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GetMenuState function (winuser.h)

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Retrieves the menu flags associated with the specified menu item. If the menu item opens a submenu, this function also returns the number of items in the submenu.

Note  The GetMenuState function has been superseded by the GetMenuItemInfo. You can still use GetMenuState, however, if you do not need any of the extended features of GetMenuItemInfo.
 

Syntax

UINT GetMenuState(
  [in] HMENU hMenu,
  [in] UINT  uId,
  [in] UINT  uFlags
);

Parameters

[in] hMenu

Type: HMENU

A handle to the menu that contains the menu item whose flags are to be retrieved.

[in] uId

Type: UINT

The menu item for which the menu flags are to be retrieved, as determined by the uFlags parameter.

[in] uFlags

Type: UINT

Indicates how the uId parameter is interpreted. This parameter can be one of the following values.

Value Meaning
MF_BYCOMMAND
0x00000000L
 Indicates that the uId parameter gives the identifier of the menu item. The MF_BYCOMMAND flag is the default if neither the MF_BYCOMMAND nor MF_BYPOSITION flag is specified.
MF_BYPOSITION
0x00000400L
 Indicates that the uId parameter gives the zero-based relative position of the menu item.

Return value

Type: UINT

If the specified item does not exist, the return value is -1.

If the menu item opens a submenu, the low-order byte of the return value contains the menu flags associated with the item, and the high-order byte contains the number of items in the submenu opened by the item.

Otherwise, the return value is a mask (Bitwise OR) of the menu flags. Following are the menu flags associated with the menu item.

Return code/value Description
MF_CHECKED
0x00000008L
 A check mark is placed next to the item (for drop-down menus, submenus, and shortcut menus only).
MF_DISABLED
0x00000002L
 The item is disabled.
MF_GRAYED
0x00000001L
 The item is disabled and grayed.
MF_HILITE
0x00000080L
 The item is highlighted.
MF_MENUBARBREAK
0x00000020L
 This is the same as the MF_MENUBREAK flag, except for drop-down menus, submenus, and shortcut menus, where the new column is separated from the old column by a vertical line.
MF_MENUBREAK
0x00000040L
 The item is placed on a new line (for menu bars) or in a new column (for drop-down menus, submenus, and shortcut menus) without separating columns.
MF_OWNERDRAW
0x00000100L
 The item is owner-drawn.
MF_POPUP
0x00000010L
 Menu item is a submenu.
MF_SEPARATOR
0x00000800L
 There is a horizontal dividing line (for drop-down menus, submenus, and shortcut menus only).

Remarks

It is possible to test an item for a flag value of MF_ENABLED, MF_STRING, MF_UNCHECKED, or MF_UNHILITE. However, since these values equate to zero you must use an expression to test for them.

Flag Expression to test for the flag
MF_ENABLED ! (Flag&(MF_DISABLED | MF_GRAYED))
MF_STRING ! (Flag&(MF_BITMAP | MF_OWNERDRAW))
MF_UNCHECKED ! (Flag&MF_CHECKED)
MF_UNHILITE ! (Flag&HILITE)
 

Examples

For an example, see Simulating Check Boxes in a Menu.

Requirements

Requirement Value
Minimum supported client Windows 2000 Professional [desktop apps only]
Minimum supported server Windows 2000 Server [desktop apps only]
Target Platform Windows
Header winuser.h (include Windows.h)
Library User32.lib
DLL User32.dll
API set ext-ms-win-ntuser-menu-l1-1-2 (introduced in Windows 10, version 10.0.10240)

See also

Conceptual

GetMenu

GetMenuItemCount

GetMenuItemID

GetMenuItemInfo

Menus

Reference