Thread messages are eaten by modal loops

Thread messages (as generated by the PostThreadMessage function) do not go anywhere when passed to the DispatchMessage function. This is obvious if you think about it, because there is no window handle associated with a thread message. DispatchMessage has no idea what to do with a message with no associated window. It has no choice but to throw the message away.

This has dire consequences for threads which enter modal loops, which any thread with a window almost certainly will do at one time or another. Recall that the traditional modal loop looks like this:

while (GetMessage(&msg, NULL, 0, 0)) {
 TranslateMessage(&msg);
 DispatchMessage(&msg);
}

If a thread message is returned by the GetMessage function, it will just fall through the TranslateMessage and DispatchMessage without any action being taken. Lost forever.

Thread messages are generally to be avoided on threads that create windows, for this very reason. Of course, if you’re going to create a window, why not use PostMessage instead, passing that window as the target of the posted message? Since there is now a window handle, the DispatchMessage function knows to give the message to your window procedure. Result: Message not lost.