DOCUMENT:Q195631  12-NOV-1998  [vbwin]
TITLE   :PRB: Effects of Operating System Version On TextBox Alignment
PRODUCT :Microsoft Visual Basic for Windows
PROD/VER:WINDOWS:5.0,6.0
OPER/SYS:WINDOWS
KEYWORDS:kbVBp kbVBp500 kbVBp600 kbEditCtrl

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The information in this article applies to:

 - Microsoft Visual Basic Learning, Professional, and Enterprise Editions
   for Windows, version 6.0
 - Microsoft Visual Basic Control Creation, Learning, Professional, and
   Enterprise Editions for Windows, version 5.0
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SYMPTOMS
========

The value of the "Alignment" property of a TextBox control is ignored and
the default of "left aligned" is applied on some systems. The same
application installed on other systems does not exhibit this behavior.

CAUSE
=====

Visual Basic derives its TextBox control from a proprietary class called
"ThunderTextBox," which in turn is based on the "Edit" class provided by
the operating system. Because the operating system defines the "Edit"
class, some of the properties and functionality of a TextBox may change
depending upon the version of the operating system where the application is
executed. This is the case with the TextBox's Alignment property. In
earlier versions of Windows, changes to the "Alignment" property would not
take effect unless the "MultiLine" property of the TextBox was set to
"True." The latest versions of the Windows operating system no longer have
this limitation.

Any control from any development environment that is derived from the
"Edit" class will demonstrate the same change in behavior.

Versions of Windows that require the "MultiLine" property to be set to
"True" in order for the "Alignment" property to take effect include:

   Windows 95 (regardless of service packs)
   Windows NT 3.51 (regardless of service packs)
   Windows NT 4.0
   Windows NT 4.0 with Service Packs 1 or 2

Versions of Windows that do not have this requirement include:

   Windows 98
   Windows NT 4.0 with Service Pack 3 or higher

RESOLUTION
==========

There are two approaches for working around this inconsistency:

 - Assume the older operating system limitation is being enforced and set
   the TextBox control's "MultiLine" property to "True."

 - Use multiple overlapping TextBox controls and vary which one is
   visible depending on the operating system in use (checked via API) and
   the alignment desired.

STATUS
======

This behavior is by design.

REFERENCES
==========

For additional information, please see the following articles in the
Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q189249
   TITLE     : HOWTO: Determine Which 32-Bit Windows Version Is Being Used

   ARTICLE-ID: Q111952
   TITLE     : HOWTO: Right Justify/Center Text in Single-Line Text Control

Additional query words:
======================================================================
Keywords          : kbVBp kbVBp500 kbVBp600 kbEditCtrl
Version           : WINDOWS:5.0,6.0
Platform          : WINDOWS
Issue type        : kbprb

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