The Old New Thing

Why isn't there a GetDlgItemFloat function?

March 10, 2008 Mar 10, 2008 03/10/08
Raymond Chen
Jonathan Wilson asks, "Do you know why there is a GetDlgItemInt and a SetDlgItemInt but not a GetDlgItemFloat and a SetDlgItemFloat?" Give people five dollars and they'll ask why you didn't give them ten. Let's start with the first question. Why is there a function? After all, doesn't do anything you couldn't already do with and . Well...

The art of losing things: Keep moving them around

March 7, 2008 Mar 7, 2008 03/7/08
Raymond Chen
The worst thing about losing things is that when you eventually find them, they're always where you left them. (This assumes you live alone or otherwise can control who touches your stuff.) I have a mental place for most things, and I keep them there, which is great, because when I need, say, my passport, I know where to go. Except that I ...

Why can't I convert a time zone abbreviation into a time zone?

March 7, 2008 Mar 7, 2008 03/7/08
Raymond Chen
Suppose you have a string of the form . How can you parse this into something your program can manipulate, like say a or a ? Basically, you can't in the general case. The time zone abbreviation CST is ambiguous. It could mean U.S./Canada Central Standard Time, Australian Central Standard Time, China Standard Time, or Cuba Summer Time. ...

How do I log on using a dial-up connection on Windows Vista?

March 6, 2008 Mar 6, 2008 03/6/08
Raymond Chen
Mike Stephens from the Group Policy Team Blog explains how to get "Log on using dial-up connections" working on Windows Vista. But I'm posting to respond to a comment on that page, since that falls under the category of "When people ask for security holes as features." The only problem is all users need to have access to an account with ...

Not my finest hour: Using the wrong mouse

March 5, 2008 Mar 5, 2008 03/5/08
Raymond Chen
I used the wrong mouse for nearly an entire day. There are a good number of computers in my office, but they all funnel through to two sets of mice, keyboards, and monitors. One set is connected to the machine I use for day-to-day activities; the other set is connected through a switch box to a collection of machines which I used for testing ...

Email tip: A peer-to-peer discussion group does not come with a service level agreement

March 4, 2008 Mar 4, 2008 03/4/08
Raymond Chen
Most email discussion groups are not official support channels. There are a lot of peer-to-peer mailing lists inside Microsoft, consisting of people who are interested in a particular topic, sharing tips, providing advice, helping each other out if somebody runs into a problem, but they aren't the official support mechanism for the product ...

Why does scheduling a task require a password?

March 3, 2008 Mar 3, 2008 03/3/08
Raymond Chen
Kevin asks, "Windows XP lets me install applications, delete files, etc., so why does scheduling a task requires a password?" (I guess the answer to this question wasn't obvious since nobody answered it in the suggestion box.) Because scheduled tasks run after you have logged off. All those other operations occur while you are logged ...

The 2008/2009 Seattle Symphony subscription season at a glance

February 29, 2008 Feb 29, 2008 02/29/08
Raymond Chen
Every year, I put together a little pocket guide to the Seattle Symphony subscription season for my symphony friends to help them decide which ticket package they want. As before, you might find it helpful, you might not, but here it is anyway. Notes: This chart doesn't include "one-off" concert series such as the Visiting Orchestras or ...