How to change the cursor on a Button?

Question

``` static HWND btn; HCURSOR cursor = LoadCursor(0, IDC_CROSS); case WM_CREATE: btn = CreateWindow(TEXT("BUTTON"), TEXT("Press Me"), WS_CHILD|WS_VISIBLE, 50, 50, 80, 30, hwnd, (HMENU) 111, NULL, NULL); ``` Now, in `WM_COMMAND`, I try to use: ``` SendMessage(btn, WM_SETCURSOR, 0, (LPARAM) cursor); ``` Which isn't working. So how do I change the cursor of the mouse after it clicks the button? Also, how do I change the cursor of the mouse as it is hovering over the button (like it changes to a hand when hovering over links in web-browsers)?

Accepted Answer

Use this code to change the cursor of a single control:

```
SetClassLong(btn, GCL_HCURSOR, (LONG)cursor);
```

Preferred method, for 64 bit compatibility, is:

```
SetClassLongPtr(btn, GCL_HCURSOR, (LONG_PTR)cursor);
```

Note that this won't change the icon only for the specified `btn` window but for all windows with the same class, you have to first register a custom class name with `RegisterClass()` and then use it in the `WNDCLASS.lpszClassName` structure when creating `btn`.

Again this will apply to all the Windows with that (custom) class. To change the cursor of a single specific window you need to subclass it, manage the `WM_SETCURSOR` message and if (for example) `lParam` is `HTCLIENT` (pointer entered the window client area) then call `SetCursor()` to set the cursor you want (don't forget to return `TRUE` in this case). Of course this might be temporary (calling `SetWindowLongPtr()` with `GWLP_WNDPROC`).

How to change the cursor on a Button?

Solution

Problem