I'm trying to apply custom row background colors to a ListView in a dialog-based Win32 application using WM_NOTIFY and NM_CUSTOMDRAW. However, the colors are not being applied correctly, and the ListView appears with its default colors.

Here's what I’ve tried so far:

• Set LVS_OWNERDRAWFIXED in ListView_SetExtendedListViewStyle().

• Handled WM_NOTIFY with CDDS_PREPAINT and CDDS_ITEMPREPAINT.

• Used InvalidateRect() to force a refresh.

• Ensured ListView items are added before drawing logic:

  case WM_NOTIFY:
      if (((LPNMHDR)lParam)->hwndFrom == featherListView) {
          LPNMLVCUSTOMDRAW lplvcd = (LPNMLVCUSTOMDRAW)lParam;
  
          switch (lplvcd->nmcd.dwDrawStage) {
          case CDDS_PREPAINT:
              return CDRF_NOTIFYITEMDRAW;
  
          case CDDS_ITEMPREPAINT:
              return CDRF_NOTIFYSUBITEMDRAW;
  
          case CDDS_SUBITEM | CDDS_ITEMPREPAINT:
          {
              int row = lplvcd->nmcd.dwItemSpec;
              if (row == 0) {
                  lplvcd->clrTextBk = RGB(50, 100, 200);
                  lplvcd->clrText = RGB(255, 255, 255);
              }
              else if (row % 2 == 0) {
                  lplvcd->clrTextBk = RGB(220, 230, 250);
              }
              else {
                  lplvcd->clrTextBk = RGB(240, 240, 255);
              }
              return CDRF_NEWFONT;
          }
          }
      }
      break;
  

Expected behavior:

The ListView rows should have alternating background colors (blue for header, light blue for even rows, very light blue for odd rows).

Actual behavior:

The ListView still appears with the default colors, and no row background changes are visible.

Question:

Am I missing any required flags or message handling?

Should I handle CDDS_SUBITEMPREPAINT differently?

Are there common pitfalls when using NM_CUSTOMDRAW with ListView?