Message Boxes

MSGBOX function

Purpose:

The MSGBOX function creates, displays, and operates a message box. The message box contains a message and title, plus a combination of icons and push buttons.The MSGBOX function does return a value and the arguments must be in parentheses.

Syntax:

RetVal = MSGBOX(Msg AS STRING, Title AS STRING, Contents_and_Behavior AS INTEGER)

Return Value:

Data type: INTEGER
RetVal The return value is zero if there is not enough memory to create the message box. If the function succeeds, the return value, is one of the following:

Return Code Value Constant	Decimal Value	Description
IDOK	1	OK button was selected.
IDCANCEL	2	Cancel button was selected.
IDABORT	3	Abort button was selected.
IDRETRY	4	Retry button was selected.
IDIGNORE	5	Ignore button was selected.
IDYES	6	Yes button was selected.
IDNO	7	No button was selected.
IDTRYAGAIN	10	Try Again button was selected.
IDCONTINUE	11	Continue button was selected.

If a message box has a Cancel button, the function returns the IDCANCEL value if either the ESC key is pressed or the Cancel button is selected. If the message box has no Cancel button, pressing ESC has no effect - unless an MB_OK button is present. If an MB_OK button is displayed and the user presses ESC, the return value will be IDOK.

Parameters:

Data type: STRING
Msg A string variable or literal that contains the message to be displayed.
Data type: STRING
Title A string variable or literal that contains the title that will appear on the top of the message box.

Data type: INTEGER
Contents_and_Behavior A set of bit flags that determine the contents and behavior of the dialog box. This parameter can be a combination of flags from the following tables.

Buttons Flag	Decimal Value	Buttons to be Displayed
MB_ABORTRETRYIGNORE	2
MB_CANCELTRYCONTINUE	6
MB_HELP	16384	When the user clicks the Help button or presses F1, the system sends a WM_HELP message to the owner. 👉 MB_HELP flag cannot be used in a console.
MB_OK	0	Default
MB_OKCANCEL	1
MB_RETRYCANCEL	5
MB_YESNO	4
MB_YESNOCANCEL	3

Icons Flag	Decimal Value	Icons to be Displayed
MB_ICONEXCLAMATION	48	Exclamation-point icon displayed.
MB_ICONWARNING	48	Exclamation-point icon displayed.
MB_ICONINFORMATION	64	Lowercase letter i in a circle icon displayed.
MB_ICONASTERISK	64	Lowercase letter i in a circle icon displayed.
MB_ICONQUESTION	32	Question-mark icon displayed.
MB_ICONSTOP	16	Stop-sign icon displayed.
MB_ICONERROR	16	Stop-sign icon displayed.
MB_ICONHAND	16	Stop-sign icon displayed.

Default Button Flag	Decimal Value	Default Button
MB_DEFBUTTON1	0	First button is the default.
MB_DEFBUTTON2	256	Second button is the default.
MB_DEFBUTTON3	512	Third button is the default.
MB_DEFBUTTON4	768	Fourth button is the default.

Modality Flag	Decimal Value	Modality Description
MB_APPLMODAL	0	The user must respond to the message box before continuing work in the parent window of the message box. Depending on the hierarchy of windows in the application, the user may be able to move to other windows within the application. All child windows of the parent of the message box are automatically disabled, but popup windows are not. However, the user can move to and work in other application windows. MB_APPLMODAL is the default if neither MB_SYSTEMMODAL nor MB_TASKMODAL is specified.
MB_SYSTEMMODAL	4096	Same as MB_APPLMODAL except that the message box has the WS_EX_TOPMOST style. Use system-modal message boxes to notify the user of serious, potentially damaging errors that require immediate attention, for example, running out of memory. This flag has no effect on the user's ability to interact with windows other than those associated with the parent window of the message box.
MB_TASKMODAL	8192	Same as MB_APPLMODAL except that all the top-level windows belonging to the current task are disabled if the handle to the owner window of the message box is NULL. Use this flag when the calling application or library does not have a window handle available but still needs to prevent input to other windows in the current application without suspending other applications.

Optional Arguments Flag	Decimal Value	Optional Arguments Description
MB_DEFAULT_DESKTOP_ONLY	0131072	The desktop currently receiving input must be a default desktop; otherwise, the function fails. A default desktop is one an application runs on after the user has logged on.
MB_RIGHT	524288	The text is right-justified.
MB_RTLREADING	1058476	Displays message and caption text using right-to-left reading order on Hebrew and Arabic systems.
MB_SETFOREGROUND	65536	The message box becomes the foreground window. Internally, Windows calls the SetForegroundWindow function for the message box.
MB_TOPMOST	262144	MessageBox is WS_EX_TOPMOST style
MB_SERVICE_NOTIFICATION	2097152	Send a message from a service to a user.

Example 1:

DIM ButtonSelected
DIM AS STRING TheMessage

TheMessage = "This is the message." & CRLF$ & "Click a button."

DO
  ButtonSelected = MSGBOX(TheMessage, "MSGBOX Demo", _
  MB_YESNOCANCEL OR MB_ICONINFORMATION)

  SELECT CASE ButtonSelected
  CASE IDCANCEL
    MSGBOX "You pressed the Cancel button.", "MSGBOX Demo", MB_OK
    END
  CASE IDYES
    MSGBOX "You pressed the Yes button.", "MSGBOX Demo", MB_OK
  CASE IDNO
    MSGBOX "You pressed the No button." , "MSGBOX Demo", MB_OK
  END SELECT

LOOP

Example 2:

This example shows the setup for a Help button on the MSGBOX

GUI "MSGBOX_Help"

SUB FORMLOAD
  GLOBAL Form1 AS HWND
  Form1 = BCX_FORM("MSGBOX_Help", 0, 0, 130, 110)
  CENTER(Form1)
  SHOW(Form1)
  DIM ButtonMsg
  DO
    ButtonMsg = MSGBOX("This is a message", "BCX Help Button Demo", _
                MB_YESNOCANCEL OR MB_ICONINFORMATION _
                OR MB_HELP OR MB_DEFBUTTON4)

    SELECT CASE ButtonMsg
    CASE IDCANCEL
      MSGBOX "You pressed the Cancel button.", "BCX Demo", MB_OK
      END
    CASE IDYES
      MSGBOX "You pressed the Yes button.", "BCX Demo", MB_OK
    CASE IDNO
      MSGBOX "You pressed the No button." , "BCX Demo", MB_OK
    END SELECT

  LOOP
END SUB

BEGIN EVENTS
  SELECT CASE CBMSG
  CASE WM_HELP
    MSGBOX "You pressed the Help button." , "BCX Demo", MB_OK
    EXIT FUNCTION
  CASE WM_CLOSE
    DestroyWindow(Form1)
    EXIT FUNCTION
  END SELECT
END EVENTS

MSGBOX statement

Purpose:

The MSGBOX statement creates a message box which does not return a value and therefore can function only as a notification messenger.

👉 The MSGBOX statement arguments must not be in parentheses.

Syntax:

MSGBOX Msg AS STRING [, Title AS STRING, Contents_and_Behavior AS INTEGER]

Parameters:

Data type: STRING
Msg A string variable or literal that contains the message to be displayed.
Data type: STRING
Title [OPTIONAL] A string variable or literal that contains the title that will appear on the top of the message box.

Data type: INTEGER
Contents_and_Behavior [OPTIONAL] A set of bit flags that determine the contents and behavior of the dialog box.

👉 If a Contents_and_Behavior parameter argument is not made, then BCX will provide the MB_SYSTEMMODAL flag argument in the default MSGBOX statement C code translation. For example,

MSGBOX "The Message", "Titlebar"

will translate to C code

MessageBox (GetActiveWindow(),"The Message","Titlebar",MB_SYSTEMMODAL );

Result:

This is an image produced by the above code.

However, if a Contents_and_Behavior parameter argument is made, then the MSGBOX statement C code translation does not include the MB_SYSTEMMODAL flag. For example,

MSGBOX "The Message", "Titlebar", MB_ICONEXCLAMATION

will translate to C code

MessageBox (GetActiveWindow(),"The Message","Titlebar",MB_ICONEXCLAMATION );

Result:

This is an image produced by the above code.

The Contents_and_Behavior parameter can be a combination of flags from the following list.

Icons Flag	Decimal Value	Icons to be Displayed
MB_ICONEXCLAMATION	48	Exclamation-point icon displayed.
MB_ICONWARNING	48	Exclamation-point icon displayed.
MB_ICONINFORMATION	64	Lowercase letter i in a circle icon displayed.
MB_ICONASTERISK	64	Lowercase letter i in a circle icon displayed.
MB_ICONQUESTION	32	Question-mark icon displayed.
MB_ICONSTOP	16	Stop-sign icon displayed.
MB_ICONERROR	16	Stop-sign icon displayed.
MB_ICONHAND	16	Stop-sign icon displayed.

Modality Flag	Decimal Value	Modality Description
MB_APPLMODAL	0	The user must respond to the message box before continuing work in the parent window of the message box. Depending on the hierarchy of windows in the application, the user may be able to move to other windows within the application. All child windows of the parent of the message box are automatically disabled, but popup windows are not. However, the user can move to and work in other application windows. MB_APPLMODAL is the default if neither MB_SYSTEMMODAL nor MB_TASKMODAL is specified.
MB_SYSTEMMODAL	4096	Same as MB_APPLMODAL except that the message box has the WS_EX_TOPMOST style. Use system-modal message boxes to notify the user of serious, potentially damaging errors that require immediate attention, for example, running out of memory. This flag has no effect on the user's ability to interact with windows other than those associated with the parent window of the message box.
MB_TASKMODAL	8192	Same as MB_APPLMODAL except that all the top-level windows belonging to the current task are disabled if the handle to the owner window of the message box is NULL. Use this flag when the calling application or library does not have a window handle available but still needs to prevent input to other windows in the current application without suspending other applications.

Optional Arguments Flag	Decimal Value	Optional Arguments Description
MB_DEFAULT_DESKTOP_ONLY	0131072	The desktop currently receiving input must be a default desktop; otherwise, the function fails. A default desktop is one an application runs on after the user has logged on.
MB_RIGHT	524288	The text is right-justified.
MB_RTLREADING	1058476	Displays message and caption text using right-to-left reading order on Hebrew and Arabic systems.
MB_SETFOREGROUND	65536	The message box becomes the foreground window. Internally, Windows calls the SetForegroundWindow function for the message box.
MB_TOPMOST	262144	MessageBox is WS_EX_TOPMOST style
MB_SERVICE_NOTIFICATION	2097152	Send a message from a service to a user.

Remarks:

If you want the same behavior as the default MSGBOX statement when using MSGBOX as a FUNCTION, you will have to include the MB_OK and MB_SYSTEMMODAL flags yourself.

Example:

DIM i
i = MSGBOX ("The Message", "The Titlebar", MB_OK | MB_SYSTEMMODAL)
PRINT i
PAUSE

MSGBOX function

Purpose:

Syntax:

Return Value:

Parameters:

Buttons

Icons

Default Button

Modality

Optional Arguments

Example 1:

Example 2:

MSGBOX statement

Purpose:

Syntax:

Parameters:

Result:

Result:

Icons

Modality

Optional Arguments

Remarks:

Example: