How to Create a Check Box that Shows a Check Mark

• Microsoft Visual FoxPro for Windows, versions 3.0 and 3.0b

SUMMARY

When a check box is displayed on a form, there is no property you can set to have the check box show a check mark that is larger or a dfferent shape than the small default check mark. Some users might prefer a larger or different style of check mark. This can be achieved by setting the check box Style Property to Graphical. This allows the Picture Property to be set to a bitmap that appears as a check mark. Then you can change the setting of the Picture Property to the bitmap when the check box is checked and set it to no bitmap when it is not checked.

MORE INFORMATION

Step-by-Step Example to Create a Bitmap with a Check Mark in It

1. In Windows 95:

   Open Paint under Accessories. From the Image menu, choose Attributes. Set the Units to Inches, and change the Height and Width to 0.15. Click the "A" tool on the left side of Paint, and click the canvas. This will allow the Text Toolbar to be chosen under the View menu. Select the Wingdings font with size 12 or 14 (depending on the size check mark needed), and choose Bold. After closing the Text toolbar, make sure NumLock is on for the numeric key pad. Click the "A" tool again and place the pointer (shaped as a cross-hair) on the upper-left corner of the Paint canvas and lasso the whole area by holding down the mouse button and dragging the mouse to the lower-right corner of the canvas. This will be a very small area to work with.

   Hold down the ALT key, and press the numbers 0252 on the numeric key pad. When you release the ALT key, there will be a check mark on the canvas. Choose New from the File menu, and start over if the check mark is not centered properly on the canvas. After creating an acceptable check mark, choose Save from the File menu, and save the bitmap with the name Chekmark.bmp.

   In Windows 3.x:

   Open Paintbrush in the Accessories group. From the Options menu, choose Image Attributes. Set the Units to Inches and change the Height and Width to 0.15. From the Text menu, choose Font. Select the Wingdings font with size 12 or 14 (depending on the size check mark needed), and choose Bold. After closing the Font box, make sure NumLock is on for the numeric key pad. Click the "abc" tool on the toolbar on the left side of the canvas and place the pointer on the canvas by clicking the left side. Make sure the pointer is on the left side of the canvas. Hold down the ALT key, and press the numbers 0252 on the numeric key pad. When you release the ALT key, there will be a check mark on the canvas. Choose New from the File menu, and start over if the check mark is not centered properly on the canvas. After creating an acceptable check mark, choose Save from the File menu, and save the bitmap with the name chekmark.bmp.

2. In Visual FoxPro, create a form, and place a check box on it. Change the Style Property for the check box to Graphical. Select the Chekmark.bmp file for the Picture Property, and delete the Check 1 Caption property. The check box can be resized to a square if that's what you want.

3. In the Click event for the check box, place this code:

   IF THIS.VALUE = 1

            THIS.PICTURE = "\(path)\chekmark.bmp"
      ELSE
            THIS.PICTURE = ""
      ENDIF
   
   

4. Select a label from the Form toolbar and place it beside the check box. Change its caption to MyCheckBox.

5. In the Init event of the form, place the following code to give the check box a checked value of 1:

   THISFORM.CHECK1.VALUE = 1

6. Run the form, and click the check box. Because it has a check mark in it when the form starts, clicking it the first time should blank out the check mark.