 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
.NET Forum / Windows Forms / WinForm General / August 2006Hide form from Alt-Tab when first run
Hi All, I would like to start a VB.Net 2.0 app minimised to the tray area. I use the NotifyIcon component, set the form to start minimised by adding this to the form.load event Me.WindowState = FormWindowState.Minimized Me.Hide() and set the notifyicon component property to visible, so it shows in the tray area. I have also set the showintaskbar property of the main form to false. All seems to work well when I run the app; the form does not show on the taskbar, and I can see the notifiyicon's icon image in the task bar. The problem is that the form icon is visible in the alt-tab switcher list. However, if I double click the icon in the taskbar, which runs this code in the notifyicon doubleclick event handler Me.Show() If (Me.WindowState = FormWindowState.Minimized) Then Me.WindowState = FormWindowState.Normal Me.Activate() End If NotifyIcon.Visible = False and then minimise the form, which runs this code in the form.resize event handler If (Me.WindowState = FormWindowState.Minimized) Then Me.Hide() NotifyIcon.Visible = True then now the form icon does not appear in the alt-tab switcher. I don't understand what is happening when the form is first shown, that is not happening when I restore and minimise the form. I have looked in these newsgroups and on the net but I could not find the answer, so any clues as to how to accomplish hiding the form from the alt-tab list when it first runs would be much appreciated. Thanks. > I would like to start a VB.Net 2.0 app minimised to the tray area. I use the > NotifyIcon component, set the form to start minimised by adding this to the [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > taskbar, and I can see the notifiyicon's icon image in the task bar. The > problem is that the form icon is visible in the alt-tab switcher list. I can't answer why it's happening, but it does in my tests too. However, I found that if I initialize the form's WindowState to FormWindowState.Minimized in the initialization code, then remove the code you have in the Load event, it seems to work as desired.  SignatureTimm Martin Mini-Tools .NET Components and Windows Software http://www.mini-tools.com Gary, What you need to do is create a class which inherits from ApplicationContext. Within this class you can declare your NotifcyIcon and set it up and display it (in the contructor, for example). You can handle the click or double click events for your NotifyIcon, which will instanciate and display your form. I assume you'd have an exit command on the icon; to do this, the menu item which is to exit the application should call ExitThread on the ApplicationContext. Remember to override the ExitThreadCore to do any cleanup (such as hiding then disposing of the NofityIcon). HTH Andy > Hi All, > [quoted text clipped - 37 lines] > how to accomplish hiding the form from the alt-tab list when it first runs > would be much appreciated. Thanks. Oh, for more detailed instructions, see this article: http://www.windowsforms.net/articles/notifyiconapplications.aspx > Hi All, > [quoted text clipped - 37 lines] > how to accomplish hiding the form from the alt-tab list when it first runs > would be much appreciated. Thanks. Hi both, Many thanks for the information and the quick response - I really appreciate it. I have been doing a bit of research and coding and have come up with a couple of things: 1) If you run the app in the IDE then the icon seems to appear in the alt-tab list for the first time - but if you run the exe itself then all is well. So, in fact I was on the right track, and that maybe explains the apparent difference we are finding between our two experiments, Timm. 2) Toolbar window styles don't show in the alt-tab list anyway. I tried this but it did not represent the stlye of form I needed 3) For some reason the form often appears at the default 'location' set on the properties window, not the default startposition. So you have to set the form position yourself. I ended up getting what I wanted in the short term by using this code: Everytime you show the form: Me.Show() If (Me.WindowState = FormWindowState.Minimized) Then Me.WindowState = FormWindowState.Normal Me.CenterToScreen() Me.Activate() End If NotifyIcon.Visible = False Resize event on the form: If (Me.WindowState = FormWindowState.Minimized) Then Me.Hide() NotifyIcon.Visible = True End If FormLoad: Me.Hide() and set the form properties as WindowsState = Minimized ShowInTaskBar = false Then when you run the app, (not in the IDE), at startup all you see is the NotifyIcon's icon sitting in the tray area, and nothing in the alt-tab list. When you double click the notifyicon the code above runs to show the form. The only downside to this is that the form always goes in the middle of the screen. I could not get it to work without it though, and on first showing it ended up at the 'location' coordinates set on the form properties. Anyhow, thanks Timm for the help. Andy - thank you too. Your solution is the "proper" way to do things I think, and I am going to try this just as soon as I have got this particular app out of the way; time constraints mean I am running out of time to get this done....welcome to the real world Gary...8-) What I will do is to use your suggestions, have a good read of that article, (that looks really good btw) and build myself a NotifyIcon skeleton app that I can use whenever this comes up again. so, thanks again both; Glad we got there and really appreciate the help, cheers, Gary Hi Gary, Glad to see Andy and Timm's replies can help you. Regarding you stating that running in VS2005 IDE will get different result from running exe directly, you may take care of 2 points: 1. F5 will start the application under debugger 2. VS2005 uses a hosting process to run the application by default which may cause some strange problem. You may disable the hosting process in Project setting->Debug->Enable the Visual Studio hosting process. Anyway, if you need further help, please feel free to post, I will work with you. Thanks. Best regards, Jeffrey Tan Microsoft Online Community Support ================================================== Get notification to my posts through email? Please refer to http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscriptions/managednewsgroups/default.aspx#notif ications. Note: The MSDN Managed Newsgroup support offering is for non-urgent issues where an initial response from the community or a Microsoft Support Engineer within 1 business day is acceptable. Please note that each follow up response may take approximately 2 business days as the support professional working with you may need further investigation to reach the most efficient resolution. The offering is not appropriate for situations that require urgent, real-time or phone-based interactions or complex project analysis and dump analysis issues. Issues of this nature are best handled working with a dedicated Microsoft Support Engineer by contacting Microsoft Customer Support Services (CSS) at http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscriptions/support/default.aspx. ================================================== This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. Thanks Jeffrey, I appreciate the help - I have got the initial problem sorted now, but I may need come back as soon as I have digested the article Andy mentioned, (it looked great but complicated - and I am not the world's best brain...ho ho) cheers, Gary > Hi Gary, > [quoted text clipped - 30 lines] > ================================================== > This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. Ok, once you need any help, please feel free to post. :-) Best regards, Jeffrey Tan Microsoft Online Community Support ================================================== Get notification to my posts through email? Please refer to http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscriptions/managednewsgroups/default.aspx#notif ications. Note: The MSDN Managed Newsgroup support offering is for non-urgent issues where an initial response from the community or a Microsoft Support Engineer within 1 business day is acceptable. Please note that each follow up response may take approximately 2 business days as the support professional working with you may need further investigation to reach the most efficient resolution. The offering is not appropriate for situations that require urgent, real-time or phone-based interactions or complex project analysis and dump analysis issues. Issues of this nature are best handled working with a dedicated Microsoft Support Engineer by contacting Microsoft Customer Support Services (CSS) at http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscriptions/support/default.aspx. ================================================== This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. Gary, Its actually not as tough as it sounds. Just subclass ApplicationContext. Create a private member for the NotifyIcon. In your constructor, setup the NotifyIcon, including any menus you need. Finally override ExitThreadCore, so that you can Dispose of the NotifyIcon. Then, instead of having: Application.Run( new MainForm() ); You have: Application.Run( new MyApplicationContext() ); The only change to the notifyicon you'll need is that instead of just showing the form you'll need to create it as well. HTH Andy > Thanks Jeffrey, > [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > cheers, > Gary Hi Andy, Thanks for the help. I have nearly fininshed the project so I can get a chance to check this out. I will let you know how I get on in the next couple of days. cheers for this, regards, Gary > Gary, > [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] > > cheers, > > Gary Free MagazinesGet these publications absolutely FREE for up to 12 months. There are no hidden fees and no obligation. Simply choose a title, complete the application form and submit it. Read more ...
|
Reply to this Message
|
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2008 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.