Keep window on top (of all forms)

[kanders]

My VB6 program needs to keep a window activated by another program on top
of all currently visible windows. For background, my operating system is
WinNT Workstation 4.0 (Service Pack 6) and all programs are 32-bit implementations.

The problem arises when the user selects print-to-file. The program external
to my own activates a function in an always- running auxilliary .EXE that
accepts the user's inputted directory location. This text input box often
pops up behind both my main form and the calling program's main form.

I know the name and location of the input box executable, but that's about
all. What's the best way to keep its window on top (and in focus)?

Thanks in advance.

[Eric D. Burdo]

Get the window handle of the window that pops up, and give it OnTop status.

--

Eric D. Burdo, Red-Leif International
VB Programmer and Consultant
<http://www.redleif.com/vb>

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"kanders" <kanders@pacbell.net> wrote in message news:3a01fd78$1@news.devx.com...
>
> My VB6 program needs to keep a window activated by another program on top
> of all currently visible windows. For background, my operating system is
> WinNT Workstation 4.0 (Service Pack 6) and all programs are 32-bit implementations.
>
> The problem arises when the user selects print-to-file. The program external
> to my own activates a function in an always- running auxilliary .EXE that
> accepts the user's inputted directory location. This text input box often
> pops up behind both my main form and the calling program's main form.
>
> I know the name and location of the input box executable, but that's about
> all. What's the best way to keep its window on top (and in focus)?
>
> Thanks in advance.

[Eric D. Burdo]

Get the window handle of the window that pops up, and give it OnTop status.

--

Eric D. Burdo, Red-Leif International
VB Programmer and Consultant
<http://www.redleif.com/vb>

*** Please reply to the newsgroup so all can benefit. ***


"kanders" <kanders@pacbell.net> wrote in message news:3a01fd78$1@news.devx.com...
>
> My VB6 program needs to keep a window activated by another program on top
> of all currently visible windows. For background, my operating system is
> WinNT Workstation 4.0 (Service Pack 6) and all programs are 32-bit implementations.
>
> The problem arises when the user selects print-to-file. The program external
> to my own activates a function in an always- running auxilliary .EXE that
> accepts the user's inputted directory location. This text input box often
> pops up behind both my main form and the calling program's main form.
>
> I know the name and location of the input box executable, but that's about
> all. What's the best way to keep its window on top (and in focus)?
>
> Thanks in advance.

[Travis Hall]

"Eric D. Burdo" <vbtips@redleif.com> wrote:
>Get the window handle of the window that pops up, and give it OnTop status.

While Eric's answer is entirely accurate, it probably doesn't give enough
information to actually implement a solution. Use FindWindow to retrieve
the handle to the appropriate window (remembering to check that you don't
get back a null handle, which indicates that the window sought wasn't found).
Then, use SetWindowPos to put the window on top, specifying HWND_TOPMOST
if you want to make sure this window is always on top of all other normal
windows or just HWND_TOP to put it on top initially if you want to let the
user switch to a different window after this one is displayed.

The relevant functions have declarations listed in the API Viewer.

Travis Hall

[Travis Hall]

"Eric D. Burdo" <vbtips@redleif.com> wrote:
>Get the window handle of the window that pops up, and give it OnTop status.

While Eric's answer is entirely accurate, it probably doesn't give enough
information to actually implement a solution. Use FindWindow to retrieve
the handle to the appropriate window (remembering to check that you don't
get back a null handle, which indicates that the window sought wasn't found).
Then, use SetWindowPos to put the window on top, specifying HWND_TOPMOST
if you want to make sure this window is always on top of all other normal
windows or just HWND_TOP to put it on top initially if you want to let the
user switch to a different window after this one is displayed.

The relevant functions have declarations listed in the API Viewer.

Travis Hall