The most common button used in Windows applications is a rectangular control that displays a word or a short sentence that directs the user to access, dismiss, initiate an action or a suite of actions.

In .NET applications, this control is implemented using the Button control from the Toolbox. Therefore, to add a button to a container, click the Button control and click on the container, which is usually a form. Once you have added the control to your application, you can set its properties using the Properties window. The Button control is implemented by the Button class. The class ancestor of the button of the .NET Framework is called ButtonBase. Therefore, to programmatically create a button, you can declare a variable of type Button. Here is an example:

#include <windows.h>

#using <System.dll>
#using <System.Drawing.dll>
#using <System.Windows.Forms.dll>

using namespace System;
using namespace System::Drawing;
using namespace System::Windows::Forms;

public ref class CExercise : public Form
{
private:
    Button ^ btnApprove;

public:
    CExercise()
    {
	InitializeComponent();
    }

    void InitializeComponent()
    {
	btnApprove = gcnew Button;
	btnApprove->Location = Point(32, 20);

	Text = L"Button";
	Controls->Add(btnApprove);
    }
};

int APIENTRY WinMain(HINSTANCE hInstance,
		     HINSTANCE hPrevInstance,
		     LPSTR lpCmdLine,
		     int nCmdShow)
{
    Application::Run(gcnew CExercise());

    return 0;
}

1. Start Microsoft Visual C++
2. To create a new application, on the main menu, click File -> New Project...
3. In the middle list, click Windows Forms Application
4. Set the name to GDCS1
5. Click OK
6. Design the form as follows:
    

   Control Name Text Additional Properties GroupBox   Order Setup   Label   Customer Name:   TextBox txtCustName     Label   Order Date:   TextBox txtOrderDate     Label   Order Time:   TextBox txtOrderTime     GroupBox   Order Processing   Label   Item Type   Label   Qty   Label   Unit Price   Label   Sub Total   Label   Shirts   TextBox txtQuantityShirts 0 TextAlign: Right TextBox txtUnitPriceShirts 0.00 TextAlign: Right TextBox txtSubTotalShirts 0.00 TextAlign: Right Label   Pants   TextBox txtQuantityPants 0 TextAlign: Right TextBox txtUnitPricePants 0.00 TextAlign: Right TextBox txtSubTotalPants 0.00 TextAlign: Right Label   Other   TextBox txtQuantityOther 0 TextAlign: Right TextBox txtUnitPriceOther 0.00 TextAlign: Right TextBox txtSubTotalOther 0.00 TextAlign: Right Button btnCalculate     GroupBox   Order Summary   Label   Order Total:   TextBox txtOrderTotal 0.00 TextAlign: Right Label   Tax Rate:   TextBox txtTaxRate 5.75 TextAlign: Right Label   %   Label   Tax Amount:   TextBox txtTaxAmount 0.00 TextAlign: Right Label   Net Price:   TextBox txtNetPrice 0.00 TextAlign: Right Button btnClose

For a user, the most important aspects of a button are the message it displays and the action it performs. Therefore, the default property of a button is the Text: this is the word or group of words that displays on top of the control, showing the message that would direct the user as to what the button is used for.

The most popular strings that buttons display are OK and Cancel. The OK caption is set for a form or a dialog box that informs the user of an error, an intermediary situation, or an acknowledgement of an action that was performed on the dialog that hosts the button. The Cancel caption is useful on a button whose main parent (the form or the dialog box) would ask a question or request a follow-up action from the user. Whenever a dialog box allows the user to dismiss it without continuing the action, you should provide a button with a Cancel caption.

If you create a dialog box with more than one button, you should designate one of them as the default. A default button is one that would apply its behavior if the user presses Enter after using it. Most of the time, a default button has a thicker border. To specify the button that is the default on a dialog box, set its IsDefault property to true.

After adding a button to a form (by design or with code), you can change its caption with code by assigning the desired string to the Text property. For example, you can change the caption of a button as follows:

button1->Text = L"Let it Go!";

After specifying the Text of a button, by default, it's positioned in the middle center of the button:

The position of the text of a button is controlled through the TextAlign property which is a value of the ContentAlignment enumerator. The possible values are:

TopLeft	TopCenter	TopRight
MiddleLeft	MiddleCenter	MiddleRight
BottomLeft	BottomCenter	BottomRight

Here is an example:

void InitializeComponent()
{
    btnApprove = gcnew Button;
    btnApprove->Location = Point(32, 20);
    btnApprove->Size = System::Drawing::Size(120, 48);
    btnApprove->Text = L"Resume";
    btnApprove->TextAlign = ContentAlignment::BottomCenter;
    Controls->Add(btnApprove);

    Text = L"Button";
    Controls->Add(btnApprove);
}

1. Add three buttons inside between the unit prices and the sub-totals
2. Delete their captions
3. Complete the design of the form as follows:
    

   Control Name Text Button btnShirts   Button btnPants   Button btnOthers   Button btnCalculate Calculate Button btnClose Close

Besides, or instead of, a caption, a button can display a picture on top. If you want a button to display a picture, you should first create or have a bitmap. Then, in the Properties window, use the Image field to select a bitmap or an icon. You can also programmatically assign an Image object to the Image property. Here is an example:

void InitializeComponent()
{
	btnApprove = gcnew Button;
	btnApprove->Location = Point(32, 20);
	btnApprove->Size = System::Drawing::Size(120, 48);
	btnApprove->Text = L"Resume";
	btnApprove->TextAlign = ContentAlignment::BottomCenter;
	btnApprove->Image = Image::FromFile(L"C:\\Exercises\\PaperClip.ico");

	Controls->Add(btnApprove);
}

This would produce:

After assigning a bitmap to the button, by default, it is positioned in the middle center of the button. If the button is not equipped with a caption, this position can be ideal. If you are using both the caption and the picture, you can use the ImageAlign property, possibly in combination with the TextAlign property, to specify how the picture would be positioned with regards to the caption. The ImageAlign property also is based on the ContentAlignment enumerator. You can do this at design time in the Properties window or programmatically as follows:

void InitializeComponent()
{
	btnApprove = gcnew Button;
	btnApprove->Location = Point(32, 20);
	btnApprove->Size = System::Drawing::Size(120, 48);
	btnApprove->Text = L"Resume";
	btnApprove->TextAlign = ContentAlignment::BottomCenter;
	btnApprove->Image = Image::FromFile(L"C:\\Exercises\\PaperClip.ico");
	btnApprove->ImageAlign = ContentAlignment::TopCenter;

	Controls->Add(btnApprove);
}

This would produce:

Instead of using the Image property, you can first create an image list and add some pictures to it. Then, using the ImageList property, assign it to the button. Use the ImageIndex property to specify what picture would be displayed on the button.