Application in the Taskbar - c#

Can you give me an example on how to put my application form in the taskbar?
like Windows media player or Window search when minimize.

What you are looking for is creating an Application Desktop Toolbar (also known as AppBar). The main function you use to register your application window as an AppBar is SHAppBarMessage.
To get you started, you can look at this old appbar example with C++. If you want to do it in C#, there's a thread that discusses some details on how to do it in WPF. I am not aware of examples of how to do it with WinForms, but a quick search on the web should bring something.
Update: Actually, if you want a toolbar that sits on the taskbar, you need to implement a Deskband. Here's a sample DeskBand in C++ and here's a DeskBand in C#.
That's what happens when you don't touch a topic in a while. :-)

What this is really called is the 'System Tray' You want your app to have an icon in the windows system tray. Many languages provide this functionality.
Here are a few links:
http://www.codeguru.com/Cpp/COM-Tech/shell/icons/article.php/c1335
http://www.codeproject.com/KB/shell/systemtray.aspx

Related

How to add window extentions similar to the skype productivity tools for skype?

All,
If you install the Webex productivity tools and have skype installed it adds a window decoration from where you can click a button and it will automatically paste into the conversation box a new webex conference link.
I would like to do something similar for my application, but where to start with adding the window decoration? Is there a standard API for this sort of thing?
Any guidance is appreciated.
What you basically want to do is to 'Draw custom controls' in the Windows Non-Client area. This is also sometimes called the 'Chrome' of the Window.
If you want to do this in your own application, this SO question answers many of the options available: Custom titlebars/chrome in a WinForms app
The code for the main article cited from http://geekswithblogs.net/kobush/articles/CustomBorderForms.aspx is availble at http://customerborderform.codeplex.com/
If you want to add your custom controls to other applications, then you will need to hook into those applications their WndProc. In order to achieve that, you will need to inject your dll into that application (see http://www.codingthewheel.com/archives/how-to-inject-a-managed-assembly-dll and http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/4610/Three-Ways-to-Inject-Your-Code-into-Another-Proces#section_1) and then hook into the WndProc again.

Handling Right Click/Left Click of Task-bar Button in c#

I have a form (having Taskbar button shown in Taskbar) and I want to handle left/right clicks of this Task-bar button. I searched everywhere but could find the right answer. There are some related queries posted in stack-overflow as well:
Using wndproc in C# to minimize form on leftclick of taskbar
How to Detect Right Click on the Taskbar
But, nobody seems to have given a proper answer to "How to do" it?
Is there any pointers or code snippet how to do it?
Please note that I am talking about Task-bar app button (please don't confuse with Systray menu or Notification area). I have explicitly stated it because I have seen this confusion several places.
Your application doesn't get a say in how the task bar button is handled. The task bar is owned by windows, and is used by windows to control display and positioning of your application's windows. Basically your request is out-of-bounds in the windows playground.
Sorry.
what you can do is to use TaskbarManager out of the ApicodePack library
Windows 7 Taskbar C# Quick Reference
where you are able to handle such events.

Aero border and other controls in a TrayIcon menu

I'm writing a system tray app for Windows (with much info gleaned from this thread). I have the ContextMenu working - you can right click and execute functions that way.
I want to have a modern, rich interface pop up on a left click, however, much like most of the built in Windows 7 (and possibly Vista) tray icons have. By this I refer to the Aero lining, and apparent ability to add seemingly arbitrary controls (e.g. volume slider, network chooser).
I'm not really sure where to start. Is it a matter of creating a "normal" window and restricting it heavily? If so, how? (If it comes down to Windows Forms vs. WPF, the latter is preferable).
For what it's worth, you can display anything you like when you receive the mouse click on your notification icon. Usually it's a pop-up menu, but you could show a window instead.

What "growl" type notification windows are available for WPF (windows that appear and fade after X seconds)?

I wanted to know if there are any good "growl" type notification windows available as open source or guided tutorials for WPF applications. I'm looking for a window that can appear when users save for example, notifying them that the save was successful and then disappears after X seconds (with a fade out) without the user needing to take the explicit action to close the notification window. This way for messages/notifications that require no confirmation, like the example, the user would not have to click "OK" to make the messagebox or dialog close.
This link could help you:
http://www.codeproject.com/KB/WPF/wpf_notifyicon.aspx
It is a Pure WPF implementation of the NotifyIcon class from WinForms and supports almost everything normal WPF controls do :)
Cheers
Why don't you use GrowlForWindows?
You can use C# or VB.

How to add ONLY system tray icon to application?

I am developing an application that will be running behind the scenes in Windows and would like to put an icon in the system tray for troubleshooting purposes (simple way for users to tell if the app is running). There is no other UI for the application, and the icon does not need to have any functionality as of right now.
All of the solutions I have found as of yet involve creating a form. I am wondering if there is a way to simply add a class to my current C# code that allows me to control the icon, rather than doing the whole 'make a form, set it to be invisible....' nonsense that seems to be the popular suggestion on the forums. Something along the lines of the way that UI control is done in say, Swing for Java. I would really appreciate any ideas!
You can do it with a custom ApplicationContext. Google reveals first this tutorial on how to achieve it.
Or you can alter your main Program file not to show any form at all:
Application.Run(); //remove the Form oject from this call
From whatever project you use, why not just create an instance of the NotifyIcon class and use it to display the icon in the system tray?
For Windows Forms:
Form.ShowInTaskbar to show/hide in the taskbar
and use a NotifyIcon to show in the tray

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