WM_LBUTTONDOWN message (Windows)

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WM_LBUTTONDOWN message

Applies to: desktop apps only

Posted when the user presses the left mouse button while the cursor is in the client area of a window. If the mouse is not captured, the message is posted to the window beneath the cursor. Otherwise, the message is posted to the window that has captured the mouse.

A window receives this message through its WindowProc function.

#define WM_LBUTTONDOWN                  0x0201

Parameters

wParam

Indicates whether various virtual keys are down. This parameter can be one or more of the following values.

ValueMeaning
MK_CONTROL
0x0008

The CTRL key is down.

MK_LBUTTON
0x0001

The left mouse button is down.

MK_MBUTTON
0x0010

The middle mouse button is down.

MK_RBUTTON
0x0002

The right mouse button is down.

MK_SHIFT
0x0004

The SHIFT key is down.

MK_XBUTTON1
0x0020

The first X button is down.

MK_XBUTTON2
0x0040

The second X button is down.

 

lParam

The low-order word specifies the x-coordinate of the cursor. The coordinate is relative to the upper-left corner of the client area.

The high-order word specifies the y-coordinate of the cursor. The coordinate is relative to the upper-left corner of the client area.

Return value

If an application processes this message, it should return zero.

Remarks

Use the following code to obtain the horizontal and vertical position:


xPos = GET_X_LPARAM(lParam); 
yPos = GET_Y_LPARAM(lParam); 

You can also use the MAKEPOINTS macro to convert the lParam parameter to a POINTS structure.

To detect that the ALT key was pressed, check whether GetKeyState with VK_MENU < 0. Note, this must not be GetAsyncKeyState.

Requirements

Minimum supported client

Windows 2000 Professional

Minimum supported server

Windows 2000 Server

Header

Winuser.h (include Windows.h)

See also

Reference
GET_X_LPARAM
GET_Y_LPARAM
GetCapture
GetKeyState
SetCapture
WM_LBUTTONDBLCLK
WM_LBUTTONUP
Conceptual
Mouse Input
Other Resources
MAKEPOINTS
POINTS

 

 

Send comments about this topic to Microsoft

Build date: 3/6/2012

Community Content

Joe-P
Having GET_X_LPARAM/GET_Y_LPARAM problems?
If you are having problems using GET_X_LPARAM/GET_Y_LPARAM, *try #include <windowsx.h>

Also, if you don't want to include windowsx,

For the X position, you can use LOWORD(lParam)
For the Y position, you can use HIWORD(lParam)
*Not mentioned on this site

ctacke
See Also...
WM_MOUSEMOVE at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms645616(VS.85).aspx

ctacke
Related Values
WM_LBUTTONUP = 0x202

Thomas Lee
This is dumb...
It's silly that you don't publish the code for WM_LButtonDown but instead rely on community content to publish it for you.

[tfl - 27-6-08] These pages are a work in progress - and inevitably some pages need more work. The MSDN Wiki (and TechNet Wiki) teams are aware and can see these updates. Slowly, the underlying pages are getting updated. Thanks to Dzonny for all his hard work in documenting these. If there are pages where you feel there is stuff missing - post content on the relevant page and tage it contentbug (as I've tagged this updated comment. HTH. Thomas

Đonny
Value
WM_LBUTTONDOWN = &H201
MK_CONTROL = &H8
MK_LBUTTON = &H1
MK_MBUTTON = &H10
MK_RBUTTON = &H2
MK_SHIFT = &H4
MK_XBUTTON1 = &H20
MK_XBUTTON2 = &H40