MessageBoxEx

A message with custom colors, font, image and timers

MessageBoxEx.exe

Version: 1.10.0.10
System: Windows, 32-bit (runs on 64-bit too)
Source: github.com/pedromagician/CMD_MessageBoxEx

No installation: unzip anywhere (ideally into a folder on your PATH) and run it from the command line or a batch file.

MessageBoxEx is the big brother of MessageBox: a message window where almost everything can be set. Colors, font, image, number and labels of buttons, position, plus timers. The window can close by itself after a time or when a certain file appears on disk, so it also works as a “please wait” window during a long script.

Features

Title (or no title bar at all), message with \n and Unicode via \u{XXXX}, font, size, width and number of lines.
Text, background and fill colors.
A BMP image in the window (with size and border) and a custom application icon.
0 to 3 buttons with custom labels, extra width and a default button.
Monitor selection, placement, topmost window.
Timers: minimum display time, automatic close after a time or once a file appears (and deleting it).
Windows MessageBox style return codes, quiet mode and blocking the parent process.

Usage

MessageBoxEx.exe -t "Hello" -m "This is a message"
MessageBoxEx.exe -m "Line 1\nLine 2\nLine 3" -l 3
MessageBoxEx.exe -m "Operation completed \u{1F44D}"
MessageBoxEx.exe -t "Warning" -m "Be careful!" -p FF0000 -b 000000 -i warning.bmp

A “working” window that disappears when the script creates done.flag:

start "" MessageBoxEx.exe -m "Working..." -button 0 -file done.flag -deleteFile
rem ... long work ...
echo.>done.flag

Options

Switch	Description
`-title`, `-t`	Window title.
`-noTitle`, `-nt`	No title bar.
`-message`, `-m`	Message text, supports `\n` and `\u{XXXX}`.
`-font`, `-f`	Message font.
`-fontsize`, `-fs`	Font size in points.
`-lines`, `-l`	Number of lines for the message (window height).
`-width`, `-w`	Window width in pixels.
`-pen`, `-p`	Text color (`#RRGGBB` or `RRGGBB`), default white.
`-background`, `-b`	Background color, default black.
`-brush`, `-br`	Fill color behind the text, default black.
`-icon`, `-i`	BMP image in the window.
`-iconsize`	Image size in pixels.
`-iconborder`	Border around the image.
`-iconapp`	Application icon (ICO or BMP) in the title bar and taskbar.
`-button`	Number of buttons: 0–3.
`-widthbuttons`	Extra width for each button.
`-center`	Centers the button text.
`-b1`, `-b2`, `-b3`	Button labels.
`-default`, `-d`	Default button (Enter): 1–3.
`-monitor`, `-mon`	Monitor: `Primary`, `Mouse`, `MousePointer` or an index (0, 1, 2 …).
`-position`, `-pos`	Placement: `Center`, `Top`, `Bottom`, `Left`, `Right`, `Pointer`, `xy`.
`-x`, `-y`	Offset in pixels.
`-topmost`	Keeps the window above other windows.
`-block`	The parent process waits until the window closes.
`-windowsReturnCode`, `-wrc`	Windows MessageBox style exit code of the pressed button.
`-quiet`	Does not print the result to the console.
`-minimumDisplayTime`, `-mdt`	The window stays visible for at least the given milliseconds.
`-timeToCompletion`, `-ttc`	The window closes by itself after the given milliseconds.
`-fileRequiredForCompletion`, `-frfc`, `-file`	The window closes once the given file appears on disk.
`-deleteFileRequiredForCompletion`, `-dfrfc`, `-deleteFile`	Deletes that file after the window closes.
`-help`, `-h`, `-?`	Help.