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| Submitted on: 2/10/2000
By: Randy Mcdowell (Nebuland Technologies)
Level: Advanced
User Rating:
By 107 Users
Compatibility:VB 4.0 (32-bit), VB 5.0, VB 6.0
Users have accessed this code 14068 times.
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| | | Notice: THIS CODE HAS BEEN FIXED! PLEASE READ THE COMMENTS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE TO SEE WHAT WAS WRONG BEFORE.
Create real C++ style command buttons with ONE line of code!!! You can use this code on any of your commands buttons. You will loose any images and the BackColor of the button, but that really doesn't matter because you can 'paint' images onto the button using the API. Make sure you set the style property to 'Graphical' or this will not work!. OK here is how it works. You see, by default Visual Basic's command buttons are drawn with the 'Default Push Button' style, which makes them flat and ugly when pushed. But when you set the style to 'Graphical' its really just a C++ button with a single pixel outline drawn around it. This code basically just stops the button from drawing that line to create a sunken style button. This code is not compatible with Visual Basic 4.0/32 because its buttons don't have the style property.
However, in Visual Basic 4.0 you can apply the code to an option button and it will appear as a C++ push button (they both have the same basic events and properties: Click, MouseMove, etc...) which is a 'rigged' kind of way of getting it in to Visual Basic 4.0...hehe. I wrote this code because I got tired of all the people trying to create C++ style buttons with CreateWindowEx and Message Hooks, and all that other difficult stuff.
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'**************************************
' Name: Real C++ Buttons (Fixed)
' Description:Notice: THIS CODE HAS BEEN
' FIXED! PLEASE READ THE COMMENTS AT THE B
' OTTOM OF THE PAGE TO SEE WHAT WAS WRONG
' BEFORE.
Create real C++ style command buttons With ONE line of code!!! You can use this code on any of your commands buttons. You will loose any images and the BackColor of the button, but that really doesn't matter because you can 'paint' images onto the button using the API. Make sure you Set the style Property to 'Graphical' or this will Not work!. OK here is how it works. You see, by default Visual Basic's command buttons are drawn with the 'Default Push Button' style, which makes them flat and ugly when pushed. But when you set the style to 'Graphical' its really just a C++ button with a Single pixel outline drawn around it. This code basically just stops the button from drawing that line to create a sunken style button. This code is not compatible with Visual Basic 4.0/32 because its buttons don't have the style property.
However, In Visual Basic 4.0 you can apply the code To an option button and it will appear as a C++ push button (they both have the same basic events and properties: Click, MouseMove, etc...) which is a 'rigged' kind of way of getting it in to Visual Basic 4.0...hehe. I wrote this code because I got tired of all the people trying to create C++ style buttons With CreateWindowEx and Message Hooks, and all that other difficult stuff.
' By: Randy Mcdowell (Nebuland Technolog
' ies)
'
' Inputs:You will need the hWnd of the c
' ommand button.
'
' Assumes:Set the buttons style property
' to 'Graphical' first!!!
'
' Side Effects:You will loose the backco
' lor and images.
'
'This code is copyrighted and has' limited warranties.Please see http://w
' ww.Planet-Source-Code.com/vb/scripts/Sho
' wCode.asp?txtCodeId=5983&lngWId;=1'for details.'**************************************
Sub Form_Load()
' Command1.Style = 1 ' Graphical
SendMessage Command1.hWnd, &HF4;&, &H0;&, 0&
End Sub
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Other 4 submission(s) by this author
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| Your Vote! |
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| Other User Comments |
2/11/2000 4:06:07 AM:Alex
It's not work!
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2/11/2000 10:44:48 AM:Walker
I don't see that this code does
anything. It seems to have the same
effect just to set a button's
appearance to Graphical. At least,
that's what I see under my copy of VB 5
Enterprise Edition. Maybe other
versions behave differently(?)
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2/11/2000 8:41:44 PM:Simon
Hey Randy - this does not work. The
effect is the same as setting a buttons
property t graphical... I use VB6
Enterprise.
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2/12/2000 11:57:57 PM:Randy Mcdowell
Part #1 of
Message!
-------------------
For
all you who can't get the code to work,
let me take you through the
steps:
First of all, The
Professional and Control Creation
editions of Visual Basic 5 have an
AutoOverRide feature that keeps you
from modifying the style of a button
via the API when the control's style
property is set to 'Standard'. However,
when it is set to 'Graphical', you can
modify this attribute via the API. Here
is how this is done:
(Microsoft
Platform SDK)
(Put this in the form
with the button, if you put it in a
module, change private reserved words
to public)
Private Declare Function
SendMessage Lib "User32.dll" Alias
"SendMessageA" (ByVal hWnd As Long,
ByVal wMsg As Long, ByVal wParam As
Long, lParam As Any) As Long
'
SetStyle Button Message
Private Const
BM_SETSTYLE = &HF4
' Available
PushButton Styles
Private Const
BS_DEFPUSHBUTTON = &H1& '
Standard
Private Const BS_PUSHBUTTON =
&H0;& 'API Style
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2/13/2000 12:02:57 AM:Randy Mcdowell
Part #2 of
Message!
-------------------
Then
when you send the message to the
buttons hWnd it sets the style. Note:
For some editions of Visual Basic you
might have to use FindWindow to get
this to work properly:
Dim hCmd as
long
hCmd = FindWindow("Button",
Command1.Caption)
SendMessage hCmd,
BM_SETSTYLE, BS_PUSHBUTTON, 0&
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2/13/2000 12:05:32 AM:Randy Mcdowell
Please respond with what kind of code
you would like me to write in the
future, I need to know what other
people need in their applications.
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2/13/2000 9:05:38 AM:jlewey
The code works if you fix the wMsg part
of the call.
in your line
SendMessage
Command1.hWnd, &H4&, &H0&, 0&
should
read &HF4; instead of &H4;&
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2/14/2000 1:51:26 AM:Randy Mcdowell
I am sorry I did not see my mistake but
I have re-posted the code as *fixed*.
Thank you very much for pointing that
out.
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2/14/2000 11:00:00 AM:vb lucas
the code that be cool is to make is
graphical menu buttons like the one in
office 2000.
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2/14/2000 10:45:53 PM:Randy Mcdowell
I'm not trying to create new buttons or
controls, I'm trying to enhance what VB
already has without needing the
overhead of a third-party OCX, that is
my mission.
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2/14/2000 10:48:49 PM:Velure
Wow! This code is SSSSOOOO simple yet
it is so great to make your apps look
professional...why didn't anybody think
of this before... but if they did I
didn't know about it. Thanks man and
keep on programmin'!
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2/14/2000 10:51:53 PM:RandyMcdowell
yes the code is very simple. But I
don't understand why it is getting so
many votes...I mean it's not like it
can animate a sprite on a 3d graphical
engine at pentium speed. Could you
people please tell me what you like
about this code so much that you are
voteing for it???
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2/14/2000 10:56:15 PM:Shannon The Sweetheart Hacker
Duh! Do you know how long people have
been trying to get C++ buttons into
their app...I mean for a long time it
has just been one of those things that
only VC++ programmer's could do..kinda
like the DLLs. But now you fixed this
little problem with ONE line of
code..thats what makes this simple
stuff so great...
Deadly Kisses To
All!!
~~ STSH ~~~
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2/19/2000 9:47:04 PM:jahan
Great code...
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2/22/2000 3:52:39 PM:Jason Alex
This is a perfect example of how you
can use the API to make VB more
powerful...I'll give you a Good vote
for the code, I would give Excellent if
you had included the routines to paint
graphics onto the button with the API.
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2/22/2000 4:00:04 PM:Clamped Balls
I don't have to MsgHook the button to
see if it is being clicked, pushed,
etc.. Do I? I mean how do I know when
the button is being clicked?
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2/22/2000 4:03:36 PM:Randy Mcdowell (Author)
Hey Clamped Balls (that sounds very
painful) this code just modifies an
existing VB command button, which means
it will use the same Font object and
still have all the same events, etc..
The only things you will loose is your
BackColor and any images. Hope this
helps!
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2/24/2000 5:15:00 PM:d00d
could someonw please please explain
what the hell this code is supposed to
do????
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2/25/2000 2:04:20 PM:Tom Welch
Swell, It took me a few minutes to
notice what effect the code was
causing... frankly, it's not worth it
to me or my users. Thanks for the
effort, though.
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3/1/2000 1:06:02 AM:Randy Mcdowell
At least you responded politely, thank
you. As for the code, this was just a
basis for an entire library of button
functions that I am working on, I just
submitted this code to see how may hits
it would actually get, and BOY WAS I
AMAZED!!
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3/11/2000 3:51:12 AM:Johannes Eder
It's not that cool, but try &H8&!
This
makes the button REALLY flat (without
any borders etc) so you can have
something like a REAL FOCUSABLE
imagebox! Whoa!
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3/31/2000 1:39:43 AM:Howard Grover
I thought is was a nice touch
Randy,
What I had to do in the past
was to use a check box, set to
Graphical put a line of code in the
click event chk1.vbUnchecked which
simulated a cmd button then I just made
sure the background image was the same
as the button colour RGB 192 etc.
This
allows me to kill 2 birds with one
stone as they say, a graphic and C++
style button.
If only that pesky black
square could be removed from the inside
of the button it would be
perfect!
Good stuff and I use your
code iterating thru the command button
collection in one hit using TypeOf
etc.
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3/31/2000 8:29:15 AM:HG
I recieved mail from -stai@email.com-
asking how to iterate thru a control
collection but could not reply as the
address was rejected by server so if
you happen to look back here it
is.
Private Declare Function
SendMessage Lib "User32" _
Alias "SendMessageA" (ByVal hWnd As
Long, _
ByVal wMsg As Long,
ByVal wParam As Long, _
lParam
As Long) As Long
Public Sub
SetButtonStyle(frm As Form)
' C++ Stle
Command buttons
' Set Styles to 1
(Graphical) ps.
' Will lose picture if
one assigned to button
' so I am
checking for absence of picture
first.
Dim ctrl As Control
On Error Resume Next
For Each
ctrl In frm.Controls
If
TypeOf ctrl Is CommandButton Then
If ctrl.Picture = 0 Then _
Call SendMessage(ctrl.hWnd,
&HF4&, &H0&, 0&)
End If
Next ctrl
End Sub
'SetButtonStyle(frm As Form)
'call
from form load is:
Call
SetButtonStyle(Me)
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6/23/2000 10:49:48 AM:FormatC
It has been quite a while since someone
last posted something on this.... oh
well... anyway, here's my
comment:
First of all, I must say,
this is quite handy... definently the
most used single line of code of
everything I do - there's nothing like
showing nice Cpp-looking programs
magically coming out of VB to my
coworkers, whose programs are all,
well, flat.
But, now, for my
contribution to this code: You do not
necessarily need to use a Graphical
commandbutton. You see, VB apparently
does all its keep-the-flat-button stuff
in its own behind-the-scenes GotFocus
procedure... but, lucky for us, they
decided to implement their
pseudo-GotFocus procedure before the
one available to us. So, if you simply
put this SendMessage call into the
GotFocus event of any command button
with normal style, VB will never get a
chance to show that button as flat and
ugly...
Just my two cents...
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7/1/2000 5:30:54 PM:Roman
This code works GREAT!
Thanx!
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8/16/2000 1:40:14 PM:Tom
The code works, but was it really THAT
important????
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8/24/2000 10:44:28 PM:Brian
OK, so the VB command buttons look ugly
and flat when the're pushed, but
frankly, in 12 years of using Windows
(5 of them using Win32), I really
haven't noticed the difference. I know
that it's the code we've all been
waiting for, but frankly, it's one line
of code - and it's the #5 best rated
code of all time on PSC. Why? Sure,
it's cool, but does it really make a
dramatic difference in your programs?
Is it really that important? No
offence, I'm greatful that someone
thought of this, but I'll stick with my
regular flat command buttons, and if I
need heavy duty looks, I'll use the
upcoming B2Skin controls (which use
skins directly from B2, and can also
provide translucency and window
skinning). Or I'll use the Flat Button
OCX (it's free, and looks cool!). As I
said previouslly, I'm not insulting
your code, I just wonder why it's #5 on
PSC. That's my $.02
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9/10/2000 7:36:16 PM:Vasilis Sagonas
Can we remove also the focus points
...........
. Button
.
...........
things when its
focused? And please please is there any
way to keep the picture? Thanks a lot!
:-)
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10/13/2000 2:34:06 PM:Gabriel Pensador
I think that this got so many votes
because it lets VB programmers pretend
to be VC++ programmers.
Wouldn't it
be great if all these people took the
trouble to learn VC++ and write these
_professional_ apps they strive for.
I
would like to recomend an excellent
book:
Using Visual C++ 6 (special
edition)
by Kate Gregory
I
guarantee that anyone who reads this
book will learn VC++.
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10/31/2000 5:22:45 PM:MangaMorgan
This code is good 4 doing the little
[_], [o] nd [X] buttons on the title bar
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11/18/2000 3:19:28 PM:livinINvb
under paint this will turn a check,
frame, and option to look like a button!
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10/23/2001 9:48:08 AM:Genocide Flux
No offense, but most vb programmers are
not able to afford VC++ & VB
(considering vb is easier for the
script kiddies to find pirated.) i
spent over $200 on vb6 pro edition and
that was on sale, plus not many places
have vc++, or any others then the
starter kits. Although there is always
Borland. Although in the long run
(right now) it's better to learn C++
but i find that vb suites most my needs
and i don't use my vc++ 6 all that
much.
Then again it is easier to make
forms with vb, but i feel if you settle
for a generic form generator then you
settle for what it gives you. Plus, vb
is used more for applications (from
what i have seen) and c++ is more game
used. But again, that is only from what
i've seen on the market place. C++ also
has a lot of applications to it's name
as well though. But all this is a
different story.
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11/6/2001 11:00:06 PM:tec
Im sorry, but this code is bad... i
have no idea why it got so many
excellent ratings, and it really takes
the quality of psc voting down.. i
mean... if stuff like this can make it
into the code of the month, what else
can! ive seen code that is truely
remarkable, and it didnt even get 3
excellent ratings... obviously there is
something wrong here..
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3/10/2002 1:11:36 PM:Tim Sørensen
This really rocks!!
Beautifull
button.
I´m implementing it in
all
my apps.
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3/15/2002 10:04:23 AM:UDMX IOCP®
code sound so great!!! buT.. I can't
seem to make it work... can't you make
a project and post it or something??
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10/28/2002 5:34:42 AM:Charles R
I have just read all of this and just
let me say Wow. Haven't tried it yet,
but I'm sure it's decent, anyway I have
a problem you may be able to solve with
one of my projects. I need to run some
code when the desktop gets clicked, I'm
not sure if the desktop icons are a
child of the desktop or seperate so
this may be two problems in one. Just
detecting the desktop click and not the
icons click is ok if it's not possible
to do both.
Thanking you in
Advance
Charles
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4/29/2003 6:23:11 AM:Casey (Kc) Kneale
I have a sort of dumb question that may
or may not go along wiht this at
all...how can i make the mouse move to
a different part of the screen thenhave
the same acttion as a mouseclick?eamil
me if ya wanna
help...KcKneale777@hotmail.com
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