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CheckBox Control Type

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This topic provides information about Microsoft UI Automation support for the CheckBox control type.

A check box is an object used to indicate a state that users can interact with to cycle through that state. Check boxes either present a binary (Yes/No), (On/Off), or tertiary (On, Off, Indeterminate) option to the user.

The following sections define the required UI Automation tree structure, properties, control patterns, and events for the CheckBox control type. The UI Automation requirements apply to all check box controls where the UI framework/platform integrates UI Automation support for control types and control patterns.

This topic contains the following sections.

Typical Tree Structure

The following table depicts a typical control and content view of the UI Automation tree that pertains to check box controls and describes what can be contained in each view. For more information about the UI Automation tree, see UI Automation Tree Overview.

Control View Content View
  • CheckBox
  • CheckBox

 

Relevant Properties

The following table lists the UI Automation properties whose value or definition is especially relevant to the CheckBox control type. For more information about UI Automation properties, see Retrieving Properties from UI Automation Elements.

UI Automation Property Value Notes
UIA_AutomationIdPropertyId See notes. The value of this property must be unique among all peer elements in the raw view of the UI Automation tree.
UIA_BoundingRectanglePropertyId See notes. The outermost rectangle that contains the whole control.
UIA_ClickablePointPropertyId See notes. Supported if there is a bounding rectangle. If not every point within the bounding rectangle is clickable, and the element performs specialized hit testing, override and provide a clickable point.
UIA_ControlTypePropertyId CheckBox
UIA_IsContentElementPropertyId TRUE The value of this property must always be TRUE. This means that the check box control must always be included in the content view of the UI Automation tree.
UIA_IsControlElementPropertyId TRUE The value of this property must always be TRUE. This means that the check box control must always be included in the control view of the UI Automation tree.
UIA_IsKeyboardFocusablePropertyId See notes. If the control can receive keyboard focus, it must support this property.
UIA_LabeledByPropertyId Null Check box controls are self-labeling.
UIA_LocalizedControlTypePropertyId See notes. Localized string corresponding to the CheckBox control type. The default value is "check box" for en-US or English (United States).
UIA_NamePropertyId See notes. The value of the check box control's IUIAutomationElement::CurrentName (or CachedName) property is the text that is displayed beside the box that maintains the toggle state.

 

Required Control Patterns

The following table lists the UI Automation control patterns required to be supported by all check box controls. For more information on control patterns, see UI Automation Control Patterns Overview.

Control Pattern/Pattern Property Support/Value Notes
IToggleProvider Required Check boxes support the Toggle control pattern to allow the check box to be programmatically cycled through its internal states.

 

Required Events

The following table lists the UI Automation events that check box controls are required to support. For more information on events, see UI Automation Events Overview.

UI Automation Event Notes
UIA_AutomationFocusChangedEventId
UIA_BoundingRectanglePropertyId property-changed event.
UIA_IsOffscreenPropertyId property-changed event. If the control supports the IsOffscreen property, it must support this event.
UIA_IsEnabledPropertyId property-changed event. If the control supports the IsEnabled property, it must support this event.
UIA_StructureChangedEventId
UIA_ToggleToggleStatePropertyId property-changed event.

 

DefaultAction

The default action of the check box is to cause a radio button to become focused and toggle its current state. As mentioned previously, check boxes either present a binary (Yes/No or On/Off) decision to the user or a tertiary (On, Off, Indeterminate). If the check box is binary the default action causes the "on" state to become "off" or the "off" state to become "on". In a tertiary check box the default action cycles through the states of the check box in the same order as if the user had sent successive mouse clicks to the control.

Conceptual

UI Automation Control Types Overview

UI Automation Overview