How to change the button text for 'Yes' and 'No' buttons in the MessageBox.Show dialog?

Question

I need to change the message box control buttons Yes to Continue and No to Close. How do I change the button text?

Here is my code:

 DialogResult dlgResult = MessageBox.Show("Patterns have been logged successfully", "Logtool", MessageBoxButtons.YesNo, MessageBoxIcon.Information);

http://stackoverflow.com/a/12413958/2930727 is the correct answer. Works wonders! — Harpreet, Nov 22 '13 at 07:54

BornToCode · Answer 1 · 2017-07-02T00:19:33.197

96

I didn't think it would be that simple! go to this link: https://www.codeproject.com/Articles/18399/Localizing-System-MessageBox

Download the source. Take the MessageBoxManager.cs file, add it to your project. Now just register it once in your code (for example in the Main() method inside your Program.cs file) and it will work every time you call MessageBox.Show():

    MessageBoxManager.OK = "Alright";
    MessageBoxManager.Yes = "Yep!";
    MessageBoxManager.No = "Nope";
    MessageBoxManager.Register();

See this answer for the source code here for MessageBoxManager.cs.

edited Jul 02 '17 at 00:19

answered Sep 13 '12 at 20:04

BornToCode

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5

Then you just use MessageBox.Show as you normally would. Works great! – cdavidyoung Sep 24 '12 at 15:16
1

do you have the code, as the codeProject wont let me register, not download or view the code? keeps say object ref not set to instance of an object – f1wade Apr 25 '13 at 14:46
Wonderful thing. Really easy to use and a nice and clean result. – C4d Nov 03 '14 at 15:06
1

This is good if your button text is short, as this class does not support button autosize or resize, so longer text will be truncated. – Bolu Sep 23 '16 at 10:55
What about when you upgrade .NET? Your message box won't get updated and could become out of date. – Adam Bruss Dec 12 '16 at 21:06
@AdamBruss - .NET's implementations of message box use the MessageBox function of the Win32 API. Theoretically, if one day .NET implementation will stop using the Win32 API's MessageBox and you'll upgrade to that .NET version it won't work. BUT I don't think that such change will happen (certainly not in the foreseen future). – BornToCode Dec 14 '16 at 04:08
True. It's possible the code you are copying out of .NET could change though. – Adam Bruss Dec 14 '16 at 19:12
Compiler is telling me `AppDomain.GetCurrentThreadId()` is deprecated, but using the `ThreadID` property on `Thread.CurrentThread` doesn't work.. – Ilan Feb 26 '18 at 12:33
@Ilan321 - Try this [method](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/13100609/replacing-appdomain-getcurrentthreadid-with-managedthreadid). – BornToCode Feb 26 '18 at 19:59

score 36 · Accepted Answer · edited Dec 03 '14 at 08:52

36

Just add a new form and add buttons and a label. Give the value to be shown and the text of the button, etc. in its constructor, and call it from anywhere you want in the project.

In project -> Add Component -> Windows Form and select a form

Add some label and buttons.

Initialize the value in constructor and call it from anywhere.

public class form1:System.Windows.Forms.Form
{
    public form1()
    {
    }

    public form1(string message,string buttonText1,string buttonText2)
    {
       lblMessage.Text = message;
       button1.Text = buttonText1;
       button2.Text = buttonText2;
    }
}

// Write code for button1 and button2 's click event in order to call 
// from any where in your current project.

// Calling

Form1 frm = new Form1("message to show", "buttontext1", "buttontext2");
frm.ShowDialog();

edited Dec 03 '14 at 08:52

Peter Mortensen

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answered Nov 24 '10 at 08:57

kbvishnu

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3

Yes then you check the ShowDialog() with DialogResult . – kbvishnu Sep 20 '12 at 06:35
1

is it a practical method? – r.hamd Sep 19 '15 at 16:30
2

You may need to add this line inside the constructor InitializeComponent(); – zOqvxf Jan 28 '16 at 16:22
1

You should really give an example with DialogResult – barlop Jul 04 '16 at 00:41
3

@CEPA you should really have edited it into the answer, that link is broken and the contents isn't even on archive.org because of a robots.txt – barlop Jul 04 '16 at 00:42
@CEPA Can you please re-check the link? – Rishav May 21 '18 at 15:18
@Rishav sorry that the link is bad. However, BornToCode's answer is also a perfectly good answer and still has a valid link. I have deleted my comment since it is no longer constructive without a valid link. – CEPA May 21 '18 at 21:35

score 27 · Answer 3 · edited May 01 '17 at 20:44

Here is the content of the file MessageBoxManager.cs

#pragma warning disable 0618

using System;

using System.Text;

using System.Runtime.InteropServices;

using System.Security.Permissions;

[assembly: SecurityPermission(SecurityAction.RequestMinimum, UnmanagedCode = true)]

namespace System.Windows.Forms

{

    public class MessageBoxManager
    {
        private delegate IntPtr HookProc(int nCode, IntPtr wParam, IntPtr lParam);
        private delegate bool EnumChildProc(IntPtr hWnd, IntPtr lParam);

        private const int WH_CALLWNDPROCRET = 12;
        private const int WM_DESTROY = 0x0002;
        private const int WM_INITDIALOG = 0x0110;
        private const int WM_TIMER = 0x0113;
        private const int WM_USER = 0x400;
        private const int DM_GETDEFID = WM_USER + 0;

        private const int MBOK = 1;
        private const int MBCancel = 2;
        private const int MBAbort = 3;
        private const int MBRetry = 4;
        private const int MBIgnore = 5;
        private const int MBYes = 6;
        private const int MBNo = 7;


        [DllImport("user32.dll")]
        private static extern IntPtr SendMessage(IntPtr hWnd, int Msg, IntPtr wParam, IntPtr lParam);

        [DllImport("user32.dll")]
        private static extern IntPtr SetWindowsHookEx(int idHook, HookProc lpfn, IntPtr hInstance, int threadId);

        [DllImport("user32.dll")]
        private static extern int UnhookWindowsHookEx(IntPtr idHook);

        [DllImport("user32.dll")]
        private static extern IntPtr CallNextHookEx(IntPtr idHook, int nCode, IntPtr wParam, IntPtr lParam);

        [DllImport("user32.dll", EntryPoint = "GetWindowTextLengthW", CharSet = CharSet.Unicode)]
        private static extern int GetWindowTextLength(IntPtr hWnd);

        [DllImport("user32.dll", EntryPoint = "GetWindowTextW", CharSet = CharSet.Unicode)]
        private static extern int GetWindowText(IntPtr hWnd, StringBuilder text, int maxLength);

        [DllImport("user32.dll")]
        private static extern int EndDialog(IntPtr hDlg, IntPtr nResult);

        [DllImport("user32.dll")]
        private static extern bool EnumChildWindows(IntPtr hWndParent, EnumChildProc lpEnumFunc, IntPtr lParam);

        [DllImport("user32.dll", EntryPoint = "GetClassNameW", CharSet = CharSet.Unicode)]
        private static extern int GetClassName(IntPtr hWnd, StringBuilder lpClassName, int nMaxCount);

        [DllImport("user32.dll")]
        private static extern int GetDlgCtrlID(IntPtr hwndCtl);

        [DllImport("user32.dll")]
        private static extern IntPtr GetDlgItem(IntPtr hDlg, int nIDDlgItem);

        [DllImport("user32.dll", EntryPoint = "SetWindowTextW", CharSet = CharSet.Unicode)]
        private static extern bool SetWindowText(IntPtr hWnd, string lpString);


        [StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
        public struct CWPRETSTRUCT
        {
            public IntPtr lResult;
            public IntPtr lParam;
            public IntPtr wParam;
            public uint   message;
            public IntPtr hwnd;
        };

        private static HookProc hookProc;
        private static EnumChildProc enumProc;
        [ThreadStatic]
        private static IntPtr hHook;
        [ThreadStatic]
        private static int nButton;

        /// <summary>
        /// OK text
        /// </summary>
        public static string OK = "&OK";
        /// <summary>
        /// Cancel text
        /// </summary>
        public static string Cancel = "&Cancel";
        /// <summary>
        /// Abort text
        /// </summary>
        public static string Abort = "&Abort";
        /// <summary>
        /// Retry text
        /// </summary>
        public static string Retry = "&Retry";
        /// <summary>
        /// Ignore text
        /// </summary>
        public static string Ignore = "&Ignore";
        /// <summary>
        /// Yes text
        /// </summary>
        public static string Yes = "&Yes";
        /// <summary>
        /// No text
        /// </summary>
        public static string No = "&No";

        static MessageBoxManager()
        {
            hookProc = new HookProc(MessageBoxHookProc);
            enumProc = new EnumChildProc(MessageBoxEnumProc);
            hHook = IntPtr.Zero;
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Enables MessageBoxManager functionality
        /// </summary>
        /// <remarks>
        /// MessageBoxManager functionality is enabled on current thread only.
        /// Each thread that needs MessageBoxManager functionality has to call this method.
        /// </remarks>
        public static void Register()
        {
            if (hHook != IntPtr.Zero)
                throw new NotSupportedException("One hook per thread allowed.");
            hHook = SetWindowsHookEx(WH_CALLWNDPROCRET, hookProc, IntPtr.Zero, AppDomain.GetCurrentThreadId());
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Disables MessageBoxManager functionality
        /// </summary>
        /// <remarks>
        /// Disables MessageBoxManager functionality on current thread only.
        /// </remarks>
        public static void Unregister()
        {
            if (hHook != IntPtr.Zero)
            {
                UnhookWindowsHookEx(hHook);
                hHook = IntPtr.Zero;
            }
        }

        private static IntPtr MessageBoxHookProc(int nCode, IntPtr wParam, IntPtr lParam)
        {
            if (nCode < 0)
                return CallNextHookEx(hHook, nCode, wParam, lParam);

            CWPRETSTRUCT msg = (CWPRETSTRUCT)Marshal.PtrToStructure(lParam, typeof(CWPRETSTRUCT));
            IntPtr hook = hHook;

            if (msg.message == WM_INITDIALOG)
            {
                int nLength = GetWindowTextLength(msg.hwnd);
                StringBuilder className = new StringBuilder(10);
                GetClassName(msg.hwnd, className, className.Capacity);
                if (className.ToString() == "#32770")
                {
                    nButton = 0;
                    EnumChildWindows(msg.hwnd, enumProc, IntPtr.Zero);
                    if (nButton == 1)
                    {
                        IntPtr hButton = GetDlgItem(msg.hwnd, MBCancel);
                        if (hButton != IntPtr.Zero)
                            SetWindowText(hButton, OK);
                    }
                }
            }

            return CallNextHookEx(hook, nCode, wParam, lParam);
        }

        private static bool MessageBoxEnumProc(IntPtr hWnd, IntPtr lParam)
        {
            StringBuilder className = new StringBuilder(10);
            GetClassName(hWnd, className, className.Capacity);
            if (className.ToString() == "Button")
            {
                int ctlId = GetDlgCtrlID(hWnd);
                switch (ctlId)
                {
                    case MBOK:
                        SetWindowText(hWnd, OK);
                        break;
                    case MBCancel:
                        SetWindowText(hWnd, Cancel);
                        break;
                    case MBAbort:
                        SetWindowText(hWnd, Abort);
                        break;
                    case MBRetry:
                        SetWindowText(hWnd, Retry);
                        break;
                    case MBIgnore:
                        SetWindowText(hWnd, Ignore);
                        break;
                    case MBYes:
                        SetWindowText(hWnd, Yes);
                        break;
                    case MBNo:
                        SetWindowText(hWnd, No);
                        break;

                }
                nButton++;
            }

            return true;
        }


    }
}

One note for WPF developers: One problem with the MessageBoxManager class is it binds to the `System.Windows.Forms` class. If using in WPF, it uses `System.Windows`, instead, and `MessageBoxResult`, not `DialogResult`. Just something for those in WPF-land to be aware of and to accommodate - especially if you invoke `MessageBox` anywhere, it will stop knowing which one to use if you add this in. — vapcguy, Jun 15 '17 at 15:10

score 5 · Answer 4 · answered Jan 19 '18 at 21:10

This may not be the prettiest, but if you don't want to use the MessageBoxManager, (which is awesome):

 public static DialogResult DialogBox(string title, string promptText, ref string value, string button1 = "OK", string button2 = "Cancel", string button3 = null)
    {
        Form form = new Form();
        Label label = new Label();
        TextBox textBox = new TextBox();
        Button button_1 = new Button();
        Button button_2 = new Button();
        Button button_3 = new Button();

        int buttonStartPos = 228; //Standard two button position


        if (button3 != null)
            buttonStartPos = 228 - 81;
        else
        {
            button_3.Visible = false;
            button_3.Enabled = false;
        }


        form.Text = title;

        // Label
        label.Text = promptText;
        label.SetBounds(9, 20, 372, 13);
        label.Font = new Font("Microsoft Tai Le", 10, FontStyle.Regular);

        // TextBox
        if (value == null)
        {
        }
        else
        {
            textBox.Text = value;
            textBox.SetBounds(12, 36, 372, 20);
            textBox.Anchor = textBox.Anchor | AnchorStyles.Right;
        }

        button_1.Text = button1;
        button_2.Text = button2;
        button_3.Text = button3 ?? string.Empty;
        button_1.DialogResult = DialogResult.OK;
        button_2.DialogResult = DialogResult.Cancel;
        button_3.DialogResult = DialogResult.Yes;


        button_1.SetBounds(buttonStartPos, 72, 75, 23);
        button_2.SetBounds(buttonStartPos + 81, 72, 75, 23);
        button_3.SetBounds(buttonStartPos + (2 * 81), 72, 75, 23);

        label.AutoSize = true;
        button_1.Anchor = AnchorStyles.Bottom | AnchorStyles.Right;
        button_2.Anchor = AnchorStyles.Bottom | AnchorStyles.Right;
        button_3.Anchor = AnchorStyles.Bottom | AnchorStyles.Right;

        form.ClientSize = new Size(396, 107);
        form.Controls.AddRange(new Control[] { label, button_1, button_2 });
        if (button3 != null)
            form.Controls.Add(button_3);
        if (value != null)
            form.Controls.Add(textBox);

        form.ClientSize = new Size(Math.Max(300, label.Right + 10), form.ClientSize.Height);
        form.FormBorderStyle = FormBorderStyle.FixedDialog;
        form.StartPosition = FormStartPosition.CenterScreen;
        form.MinimizeBox = false;
        form.MaximizeBox = false;
        form.AcceptButton = button_1;
        form.CancelButton = button_2;

        DialogResult dialogResult = form.ShowDialog();
        value = textBox.Text;
        return dialogResult;
    }

How to change the button text for 'Yes' and 'No' buttons in the MessageBox.Show dialog?

4 Answers4

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