Force a window to foreground

[jforgey]

How do you make a window come to the foreground or be the top window??

This is how I'm showing the window, but it will not be the top most window
if it was visible then i hide it.

When i unhide it with.

IF IsWindowVisible(hfrmMaX&) = %FALSE THEN
ShowWindow hfrmMaX&, %SW_SHOW
END IF

the window becomes visible but maybe in the background.

Thanks
Jason

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[Semen Matusovski]

I assembled some fragments. A dialog restores itself every 5 sec, even if you switched to another app.

  #Compile Exe
  #Register None
  #Dim All
  #Include "Win32Api.Inc"
  
  Declare Function SwitchToThisWindow(hWnd As Long, chState As Long) As Long

  Sub pSetForegroundWindow(hwnd As Long)
     Dim lForeThreadID As Long, lThisThreadID As Long, hWndF As Long
     Dim hSwitchToThisWindow As Dword, lResult As Long
     
     Do
        If IsIconic(hwnd) Then ShowWindow hwnd, %SW_RESTORE Else ShowWindow hwnd, %SW_SHOW
        hWndF = GetForegroundWindow: If hwnd = hWndF Then Exit Sub

        lForeThreadID = GetWindowThreadProcessId(hWndF, ByVal 0&)
        lThisThreadID = GetWindowThreadProcessId(hwnd, ByVal 0&)
        If lForeThreadID <> lThisThreadID Then _
           AttachThreadInput lForeThreadID, lThisThreadID, %True
        SetForegroundWindow hwnd
        If lForeThreadID <> lThisThreadID Then _
           AttachThreadInput lForeThreadID, lThisThreadID, %False
        hWndF = GetForegroundWindow: If hwnd = hWndF Then Exit Sub
    
        If IsFalse(hSwitchToThisWindow) Then hSwitchToThisWindow = GetProcAddress(GetModuleHandle("user32.dll"), "SwitchToThisWindow")
        If IsTrue(hSwitchToThisWindow) Then Call Dword hSwitchToThisWindow Using SwitchToThisWindow(hwnd, %True) To lResult: Sleep 1
        hWndF = GetForegroundWindow: If hwnd = hWndF Then Exit Sub
        
        ShowWindow hWnd, %SW_MINIMIZE
     Loop

  End Sub

  CallBack Function DlgProc
     Select Case CbMsg
        Case %WM_ACTIVATEAPP
           If IsFalse(CbWparam) Then
              SetWindowPos CbHndl, %HWND_NOTOPMOST, 0, 0, 0, 0, %SWP_NOMOVE Or %SWP_NOSIZE Or %SWP_NOACTIVATE
              ShowWindow GetForegroundWindow, %SW_SHOWNA
              SetTimer CbHndl, 1, 5000, ByVal 0&
           Else
              SetWindowPos CbHndl, %HWND_TOPMOST, 0, 0, 0, 0, %SWP_NOMOVE Or %SWP_NOSIZE Or %SWP_NOACTIVATE
              KillTimer CbHndl, 1
           End If
        Case %WM_TIMER: pSetForegroundWindow CbHndl
     End Select
  End Function

  Function PbMain()
     Local hDlg As Long
     Dialog New 0 ,"I am here", , , 190, 60, %WS_CAPTION Or %WS_MINIMIZEBOX Or %WS_SYSMENU, %WS_EX_TOPMOST To hDlg
     Control Add TextBox, hDlg, 101, "", 10, 10, 170, 12
     Control Add TextBox, hDlg, 102, "", 10, 30, 170, 12
     Dialog Show Modal hDlg Call DlgProc
  End Function

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E-MAIL: [email protected]

[jforgey]

Thanks that helped

IF IsWindowVisible(hfrmMaX&) = %FALSE THEN
ShowWindow hfrmMaX&, %SW_RESTORE
ELSE
SetForegroundWindow hfrmMaX&
END IF


Jason

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[This message has been edited by jforgey (edited January 19, 2001).]

[Eric Pearson]

Jason --

I'd suggest searching this BBS for the word "SetForegroundWindow". Based on your last message I'm guessing that you're using Windows 95 or NT4... You'll find that SetForegroundWindow no longer works the way you expect on Windows 200, 98, or ME. You'll also find some spirited discussions about 1) whether or not it is a good idea to try to force your window to the foreground, and 2) whether or not the various workarounds are reliable.

-- Eric


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Perfect Sync: Perfect Sync Development Tools
Email: mailto:[email protected][email protected]</A>

[Brent Boshart]

I just do a showWindow and then set focus to one of it's controls
such as this. It works within one app.

eg.

DIALOG SHOW STATE hDlg, %SW_RESTORE
CONTROL SET FOCUS hDlg, %bnClose

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[jforgey]

Works Great!!

Have you tested this with WIN98/2000???


IF IsWindowVisible(hfrmMaX&) = %FALSE THEN
showWindow hfrmMaX&, %SW_RESTORE
ELSE
CONTROL SET FOCUS hfrmMaX&, %FRMMAX_LBLMAXSIZE
END IF

Thanks
Jason

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[jforgey]

OOPs!!

Spoke to soon. If I click to other windows without hiding app the click the icon in task bar its works
the 1st 2 times then quits.

If I hide the window 1st then is works.

I'm running on NT 4.0

Jason

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[jforgey]

-Eric

You said you would post some source code that delt with this issue, were you able too?

I tried to follow your posts, but I couldn't determin what the solution was.

Jason

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[Eric Pearson]

I was never able to come up with a foolproof method, other than the one we use in our Console Tools "ConsoleToForeground" function. And that is specific to console applications, so it would not do you any good.

There are significant problems with all of the GUI methods that I have ever seen posted here or elsewhere. Some methods work well, but they are very disruptive. For example, they require you to minimize and then restore your app, which most people would object to.

-- Eric


------------------
Perfect Sync: Perfect Sync Development Tools
Email: mailto:[email protected][email protected]</A>