From: John H. on
Woody wrote:
> What I am trying to do is show the user that the combo is not
> available. In fact, there is no text in the list, and never will be as
> long as the combo isn't available.

This might get you in the right direction:

class CMyCombo : public CComboBox
{
public:
CMyCombo();
CBrush m_brush;
afx_msg HBRUSH OnCtlColor(CDC* pDC, CWnd* pWnd, UINT nCtlColor);
DECLARE_MESSAGE_MAP()
};

CMyCombo::CMyCombo()
{
m_brush.CreateSolidBrush(RGB(200,200,200));
}

BEGIN_MESSAGE_MAP(CMyCombo, CComboBox)
ON_WM_CTLCOLOR()
END_MESSAGE_MAP()

HBRUSH CMyCombo::OnCtlColor(CDC* pDC, CWnd* pWnd, UINT nCtlColor)
{
CComboBox::OnCtlColor(pDC, pWnd, nCtlColor);
return m_brush;
}