Button — version history

u_pbt_button · Introduced in 1.0

A command button drawn in the application theme — text and icon, three styles, counter badge, keyboard shortcut, default and cancel button. Introduced in 1.0; deprecated in 3.0 in favor of the button bar (u_pbt_buttonbar), but still shipped and maintained.

4.0 — October 2026 #

New #

• The & mnemonic of is_text (&Save) now works: Alt + the letter triggers the button wherever the focus is in the window, after the application's explicit shortcuts. A disabled button does not respond.
• is_shortcut is shown in the tooltip ("Save (Ctrl+S)"), as the title of a rich tooltip.
• A shortcut registered with of_register_shortcut ("F5") and is_shortcut both respond: changing ib_default, ib_cancel or is_shortcut no longer clears the other, and of_clear_shortcuts() no longer clears a button's is_shortcut.
• Two default (or cancel) buttons in the same window, for example in two MDI sheets: Enter or Esc goes to the one closest to the focus.
• The chords Ctrl++, Ctrl+-, Ctrl+,, Alt+Left, Ctrl+Space, Ctrl+Tab and Ctrl+Backspace are accepted, and a digit chord (Ctrl+Shift+1) fires on any keyboard layout, AZERTY included.
• [symbol=name] tag in rich text: eighteen monochrome glyphs that follow the text colour (clock, location, person, calendar, phone, mail, warning…); an unknown name stays as text.

Fixed #

• A disabled button (ib_enabled = false) marked ib_default or ib_cancel, or carrying an is_shortcut, no longer captures Enter, Esc or its shortcut: the key goes back to the window (a default CommandButton or an edit field receives it); once re-enabled, the button takes it back.
• A disabled button is skipped by the Tab key and announced as disabled to screen readers.
• Holding Enter or Space on the focused button no longer fires a burst of ue_clicked: one click only, and Space fires on release, as in Windows.
• After of_reset(), is_text, is_image, is_style, ii_badge, il_badge_color, ii_badge_size and ii_image_size read back their default value, matching the screen.
• A label made of a single image ([picture=…], [symbol=…]) is displayed instead of disappearing; a & inside a tag no longer breaks the tag.
• The keyboard focus is visible on a STYLE_PRIMARY button in all ten themes.
• Rich text: a closing tag closes its own tag only ([b]A[i]B[/b]C leaves C in italics only), a ] escaped by of_escape_markup right after a tag no longer breaks the formatting around it, and [picture=…] accepts a data URI and a file name containing a comma.
• Enter on a focused PowerBuilder CommandButton presses that button, not the default button.
• Enter or Esc pressed in the component, when it does not use them, goes back to the window: the PowerBuilder Default or Cancel CommandButton fires (the key was lost).
• With no language chosen by the application, the component announces English to screen readers (it announced French).
• is_theme_style, is_theme_mode and il_theme_accent read back the style and mode shown and the component's own accent (-1 when it has none); an unknown or badly written value is ignored instead of leaving the component without a theme, and an axis left empty follows the application's theme.
• The application accent (PBT_SetDefaultThemeAccent) survives a change of theme, is followed as long as the component has no accent of its own, and repaints everything derived from it (hover, pressed, selections); Windows high contrast is supported.
• Typing a character with AltGr in a PowerBuilder field (the euro of a French keyboard, AltGr+E) no longer fires a Ctrl+Alt shortcut of that key.
• A disabled component (ib_enabled = false) leaves the Tab order; enabled again (or after of_reset), it takes its place back.

Behavior changes #

See the "Migrating from 3.0 to 4.0" guide, sections 11.3 and 11.14.

• il_badge_color follows the rule shared by all colors: -1 = theme color (and reads back -1 when nothing is set), 0 is black. Replace il_badge_color = 0 with -1.
• An is_shortcut the window cannot trigger ("Win+S", or a key name in another language such as "Ctrl+Entrée") is rejected and reads back ""; key names are written in English (Enter, Esc, Del).
• An & letter of the button takes precedence over a PowerBuilder menu bar that uses the same letter.
• Rich text: a markup image on a network share ([picture=\\server\share\x.png]) is no longer shown: go through of_icon(), which embeds it.

3.0 — September 2026 #

New #

• of_set_property, of_get_property and of_component_name: drive a property by its name (settings screen, saved configuration).

Fixed #

• The text of a pressed button stays readable on the pressed background of the Office 2007 theme, light and dark.
• Rich text: a [word] that is not a tag is shown as typed (report[final].pdf) instead of disappearing with the rest of the text.

Behavior changes #

• The component is deprecated in favor of the button bar (u_pbt_buttonbar): a button bar is a single component where ten buttons are ten. It remains shipped and supported, and your code compiles unchanged.
• Other colors now read back -1 when not set; il_badge_color keeps its original convention (0 = theme color, reads back 0).

2.0 — September 2026 #

New #

• ue_script_error: a script error in the page reaches PowerBuilder with its message instead of being lost.

Fixed #

• The text of a hovered button is readable in every theme, dark mode included.
• The label of a disabled button is readable in every theme (contrast of at least 3:1).

1.0 — August 2026 #

New #

• Replaces a CommandButton with a button drawn in the application theme: rich-text label with & mnemonic (is_text), icon (is_image, ii_image_size), three styles (STYLE_STANDARD, STYLE_PRIMARY, STYLE_FLAT).
• Corner counter badge (ii_badge, il_badge_color, ii_badge_size).
• Default button (ib_default, Enter) and cancel button (ib_cancel, Esc), keyboard shortcut (is_shortcut), enabled or disabled state (ib_enabled).
• Simple or rich tooltip; events ue_clicked, ue_rclicked, and ue_mouse_enter / ue_mouse_leave on request (ib_track_mouse).