# Creating a Simple Word Processor > Build a Visual Basic 6 word processor: place TXTextControl, button bar, rulers and status bar on a form, connect them and add Format, Edit and File menus. - **Product:** TX Text Control ActiveX - **Section:** Documentation - **Kind:** Topic - **Path:** TX Text Control ActiveX > Getting Started > Creating a Simple Word Processor - **3101 words** - **Web URL:** https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-activex/getting-started/first-application/ - **LLMs URL:** https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-activex/getting-started/first-application/llms.txt - **LLMs-Full URL:** https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-activex/getting-started/first-application/llms-full.txt --- A small word processor built with TX Text Control ActiveX and Visual Basic 6 takes only a few lines of code. Starting from an empty project, you place a `TXTextControl`, a `TXButtonBar`, two `TXRulerBar` controls and a `TXStatusBar` on a form, connect them and add a menu. The finished program loads and saves files, uses the clipboard, opens dialog boxes for character and paragraph formatting and has a ruler bar, a status bar and a full keyboard and mouse interface. The source code of this example is in the *Samples\\vb6\\Simple* sample source directory. ### Create the Project Before you start, run the TX Text Control installation program and start Visual Basic. Then create a project for the word processor: 1. Select the **New Project** command from the **File** menu. 2. Use the **Project / Components...** command to add the file *tx4ole34.ocx* to the new project. Four additional icons appear at the bottom of the toolbox. They represent `TXTextControl` and its status bar, button bar and ruler bar: ![Toolbox icon of the TXTextControl control](https://docs.textcontrol.com/assets/img/tx-text-control-activex/toolbox-icon-textcontrol.697fea2b.webp) The `TXTextControl` icon ![Toolbox icon of the TXStatusBar control](https://docs.textcontrol.com/assets/img/tx-text-control-activex/toolbox-icon-statusbar.c5520938.webp) The `TXStatusBar` icon ![Toolbox icon of the TXButtonBar control](https://docs.textcontrol.com/assets/img/tx-text-control-activex/toolbox-icon-buttonbar.5a6d8bcc.webp) The `TXButtonBar` icon ![Toolbox icon of the TXRulerBar control](https://docs.textcontrol.com/assets/img/tx-text-control-activex/toolbox-icon-rulerbar.0ad33e51.webp) The `TXRulerBar` icon ### Place the Controls on the Form Put the four controls on a form. Click the `TXTextControl` icon and draw the control on the form. In the same way, create a button bar, two ruler bars and a status bar. Position the toolbars with the **Align** property: - **Button bar and first ruler bar.** Set **Align** to **1 - Align Top**. - **Status bar.** Set **Align** to **2 - Align Bottom**. - **Second ruler bar.** Set its [Direction](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-activex/reference/txrulerbar/direction-property/llms-full.txt) property to **1 - Vertical** and align it to the left by setting **Align** to **3 - Align Left**. These settings arrange everything except the width and the height of `TXTextControl`, which you set in [Resize the Text Control](#resize-the-text-control). Your form now looks like this: ![Visual Basic form in design mode with a button bar and a horizontal ruler at the top, a vertical ruler on the left, a status bar at the bottom and a TXTextControl in the middle](https://docs.textcontrol.com/assets/img/tx-text-control-activex/form-controls-design-mode.b378a5ab.webp) ### Connect the Controls Add the following code to the form's `Load` event procedure: ```vbscript Private Sub Form_Load() TXTextControl1.ButtonBarHandle = TXButtonBar1.hWnd TXTextControl1.RulerHandle = TXRuler1.hWnd TXTextControl1.VerticalRulerHandle = TXRuler2.hWnd TXTextControl1.StatusBarHandle = TXStatusBar1.hWnd End Sub ``` The code works as follows: - [ButtonBarHandle](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-activex/reference/txtextcontrol/buttonbarhandle-property/llms-full.txt) specifies the button bar that `TXTextControl1` uses, by the window handle that the [hWnd](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-activex/reference/txbuttonbar/hwnd-property/llms-full.txt) property of `TXButtonBar1` returns. - [RulerHandle](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-activex/reference/txtextcontrol/rulerhandle-property/llms-full.txt) connects the horizontal ruler bar `TXRuler1`, and [VerticalRulerHandle](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-activex/reference/txtextcontrol/verticalrulerhandle-property/llms-full.txt) the vertical ruler bar `TXRuler2`. - [StatusBarHandle](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-activex/reference/txtextcontrol/statusbarhandle-property/llms-full.txt) connects the status bar `TXStatusBar1`. ### Run the Program The word processor isn't finished yet, but you can run it and see what it does. Click the **Start** button. You can type text, select it with the mouse, copy it to the clipboard and paste it (with CTRL+C and CTRL+V, as long as there is no menu), select a different font, set tabs and do much more. All of these features are built into `TXTextControl` and need almost no programming. Some features are still missing: - When you resize the main window, `TXTextControl` keeps its old size. - There is no menu. - There is no horizontal scroll bar. The following steps add them. ### Set the Page View TX Text Control offers several view modes for different tasks. To work as a word processor, set the [ViewMode](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-activex/reference/txtextcontrol/viewmode-property/llms-full.txt) property to **Page View** in the Properties window. This automatically adds the horizontal scroll bar, the page size and the margins. ![Properties window of TXTextControl1 in Visual Basic, where the ViewMode property is set](https://docs.textcontrol.com/assets/img/tx-text-control-activex/properties-window-viewmode.8d88c15a.webp) You can also choose the view mode on the **Page** tab of the control's property pages: ![Visual Basic 6 form in design mode with a button bar, a ruler bar, TXTextControl1 and a status bar, and the Property Pages dialog box of TXTextControl1 open on the Page tab with the ViewMode list showing 2 - Page View, 3 - Floating Text and 4 - Simple Control](https://docs.textcontrol.com/assets/img/tx-text-control-activex/property-pages-view-mode.2cbcbe1b.webp) ### Resize the Text Control To make `TXTextControl` resize with the main window, handle the form's `Resize` event: 1. Open the code window of the form that contains `TXTextControl`. 2. In the combo boxes at the top of the code window, select **Form** in the **Object:** box and **Resize** in the **Proc:** box. The code window shows an empty procedure for the `Resize` event: ```vbscript Private Sub Form_Resize () End Sub ``` Extend it as follows: ```vbscript Private Sub Form_Resize () If WindowState <> 1 Then TXTextControl1.Left = TXRuler2.Width TXTextControl1.Top = TXButtonBar1.Height + TXRuler1.Height TXTextControl1.Height = ScaleHeight - TXButtonBar1.Height _ - TXRuler1.Height - TXStatusBar1.Height TXTextControl1.Width = ScaleWidth - TXRuler2.Width End If End Sub ``` The code works as follows: - Every time the size of the form changes, the position, width and height of `TXTextControl1` are adjusted. While the form is minimized (`WindowState` 1), the procedure changes nothing. - `Left` and `Top` place the control to the right of the vertical ruler bar and below the button bar and the horizontal ruler bar. - `Height` and `Width` fill the rest of the form's `ScaleHeight` and `ScaleWidth`, leaving room for the bars. - The `_` character continues one logical line of code on the next physical line. ### Add a Menu A menu gives the word processor access to the built-in dialog boxes of `TXTextControl`, the clipboard and files. You create the menus with the Visual Basic Menu Design Window; the Visual Basic documentation describes how to create menus. ![Visual Basic Menu Editor with the File, Edit and Format menus and the item mnuFormat_Paragraph selected](https://docs.textcontrol.com/assets/img/tx-text-control-activex/menu-editor.f749e3f7.webp) #### Format Menu Create a **Format** menu with the items **Character...** and **Paragraph...**. Name the items `mnuFormat_Character` and `mnuFormat_Paragraph`, and add the following code to their `Click` procedures: ```vbscript Private Sub mnuFormat_Character_Click() TXTextControl1.FontDialog End Sub Private Sub mnuFormat_Paragraph_Click() TXTextControl1.ParagraphDialog End Sub ``` [FontDialog](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-activex/reference/txtextcontrol/fontdialog-method/llms-full.txt) opens the built-in font dialog box, and [ParagraphDialog](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-activex/reference/txtextcontrol/paragraphdialog-method/llms-full.txt) the built-in paragraph dialog box. Start the program again: the menu items now open the **Font** and **Paragraph** dialog boxes. ![The built-in Font dialog box with font, size, attributes, position, underlining and text and background colors, opened in the TXWords sample, in the look of TX Text Control 10](https://docs.textcontrol.com/assets/img/tx-text-control-activex/font-dialog.9542989b.webp) #### Edit Menu In the Menu Design Window, create an **Edit** menu with the items **Cut**, **Copy** and **Paste**. The code for these menu items is: ```vbscript Private Sub mnuEdit_Cut_Click() TXTextControl1.Clip 1 End Sub Private Sub mnuEdit_Copy_Click() TXTextControl1.Clip 2 End Sub Private Sub mnuEdit_Paste_Click() TXTextControl1.Clip 3 End Sub ``` The [Clip](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-activex/reference/txtextcontrol/clip-method/llms-full.txt) method cuts the selection to the clipboard with 1, copies it with 2 and pastes the clipboard's contents with 3. With these menu items, you can exchange formatted text with other word processors through the clipboard. #### File Menu The last menu is a simple **File** menu: 1. Create a **File** menu with the items **Load...** and **Save As...**. 2. Place a common dialog box icon on the form. Then add the following code. It opens the common dialog box to get a file name from the user and then loads or saves the selected file: ```vbscript Private Sub mnuFile_Load_Click() On Error Resume Next ' Create an "Open File" dialog box CommonDialog1.Filter = "TX Demo (*.tx)|*.tx" CommonDialog1.DialogTitle = "Open" CommonDialog1.Flags = cdlOFNFileMustExist Or _ cdlOFNHideReadOnly CommonDialog1.CancelError = True CommonDialog1.ShowOpen If Err Then Exit Sub ' Pass the filename to the Text Control TXTextControl1.Load CommonDialog1.filename, 0 End Sub Private Sub mnuFile_SaveAs_Click() On Error Resume Next ' Create a "Save File" dialog box CommonDialog1.Filter = "TX Demo (*.tx)|*.tx" CommonDialog1.DialogTitle = "Save As" CommonDialog1.Flags = cdlOFNOverwritePrompt Or _ cdlOFNHideReadOnly CommonDialog1.CancelError = True CommonDialog1.ShowSave If Err Then Exit Sub ' Open the selected file TXTextControl1.Save CommonDialog1.filename, 0 End Sub ``` The code works as follows: - `CommonDialog1` shows an **Open** or a **Save As** dialog box for files with the extension *.tx*. Because `CancelError` is `True`, canceling the dialog box raises an error, and `If Err Then Exit Sub` leaves the procedure. - [Load](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-activex/reference/txtextcontrol/load-method/llms-full.txt) and [Save](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-activex/reference/txtextcontrol/save-method/llms-full.txt) read and write the selected file. The second parameter is the file offset, 0; without a format parameter, both methods use the internal Text Control format. The *Simple* sample of version 34.0 goes one step further: its **Load...** and **Save as...** items offer RTF, DOC, DOCX, HTML and the TX format in the dialog box and pass the matching format value to `Load` and `Save`, for example 5 for RTF and 13 for DOCX. [Working with Files](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-activex/document-editor/load-save/llms-full.txt) describes the formats. ### Next Steps TX Text Control has many more features than this small program uses. Zoom, images, tables, OLE objects, paragraph frames and whatever else a full word processor needs are up to you. For hints on integrating special features, look at the source code of the other sample programs, or post a message in the Text Control support forum on [www.textcontrol.com](https://www.textcontrol.com). - [Working with Files](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-activex/document-editor/load-save/llms-full.txt): the file formats and how to choose one when loading and saving. - [A Word Processor](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-activex/document-editor/word-processor/llms-full.txt): the TXWords sample with page setup, printing, search and color dialog boxes. - [Text Formatting and Views](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-activex/document-editor/viewing/llms-full.txt): view modes and the coordinate system. - [How to Obtain Support](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-activex/overview/support/llms-full.txt): the ways to reach Text Control support. --- ## Nearby - **Previous:** [Getting Started](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-activex/getting-started/llms-full.txt) - **Next:** [Document Editor](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-activex/document-editor/llms-full.txt)