Displays a message in a message box and waits for user acknowledgment. The function form returns a value corresponding to the button the user presses.

Function Syntax

MessageBox ( message [ , [ buttons + icon + default + mode ] [ , boxTitle ] ] )

Statement Syntax

MessageBox message [ , [ buttons + icon + default + mode ] [ , boxTitle ] ]

The MessageBox function and statement are identical, except that only the function has a return value.

MsgBox is acceptable in place of MessageBox.

Elements

message

The message to be displayed in the message box (a string). The length of message is dependent on the operating system.

Defines the number and type of buttons to be displayed in the message box:

Constant name	Value	Buttons displayed
MB_OK	0	OK
MB_OKCANCEL	1	OK and Cancel
MB_ABORTRETRYIGNORE	2	Abort, Retry, and Ignore
MB_YESNOCANCEL	3	Yes, No, and Cancel
MB_YESNO	4	Yes and No
MB_RETRYCANCEL	5	Retry and Cancel

Defines the icons to be displayed in the message box:

Constant name	Value	Icon displayed
MB_ICONSTOP	16	Stop sign
MB_ICONQUESTION	32	Question mark
MB_ICONEXCLAMATION	48	Exclamation point
MB_ICONINFORMATION	64	Information

Defines the default button in the message box. Pressing ENTER has the same effect as clicking the default button:

Constant name	Value	Default button
MB_DEFBUTTON1	0	First button
MB_DEFBUTTON2	256	Second button
MB_DEFBUTTON3	512	Third button

Defines the message box modality:

Constant name	Value	Description
MB_APPLMODAL	0	Application modal. Stops the current application until the user responds to the message box.
MB_SYSTEMMODAL	4,096	System modal. Stops all applications until the user responds to the message box.

The string to appear in the title bar of the message box. boxTitle can be up to 128 characters in length.

The MessageBox function return value is an integer in the range of 1 to 7, inclusive. This value indicates which button the user pressed in the message box, as shown in the following table.

Return value	Button	Constant
1	OK	IDOK
2	Cancel	IDCANCEL
3	Abort	IDABORT
4	Retry	IDRETRY
5	Ignore	IDIGNORE
6	Yes	IDYES
7	No	IDNO

Usage

The valid values for the buttons, icon, default, and mode elements listed in the preceding tables are defined as constants in the file LSCONST.LSS. If you want to use the constants instead of numbers, include this file in your script.

The Lotus software where you are running LotusScript may allow longer strings than described above for message and boxTitle. LotusScript will support longer strings for these items if the Lotus software does.

Note The length of message is dependent on the operating system. If you are launching applications in a mixed environment (for example, PC and Mac), keep your message length equal to or shorter than the smallest limit of the operating systems to be used.

Use the newline character to force line breaks in the message element. Or use vertical bars or braces to specify a multiline string. If you don't force line breaks, the text wraps automatically in the message box.

Note Newline does not mean either chr(10) or chr(13) on all platforms. Newline is the character or sequence of characters that is used to mark the end of a line. This may be chr(10), or chr(13), but it may also be something else, because the actual value of newline depends on the platform. If newlines are desired in the output, it is the programmer's responsibility to ensure that the string contains the correct newline for the platform.

If you are using LotusScript from within Lotus Notes, note that the MessageBox function writes to:

• A dialog box when executing in the foreground on a Notes client. The user clicks OK, Cancel, Abort, Retry, Yes, or No to continue.
• NOTES.LOG when executing on a Domino server without pausing or as a scheduled agent in the Notes client.

Example
See Also

LotusScript Language Reference: M through P
%Include directive
InputBox function
Print statement

Glossary