You can't change the actual shape of the button itself. You can, however, add a round image and turn off the BackVisible property to create a very specific look. I don't know if I have tried this (so I don't know if it will work), but you might also be able to use the ColorFill feature of the Background property and set the Rounded values to something that will give the appearance of a round button.
I think Don's suggestion of the round icon is probably your best bet. I've done similar and just used the style office XP toolbar. I leave the backvisible on as it provides the handy visual cues for the user that it is in fact a button and not just a pretty picture but I guess it depends on your use case. BackVisible off might be more suitable for you. Here's an example of how it might look keeping the background.
I guess if it's a big button, the background feedback might not be as relevant. I'm not as convinced that the colorfill rounded features will get you quite what you need. I tried it a couple of years ago with the popup control rather than the button and whilst it rounded the corners nicely, the void was black instead of transparent so the rectangular shape was still visible. Maybe that's been addressed since though.
Mark - different controls do render the colorfill rounded feature differently. That's why I added the caveat. The button might look just as unpleasant but then again it might not.
To provide user feedback, you can also use the IconEffects property. This will accomplish the same thing that you are achieving with the OfficeXP style but without having to use the background.
@DonBakke I wrote a generic routine to initialise all my buttons years ago, I think before backvisible and iconeffects properties and have never bothered to really experiment with them. Might be worth a revisit.
@KevinFournier, thanks. Both the captionlist and iconlist properties make it very simple to make creative buttons without having to have an extensive icon library or icon editing skills.
Comments
Here's an example of how it might look keeping the background.
I guess if it's a big button, the background feedback might not be as relevant.
I'm not as convinced that the colorfill rounded features will get you quite what you need. I tried it a couple of years ago with the popup control rather than the button and whilst it rounded the corners nicely, the void was black instead of transparent so the rectangular shape was still visible. Maybe that's been addressed since though.
To provide user feedback, you can also use the IconEffects property. This will accomplish the same thing that you are achieving with the OfficeXP style but without having to use the background.
@KevinFournier, thanks. Both the captionlist and iconlist properties make it very simple to make creative buttons without having to have an extensive icon library or icon editing skills.
Me like.