Program in the Tray

I found an example of how to run a program with an icon in the tray and 
not with a bar next to the bars of the other programs running. As long 
as the program runs without displaying a window, it can run "invisible". 
I have written a small clock program; just to display the time. The 
problem is that when a program in the tray also displays a window, it 
also gets a bar next to the other applications. You probably now what my 
question is; can I make a program run with only an icon in the tray and 
a window visible ?

Fons.

What you're asking is how to prevent a window from appearing as a button 
on the taskbar. Now that you know the terminology, searching should be 
easier. You're asking for anything that hasn't been done a hundred times 
before.

 http://www.**--****.com/ +window+taskbar+button&as_ugroup=*delphi*

The fact that you have an icon in the shell notification area is 
completely irrelevant.

-- 
Rob

Yes, I was thinking like a human being and not like a programmer; it's 
not "moving" from taskbar to tray, it's removing one and creating a new 
one. But 5 minutes Googling gave me:

   procedure TFormMain.FormActivate(Sender: TObject);
   begin
     showwindow(application.handle, sw_hide);
   end;

Giving me that code would've saved you some typework ;-p

And make me lazier.

Thanks for the Google,
Fons.

I also made such a program some years ago.
Look at  http://www.**--****.com/ 
-> Technical info and free software
-> Download outline
-> TxtClock.exe

Regards
Heiner

Taskbar and tray are solved. But the icon in the "alt-tab-menu" is still 
visible. (How) can I remove this ? No; Google didn't help. That there is 
no link between taskbar and tray is clear. But that the list in the 
taskbar differs from the list in the "alt-tab-menu" ?

Fons.

On Fri, 15 Jun 2007 18:58:22 +0200, Fons





To accomplish what you're describing, you have to run your application
strictly inside the icon tray.  Otherwise, whenever your main form is
active, you will have the application's icon visible in the ALT-TAB
list.  As far as I know, there is no way to prevent this.  Or maybe
there is, but I haven't come across it, nor have I ever needed to.

So...to tell your application to go into the icon tray, you have to
intercept the form's close event and put your code in there.

The simplest way to demonstrate this is to put a checkbox on your
form.  Then you assign an OnCloseQuery event for your main form.

procedure TForm1.FormCloseQuery(Sender: TObject; var CanClose:
Boolean);
begin
  canclose := (not checkbox1.Checked);
  if not canclose then
    begin
      application.mainform.visible := false;
      if iswindowvisible(application.handle) then
showwindow(application.handle,sw_hide);
    end;
end;

If the checkbox is empty, then your application will close (terminate)
normally.

If the checkbox is checked, then when you close your application, it
will go into the icon tray instead of actually shutting down.  You can
verify this by using the task manager in Windows to see that your
application is still running (or if you're running from inside the
IDE, then you'll see that the control isn't returned to Delphi).

The problem is that I want a small window (it's a simple program) always 
being visible without the application being visible in taskbar, tray or 
alt-tab menu. If you want to edit: click in the window. If you want to 
close the program: double-click.

But the fact that it's not in the taskbar and tray is most of what I 
wanted but I was surprised by the fact that it wasn't in the taskbar but 
still visible in the alt-tab menu.

Fons.

  Try this.
    Override the CreateParams for the main form, change the
class of the window which signals it to show as an icon when
minimized..
    Look up CreateWindowEx and check out the creation flags.
  Remove the WS_EX_APPWINDOW flag.
  You may even be able to do this using the Class functions also with
out overriding.

-
"I'm never wrong, once i thought i was, but was mistaken"
Real Programmers Do things like this.
 http://www.**--****.com/ 

On Sat, 16 Jun 2007 21:33:54 +0200, Fons





I don't think there's a way around that.  The way that Windows is
designed, you will always see your application in the ALT-TAB list as
long as it has an active window on the desktop.

On my computer, I have 5 programs running in the icon tray.  None of
them are visible with ALT-TAB, but as soon as I double-click on one of
them to bring up their main form, the application immediately becomes
visible in ALT-TAB (which is how it should be).

In any case, why is it important for you to make it so that your
application will not be visible in the ALT-TAB list?

That's not true. Ever used Winamp? Or the Office toolbar? Or Google Desktop?

Supposedly the code in the following message will remove a window from 
the Alt+Tab list and from the taskbar.

 http://www.**--****.com/ 

-- 
Rob

On Sat, 16 Jun 2007 23:03:52 -0500, Rob Kennedy < XXXX@XXXXX.COM >





Yes, I use it all the time, and yes, it's visible in the ALT-TAB list.



Haven't used it since they discontinued it as a default install option
(back in '98 I think).



No, I don't allow unnecessary {*filter*}onto my system.



The code listed on that link does absolutely nothing useful, unless
you click on the Minimize button of your application, in which case
you've minimized your app, and your form is no longer visible.  I've
already given him a routine to do this in an earlier post which would
send his program to the icon tray in an "invisible" state.

But what he wants is to have his application's main form visible,
WHILE it's hidden on both the taskbar and the ALT-TAB list.

Only because you have that option set. Play with the "show Winamp in" 
section of the "general preferences" page for other combinations.


OK. I didn't try the code. I just repeated what the message's text said.

Anyway, it's entirely possible for a visible window to have no button on 
the taskbar and no icon in the Alt+Tab list. In fact, the code from the 
article I cited does exactly that for the application window. Do the 
same thing for the main form, and you're all set. For example, override 
the form's CreateParams method like so:

begin
   inherited;
   Params.ExStyle := Params.ExStyle or ws_ex_ToolWindow and not 
ws_ex_AppWindow;
end;

-- 
Rob

What I wrote is almost nothing :-) A window (no borders) with one label 
that shows the time. One click and it shows a calendar. Double-click and 
it closes. It is always on top of other windows. That's it. So I don't 
want it to be "in the way" of other application windows. And I never 
want to alt-tab to it.

Fons.

I tried this but it doesn't work ...

... in my program.

Fons.