).
            //Force Delphi to create all the WinControls so that they will exist when the form is shown.
            for i := 0 to ControlCount - 1 do
            begin
                if Controls[i] is TWinControl and Controls[i].Visible and
                        not TWinControl(Controls[i]).HandleAllocated then
                begin
                    TWinControl(Controls[i]).HandleNeeded;
                    SetWindowPos(TWinControl(Controls[i]).Handle, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0,
                            SWP_NOSIZE or SWP_NOMOVE or SWP_NOZORDER or SWP_NOACTIVATE or SWP_SHOWWINDOW);
                end;
            end;
            AnimateWindow(Self.Handle, AnimationDuration, AW_VER_POSITIVE or AW_SLIDE or AW_ACTIVATE);
            Visible := True; // synch VCL
        end
        else
            inherited Show;
    end;
    
    procedure TDropDownForm.WMActivate(var Msg: TWMActivate);
    begin
        //If we are being activated, then give pretend activation state back to our owner
        if (Msg.Active <> WA_INACTIVE) then
            SendMessage(Self.PopupParent.Handle, WM_NCACTIVATE, WPARAM(True), -1);
    
        inherited;
    
        //If we're being deactivated, then we need to rollup
        if Msg.Active = WA_INACTIVE then
        begin
            {
                Post a message (not Send a message) to oursleves that we're closing up.
                This gives a chance for the mouse/keyboard event that triggered the closeup
                to believe the drop-down is still dropped down.
                This is intentional, so that the person dropping it down knows not to drop it down again.
                They want clicking the button while is was dropped to hide it.
                But in order to hide it, it must still be dropped down.
            }
            PostMessage(Self.Handle, WM_PopupFormCloseUp, WPARAM(Self), LPARAM(0));
        end;
    end;
    
    procedure TDropDownForm.WMNCHitTest(var Message: TWMNCHitTest);
    var
        deltaRect: TRect; //not really used as a rect, just a convenient structure
        cx, cy: Integer;
    begin
        inherited;
    
        if not Self.Resizable then
            Exit;
    
        //The sizable border is a preference
        cx := GetSystemMetrics(SM_CXSIZEFRAME);
        cy := GetSystemMetrics(SM_CYSIZEFRAME);
    
        with Message, deltaRect do
        begin
            Left := XPos - BoundsRect.Left;
            Right := BoundsRect.Right - XPos;
            Top := YPos - BoundsRect.Top;
            Bottom := BoundsRect.Bottom - YPos;
    
            if (Top < cy) and (Left < cx) then
                Result := HTTOPLEFT
            else if (Top < cy) and (Right < cx) then
                Result := HTTOPRIGHT
            else if (Bottom < cy) and (Left < cx) then
                Result := HTBOTTOMLEFT
            else if (Bottom < cy) and (Right < cx) then
                Result := HTBOTTOMRIGHT
            else if (Top < cy) then
                Result := HTTOP
            else if (Left < cx) then
                Result := HTLEFT
            else if (Bottom < cy) then
                Result := HTBOTTOM
            else if (Right < cx) then
                Result := HTRIGHT;
        end;
    end;
    
    procedure TDropDownForm.WMPopupFormCloseUp(var Msg: TMessage);
    begin
        //This message gets posted to us.
        //Now it's time to actually closeup.
        Self.Hide;
    
        DoCloseup; //raise the OnCloseup event *after* we're actually hidden
    end;
    
    end.