CODEWITHSUNDEEP
windowsuser-interface
Ram Rachum
Ram Rachum

Reputation: 88698

Does Windows allow to have a window with both the help button and the min/max buttons?

I want to put help buttons on all my windows, like this:

enter image description here

But when I put the help button in, the minimize/maximize buttons disappear. Does Windows forbid having the min/max buttons together with the help buttons? That would be disappointing because that would mean I could put the help button only on dialogs and not on frames.

If Windows does forbid this, it would be nice to see an official Microsoft document which talks about this policy.

Upvotes: 3

Views: 102

Answers (2)

0xC0000022L
0xC0000022L

Reputation: 21319

Although it is true what daalbert says, with some effort it is indeed possible to draw just about anything properly on the window frame. Of course this is in no way "official" and the limitation that daalbert mentions still stands.

You can listen for WM_NCPAINT and draw the button yourself with the help of DrawFrameControl with DFC_BUTTON (which makes sure it will look like the real thing). Use WM_NCHITTEST and friends (WM_NC*BUTTON*) to find out whether the button you draw gets clicked.

So yes, it's technically possible to achieve what you want but usually not worth the extra effort.

Just wanted to have this on record for completeness.

Upvotes: 1

daalbert
daalbert

Reputation: 1475

It is not possible through setting windows styles. If you really wanted to you could set some hooks that would probably let you do what you want, but I would not recommend doing that. You can mimic the functionality of the help button by sending the WM_HELP message.

According to MSDN, the styles WS_MAXIMIZEBOX and WS_MINIMIZEBOX can not be combined with WS_EX_CONTEXTHELP.

Upvotes: 2

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