disable WIN32API focused control highlighting - winapi

Question

how can I remove the outline that is drawn when a control such as a button or checkbox is selected?
HWND chk=CreateWindow("button",s,
BS_FLAT|BS_AUTOCHECKBOX|BS_LEFTTEXT|WS_CHILD|WS_VISIBLE,
x,y,w,h,p,id,hInst,NULL);
http://www.thevbzone.com/L3_3.gif

Answer 1

The focus rectangles, like underlines for mnemonics, are shown depending on the UI state. By default, these things are hidden, unless the user initiated the dialog or menu via the keyboard. The idea being that if they're using the keyboard, these visual cues are useful, but if they're using the mouse (or touch), they're just clutter.
The UI state is accessible through SystemParametersInfo using the SPI_GET/SETKEYBOARDCUES, but I don't recommend changing that as it affects the user's experience with all applications, not just yours.
Regular UI controls decide how to draw themselves based on their state and the current UI state. If you want to change the appearance for your application, you'd have to use whatever feature the controls offer for "owner drawing," which can be quite a bit of work, and not all control types offer the appropriate overrides. I don't know of any per-control bit that can suppress the focus rectangles.
If you're using a modern application, the focus indicators are often much cleaner looking than the dashed rectangles you get on the old style buttons. Make sure you've enabled visual styles if you just want the modern look and don't really want to make it harder for your keyboard users to use your application.

Answer 2

This worked for me. After creating the button:
if (hWndButton[i] != NULL)
{
SendMessage(hWndButton[i], WM_CHANGEUISTATE, (WPARAM)(0x10001),(LPARAM)(0));
}

Answer 3

Just replace the WM_SETFOCUS msg of the button class. I've already written all the code. This is called subclassing in win32.
#include <windows.h>
// window callback
LRESULT CALLBACK WindowProc(HWND hwnd, UINT uMsg, WPARAM wParam, LPARAM lParam);
// redefining button class
LRESULT CALLBACK ButtonProc(HWND hwnd, UINT uMsg, WPARAM wParam, LPARAM lParam);
WNDPROC oldButtonProc;
int WINAPI WinMain(HINSTANCE hInstance, HINSTANCE, char* cmdLine, int cmdShow)
{
const char WNDClsName[] = "no-name";
WNDCLASS wc = { };
wc.lpfnWndProc = WindowProc;
wc.hInstance = hInstance;
wc.lpszClassName = WNDClsName;
wc.hCursor = LoadCursor(NULL, IDC_ARROW);
RegisterClass(&wc);
HWND hwnd = CreateWindow(
WNDClsName,
"Caption",
WS_OVERLAPPEDWINDOW,
CW_USEDEFAULT, CW_USEDEFAULT,
CW_USEDEFAULT, CW_USEDEFAULT,
NULL, // parent
NULL, // menu
hInstance, // instance handle
NULL); // additional application data
HWND button1 = CreateWindow(
"button", // class
"", // text
WS_CHILD | WS_BORDER | WS_VISIBLE, // style
CW_USEDEFAULT, CW_USEDEFAULT, // x,y
CW_USEDEFAULT, CW_USEDEFAULT, // w,h
hwnd, // parent
(HMENU) 101,
hInstance,
NULL);
oldButtonProc = (WNDPROC) SetClassLong(button1, GCL_WNDPROC, (LONG)ButtonProc);
DestroyWindow(button1);
button1 = CreateWindow(
"button", // class
"Doit!", // text
WS_CHILD | WS_BORDER | WS_VISIBLE, // style
CW_USEDEFAULT, CW_USEDEFAULT, // x,y
CW_USEDEFAULT, CW_USEDEFAULT, // w,h
hwnd, // parent
(HMENU) 101,
hInstance,
NULL);
ShowWindow(hwnd, cmdShow);
// run the message loop
MSG msg = { };
while (GetMessage(&msg, NULL, 0, 0))
{
TranslateMessage(&msg);
DispatchMessage(&msg);
}
SetWindowLong(button1, GCL_WNDPROC, (LONG)oldButtonProc);
return 0;
}
LRESULT CALLBACK WindowProc(HWND hwnd, UINT uMsg, WPARAM wParam, LPARAM lParam)
{
switch (uMsg)
{
case WM_DESTROY:
PostQuitMessage(0);
return 0;
case WM_SIZE:
{
short width = LOWORD(lParam);
short height = HIWORD(lParam);
MoveWindow(GetDlgItem(hwnd, 101), width/2-40, height/2-10, 80, 20, 0);
InvalidateRect(hwnd, 0, 0);
return 0;
}
case WM_PAINT:
{
PAINTSTRUCT ps;
HDC hdc = BeginPaint(hwnd, &ps);
FillRect(hdc, &ps.rcPaint, (HBRUSH) (COLOR_WINDOW+1));
EndPaint(hwnd, &ps);
}
return 0;
}
return DefWindowProc(hwnd, uMsg, wParam, lParam);
}
LRESULT CALLBACK ButtonProc(HWND hwnd, UINT uMsg, WPARAM wParam, LPARAM lParam)
{
if (uMsg == WM_SETFOCUS)
{
return 0;
}
return CallWindowProc(oldButtonProc, hwnd, uMsg, wParam, lParam);
}