How To Bring an Application Window to the Top with Focus (186431)



The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Visual Basic Learning Edition for Windows 5.0
  • Microsoft Visual Basic Learning Edition for Windows 6.0
  • Microsoft Visual Basic Professional Edition for Windows 5.0
  • Microsoft Visual Basic Professional Edition for Windows 6.0
  • Microsoft Visual Basic Enterprise Edition for Windows 5.0
  • Microsoft Visual Basic Enterprise Edition for Windows 6.0
  • Microsoft Visual Basic Standard Edition, 32-bit, for Windows 4.0
  • Microsoft Visual Basic Professional Edition, 32-bit, for Windows 4.0
  • Microsoft Visual Basic Enterprise Edition, 32-bit, for Windows 4.0

This article was previously published under Q186431

SUMMARY

This article describes how to use the BringToTop and FindWindow API functions to bring another window to the foreground with the focus.

MORE INFORMATION

Step-by-Step Example

  1. Start a new Standard EXE project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
  2. Add three CommandButtons to Form1. You might want to increase the size of Command2 and Command3 to allow you to read the caption.
  3. Copy the following code to the General Declarations section of Form1:
          Option Explicit
          Dim THandle As Long
    
          Private Declare Function BringWindowToTop Lib "user32" (ByVal _
             hwnd As Long) As Long
    
          Private Declare Function FindWindow Lib "user32" Alias _
             "FindWindowA" (ByVal lpClassName As Any, ByVal lpWindowName _
             As Any) As Long
    
          Private Sub Form_Load()
             Command1.Caption = "Run the Calculator"
             Command2.Caption = "Find Calculator's Handle"
             Command3.Caption = "Bring Calculator To The Top"
             Command2.Enabled = False
             Command3.Enabled = False
          End Sub
    
          Private Sub Command1_Click()
             Dim X As Long
             X = Shell("Calc.exe", 1)
             If X <> 0 Then
                Command2.Enabled = True
             End If
          End Sub
    
          Private Sub Command2_click()
             THandle = FindWindow(vbEmpty, "Calculator")
             If THandle = 0 Then
                Command3.Enabled = False
                MsgBox "Sorry, the calculator is running"
                Exit Sub
             End If
             Command3.Enabled = True
          End Sub
    
          Private Sub Command3_click()
             Dim iret As Long
             iret = BringWindowToTop(THandle)
          End Sub
    
    						
  4. Run the Program. When you click Command1, the calculator will appear and Command2 will be enabled. Enlarge the size of this program to maximize screen usage and then click Command2. If it finds the window handle for Calculator, it will enable Command3.
  5. Click Command3, and note that the Calculator window will be brought to the front so that it has the focus.

REFERENCES

For more information about API calls and API functions, search using the keywords "API" or "Declare" in the Visual Basic On-line Help.

For information about creating a form that always stays on top, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

184297 : How To Create a Form That Always Stays on Top


(c) Microsoft Corporation 1998, All Rights Reserved. Contributions by Richard T. Edwards, Microsoft Corporation

Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:6/29/2004
Keywords:kbGrpDSVB kbhowto KB186431 kbAudDeveloper