CheckBox control

A CheckBox control represents a yes/no option. It displays the actual check box plus a text label, bitmap, or icon image. To display a bitmap or icon image in a CheckBox control, you must add the desired bitmap or icon on the Bitmaps or Icons project page, then select the control's Caption type and set the control's Caption attribute to the name of the desired bitmap or icon image.

Each CheckBox control is linked to either a symbolic variable or to a component.

Warning When running on Windows XP and later with visual themes enabled, CheckBox controls appear not themed if:

Tip: To change the tab and Z-order of a control in a dialog box (i.e., the order in which they are drawn and how they appear "on top" of each other), select the control in the dialog/control tree in the left pane on the Dialogs project page, then use Ctrl+Up and Ctrl+Down to move the control up or down in the order. These keystrokes are shortcuts for the Move Up and Move Down commands on the control's context menu.

Attributes

The following attributes and options are available.

Attribute Description
Control name Enter the internal name for the control. This name is for use in InstallMate only; it is not used in the installer. All control names must be unique within their parent dialog box.
Control ID

Select a control ID from the drop-down list or type a numerical ID to use for this control. All controls within a dialog must have different control IDs. For most controls, you should select Automatic; for PushButton controls, one of the standard IDxxx values is generally recommended.

See Dialog control IDs for an explanation of the available control IDs and their usage.

Caption type

Select the desired caption type from the drop-down list:

  • Text - Displays a text string next to the check box
  • Bitmap - Displays a bitmap image next to the check box
  • Icon - Displays an icon image next to the check box
Caption

Depending on the Caption type selection, enter one of the following:

  • Text - Enter the text string to display
  • Bitmap - Enter the name of the bitmap image to display in the control, or click ... (browse) to open the Select Bitmap Image dialog that allows you to select a bitmap from the project's bitmaps.
  • Icon - Enter the name of the icon image to display in the control, or click ... (browse) to open the Select Icon dialog that allows you to select an icon from the project's icons.
Localized Check this box to localize the Caption field and use different captions for different languages.
Icon size

Select the desired icon size for the control. This option only has effect if the Caption type is set to Icon.

Note: If the selected image size is not present in the icon file, then the system scales one of the other icon images to the desired size. The resulting image may be less than satisfactory; in that case, you should edit the original icon file and add an image of the required size.

Multiline Check this box to allow the control's caption to wrap around to the next line if the text width exceeds the control's width; clear it to restrict the caption to a single line. In the latter case, it will be clipped if it exceeds the control's width.
Flat

Check this box to make the check box appear flat; clear it for a beveled 3D edge.

Note: This option does not have any effect when used under Windows XP with visual themes enabled; however, if you also select Transparent, the control reverts to its non-themed appearance and Flat can be used.

Right button Check this box to display the check box to the right of the caption; clear it to display the check box to the left.
Push-like Check this box to make the check box appear as a PushButton control; clear it for a regular check box. With this option checked, the control's "checked" state appears as a pushed-in button; its "unchecked" state is a popped-up button.
Link type

Select the desired link type from the drop-down list:

  • Symbol - The CheckBox control is linked to a symbolic variable. You must fill in the Symbol name and Symbol value fields below.
  • Component - The CheckBox control is linked to a component. You must select a component in the Component field below.
Component Select the desired component by clicking on the ... button to open the Select Component dialog box and browse for the desired component. When the CheckBox control state changes, the linked component state changes with it to either its Selected state or its Not selected state.
Symbol name

Enter the name of the symbolic variable to which the control must be linked, or click ... (browse) to open the Select Symbolic Variable dialog box that allows you to select a variable from the project.

The named variable is updated when the state of the check box changes: if the box is checked, the variable is assigned the value specified in the Checked attribute (see below); if unchecked, the Unchecked value is used.

Indirect Check this box to make the Symbol name link indirect; clear it for a direct link. If the link is indirect, the variable specified in the Symbol name field is used to obtain the name of a second variable, and it is this second variable whose value is changed by the control. With a direct link, the variable specified by the Symbol name attribute itself is changed.
Unchecked Enter the value that must be assigned to the Symbol name variable if the CheckBox control is in the unchecked state.
Checked Enter the value that must be assigned to the Symbol name variable if the CheckBox control is in the checked state.
Font Select the font style for the text in the control by clicking ... (browse) to open the Select Font Style dialog. If no font style is selected, the control uses the parent dialog's font style. You can remove the font style by clicking X (clear).
Text color

Select the desired text color from the drop-down list. The following choices are available:

Color Description
Default Use the system color for text in dialog boxes, usually black (COLOR_BTNTEXT).
Black Use the system color for text in windows, usually black (COLOR_WINDOWTEXT).
White Use the system color for text in window captions, usually white (COLOR_CAPTIONTEXT).
Hyperlink Use the color for hyperlink text; this is currently fixed at blue.
Gray Use the system color for grayed-out text, usually gray (COLOR_GRAYTEXT)
Custom... Use a custom color. Click the ... (choose color) button to open the standard Color dialog box, where you can choose the desired color.

Note: The actual display colors depend on the Windows' settings. If the user has selected a different color scheme, then the control will use the appropriate colors from that scheme.

Background

Select the desired background color from the drop-down list. The following choices are available:

Color Description
Default Use the system color for dialog box backgrounds, usually light gray (COLOR_3DFACE).
Dark gray Use the system color for shadows, usually dark gray or black (COLOR_3DSHADOW).
Light gray Use the system color for buttons, usually light gray (COLOR_BTNFACE).
White Use the system color for window backgrounds, usually white (COLOR_WINDOW).
Caption Use the system color for window captions, usually blue (COLOR_CAPTION).
CaptionEnd Use the system end color for windows captions with a color gradient, usually light blue (COLOR_GRADIENTACTIVECAPTION).
Workspace Use the system color for application workspaces, usually dark gray (COLOR_WORKSPACE).
Desktop Use the system color for the Desktop, usually blue or green (COLOR_DESKTOP).
Info Use the system color for info tip windows, usually pale yellow (COLOR_INFOBK).
Custom color... Use a custom color. Click the ... (choose color) button to open the standard Color dialog box, where you can choose the desired color.

Note: The actual display colors depend on the Windows' settings. If the user has selected a different color scheme, then the control will use the appropriate colors from that scheme.

Note: If you select the Transparent (above), then the Backgnd color option will be ignored.

Horizontal align Select the desired horizontal alignment of the control's caption from the drop-down list.
Vertical align Select the desired vertical alignment of the control's caption from the drop-down list.
Enabled
Tab stop
Group
Border
Sunken
Client edge
Visible
Transparent
Don't mirror

These are all standard control styles; see Dialog control styles for a description.

Note: If you select Transparent, then the Backgnd color option (below) will be ignored.

Condition Enter the display condition for the control or leave empty to display the control unconditionally. See Dialog control conditions for more information.

Related topics

Dialogs, Working with attribute panes