GDPR.au3 UDF - a modest attempt at implementation 1.0.0

Other than different methodologies, are there any differences between the two? Does one work out to be faster or more reliable than the other when deployed at scale? I'm trying out both UDFs, was curious which method is preferred by the community.

GuiFlatButton is a UDF to easily create regular buttons with different colors for background, foreground, border, hover, focus, etc..
This started as an effort to change the background color of a button and eventually grew into a full UDF.
If you've looked around forums for changing button background colors, you have probably noticed that each proposed workaround has its own set of issues/side-effects. The answers usually circle back to 'use ownerdrawn buttons' and 'not worth it'. Well, now it is possible for anyone to easily create ownerdrawn buttons - totally worth it!
Some issues with other workarounds such as drawing with GDI+ or using a colored label as a 'button':
Not 'real' buttons so you lose built-in functionality that windows gives to buttons Messy / inefficient code in the main while loop to check for mouse position Slow to respond to click, paint, etc... Having to deal with GUIRegisterMsg messages Not straight-forward to implement GuiFlatButton is not a workaround; it is a technique to respond to Windows' built-in owner-drawn button events.
With minimal effort, we can now create true simple colored buttons.
The idea is to create an owner-drawn button using GUICtrlCreateButton then subclass the GUI and controls to handle the button-specific events to paint it however we want.
This UDF magically does all of this for us! No need to worry about event handling or main while loop logic.
 
How to use
It couldn't be any easier! Simply create a new button using the familiar syntax. This creates an ownerdrawn button with default colors.
$mybutton1 = GuiFlatButton_Create("Button 1", 78, 20, 120, 40) If you want to change the background and text colors:
GuiFlatButton_SetBkColor(-1, 0x5555FF) GuiFlatButton_SetColor(-1, 0xFFFFFF) Advanced Usage
Set background/text/border all at once
GuiFlatButton_SetColors(-1, 0x0000FF, 0xFFFFFF, 0x9999FF) Set ALL colors for ALL button states! (normal, focus, hover, selected)
Local $aColorsEx = [0x0000FF, 0xFFFFFF, -2, 0x4444FF, 0xFFFFFF, 0xAAAAFF, 0x6666FF, 0xFFFFFF, 0xCCCCFF, 0x0000EE, 0xFFFFFF, 0x7777EE] GuiFlatButton_SetColorsEx(-1, $aColorsEx) Set default colors to apply to any future buttons
;set colors GuiFlatButton_SetDefaultColors(0x0000FF, 0xFFFFFF, 0x9999FF) ;create buttons $mybutton1 = GuiFlatButton_Create("Button 1", 12, 20, 120, 40) $mybutton2 = GuiFlatButton_Create("Button 2", 143, 20, 120, 40) Set ALL color defaults
;set colors Local $aColorsEx = [0x0000FF, 0xFFFFFF, -2, 0x4444FF, 0xFFFFFF, 0xAAAAFF, 0x6666FF, 0xFFFFFF, 0xCCCCFF, 0x0000EE, 0xFFFFFF, 0x7777EE] GuiFlatButton_SetDefaultColorsEx($aColorsEx) ;create buttons $mybutton1 = GuiFlatButton_Create("Button 1", 12, 20, 120, 40) $mybutton2 = GuiFlatButton_Create("Button 2", 143, 20, 120, 40)  
Available Functions
 
Simple Example

#include <GUIConstantsEx.au3> #include <MsgBoxConstants.au3> #include "GuiFlatButton.au3" Example() ;GUI with one button Func Example() Local $hGUI, $mybutton1 $hGUI = GUICreate("GuiFlatButton Ex0", 275, 120) GUISetBkColor(0x333333) Local $idLabel = GUICtrlCreateLabel("Click the button", 10, 100, 150, 30) GUICtrlSetColor(-1, 0xFFFFFF) ;create new button then set the background and foreground colors $mybutton1 = GuiFlatButton_Create("Button 1" & @CRLF & "Line 2", 78, 20, 120, 40, $BS_MULTILINE) GuiFlatButton_SetBkColor(-1, 0x5555FF) GuiFlatButton_SetColor(-1, 0xFFFFFF) GUISetState(@SW_SHOW, $hGUI) Local $i = 0 Local $iMsg While 1 $iMsg = GUIGetMsg() Switch $iMsg Case $GUI_EVENT_CLOSE ExitLoop Case $mybutton1 $i += 1 GUICtrlSetData($idLabel, $i) ConsoleWrite($i & @CRLF) EndSwitch Sleep(10) WEnd GUIDelete() EndFunc ;==>Example
Menu/Toolbar Example

#include <GUIConstantsEx.au3> #include <MsgBoxConstants.au3> #include "GuiFlatButton.au3" Example() ;Example GUI with toolbar Func Example() Local $hGUI, $idLabel, $aButtons, $iTbSize $hGUI = GUICreate("GuiFlatButton Ex2", 300, 200) GUISetBkColor(0x444444) $idLabel = GUICtrlCreateLabel("Click a button", 10, 180, 150, 30) GUICtrlSetColor(-1, 0xFFFFFF) $aButtons = createToolbar() $iTbSize = UBound($aButtons) GUISetState(@SW_SHOW, $hGUI) Local $i = 0 Local $iMsg While 1 $iMsg = GUIGetMsg() Switch $iMsg Case $GUI_EVENT_CLOSE ExitLoop Case $aButtons[0] To $aButtons[$iTbSize - 1] ConsoleWrite("1") GUICtrlSetData($idLabel, GuiFlatButton_Read($iMsg)) EndSwitch Sleep(10) WEnd GUIDelete() EndFunc ;==>Example Func createToolbar() Local $aButtons[6] Local $bkColor = 0x777777 Local $textColor = 0xFFFFFF Local $borderColor = 0x999999 Local $aBtnClrs[12] = [0x777777, 0xFFFFFF, $GUI_BKCOLOR_TRANSPARENT, 0x888888, 0xFFFFFF, $GUI_BKCOLOR_TRANSPARENT, 0x999999, 0xFFFFFF, $GUI_BKCOLOR_TRANSPARENT, 0x666666, 0xFFFFFF, $GUI_BKCOLOR_TRANSPARENT] For $i = 0 To UBound($aButtons) - 1 $aButtons[$i] = GuiFlatButton_Create("B" & $i, $i * 50, 0, 50, 17) GuiFlatButton_SetColorsEx($aButtons[$i], $aBtnClrs) Next Return $aButtons EndFunc ;==>createToolbar  
Icon Example
You can even easily add icons to your buttons -- just create a new button and send it an icon!

#include <GDIPlus.au3> #include "GuiFlatButton.au3" Example() ;buttons with Icon images Func Example() ;get images for demonstration _GDIPlus_Startup() ;initialize GDI+ Local $hIcon = _WinAPI_ShellExtractIcon(@SystemDir & '\shell32.dll', 258, 24, 24) ;extract the 'Save' icon Local $hBitmap = _GDIPlus_BitmapCreateFromHICON($hIcon) ;Create Bitmap from Icon (for demonstration) Local $hHBitmap = _GDIPlus_BitmapCreateHBITMAPFromBitmap($hBitmap) ;Create HBitmap from Bitmap _GDIPlus_BitmapDispose($hBitmap) ;dispose the bitmap _GDIPlus_Shutdown() ;done with GDI+ Local $hGUI = GUICreate("GuiFlatButton Ex5", 255, 400) GUISetBkColor(0xEEEEEE) ;set default colors of future buttons Local $aColorsEx = _ [0xE2E5E8, 0X000000, 0x888888, _ ; normal : Background, Text, Border 0xE2E5E8, 0X000000, 0x333333, _ ; focus : Background, Text, Border 0xE8E8E8, 0X000000, 0x666666, _ ; hover : Background, Text, Border 0xDDDDDD, 0X000000, 0xAAAAAA] ; selected : Background, Text, Border GuiFlatButton_SetDefaultColorsEx($aColorsEx) ;normal button with icon $label1 = GUICtrlCreateLabel( "$BS_TOOLBUTTON -->", 5, 10) GUICtrlSetBkColor(-1, $GUI_BKCOLOR_TRANSPARENT) Local $mybutton1 = GuiFlatButton_Create("Save", 130, 5, 50, 48, $BS_TOOLBUTTON) _WinAPI_DeleteObject(_SendMessage(GUICtrlGetHandle($mybutton1), $BM_SETIMAGE, $IMAGE_ICON, $hIcon)) ;align top Local $mybuttonT = GuiFlatButton_Create("Top", 5, 65, 120, 55, $BS_TOP) _WinAPI_DeleteObject(_SendMessage(GUICtrlGetHandle($mybuttonT), $BM_SETIMAGE, $IMAGE_ICON, $hIcon)) ;align top-left Local $mybuttonTL = GuiFlatButton_Create("Top-Left", 5, 125, 120, 55, BITOR($BS_TOP, $BS_LEFT)) _WinAPI_DeleteObject(_SendMessage(GUICtrlGetHandle($mybuttonTL), $BM_SETIMAGE, $IMAGE_ICON, $hIcon)) ;align top-right Local $mybuttonTR = GuiFlatButton_Create("Top-Right", 5, 185, 120, 55, BITOR($BS_TOP, $BS_RIGHT)) _WinAPI_DeleteObject(_SendMessage(GUICtrlGetHandle($mybuttonTR), $BM_SETIMAGE, $IMAGE_ICON, $hIcon)) ;align left Local $mybuttonL = GuiFlatButton_Create("Left", 5, 245, 120, 55, $BS_LEFT) _WinAPI_DeleteObject(_SendMessage(GUICtrlGetHandle($mybuttonL), $BM_SETIMAGE, $IMAGE_ICON, $hIcon)) ;align bottom Local $mybuttonB = GuiFlatButton_Create("Bottom", 130, 65, 120, 55, $BS_BOTTOM) _WinAPI_DeleteObject(_SendMessage(GUICtrlGetHandle($mybuttonB), $BM_SETIMAGE, $IMAGE_ICON, $hIcon)) ;align bottom-left Local $mybuttonBL = GuiFlatButton_Create("Bottom-Left", 130, 125, 120, 55, BITOR($BS_BOTTOM, $BS_LEFT)) _WinAPI_DeleteObject(_SendMessage(GUICtrlGetHandle($mybuttonBL), $BM_SETIMAGE, $IMAGE_ICON, $hIcon)) ;align bottom-right Local $mybuttonBR = GuiFlatButton_Create("Bottom-Right", 130, 185, 120, 55, BITOR($BS_BOTTOM, $BS_RIGHT)) _WinAPI_DeleteObject(_SendMessage(GUICtrlGetHandle($mybuttonBR), $BM_SETIMAGE, $IMAGE_ICON, $hIcon)) ;align right Local $mybuttonR = GuiFlatButton_Create("Right", 130, 245, 120, 55, $BS_RIGHT) _WinAPI_DeleteObject(_SendMessage(GUICtrlGetHandle($mybuttonR), $BM_SETIMAGE, $IMAGE_ICON, $hIcon)) GuiFlatButton_SetState($mybuttonR, $GUI_DISABLE ) ;disabled Local $mybuttonDisable = GuiFlatButton_Create("Disabled", 130, 310, 120, 55, $BS_TOOLBUTTON) _WinAPI_DeleteObject(_SendMessage(GUICtrlGetHandle($mybuttonDisable), $BM_SETIMAGE, $IMAGE_BITMAP, $hHBitmap)) GuiFlatButton_SetState($mybuttonDisable, $GUI_DISABLE ) ;clean up! _WinAPI_DestroyIcon( $hIcon ) _WinAPI_DeleteObject( $hHBitmap ) GUISetState(@SW_SHOW, $hGUI) Local $iMsg While 1 $iMsg = GUIGetMsg() Switch $iMsg Case $GUI_EVENT_CLOSE ExitLoop EndSwitch Sleep(10) WEnd GUIDelete() EndFunc ;==>Example  
I'm sure there are some use-cases I've forgotten, so feedback is welcome!
 
Download the latest UDF and several more examples:
GuiFlatButton_20220919.zip (1,121)
Update 2022-09-19
Added update from 05/25 back in after it was accidentally removed
Update 2022-09-01
Added $BS_MULTILINE button style
Added ellipses when text is longer than the button
Fixed compatibility with Opt("MustDeclareVars", 1)
Update 2022-05-25
Fixed issue, buttons disappear when a GUI containing a child window with WS_EX_MDICHILD extended style is moved
Update 2022-05-24
Fixed issue releasing subclassing when GUI is deleted but program is not closed
Fixed occasional white background flicker
Added function GuiFlatButton_GetPos
Update 2021-01-02
Fixed bug, not drawing correctly after deleting GUI with GUIDelete()
Fixed bug, changing default colors changed all buttons, even previously created buttons
Made some internal functions more efficient
Update 2019-04-14
Fixed bug, not showing pressed down state when clicking rapidly
Added Icon/Bitmap support!
Added function GuiFlatButton_SetPos to change the position and/or size of a button
Update 2019-02-09
Added 2 new functions to set the button colors globally for all future buttons.
GuiFlatButton_SetDefaultColors 
GuiFlatButton_SetDefaultColorsEx

Credits to:
Melba23 (UDF template)
LarsJ (general subclassing code)
4ggr35510n (TrackMouseEvent example)
binhnx (disable dragging with $WS_EX_CONTROLPARENT)
GUIRegisterMsg in AutoIt Help (owner-draw button example)
funkey (_WinAPI_DrawState example)
 
 
 
 

Always searching for the "final" solution to my zipping/unzipping needs, I started years ago using WinRar with AutoIT (don't ask me why...) and for the last 10 years I worked well with the _zip.UDF , a good solution using the embedded windows zipfldr.dll.
But often I work with a lot of data (both multi gigabytes and/or 100K+ files) and I noticed the performance of the windows zip DLL are not so good, the problem is maybe worsened by the mono thread operation using AutoIT +  zipfldr.dll.
SO my choice is 7zip (7ZA.exe)  also for licence (freeware also for business) reasons, and I wrote a small and simple UDF:
; #INDEX# ======================================================================================================================= ; Title .........: _7za ; AutoIt Version : 3.3.16.0 ; Language ......: English ; Description ...: Functions for using 7za.exe archive manipulation app ; Author(s) .....: NSC ; Version .......: 1.2 ; Date ..........: 2022/06/28 ; =============================================================================================================================== ; ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ; This software is provided 'as-is', without any express or ; implied warranty. In no event will the authors be held liable for any ; damages arising from the use of this software. ; #INCLUDES# =================================================================================================================== ; #include-once #include <AutoItConstants.au3> ; =============================================================================================================================== ; #VARIABLES# =================================================================================================================== ; Global Global $7za_exe = @ScriptDir & "\" & "7za.exe" ; =============================================================================================================================== ; #CURRENT# ===================================================================================================================== ; _EXEC7za ;_UNcompress_7za ;_COMpress_7za_7z ;_COMpress_7za_zip ; =============================================================================================================================== ; #FUNCTION# ==================================================================================================================== ; Name ..........: _EXEC7za ; Description ...: launch 7Za.exe with params and returns exit codes ; Syntax ........: EXEC7za($7zCommands, $archive, $folder[, $show]) ; Parameters ....: $7zCommands - 7zip command line params ; $archive - complete path to the archive ; $folder - the source/destination folder ; $show - optional set the state of 7za console visibility, default @SW_HIDE, ; other values as ShellExecuteWait() ; Return values .: 1 - Success ; 0 - and set @error = 1 ; and ; @extended = 1 (Warning (Non fatal error(s)) ; @extended = 2 (Fatal error) ; @extended = 7 (Command line error) ; @extended = 8 (Not enough memory for operation) ; @extended = 255 (User stopped the process) ; @extended values set by 7za.exe exit codes ; Author ........: NSC ; Modified ......: 2022/05/13 ; Remarks .......: requires 7za.exe in @scriptdir, 7za.exe (7-Zip Extra: standalone console version) ; Thanks to 7-zip.org ; Related .......: ; Link ..........: ; Examples .......: compress a folder recursive with subfolders ; EXEC7za("u -mx4 -bt", c:\folder1\archive.7z", c:\folder1\folderTOcompress\ ) ; uncompress the same folder recursive ; EXEC7za("x -aoa -bt -r", "c:\folder1\archive.7z", "-oc:\folder2\") ; =============================================================================================================================== Func _EXEC_7za($7zCommands, $archive, $folder, $show = @SW_HIDE) Local $return7za = ShellExecuteWait($7za_exe, $7zCommands & ' "' & $archive & '" "' & $folder & '"', '', $SHEX_OPEN, $show) Select Case $return7za = 0 Return 1 Case Else Return SetError(1, $return7za, 0) EndSelect EndFunc ;==>_EXEC_7za ; #FUNCTION# ==================================================================================================================== ; Name ..........: _UNcompress_7za ; Description ...: launch 7Za.exe with preset params to uncompress an archive (.7z or .zip recursively) and returns exit codes ; Syntax ........: _UNcompress_7za($archive, $folder[, $show]) ; Parameters ....: $archive - complete path to the archive ; $folder - the source/destination folder ; $show - optional set the state of 7za console visibility, default @SW_HIDE, ; other values as ShellExecuteWait() ; Return values .: 1 - Success ; 0 - and set @error = 1 ; and ; @extended = 1 (Warning (Non fatal error(s)) ; @extended = 2 (Fatal error) ; @extended = 7 (Command line error) ; @extended = 8 (Not enough memory for operation) ; @extended = 255 (User stopped the process) ; @extended values set by 7za.exe exit codes ; Author ........: NSC ; Modified ......: 2022/05/19 ; Remarks .......: requires 7za.exe in @scriptdir, 7za.exe (7-Zip Extra: standalone console version) ; Thanks to 7-zip.org ; Related .......: ; Link ..........: ; =============================================================================================================================== Func _UNcompress_7za($archive, $folder, $show = @SW_HIDE) Local $return7za = ShellExecuteWait($7za_exe, "x -aoa -bt -r" & ' "' & $archive & '" -o"' & $folder & '"', '', $SHEX_OPEN, $show) Select Case $return7za = 0 Return 1 Case Else Return SetError(1, $return7za, 0) EndSelect EndFunc ;==>_UNcompress_Folder_7za ; #FUNCTION# ==================================================================================================================== ; Name ..........: _COMpress_7za_7z ; Description ...: launch 7Za.exe with precompiled params to compress in .7z format ;a single file, a filtered (*.pdf) bunch of files or a folder (recursively) and returns exit codes ; Syntax ........: _COMpress_7za_7z($archive, $folder[, $show [, $compLvl]] ) ; Parameters ....: $archive - complete path to the archive ; $folder - the source file(s) / folder ; $show - optional set the state of 7za console visibility, default @SW_HIDE, ; other values as ShellExecuteWait() ; $CompLvl - optional compression level (1-9) default 4 ; Return values .: 1 - Success ; 0 - and set @error = 1 ; and ; @extended = 1 (Warning (Non fatal error(s)) ; @extended = 2 (Fatal error) ; @extended = 7 (Command line error) ; @extended = 8 (Not enough memory for operation) ; @extended = 255 (User stopped the process) ; @extended values set by 7za.exe exit codes ; Author ........: NSC ; Modified ......: 2022/06/22 ; Remarks .......: requires 7za.exe in @scriptdir, 7za.exe (7-Zip Extra: standalone console version) ; avoids re-compress of popular archives. ; Thanks to 7-zip.org ; Related .......: ; Link ..........: ; =============================================================================================================================== Func _COMpress_7za_7z($archive, $folder, $show = @SW_HIDE, $CompLvl = 4) If StringRight($folder, 4) = ".zip" Or StringRight($folder, 3) = ".7z" Or StringRight($folder, 4) = ".rar" Or StringRight($folder, 4) = ".lha" Or StringRight($folder, 3) = ".gz" Or StringRight($folder, 7) = ".tar.gz" Or StringRight($folder, 4) = ".iso" Then $CompLvl = 0 EndIf Local $return7za = ShellExecuteWait($7za_exe, 'u -mx' & $CompLvl & ' -mmt -bt' & ' "' & $archive & '" "' & $folder & '"', '', $SHEX_OPEN, $show) Select Case $return7za = 0 Return 1 Case Else Return SetError(1, $return7za, 0) EndSelect EndFunc ;==>_COMpress_7za_7z ; #FUNCTION# ==================================================================================================================== ; Name ..........: _COMpress_7za_zip ; Description ...: launch 7Za.exe with precompiled params to compress in zip format ; a single file, a filtered (*.pdf) bunch of files or a folder (recursively) and returns exit codes ; Syntax ........: _COMpress_7za_zip($archive, $folder[, $show [, $compLvl]] ) ; Parameters ....: $archive - complete path to the archive ; $folder - the source file(s) / folder ; $show - optional set the state of 7za console visibility, default @SW_HIDE, ; other values as ShellExecuteWait() ; $CompLvl - optional compression level (1-9) default 4 ; Return values .: 1 - Success ; 0 - and set @error = 1 ; and ; @extended = 1 (Warning (Non fatal error(s)) ; @extended = 2 (Fatal error) ; @extended = 7 (Command line error) ; @extended = 8 (Not enough memory for operation) ; @extended = 255 (User stopped the process) ; @extended values set by 7za.exe exit codes ; Author ........: NSC ; Modified ......: 2022/06/22 ; Remarks .......: requires 7za.exe in @scriptdir, 7za.exe (7-Zip Extra: standalone console version), ; avoids re-compress of popular archives. ; Thanks to 7-zip.org ; Related .......: ; Link ..........: ; =============================================================================================================================== Func _COMpress_7za_zip($archive, $folder, $show = @SW_HIDE, $CompLvl = 9) If StringRight($folder, 4) = ".zip" Or StringRight($folder, 3) = ".7z" Or StringRight($folder, 4) = ".rar" Or StringRight($folder, 4) = ".lha" Or StringRight($folder, 3) = ".gz" Or StringRight($folder, 7) = ".tar.gz" Or StringRight($folder, 4) = ".iso" Then $CompLvl = 0 EndIf Local $return7za = ShellExecuteWait($7za_exe, 'u -tzip -mx' & $CompLvl & ' -mmt -bt' & ' "' & $archive & '" "' & $folder & '"', '', $SHEX_OPEN, $show) Select Case $return7za = 0 Return 1 Case Else Return SetError(1, $return7za, 0) EndSelect EndFunc ;==>_COMpress_7za_zip You have to provide 7za.exe, in scriptdir in some way, maybe with a fileinstall or embedding in some way. 
Daily I use most of the time:
_UNcompress_7za
_COMpress_7za_7z
so I'am almost done with these funcs....
Also I made a quick and dirty benchmark on some real world data (for me at least) , comparing the windows DLL, the zip ULTRA by 7zip and the various 7zip levels.

My choice is level 4 (time/size) but your mileage may vary...
Also, extracting many thousands of little files from a 7z archive with 7zip is waaaay fast in respect to other solutions.

This UDF can be used to draw at the Desktop Wallpaper (Windows 8+) with GDI+ without using files.
The example runs with 60-120fps at my machine, so the speed is acceptable.
When the script exits, the original wallpaper is restored.
Have fun :).
PS: The UDF uses the window between the background and the icons, so it could be used to add an own child window at the desktop. Just look at the begin of __Wallpaper_Startup ($hWorkerW).
 
Example:
 
WallpaperUDF.au3 WallpaperUDF Example.au3

Wondering if you can help a teacher out.  For the last few years of remote, hybrid, and in-person teaching I've been using an AutoHotKey script that creates an inking toolbar to be used during a PowerPoint presentation.  (https://www.autohotkey.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=79163) The annotation tools available through Ppt are woefully inadequate, and, on my machine at least, jump around all over the place - sometimes on the bottom, sometimes on the left, sometimes on the right.  It's a scavenger hunt every single time.  The inking tool is always available, and recent updates allowed for the addition of lots more colors, which I used for modeling phenomena with students. One tragic day I arrived to school to find that my district IT dep't took away access to AutoHotKey.  No more tool bar. 
I've been trying to resurrect some programming skills from a past life. I'm working through various tutorials and help files, with the goal of recreating the toolbar in AutoIt.  I'm really needing some help to move things along though.  I've been going through your PowerPoint UDF and all of your functions seem to just relate to editing the slides. Can you point me in the direction of how to create a toolbar that accesses the annotation tools that are available during the slideshow itself?