>A quick run out to activex.com found over 100 button-related controls with a very wide range of behaviors...it took all of 3 minutes at most. Odds are that one of the free ones will do the job, or for a whole lot less money than was spent groaning how we're unloved by MS, buy a shareware or commercial control.
>It'd be great if next go round we could change the color. But we use a tool designed with COM and ActiveX options, and we totally overlooked this ability. My God, ActiveX is the VFP community's red-headed stepchild!
>
>>Your argument seems to be that we should not ask for any more features, since we can just find/buy/build whatever we need. I guess VFP6 might as well be the last version, right?
>
>Asking for new features is OK, but perhaps using what we can while waiting for the electrician (or someone like him...)

Hi Ed,
In my first post on this subject, I offered the solution of a button with a label since the VFP commandbutton wouldn't do what the person asked. Since you are a big proponent of COM, I'm not surprised that you found a COM solution that I would wholeheartedly recommend over the VFP 'buggle gum and paper clip' solutions. It's cleaner and works a hell of lot better.

However, most of this thread (I think) was generated by my rant on the status quo. I for one think VFP should have the ability to modify the backcolor of commandbuttons. Other developement platforms have this ability and VFP has the ability to modify the backcolor of other controls besides the commandbutton so it doesn't appear to be a technical issue. Why was it singled out? That's rhetorical. At this point, I don't care why the powers that be decided to single out the commandbutton. They did and maybe someday they'll wake up and realize they made a mistake (IMO) and add the functionality that should have been there from the start.

In response to my rant, answers kept coming in saying that it goes against UI Guidelines so it should not be done. I didn't ask whether it should or should not be done. The guidelines must have come up 10 or more times. These guidelines are not the Laws of Physics. They can be broken. Given a good reason, they should be broken. From the availabilty of ActiveX controls and native controls in other envrionments that allow this, it looks like I'm not the only one who thinks this way.