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Switching between Window Forms does not seem to work

Hey there StackOverflow community!
So I've been working on an application that checks if the user has entered valid credentials in a Login() form, then it switches over to an Intro_Sequence() form (where a .mp4 file is played in fullscreen mode) as a sort of aesthetic addition to the app. So far so good, no problems whatsoever.
The problem comes right after the Intro ends, where supposedly the application should switch over to a third form, called Main().
I have implemented a check whenever Windows Media Player (aka axWMPLib) changes its PlayState to see whether it has finished the playback.
If it has, then the Hide() event is called to conceal the current Form's window, then main.ShowDialog() should open the third form.
Afterwards, I call the Close() event to close the previous Form's window entirely.
Here is the code so far:
public partial class Intro_Sequence : Form
{
public static string Username;
public Intro_Sequence(string username)
{
InitializeComponent();
Username = username;
FormBorderStyle = FormBorderStyle.None;
Bounds = Screen.PrimaryScreen.Bounds;
TopMost = true;
intro.uiMode = "none";
intro.URL = AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory + "\\Intro.mp4";
intro.enableContextMenu = false;
DisableMouseClicks();
}
private void DisableMouseClicks()
{
if (this.Filter == null)
{
this.Filter = new MouseClickMessageFilter();
Application.AddMessageFilter(this.Filter);
}
}
private MouseClickMessageFilter Filter;
private const int LButtonDown = 0x201;
private const int LButtonUp = 0x202;
private const int LButtonDoubleClick = 0x203;
public class MouseClickMessageFilter : IMessageFilter
{
public bool PreFilterMessage(ref System.Windows.Forms.Message m)
{
switch (m.Msg)
{
case LButtonDown:
case LButtonUp:
case LButtonDoubleClick:
return true;
}
return false;
}
}
private void Intro_Sequence_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
}
private void intro_PlayStateChange(object sender, AxWMPLib._WMPOCXEvents_PlayStateChangeEvent e)
{
if(intro.playState == WMPLib.WMPPlayState.wmppsMediaEnded)
{
Main main = new Main(Username);
this.Hide();
main.ShowDialog();
this.Close();
}
}
}
As you can see I have also added a filter to block clicks during playback, so as not to allow the user to pause it.
However, when I execute this code, it works perfectly fine until it finishes the video and then closes abruptly.
I tried putting breakpoints and everything seems to be fine.
It does call everything I tell it to call, yet the form doesn't even appear.
I have also tried several other alternatives, like not closing the Form at all, calling Show() instead of ShowDialog() and even not Hiding it at all.
It is as if it either freezes there or closes instantly without any sign of the Main form showing.
I also tried calling the Main() form from the Login() and it works perfectly from there.
I really don't know what is going on.
Any help would be appreciated.

How about something like this?
There are three forms. There's a Login form (in this case, it's just an empty form - you close it by clicking on the red X). It is popped up modally from within the Main form (while the main form is hidden).
There's a Splash screen on which your video is to play. I fake out the video by using await Task.Delay(4000); to get a pause. After the 4 second delay, I raise an event (equivalent to your media player event). What I do is show this modally from the main form. I put the event handler in this form; when the event is raised, I close the splash screen modal. The entire (non-designer) code for that form looks like (and, since there are no controls on this form, the designer code is pretty lean):
public partial class SplashScreen : Form
{
public event EventHandler SplashFinished;
public SplashScreen()
{
InitializeComponent();
this.SplashFinished += SplashScreen_SplashFinished;
}
private async void SplashScreen_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
await Task.Delay(4000);
SplashFinished?.Invoke(this, new EventArgs());
}
private void SplashScreen_SplashFinished(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
this.DialogResult = DialogResult.OK;
this.Close();
}
}
Then there's the Main form. It gets fired up in the normal way from Program.cs:
[STAThread]
static void Main()
{
Application.EnableVisualStyles();
Application.SetCompatibleTextRenderingDefault(false);
Application.Run(new Form1());
}
The only thing that I added to that form (from the out-of-the-box code) is:
private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
this.Hide();
var login = new LoginForm();
//should really check this, but for now
login.ShowDialog(this);
var splash = new SplashScreen();
splash.ShowDialog(this);
this.Show();
}
So, when the app starts, the user is shown the login form (the main form is hidden). He does what is needed to do (and the result is checked in the main form's Form1_Load handler.
If everything is cool, a new SplashScreen form is created and shown modally. When it pops up, the video starts (in this case, the video is simply an asynchronous timer). When the video ends, the SplashScreen handles the finished event, and uses it to close itself.
Once control returns to the main form, it displays itself.

Not allowing users to resize a maximized form

I am developing a Windows Forms application in C# in which I have a form which must start in a maximized state and not allow users to restore or resize it. I have already configured the form to start in maximized mode, disable the restore and maximize button and locked the borders of the form but when the title bar is double clicked, the form restores to a smaller size which is unexpected. The following are the properties I set to achieve the required behaviour:
FormBorderStyle = FixedSingle
MaximizeBox = False
WindowState = Maximized
Can someone please help me solve this problem and explain me the solution?
Thanks in advance.

You have to remember that your form starts with some default size values and double click is just toggling between 2 states.
Within your normal state the form will retrieve it's last ( in your case default ) size which you can override :
Width = Screen.PrimaryScreen.Bounds.Width;
Height = Screen.PrimaryScreen.Bounds.Height;
Another thing is that your application has something called start position which ( from what I remember ) defaults to the center of the screen and you can change it using :
Form.StartPosition = new Point(0, 0); // top-left corner
Now all you have to do in your applicaiton is to check for the toggle between window states. Easiest way would be to use WndProc and wait for messages listed in this msdn page :
protected override void WndProc(ref Message m)
{
const int WM_SYSCOMMAND = 0x0112;
const int SC_MAXIMIZE = 0xF030;
const int SC_RESTORE = 0xF120;
if (m.Msg == WM_SYSCOMMAND)
{
switch((int)m.WParam)
{
case SC_RESTORE:
// your window was restored ( double clicked on the command bar )
// set it's window state back to maximize or do whatever
break;
case SC_MAXIMIZE:
// your window was maximized .. no actions needed, just for debugging purpose
break;
}
}
base.WndProc(ref m);
}

This can be accomplished by catching the event and overriding it:
private void Form_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
this.FormBorderStyle = FormBorderStyle.FixedSingle;
this.WindowState = FormWindowState.Maximized;
this.MaximizeBox = false;
this.MinimumSize = Screen.GetWorkingArea(this.Location).Size;
}
private const int WM_NCLBUTTONDBLCLK = 0x00A3;
//double click on a title bar
protected override void WndProc(ref Message m)
{
if (m.Msg == WM_NCLBUTTONDBLCLK)
{
m.Result = IntPtr.Zero;
return;
}
base.WndProc(ref m);
}

C# How do I leave the maximized window as it is?

I am using visual studio 2010 to do my C# GUI.
The current problem that I am facing is that after maximizing a window, it stays there but when I go to other forms, the window will go back to its original size.
How do I leave the maximized window all the way for all the forms, once I click the maximize button?
Heres an example:
User maximizes Form A
Form A maximized
User goes to Form B
Form B goes back to original size instead of a maximized window
What I want is when user maximizes a form, it stays that way till the program is closed or resized.

Assuming you're using WinForms, you can have either implement a shared FormWindowState manager or use a Multiple Document Interface (MDI) container.
Shared FormWindowState
You can register each of your forms with a class responsible for propagating changes in forms' FormWindowState.
public class FormWindowStateManager {
List<Form> _Forms;
...
public void Register(Form form) {
if(!_Forms.Contains(form)) {
_Forms.Add(form);
form.Resize += new EventHandler(Form_Resize);
}
}
public void Unregister(Form form) {
if(_Forms.Contains(form)) {
_Forms.Remove(form);
form.Resize -= new EventHandler(Form_Resize);
}
}
private void Form_Resize(object sender, EventArgs e) {
Form form = sender as Form;
if(form != null) {
if(form.FormWindowState == FormWindowState.Maximized || form.FormWindowState == FormWindowState.Normal) {
PropagateWindowState(form.FormWindowState);
}
}
}
private void PropagateWindowState(FormWindowState state) {
foreach(Form form in _Forms) {
if(form.FormWindowState != state) {
form.FormWindowState = state;
}
}
}
}
MDI Container
MdiParentForm.cs
IsMdiContainer = true;
MdiChildForm.cs
MdiParent = myParentForm; // instance of MdiParentForm
You can iterate through a form's MDI children using the form's MdiChildren property such that when on MDI child window changes its FormWindowState, the MDI parent form can apply the change to each of its children, similar to the shared FormWindowState approach.
These ideas are just off the top of my head but maybe they'll get you in the right direction.

How to handle Form caption right click

I'd like a context menu on the caption bar right click
any tips/samples pref in c# ?
UPDATE - for various reasons, right click on the form won't work because the form is not empty and the form is composited dynamically so....

You can do this by trapping the WM_NCRBUTTONDOWN notification that Windows sends when the user right-clicks the title bar. The control class does not have an event for it, you'll need to override WndProc(). Here's an example form, you'll need to add a ContextMenuStrip:
public partial class Form1 : Form {
public Form1() {
InitializeComponent();
}
protected void OnTitlebarClick(Point pos) {
contextMenuStrip1.Show(pos);
}
protected override void WndProc(ref Message m) {
const int WM_NCRBUTTONDOWN = 0xa4;
if (m.Msg == WM_NCRBUTTONDOWN) {
var pos = new Point(m.LParam.ToInt32());
OnTitlebarClick(pos);
return;
}
base.WndProc(ref m);
}
}

MSDN explains how to handle right-clicks on Windows Forms controls. Controls, including Forms, inherit the MouseClick event.
MouseEventArgs will tell you what button was clicked through the Button property. Have a look at the MouseButtons Enumeration.

if you handle the form mouse-click, you can then use the following code:
private void Dialog_MouseClick(object sender, MouseEventArgs e)
{
if (e.Button == MouseButtons.Right)
{
this.Text = "new caption text";
}
}
But you'll have to make sure that you generate this event for the top-level control on a form. For instance if you have a group box on the form, it will receive the mouse-click events rather than the form itself, for the areas of the form that are under the group box.

There is already a menu managed by Windows when you right-click the titlebar.
Do you want to replace it completely?
If you want to add to it you will have to use the Win32 API and interop and you will have to subclass the form.
See the AppendMenu() function.

Basically you need to use p-invoke to do this. There is a really great example at Here
You can see from the example you will need to manually mimic the event handlers, but this is pretty straight forward.

You can override WndProc of the form and capture the WM_NCRBUTTONDOWN message:
protected override void WndProc(ref Message m)
{
const int WM_NCRBUTTONDOWN = 0xA4;
if (m.Msg == WM_NCRBUTTONDOWN)
{
MessageBox.Show("Caption right clicked!");
}
else
{
base.WndProc(ref m);
}
}
This code will suppress the window's context menu, however. You may not wish this. The WM_NCRBUTTONDOWN message will also be sent if you right click the window borders as well. You may not desire this either.

Modifying or hiding a form's caption tooltip

We have an MDI form which contains some number of child forms which have varying captions showing the currently loaded document's filename. When the child forms are maximized their title text gets placed in the parent window's title bar which often results in the text being too long to fit in the bar and Windows is nice enough to add ellipses and truncate the text.
However, when you hover over the title bar of the main window, it shows a tooltip with what should be the entire string, but instead the tooltip often contains a small fraction of the string. For example, if the main form's text was:
Program1 - Filename:[Really_long_filename_that_doesnt_fit.file]
It would appear as the following in the tooltip:
Program1 - Filename:[Really_long_filename_t
Edit: It always truncates the tooltip at exactly 100 characters, which leads me to believe that it's some upper limit specified somewhere.
Is there a way to change this so it displays the entire string, or if not, to disable the tooltip altogether?
Any language is acceptable, although we're doing this in C#.

This uses a manual tooltip and timer to show / hide a caption when the mouse moves over the title bar.
public partial class Form1 : Form
{
private ToolTip toolTip = new ToolTip();
private Timer toolTipTimer = new Timer();
private bool canShowToolTip = true;
protected override void WndProc(ref Message m)
{
switch (m.Msg)
{
case 0x2A0: // WM_NCMOUSEHOVER
return;
case (int)0x00A0: // WM_NCMOUSEMOVE
if (m.WParam == new IntPtr(0x0002)) // HT_CAPTION
{
if (canShowToolTip)
{
canShowToolTip = false;
toolTip.Show(this.Text, this, this.PointToClient(Cursor.Position), toolTip.AutoPopDelay);
toolTipTimer.Start();
}
}
return;
}
base.WndProc(ref m);
}
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
Form child = new Form();
child.Text = "Program1 - Filename:[Really_long_filename_that_doesnt_fit.file] AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB";
child.MdiParent = this;
child.Show();
toolTip.AutoPopDelay = 5000;
toolTipTimer.Interval = toolTip.AutoPopDelay;
toolTipTimer.Tick += delegate(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
canShowToolTip = true;
};
}
}

I wish I had something more helpful for you, but unfortunately, I don't think that there's a way around this. You may either shorten your filenames or have to deal with it :(