Message box — version history

n_pbt_messagebox · Introduced in 1.0

The themed modal dialog box with a synchronous return: the replacement for PowerBuilder's MessageBox(), with rich text, free buttons, icon, check box and input field. A non-visual object, free of charge. Introduced in 1.0.

4.0 — October 2026 #

New #

• of_get_last_error(): why the last box could not open (empty string if it opened).
• The text of the message and of the instruction can be selected and copied; the box is moved by its title, its icon and its margins.
• Ctrl+C also copies the choices (title and description) and the state of the check box.
• The box's window carries the title (or the instruction): it appears in Alt+Tab and is announced by screen readers, which also read the message.
• il_accent (the accent color of the box) is documented.
• [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 box that could not open (WebView2 runtime missing, engine not ready) no longer returns 0 like a close: of_show and the shortcuts (of_info…) return -4 (-6 if the runtime is missing), of_choose and of_prompt an empty string, and of_get_last_error gives the reason.
• An input of more than about 900 characters (of_prompt, ib_input) comes back whole (it came back empty).
• ib_input_required: neither the countdown of a button (of_add_button_timed), nor Esc, nor Alt+F4 validate an empty required field any more.
• Esc and Alt+F4 no longer close the box while a cancel button is still counting down.
• Closing the owner window while the box is open: of_show returns (0) instead of waiting forever.
• With al_hwnd = 0, nothing is disabled any more (it was the whole desktop); a box opened from another one leaves the window disabled as long as the first one is waiting; a box moved then enlarged keeps its place.
• The scroll bar of a long message can be dragged (the gesture moved the box).
• il_min_width and il_max_width do not go below 200 pixels (a smaller width opened a 480 × 220 box after 2 seconds).
• With no language set by the application, the buttons of the ready-made boxes (of_info, of_confirm, of_yes_no…) say "OK", "Cancel", "Yes", "No" (the first one said "Ok").
• The warning icon and the colors of the box are readable in every theme.
• 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.
• With no language chosen by the application, the component announces English to screen readers (it announced French).
• 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.

Behavior changes #

• of_add_choice returns -5 and adds nothing for a key that is empty, already taken, or contains / or |; of_choose with no choice shows nothing and returns "" — see "Migrating from 3.0 to 4.0", section 11.39.
• A test = 1 for "confirmed" is still right, but a negative value now means "no box was shown".
• of_count returns a long (section 11.34).
• 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 #

• List of choices: of_add_choice(as_key, as_title, as_description) adds a choice (title and description, like the command links of a Windows task dialog), of_choose(al_hwnd) shows them with a single Cancel button and returns the key of the clicked choice, or "" if the user cancelled. The list scrolls when it is taller than the screen; no choice is preselected, Tab or Down arrow reaches the first one.

Fixed #

• Hovered buttons are readable in 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.

2.0 — September 2026 #

New #

• ib_movable (true by default): the box, which has no title bar, can be moved with the mouse; false keeps it where it is.
• of_count(): the number of buttons added.

1.0 — August 2026 #

New #

• of_show(al_hwnd) blocks and returns the rank of the clicked button, like MessageBox(); free buttons (of_add_button), with a default button, a cancel button, an icon, an & mnemonic and a countdown (of_add_button_timed).
• Title, main instruction and message in rich text; ICON_* icons or a custom image; clickable [action=…] areas in the message (of_action).
• "Don't ask me again" check box (is_checkbox, of_checked) and input field (ib_input, required, masked, of_input_value).
• Ready-made one-line boxes, with buttons translated into six languages: of_info, of_warning, of_error, of_success, of_confirm, of_yes_no, of_yes_no_cancel, of_prompt.
• Position (over the window or the screen), maximum widths and height, keyboard (Enter, Esc, Alt + letter, Tab) and Ctrl+C to copy the box.