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How to search a List Box for a specific piece of text using the SendMessage API. The text is highlighted as the user types in a textbox.

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*       © 2007 CodeItBetter http://www.codeitbetter.com        *
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Declare Function SendMessage Lib "user32" Alias "SendMessageA" (ByVal hwnd As Long, _
    ByVal wMsg As Long, ByVal wParam As Long, lParam As Any) As Long

Private Sub txtSearch_Change()
    Dim TempString As String
    Dim TheHandle As Long
    Dim Position As Long

    TempString = txtSearch.Text
    TheHandle = lstBox.hwnd
    If Len(TempString) = 0 Then
        'search box is empty
        lstBox.ListIndex = 0
    Else
        'set list index to matching entry or back to first if nothing found
        Position = SendMessage(TheHandle, LB_FINDSTRING, -1, TempString)
        If Position = -1 Then
            lstBox.ListIndex = 0
        Else
            lstBox.ListIndex = Position
        End If
    End If
End Sub

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