How to Customize Built-in Context Menus

• Aug 02, 2022
• 5 minutes to read

A Spreadsheet control has two popup menus:

• A worksheet tab context menu.

• A worksheet context menu.

Worksheet Tab Context Menu

The TdxSpreadSheetBuiltInPageControlTabPopupMenu class implements a worksheet tab context menu. You can right-click on a worksheet tab header to invoke this menu. Handle the control’s OnPageControlContextPopup event to customize menu items or display a custom menu.

Worksheet Context Menu

The TdxSpreadSheetBuiltInTableViewPopupMenu class implements a worksheet context menu. You should right-click on a cell, floating container, or a row or column header to invoke this menu. Handle the control’s OnTableViewContextPopup event to customize menu items or display a custom menu.

How to Disable or Replace a Built-in Menu

Handle the OnPageControlContextPopup or OnTableViewContextPopup event and assign True to the AHandled parameter to disable the built-in context menu. Use the P parameter to obtain mouse pointer coordinates and display a custom menu at these coordinates.

Delphi

procedure TMyForm.dxSpreadSheet1PageControlContextPopup(ASpreadSheet: TdxCustomSpreadSheet; const P: TPoint; APopupMenu: TPopupMenu; var AHandled: Boolean);
begin
  MyPopupMenu.Popup(P.X, P.Y);  // Invokes the custom popup menu at the mouse pointer position
  AHandled := True;  // Disables the built-in popup menu
end;

C++

void __fastcall TMyForm::dxSpreadSheet1PageControlContextPopup(TdxCustomSpreadSheet *ASpreadSheet, const TPoint &P, TPopupMenu *APopupMenu, bool &AHandled)
{
  MyPopupMenu->Popup(P.X, P.Y); // Invokes the custom popup menu at the mouse pointer position
  AHandled = true;  // Disables the built-in popup menu
}

How to Remove Items from Built-in Menus

Handle the OnPageControlContextPopup or OnTableViewContextPopup event. Use the APopupMenu parameter to access a context menu. Use the Tag property to identify the target menu item.

The following code removes the “Hide“ and “Unhide…“ items from the worksheet tab menu:

Delphi

procedure TMyForm.dxSpreadSheet1PageControlContextPopup(ASpreadSheet: TdxCustomSpreadSheet; const P: TPoint; APopupMenu: TPopupMenu; var AHandled: Boolean);
var
  I: Integer;
begin
  for APopupMenu.Items.Count - 1 downto 0 do  // Iterates through all menu items
    // If the current item is "Hide" or "Unhide..."
    if ((APopupMenu.Items[I].Tag = TdxSpreadSheetBuiltInPageControlTabPopupMenu.cidHide) or (APopupMenu.Items[I].Tag = TdxSpreadSheetBuiltInPageControlTabPopupMenu.cidUnhide))      APopupMenu.Items.Delete(I);  // Deletes a menu item
end;

C++

void __fastcall TMyForm::dxSpreadSheet1PageControlContextPopup(TdxCustomSpreadSheet *ASpreadSheet; const TPoint &P; TPopupMenu *APopupMenu; bool &AHandled)
{
  for(int I = APopupMenu->Items->Count - 1; I => 0; I--)
    // If the current item is "Hide" or "Unhide..."
    if ((APopupMenu->Items[I]->Tag == TdxSpreadSheetBuiltInPageControlTabPopupMenu::cidHide) || (APopupMenu->Items[I]->Tag == TdxSpreadSheetBuiltInPageControlTabPopupMenu::cidUnhide))
      APopupMenu->Items->Delete(I);  // Deletes a menu item
}

How to Add Custom Menu Items

Handle the OnPageControlContextPopup or OnTableViewContextPopup event to add custom items to a context menu. Create a new pop-up menu item, handle its OnClick event and use the APopupMenu parameter to add the item to an existing menu.

The following code inserts the “Mark Cells” menu item after “Format Cells…“.

Delphi

procedure TMyForm.dxSpreadSheet1TableViewContext(Sender: TdxSpreadSheetTableView; const P: TPoint; APopupMenu: TPopupMenu; var AHandled: Boolean);
var
  AItem: TMenuItem;
  I: Integer;
begin
  if (not Sender.HitTest.HitAtColumnHeader and
      not Sender.HitTest.HitAtRowHeader and
      not Sender.HitTest.HitAtContainer) then  // Ensures that the new item ends up in only in the popup menu is invoked for a cell or cell selection
    for I := 0 to APopupMenu.Items.Count - 1 do  // Iterates through all menu items to find a position to insert a new item
    begin
      if APopupMenu.Items[I].Tag = TdxSpreadSheetBuiltInTableViewPopupMenu.cidFormatCells then  // If the current menu item is "Format Cells"
      begin
        AItem := TMenuItem.Create(APopupMenu);  // Creates a new menu item
        AItem.Caption := 'Mark Cells';  // Defines the menu item's caption
        AItem.OnClick := MarkCellsMenuItemClick;  // Assigns an implemented handler to the menu item's OnClick event
        APopupMenu.Items.Insert(I, AItem);  // Inserts the menu item after "Format Cells"
        Break;  // Exits the cycle
      end;
end;

C++

void __fastcall TMyForm::dxSpreadSheet1TableViewContext(TdxSpreadSheetTableView *Sender; const TPoint &P; TPopupMenu *APopupMenu; bool &AHandled)
{
  if(!Sender->HitTest->HitAtColumnHeader &&
     !Sender->HitTest->HitAtRowHeader &&
     !Sender->HitTest->HitAtContainer)  // Ensures that the new item ends up in only in the popup menu is invoked for a cell or cell selection
    for(int I = 0; I < APopupMenu->Items->Count; I++)  // Iterates through all menu items to find a position to insert a new item
    {
      if(APopupMenu->Items[I]->Tag == TdxSpreadSheetBuiltInTableViewPopupMenu::cidFormatCells)  // If the current menu item is "Format Cells"
      {
        AItem = new TMenuItem(APopupMenu);  // Creates a new menu item
        AItem->Caption = "Mark Cells";  // Defines the menu item's caption
        AItem->OnClicl = &TMyForm::MarkCellsMenuItemClick;  // Assigns an implemented handler to the menu item's OnClick event
        APopupMenu->Items->Insert(I, AItem);  // Inserts the menu item after "Format Cells"
        break;  // Exits he cycle
      }
    }
}

The following code example implements the “Mark Cells” item functionality in a new menu item’s OnClick event handler.

Delphi

procedure TMyForm.MarkCellsMenuItemClick(Sender: TObject);
var
  I, J, K: Integer;
  ACell: TdxSpreadSheetCell;
  ATableView: TdxSpreadSheetTableView;
begin
  ATableView := dxSpreadSheet1.ActiveSheetAsTable;
  ATableView.BeginUpdate;  // Stops all worksheet update operations until all selected cells change their visual style
  for I := 0 to ATableView.Selection.Count - 1 do  // Iterates through all selected cell ranges
    for J := ATableView.Selection.Items[I].Left to ATableView.Selection.Items[I].Right do  // Iterates through all columns within a selected cell range
      for K := ATableView.Selection.Items[I].Top to ATableView.Selection.Items[I].Bottom do  // Iterates through all cells within a selected column
      begin
        ACell := ATableView.CreateCell(K, J);  // Obtains a cell object to change its appearance
        ACell.Style.Brush.Style := sscfsSolid;  // Changes a selected cell's background style to solid color fill
        ACell.Style.Brush.BackgroundColor := clMoneyGreen;  // Uses the clMoneyGreen color to fill a cell's background
      end;
  ATableView.EndUpdate;  // Resumes worksheet update operations and applies all pending changes made to cell style settings 
end;

C++

void __fastcall TMyForm::MarkCellsMenuItemClick(TObject *Sender)
{
  TdxSpreadSheetCell *ACell;
  TdxSpreadSheetTableView *ATableView;
  ATableView = dxSpreadSheet1->ActiveSheetAsTable;
  ATableView->BeginUpdate();  // Stops all worksheet update operations until all selected cells change their visual style
  for(int I = 0; I < ATableView->Selection->Count; I++)  // Iterates through all selected cell ranges
    for(int J = ATableView->Selection->Items[I].Left; J <= ATableView->Selection->Items[I].Right; J++)  // Iterates through all columns within a selected cell range
      for(int K = ATableView->Selection->Items[I].Top; J <= ATableView->Selection->Items[I].Bottom; K++)  // Iterates through all cells within a selected column
      {
        ACell = ATableView->CreateCell(K, J);  // Obtains a cell object to change its appearance
        ACell->Style->Brush->Style = sscfsSolid;  // Changes a selected cell's background style to solid color fill
        ACell->Style->Brush->BackgroundColor = clMoneyGreen;  // Uses the clMoneyGreen color to fill a cell's background
      }
  ATableView->EndUpdate();  // Resumes worksheet update operations and applies all pending changes made to cell style settings
}