Button Styles

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The latest version of this topic can be found at Button Styles.

This topic describes button types and styles.

Button Types

The following table lists button types. You can optionally choose one of the following. If you do not specify a button type, the default is BS_PUSHBUTTON.

Type Description
BS_3STATE Creates a check box button with three states: BST_CHECKED, BST_INDETERMINATE, and BST_UNCHECKED. Clicking on the button sends a BN_CLICKED notification to the owner window but does not change the state of the button. By default, associated text is displayed to the right of the check box. To display text to the left of the check box, use the BS_LEFTTEXT or BS_RIGHTBUTTON style.
BS_AUTO3STATE Creates a check box button with three states: BST_CHECKED, BST_INDETERMINATE, and BST_UNCHECKED. Clicking on the button sends a BN_CLICKED notification to the owner window and changes the state of the button. The button states cycle in the order of BST_CHECKED, BST_INDETERMINATE, and BST_UNCHECKED. By default, associated text is displayed to the right of the check box. To display text to the left of the check box, use the BS_LEFTTEXT or BS_RIGHTBUTTON style.
BS_AUTOCHECKBOX Creates a check box button with two states: BST_CHECKED and BST_UNCHECKED. Clicking on the button sends a BN_CLICKED notification to the owner window and changes the state of the button. By default, associated text is displayed to the right of the check box. To display text to the left of the check box, use the BS_LEFTTEXT or BS_RIGHTBUTTON style.
BS_AUTORADIOBUTTON Creates a radio button with two states: BST_CHECKED and BST_UNCHECKED. Radio buttons are usually used in groups, with each group having a maximum of one checked option at a time. Clicking on the button sends a BN_CLICKED notification to the owner window, sets the state of the clicked radio button to BST_CHECKED, and sets the states of all other radio buttons in the button group to BST_UNCHECKED. By default, associated text is displayed to the right of the radio button. To display text to the left of the radio button, use the BS_LEFTTEXT or BS_RIGHTBUTTON style.
BS_CHECKBOX Creates a check box button with two states: BST_CHECKED and BST_UNCHECKED. Clicking on the button sends a BN_CLICKED notification to the owner window but does not change the state of the button. By default, associated text is displayed to the right of the check box. To display text to the left of the check box, use the BS_LEFTTEXT or BS_RIGHTBUTTON style.
BS_COMMANDLINK Creates a command link button. A command link button is a command button specific to Windows Vista that displays a green arrow to the left of the main text and a note below the main text. You can set the note text using CButton::SetNote.
BS_DEFCOMMANDLINK Creates a command link button. A command link button is a command button specific to Windows Vista that displays a green arrow to the left of the main text and a note below the main text. You can set the note text using CButton::SetNote. If the button is in a dialog box, pressing the ENTER key sends a BN_CLICKED notification to the dialog box even when the button does not have the input focus.
BS_DEFPUSHBUTTON Creates a command button that has a heavy black border. If the button is in a dialog box, pressing the ENTER key sends a BN_CLICKED notification to the dialog box even when the button does not have the input focus.
BS_DEFSPLITBUTTON Creates a split button. A split button is a command button specific to Windows Vista that contains a button adjacent to a drop-down arrow. When you click the button, the default command is executed. When you click the drop-down arrow, a menu of additional commands appears. If the split button is in a dialog box, pressing the ENTER key sends a BN_CLICKED notification to the dialog box even when the button does not have the input focus
BS_GROUPBOX Creates a rectangle in which other buttons can be grouped. Text associated with this style is displayed in the rectangle's upper-left corner.
BS_OWNERDRAW Creates an owner-drawn button. The framework calls the DrawItem method when a visual aspect of the button has changed. This style must be set when you use the CBitmapButton class.
BS_PUSHBUTTON Creates a command button that sends a BN_CLICKED notification to the owner window when the user clicks the button.
BS_RADIOBUTTON Creates a radio button with two states: BST_CHECKED and BST_UNCHECKED. Radio buttons are usually used in groups, with each group having a maximum of one checked option at a time. Clicking on the button sends a BN_CLICKED notification to the owner window but does not automatically change the state of any button in the group. By default, associated text is displayed to the right of the radio button. To display text to the left of the radio button, use the BS_LEFTTEXT or BS_RIGHTBUTTON style.
BS_SPLITBUTTON Creates a split button. A split button is a command button specific to Windows Vista that contains a button adjacent to a drop-down arrow. When you click the button, the default command is executed. When you click the drop-down arrow, a menu of additional commands appears.
BS_USERBUTTON Obsolete, but provided for compatibility with 16-bit versions of Windows. Win32-based applications should use BS_OWNERDRAW instead.

Radio Button and Check Box Styles

The following table lists styles that are specific to radio buttons and check boxes. These styles are ignored in all other button types. You can optionally choose one or more of the following.

Style Description
BS_LEFTTEXT When combined with a radio button or check-box style, the text appears on the left side of the radio button or check box.
BS_RIGHTBUTTON When combined with a radio button or check-box style, the text appears on the left side of the radio button or check box. This style is identical to the BS_LEFTTEXT style.
BS_PUSHLIKE Makes a check box or radio button look and behave like a command button. The button appears pressed when its state is BST_CHECKED, pressed and dimmed when its state is BST_INDETERMINATE, and released when its state is BST_UNCHECKED.

Text Alignment Styles

The following table lists horizontal and vertical text alignment options. You can optionally choose one of the following.

Style Description
BS_LEFT Left aligns the text in the button rectangle. However, if the button is a check box or radio button that does not have the BS_RIGHTBUTTON style, the text is left aligned on the right side of the check box or radio button.
BS_RIGHT Right aligns the text in the button rectangle. However, if the button is a check box or radio button that does not have the BS_RIGHTBUTTON style, the text is right aligned on the right side of the check box or radio button.
BS_CENTER Centers text horizontally in the button rectangle.
BS_TOP Places text at the top of the button rectangle.
BS_BOTTOM Places text at the bottom of the button rectangle.
BS_VCENTER Centers text vertically in the button rectangle.

Button Content Options

The following table lists options that indicate what is displayed in the button. Button types that only display text ignore these styles. You can optionally choose one of the following.

Style Description
BS_BITMAP Specifies that the button displays a bitmap.
BS_ICON Specifies that the button displays an icon.
BS_TEXT Specifies that the button displays text.

Other Options

The following table lists additional options that you can use with any button type. You can optionally choose one or more of the following.

Style Description
BS_FLAT Specifies that the button is two-dimensional and is not drawn with default shading to create a three-dimensional image.
BS_MULTILINE Wraps the button text to multiple lines if the text string is too long to fit on a single line in the button rectangle.
BS_NOTIFY Enables a button to send BN_DBLCLK, BN_KILLFOCUS, and BN_SETFOCUS notification messages to its parent window. Note that buttons send the BN_CLICKED notification regardless of whether this style is specified.

See Also

Styles Used by MFC
CButton::CreateButton Styles