System tray icon 1

[peekay]

How do I go about putting an icon in the system tray (lower coolbar on the windows desktop) programatically on the screen when the the program is active. PK Odendaal
pko@942.co.za

 

[sebseb12]

HOWTO: Use the System Tray Directly from Visual Basic 5.0
Last reviewed: November 3, 1997
Article ID: Q176085
The information in this article applies to:
Microsoft Visual Basic Control Creation, Learning, Professional, and Enterprise Editions for Windows, version 5.0


SUMMARY
This article demonstrates how to take full advantage of the Windows System Tray using Visual Basic 5.0. It places an icon of your choice into the System Tray that will display a ToolTip of your choice when the mouse is rested over it, will restore the application when clicked, and will display a popup menu when right-clicked. This is all possible because of Visual Basic 5.0's ability to directly handle callbacks, therefore taking full advantage of the Shell_NotifyIcon function that is exported by Shell32.dll.



MORE INFORMATION
The following example can be added to any Visual Basic 5.0 Project that has at least one form and a standard module.



Step-by-Step Example:

Add the following code to the declarations section of a standard module in your project:


'user defined type required by Shell_NotifyIcon API call
Public Type NOTIFYICONDATA
cbSize As Long
hwnd As Long
uId As Long
uFlags As Long
uCallBackMessage As Long
hIcon As Long
szTip As String * 64
End Type


'constants required by Shell_NotifyIcon API call:
Public Const NIM_ADD = &H0
Public Const NIM_MODIFY = &H1
Public Const NIM_DELETE = &H2
Public Const NIF_MESSAGE = &H1
Public Const NIF_ICON = &H2
Public Const NIF_TIP = &H4
Public Const WM_MOUSEMOVE = &H200
Public Const WM_LBUTTONDOWN = &H201 'Button down
Public Const WM_LBUTTONUP = &H202 'Button up
Public Const WM_LBUTTONDBLCLK = &H203 'Double-click
Public Const WM_RBUTTONDOWN = &H204 'Button down
Public Const WM_RBUTTONUP = &H205 'Button up
Public Const WM_RBUTTONDBLCLK = &H206 'Double-click

Public Declare Function SetForegroundWindow Lib "user32" _
(ByVal hwnd As Long) As Long
Public Declare Function Shell_NotifyIcon Lib "shell32" _
Alias "Shell_NotifyIconA" _
(ByVal dwMessage As Long, pnid As NOTIFYICONDATA) As Boolean

Public nid As NOTIFYICONDATA



Add the following code to any form in your project that you want to respond to the System Tray Icon for your application:


Private Sub Form_Load()
'the form must be fully visible before calling Shell_NotifyIcon
Me.Show
Me.Refresh
With nid
.cbSize = Len(nid)
.hwnd = Me.hwnd
.uId = vbNull
.uFlags = NIF_ICON Or NIF_TIP Or NIF_MESSAGE
.uCallBackMessage = WM_MOUSEMOVE
.hIcon = Me.Icon
.szTip = "Your ToolTip" & vbNullChar
End With
Shell_NotifyIcon NIM_ADD, nid
End Sub

Private Sub Form_MouseMove(Button As Integer, Shift As Integer, X As
_
Single, Y As Single)
'this procedure receives the callbacks from the System Tray icon.
Dim Result As Long
Dim msg As Long
'the value of X will vary depending upon the scalemode setting
If Me.ScaleMode = vbPixels Then
msg = X
Else
msg = X / Screen.TwipsPerPixelX
End If
Select Case msg
Case WM_LBUTTONUP '514 restore form window
Me.WindowState = vbNormal
Result = SetForegroundWindow(Me.hwnd)
Me.Show
Case WM_LBUTTONDBLCLK '515 restore form window
Me.WindowState = vbNormal
Result = SetForegroundWindow(Me.hwnd)
Me.Show
Case WM_RBUTTONUP '517 display popup menu
Result = SetForegroundWindow(Me.hwnd)
Me.PopupMenu Me.mPopupSys
End Select
End Sub

Private Sub Form_Resize()
'this is necessary to assure that the minimized window is hidden
If Me.WindowState = vbMinimized Then Me.Hide
End Sub

Private Sub Form_Unload(Cancel As Integer)
'this removes the icon from the system tray
Shell_NotifyIcon NIM_DELETE, nid
End Sub

Private Sub mPopExit_Click()
'called when user clicks the popup menu Exit command
Unload Me
End Sub

Private Sub mPopRestore_Click()
'called when the user clicks the popup menu Restore command
Me.WindowState = vbNormal
Result = SetForegroundWindow(Me.hwnd)
Me.Show
End Sub



Make the following Property Settings on the same form to which you added the above code:

Property Required Setting for System Tray example
---------------------------------------------------------------
Icon = The icon you want to appear in the system tray.
Minbutton = True
ShownInTaskbar = False



Add the following Menu items to the same form using the Menu Editor:

Caption Name Enabled Visible Position
---------------------------------------------------------
&SysTray mPopupSys True False Main Level
&Restore mPopRestore True True Inset one
&Exit mPopExit True True Inset one


You can add additional menu items as needed.


System Tray Flexibility
You can modify the ToolTip that appears over the System Tray icon by changing the following line in the Form_Load procedure:


.szTip = "Your ToolTip" & vbNullChar


Replace "Your ToolTip" with the text that you want to appear.
You can modify the Icon that appears in the System Tray by changing the following line in the Form_Load procedure:


.hIcon = Me.Icon


Replace Me.Icon with any Icon in your project.
You can change any of the System Trays settings at any time after the use of the NIM_ADD constant by reassigning the values in the nid variable and then using the following variation of the Shell_NotifyIcon API call:


Shell_NotifyIcon NIM_MODIFY, nid.


However, if you want a different form to receive the callback, then you will need to delete the current icon first using "Shell_NotifyIcon NIM_Delete, nid" as the NIM_Modify function will not accept a new Hwnd, or you will need to add another Icon to the systray for the new form using "Shell_NotifyIcon NIM_ADD, nid" after refilling the nid type with the new forms Hwnd. You can also declare separate copies of the nid type for each form that you want to display an icon for in the Windows System Tray and change them in each form's activate event using the NIM_DELETE and NIM_ADD sequence.


REFERENCES
For information regarding using the System Tray from Visual Basic 4.0 or earlier, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:


ARTICLE-ID: Q149276
TITLE : HOWTO: Use Icons with the Windows 95 System Tray




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Additional query words: Taskbar
Keywords : vb5all vb5howto
Version : WINDOWS:5.0
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbhowto


THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THE MICROSOFT KNOWLEDGE BASE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. MICROSOFT DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS OR SPECIAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES SO THE FOREGOING LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY.

Last reviewed: November 3, 1997
© 1998 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Terms of Use.

 

[peekay]

Thank you very much sebseb12. I got it running. My next problem is to get it flashing. I have tried a timer and then changing the .hicon to vbnull and then to me.icon alternatively but I cannot get it to flash. Any suggestions ?

Thanks again PK Odendaal
pko@942.co.za

 

[johnwm]

sebseb,
It's usual to just post a link to the resource, rather than posting the entire contents
________________________________________________________________
If you want to get the best response to a question, please check out FAQ222-2244 first

'People who live in windowed environments shouldn't cast pointers.'

 

[peekay]

I got it right thanks. PK Odendaal
pko@942.co.za