Image & Text On A Standard Command Button (Not Graphical Style!)- XP/2K/98

[RobDog888]

Yes, I have that issue too. I think the only way to get rid of it is to subclass the button and do it a more proper way. But this way is very simple for most programmers.

[|2eM!x]

why dont you lockwindowupdate it so it cant dissapear?

[silkworm]

RobDog888, this is exactly what I was looking for however I noticed that if you click on the command button and then move your mouse off the button (while still holding down left mouse button) the image disappears.

Yes, I have that issue too. I think the only way to get rid of it is to subclass the button and do it a more proper way. But this way is very simple for most programmers.

Hello Folks,

I am sorry for reviving this very old thread. But since there are many people that still use the good ol' VB6, I think it's worth that I should tell everybody how to solve the issue above.

The "disappearing picture" issue is not encountered when using XP Visual Styles (with the manifest file).
But the workaround should be applied anyway, because when the application is executed under Windows Vista or W7, the will be no Visual Styles even with the manifest file (actually, there is a hack for this, but I haven't tried it yet).

This issue can be solved in two ways.
The simpler way is this (no code modification is need): set the "DragMode" property of the "Command1" control to "1 - Automatic".

But as a side efect, this will show a rectangle when you click the button and drag the mouse while the left mouse button is still pressed.

The less simple way is described below.
It relies on the following workaround: whe set the focus to another control (we can even use the picture as a dummy control), then we set the focus back to the Command1 button).

However, as (yet another) side effect, the picture won't update its offeset properly because some events are disturbed this way (especially the MouseUp event), but I resolved this by saving the picture box absolute position in two variables and modified the code as needed (I tried to bold each modificatin):

Option Explicit
'<10/21/2004 ROBDOG888 VB/OUTLOOK GURU>
Private mlX As Long
Private mlY As Long

' these two variables will keep the position of the picture after the execution of "MakeGraphicalOutOfStandardButton" sub
Private pictop As Long
Private picleft As Long

Private Sub Command1_Click()
    Picture1.Move picleft, pictop
    Picture1.Refresh
    MsgBox "Look Manavo11, a standard command button with an aligned image and text in it!", vbOKOnly + vbInformation, _
    "RobDog888's Picture Button Demo" '
End Sub

Private Sub Command1_MouseDown(Button As Integer, Shift As Integer, X As Single, Y As Single)
    Picture1.Move picleft + mlX, pictop + mlY
    Picture1.Refresh
End Sub

Private Sub Command1_MouseMove(Button As Integer, Shift As Integer, X As Single, Y As Single)
  If X < 0 Or Y < 0 Or X > Command1.Width Or Y > Command1.Height Then
    Picture1.Enabled = True  ' if using Picture1 as a dummy control, we'll make sure it is enabled, otherwise the SetFocus method will trigger an error
    Picture1.SetFocus
    Command1.SetFocus
    Picture1.Enabled = False  ' disable the Picture1
    Picture1.Move picleft, pictop
    Picture1.Refresh
  End If
End Sub

Private Sub Command1_MouseUp(Button As Integer, Shift As Integer, X As Single, Y As Single)
    Picture1.Move picleft, pictop
    Picture1.Refresh
End Sub

Private Sub Form_Load()
    Select Case GetFullVersion
        Case "2.5.1", "2.5.2" 'XP, SERVER 2003, +
            'OFF - NO OFFSET WHEN CLICKED  - oh no, wait... let's create an effect, though
            mlX = 1 * Screen.TwipsPerPixelX
            mlY = 1 * Screen.TwipsPerPixelY
        Case Else        Case Else
            'ON - OFFSET WHEN CLICKED
            mlX = 15
            mlY = 15
    End Select
    'CHANGE THE LAST PARAMETER TO CHANGE THE ALIGNMENT
    MakeGraphicalOutOfStandardButton Command1, Picture1, BS_LEFT
    ' Saving picture position
    picleft = Picture1.Left
    pictop = Picture1.Top
    'ALIGN THE TEXT OPPOSITE OF THE PICTURE ALIGNMENT
    AlignButtonText Command1, BS_RIGHT
End Sub

As a "bonus", I modified the code to create a "pressed" effect for XP and 2K3.
Please note that I assumed that the "Enabled" property of the Picture1 control is set to false.

I hope this may be useful to someone some day.

Yes, I know there are custom controls that mimic XP visual style. But those controls are immune to any other style/theme made for XP. Moreover, applications using those custom controls won't display Vista/W7 styles (providing the hack in the link above will work).