I'm trying to create an C++ console app that shows itself when I press a button. However, when the app appears, it appears on top of all other windows. Is there a way I can prevent this from happening (i.e. have the window appear in the background)?
Here is the part of the code that is important:
ShowWindow(GetConsoleWindow(), SW_HIDE);
//stuff happens
ShowWindow(GetConsoleWindow(), SW_SHOW);
When the window is shown, it does so in front of all other windows (which I don't want).
Here is an image of this behavior:
You can call SetWindowPos in place of ShowWindow, specifying the SWP_SHOWWINDOW, SWP_NOZORDER, SWP_NOOWNERZORDER, and SWP_NOACTIVATE flags. This will show the window, without moving it up or down the Z order, or activating it.
Related
My program simulates some mouse movements, but the cmd screen remains open, I would like to put a key to appear and disappear from the screen, and another key for it to close completely
If "cmd screen" is meant as Windows console then there are simple Windows API calls:
// this hides console window
::ShowWindow(::GetConsoleWindow(), SW_HIDE);
// this shows
::ShowWindow(::GetConsoleWindow(), SW_SHOW);
// this checks visibility
if (::IsWindowVisible(::GetConsoleWindow())) {
// do your things
}
You need to include windows.h for those. As you wrote that you alter mouse you have likely done it already.
I have created a window using the WS_EX_NOACTIVATE flag and it works great as far as not taking focus when you click the window. However when I drag the window or try to resize it, it doesn't redraw the window as your are moving and resizing it, only at the very end once you release the mouse button. Is there a way around this? I would like to see the window as I am resizing it. I have searched many documents, but I still don't find the resolution...
If you need a window that doesn't take focus when clicked, but can still be interacted with, you need to handle the WM_MOUSEACTIVATE, and return MA_NOACTIVATE.
Additional information and fully working sample code has been published by Raymond Chen. See How can I have a window that rejects activation but still receives pointer input?
It's a Windows bug. You need to call SetWindowPos(hwnd, 0, x, y, width, height, 0) on WM_MOVING. The coordinates to set are given to you in lParam which is a RECT*.
Note that doing this will activate the owned window and deactivate the owner, which is not what you want (and SWP_NOACTIVATE has no effect either).
To avoid that, you need to set WS_CHILD on the owned window. But set it after you created the window, via SetWindowLong(), otherwise your owned window will get clipped, like any child window.
And, as you probably already figured out, this only works for windows with WS_EX_TOOLWINDOW ex style. I wasn't able to make the owned window stay deactivated with any other style combination that doesn't include WS_EX_TOOLWINDOW.
That's winapi for you :(
I made a program in C++ that simulates clicks on an inactive window using:
PostMessage (z, WM_LBUTTONDOWN, 0,MAKELONG(t.left+x,t.top+y));
But whenever it makes a click it activates the window and the window moves to the top.
Is there a way I can make the window stay inactive or another way to click it?
I used SetWindowPos(z , HWND_BOTTOM,....) to make that window be at the bottom of the z-order list but it still activates.
EDIT: the window is a game console
Try switching from PostMessage to SendInput and see if you get the same effect.
I tried to implement a switch-to-fullscreen mode for an ActiveX control. This currently works by removing and hiding the parent window and changing my control's placement and position.
However, I have a problem with switching between applications while the control is in fullscreen mode. If I switch to another application and then click on my window area (not in the taskbar), it seems to not be activated. You can see in the taskbar, that another application still has the highlight and on the main screen, my window is partly hidden behind the taskbar unless it has the focus.
I process the WM_LBUTTONDOWN window message to detect if my window is clicked. And I already tried to call the following WINAPI functions:
::ShowWindow(m_hWnd, SW_RESTORE);
::SwitchToThisWindow(m_hWnd, FALSE);
::SetForegroundWindow(m_hWnd);
::SetActiveWindow(m_hWnd);
::SetFocus(m_hWnd);
::BringWindowToTop(m_hWnd);
::SetWindowPos(m_hWnd, HWND_TOP, m_monitorInfo.rcMonitor.left, m_monitorInfo.rcMonitor.top, m_monitorInfo.rcMonitor.right, m_monitorInfo.rcMonitor.bottom, SWP_NOSIZE | SWP_NOMOVE | SWP_SHOWWINDOW); // SWP_NOACTIVATE, SWP_NOOWNERZORDER
I also tried to use ::SetWindowLongW(m_hWnd, GWL_STYLE, WS_VISIBLE); which surprisingly gave my window the focus back. But it then suddenly disappeared when trying to switch back from fullscreen mode again.
I have no idea why there are so many different functions that for me seem all to do roughly the same. But it doesn't matter as none of them worked anyway.
What is the/one correct way to behave my control correctly?
Windows might be getting a bit confused because you're filling the screen with a child window, but you want it to behave like a top-level (overlapped) window. The host application is probably not getting activated because you've hidden its window.
You might do better to create a new top-level full-screen window for full-screen mode. If this is owned by the top-level window that (ultimately) hosts your control then your new window will always be above it, so you don't need to hide the existing window. Activation should just work. In short, you want your window to behave like a pop-up modal dialog.
Adobe's flash player seems to do something similar. Full-screen playback is in a window of class ShockwaveFlashFullScreen.
I am creating a program that displays a popup at certain times (just like some chat clients for example) on which the user can click. However, I do not want to take away the focus from the current application.
The way I'm doing it now is by using a HWND with WS_POPUPWINDOW and minimizing and then restoring the window. However, this steals the focus from the current application. Setting foreground or hiding and showing a window did not make it appear on the foreground. I would like to be able to keep using a HWND so I can use other elements in this window, but I have no idea how to give it foreground without stealing focus.
I use win32 and c++.
To show without activating:
ShowWindow(hwnd, SW_SHOWNOACTIVATE);
To raise without activating:
SetWindowPos(hwnd, HWND_TOP, 0, 0, 0, 0, SWP_NOMOVE|SWP_NOSIZE|SWP_NOACTIVATE);
Unfortunately this is not working for me. The window is created with CreateWindowExA and is showed using ShowWindow(hwnd, SW_SHOWNOACTIVATE) however the keyboard focus is still stolen from the window which has the focus at the moment of the creation. (The window is created with layered and trasparent attributes by using SetWindowLong() and SetLayeredWindowAttributes() ).
PS: The window which has the focus is not parent of the new created window.
Solved: It worked when I removed the SetForegroundWindow call. This function cause the window passed as parameter to be activated.