GUI window handle invalid after storing in dictionary

[jchapman15]

Can anyone tell me why a window handle becomes invalid after it's stored inside a dictionary?

If you disable the line where it's stored the RichEdit box will show, otherwise it _GUICtrlRichEdit_Create errors out -1 (window handle no longer exists)

#include <GuiRichEdit.au3>

#include <WindowsConstants.au3>


$controls = ObjCreate("Scripting.Dictionary")
$win = GUICreate("Enter Information", 400, 400)

$controls.Add("gui", $win) ;if window handle stored in a dictionary object then the handle is invalidated
_GUICtrlRichEdit_Create($win, "test string", 25, 200, 350, 100, BitOr($ES_AUTOHSCROLL, $ES_AUTOVSCROLL, $WS_VSCROLL, $ES_MULTILINE, $ES_READONLY))
GUISetState()
While GUIGetMsg() <> -3

 sleep(10)

WEnd

[water]

Why do you need to store it in a dictionary?

[jchapman15]

Water: Well I didn't really need to do it that way I could store the window handle in a global, but the dictionary keeps all of my control IDs on the GUI in a nice organized package that can be easily passed to multiple functions.  

NutStomper: Odd that it converts the original variable, dictionary.Add is ByRef then I guess? Thanks for the workaround!

Edited June 14, 2013 by jchapman15

[water]

I usually use an array to store all the IDs of a GUI.

Advantage: No external references needed.

Disadvantage: You can't access the elements by name.

[jchapman15]

I used arrays to start, but after my GUI became pretty complex my code started to become too much of a pain to update having to look back and forth to figure out which indexes match to which controls.

Not having to worry about external references is a definate plus, but portability isn't a concern with this project.

Thanks for your help!

[guinness]

The handle is being converted to a number when it's added to the dictionary. Use HWnd() to convert it back to a handle.

And you can use Ptr.

#include <Constants.au3>

Local $hGUI = GUICreate(Default)
MsgBox($MB_SYSTEMMODAL, '', 'hGUI = ' & $hGUI)
MsgBox($MB_SYSTEMMODAL, '', 'hGUI = ' & Number($hGUI))
MsgBox($MB_SYSTEMMODAL, '', 'Number-Ptr = ' & Ptr(Number($hGUI)) & @CRLF & 'Number-HWnd = ' & HWnd(Number($hGUI)))