how to make an active button invisible in a dialog?

[Tim Lakinir]

Is there some style to add to a control ( eg. a button) to make it invisible but still active and clickable?

what can I add to bStyle below to make the button invisible ?

LOCAL bStyle AS DWORD
bStyle = %WS_CHILD OR %WS_VISIBLE OR %WS_TABSTOP OR %BS_OWNERDRAW
CONTROL ADD BUTTON, hDlg, %ID_Btn2, "Confirm", 10, 195, 50, 16, bStyle

[Dale Yarker]

Try a LABEL with no text and style %SS_NOTIFY.

[Tim Lakinir]

I use the below code to make it invisible -- not sure that it works o not , but to me it does work as nothing shown on screen

' Hidden button 
 ' to make it invisible but clickable -- set its text to
 ' blank and its size to 1 , 1 and no style %WS_VISIBLE
  CONTROL ADD BUTTON, hDlg, %ID_HidBtn, "", 10, 265, 1, 1, _
  %WS_CHILD  OR %WS_TABSTOP OR %BS_OWNERDRAW

any suggestion to improve?

[Steve Hutchesson]

Tim,

I think the BS_OWNERDRAW style does it for you. Create a button with that style and place it where you know where it is on the client area, then with a normal WM_COMMAND message processing, see if it works by clicking within that location.

[Tim Lakinir]

Thank you Steve that works out

[Stuart McLachlan]

If this is to do with your other thread where you want to cause an action by triggering a button click from another application, you may like to re-think your solution.

What happens when a user unknowingly clicks on this anonymous part of your application window?
Do you want the user to activiate the on_click code accidentally by some random click when trying to re-activate/regain focus on the application?

If not, there are alternative solutions which don't have this risk.
The simplest is probably to just set the button's location outside of the bounds of the application window (negative x andy's are good for that.)

[Tim Lakinir]

Thank you Stuart, I have set the button coordinates to - 10 , 265 that is outside the program's window

[Michael Mattias]

is there some style to add to a control ( eg. a button) to make it invisible but still active and clickable?

"clickable" but you cannot see it?

Call me simple minded but I cannot see how that makes sense.

But FWIW ...my very first Windows/32 posted code here...

PB DLL 5 or 6: A game for you September 22, 1999

It's a related concept.

[Kurt Kuzba]

Thank you Stuart, I have set the button coordinates to - 10 , 265 that is outside the program's window

This is seemingly about a control that has no physical manifestation.
How will this control be accessed, if not by direct uses interactions?
If it is entirely programatic, then you do not need an actual control.
All you need is an ID.
You can post a message that will activate the control, as though it had a windows object attached.
Your callback doesn't care if the control is real or visible, of course. It just processes the control number.

[Tim Lakinir]

Hi Kurt, this hidden button is being implemented in my source code at https://forum.powerbasic.com/forum/u...ode#post817848

The hidden button is located in ProgDlg1.bas in that post. It is clickable programatically by the other program ProgDlg2.bas's button , it is use to show how 2 programs can communicate via Process Memory technique.

The hidden button is not clickable by human but can be clickable by another program ( proof of concept) , it is invisible and out of view of the hosting program's window. thus explains why I adopted the hidden button coordinates of - 10 , 265 in the ProgDlg1.bas

Also check out the button named "Test Hidden ProgDlg1 btn" on ProgDlg2.bas which is used to semi programatically click the hidden button of ProgDlg1

[Dale Yarker]

If this is to do with your other thread where you want to cause an action by triggering a button click from another application, you may like to re-think your solution.

. . . I cannot see how that makes sense.

If it is entirely programmatic, then you do not need an actual control. All you need is an ID.

You do not need a hidden button! The button in program2 can
DIALOG POST hDialog1, %WM_User + 501, 0, 0
In callback for dialog1
SELECT CASE CB.MSG
CASE %WM_User + 501
'code you want

If you need to do multiple things you've still got wParam and lParam and %WM_User + 502, etc.

[Michael Mattias]

If it is entirely programmatic, then you do not need an actual control. All you need is an ID.

You don't even need that.

Methinks young Mr. Lakinir is looking for the hard way to accomplish something.

Search here (or elsewhere) for "interprocess communication" and you'll probably find double digits worth of ways to do it.

[Borje Hagsten]

Remember that buttons moved to be "hidden" also may be reachable via the keyboard. Tab-tab-tab...
And that some users actually prefer to work via keyboard only. Fast keyboard shortcuts should always exist.
Sometimes using an accelerator key + info about it can be a good solution. See PB help, ACCEL ATTACH.

[Tim Lakinir]

Thank you Everyone, the use of the Hidden button ( or invisible) is a proof of concept and it will be hidden from users so that it is NOT accessible to them but it can only be
access by a button in another program ( this is to prove Process communication ).

Thank you Borje, yes the Hidden button is still be accessible by the tab tab tab keystrokes, and that this must be prevented.
In this issue, how can I disable the tab keys for this hidden button ? is there a button style that can prevent the usage of a tab key ?

[Michael Mattias]

is there a button style that can prevent the usage of a tab key ?

See: WS_TABSTOP window style. Use of WS_GROUP style can also affect but only for certain styles of button.

(Yes I am making you look it up!)

[Tim Lakinir]

WS_TABSTOP window style.
Specifies a control that can receive the keyboard focus when the user presses Tab. Pressing Tab changes the keyboard focus to the next control with the WS_TABSTOP style

this WS_TABSTOP window style is not suitable for my hidden button as it allow for user to push theTab key to navigate around all the controls one by one

I want to stop User from using the Tab key !

anything to disable the Tab key ? how to trap the Tab key ? what message is used to trap the tab key

[Steve Hutchesson]

I have not digested all of the nuances of this topic but making an invisible button seems to be redundant in that you can send or post a message to you WM_COMMAND processing and save yourself the extra work and complexity.

[Stuart McLachlan]

WS_TABSTOP window style.
Specifies a control that can receive the keyboard focus when the user presses Tab. Pressing Tab changes the keyboard focus to the next control with the WS_TABSTOP style

this WS_TABSTOP window style is not suitable for my hidden button as it allow for user to push theTab key to navigate around all the controls one by one

I want to stop User from using the Tab key !

anything to disable the Tab key ? how to trap the Tab key ? what message is used to trap the tab key

Look at the style& description under CONTROL ADD BUTTON!!

[Pierre Bellisle]

Tim, if your goal is to send a message to another program, you don't need a control to receive it.
Just send the message to %WM_APP (or %WM_APP + 1, +2, +3, etc)
In bonus, you can pass two parameters.

There is many ways, one other is RegisterWindowMessage() to define a "private" unique message

PostMessage(hOtherProgram, %WM_APP, 123, 456)

In OtherProgram:

 CALLBACK FUNCTION DlgProc() AS LONG
   SELECT CASE CBMSG
     CASE %WM_APP
       MessageBox(hDlg, "Message from space" & STR$(CBWPARAM) & STR$(CBLPARAM), "OtherProgram", %MB_OK OR %MB_TOPMOST)

[Dale Yarker]

I want to stop User from using the Tab key !

Again from multiple sources, DO NOT USE A BUTTON or any kind of control.

1. Send/post a WM_COMMAND message with an ID, but do not use CONTROL ADD with that ID in dialog 1. A control does not need to exist to catch ID in callback. WParam and LParam are used.

2. Send/post a WM_User + 500 message, WParam and LParam are available.

3. Send/post a WM_App message, WParam and LParam are available.

see Help or MSDN for difference between SEND and POST.

2. or 3. make more sense.