SplitButton Control Type

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

The split button control enables an action to be performed on a control, and to expand the control to see a list of other possible actions that can be performed.

The following sections define the required UI Automation tree structure, properties, control patterns, and events for the SplitButton control type. The UI Automation requirements apply to all split button 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 split button 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
  • SplitButton
    • Image (0 or 1)
    • Text (0 or 1)
    • Button (1 or 2)
      • Menu (0 or 1; appears as a child of a sub-button that supports the ExpandCollapse pattern)
        • MenuItem (1 to many)
  • SplitButton
    • Button (1 or 2)
      • MenuItem (1 to many)

 

Relevant Properties

The following table lists the UI Automation properties whose value or definition is especially relevant to the SplitButton 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 SplitButton This value is the same for all UI frameworks.
UIA_HelpTextPropertyId See notes. The help text can indicate the result of activating the split button, which is typically the same type of information presented through a tooltip.
UIA_IsContentElementPropertyId TRUE The split button control contains information for the end user.
UIA_IsControlElementPropertyId TRUE The split button control is visible to the end user.
UIA_IsKeyboardFocusablePropertyId See notes. If the control can receive keyboard focus, it must support this property.
UIA_LabeledByPropertyId NULL Split button controls do not have a static text label.
UIA_LocalizedControlTypePropertyId See notes. Localized string corresponding to the SplitButton control type. The default value is "split button" for en-US or English (United States).
UIA_NamePropertyId See notes. The text that is used to label the split button. Whenever an image is used to label a split button, alternate text must be supplied for the split button Name property.

 

Required Control Patterns

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

Control Pattern Support Notes
IExpandCollapseProvider Required Because split buttons always have the ability to expand a list of options, they must support the ExpandCollapse control pattern.
IInvokeProvider Required Because split buttons always have a default action associated with the IInvokeProvider::Invoke method, they must support the Invoke control pattern.

 

Required Events

The following table lists the UI Automation events that split button 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_ExpandCollapseExpandCollapseStatePropertyId property-changed event.
UIA_Invoke_InvokedEventId
UIA_IsEnabledPropertyId property-changed event. If the control supports the IsEnabled property, it must support this event.
UIA_IsOffscreenPropertyId property-changed event. If the control supports the IsOffscreen property, it must support this event.
UIA_StructureChangedEventId

 

SplitButton Control Type Example

The following image illustrates a control that implements the SplitButton control type.

screen shot showing example of a splitbutton control

UI Automation Tree—Control View UI Automation Tree—Content View
  • SplitButton "Name" (Invoke, ExpandCollapse)
    • Button "More option" (Invoke)
      • Menu
        • MenuItem
        • ...
  • SplitButton "Name" (Invoke, ExpandCollapse)
    • Button "More option" (Invoke)
      • Menu
        • MenuItem
        • ...

 

Conceptual

UI Automation Control Types Overview

UI Automation Overview