I was trying to make a small utility for myself that functioned a bit like the
stacks in OSX dock. I wanted to have a light-weight app pinned to the taskbar
that would open a small launcher that contained useful apps and shortcuts. I
want it to be as unobtrusive as possible.
I have a fair bit of vb.net
experience; I have written some very extensive and complicated apps. I don't
have a lot of experience with API calls, and to be honest, I'm not quite sure
where to start.
My thoughts are,
1: Have a small app that simply
closes after each instance, but remains pinned to the taskbar. That I can do
without API calls I believe. When run, it opens a form at the cursor position.
When the mouse leaves all controls, including the form, it closes.
2: Have an
app that runs at startup, but remains minimized in the taskbar. When restored
(clicked) it opens the form based on the cursor position. When the mouse leaves
all controls, including the form, it minimizes.
What I am struggling
with, is I would like the form to open not based on cursor position, but on the
position of the icon/button on the taskbar. I believe this would require API
calls, but I have not been able to figure out how to go about this. Since this
would essentially be the starting position for the app, I think it needs to be
the first thing I focus on. The rest is relatively basic.
Any thoughts on
options 1 or 2, or a better option appreciated. Any thoughts on identifying the
rectangle occupied by an item/button pinned to the taskbar, or a the task/button
of a running app minimized to the taskbar would be greatly appreciated.
The only other thing I have struggled with is identifying the location
(left, right, top, bottom) of the taskbar on a multi-monitor setup. I haven't
explored this in great detail yet, but any help there would also be appreciated.
stacks in OSX dock. I wanted to have a light-weight app pinned to the taskbar
that would open a small launcher that contained useful apps and shortcuts. I
want it to be as unobtrusive as possible.
I have a fair bit of vb.net
experience; I have written some very extensive and complicated apps. I don't
have a lot of experience with API calls, and to be honest, I'm not quite sure
where to start.
My thoughts are,
1: Have a small app that simply
closes after each instance, but remains pinned to the taskbar. That I can do
without API calls I believe. When run, it opens a form at the cursor position.
When the mouse leaves all controls, including the form, it closes.
2: Have an
app that runs at startup, but remains minimized in the taskbar. When restored
(clicked) it opens the form based on the cursor position. When the mouse leaves
all controls, including the form, it minimizes.
What I am struggling
with, is I would like the form to open not based on cursor position, but on the
position of the icon/button on the taskbar. I believe this would require API
calls, but I have not been able to figure out how to go about this. Since this
would essentially be the starting position for the app, I think it needs to be
the first thing I focus on. The rest is relatively basic.
Any thoughts on
options 1 or 2, or a better option appreciated. Any thoughts on identifying the
rectangle occupied by an item/button pinned to the taskbar, or a the task/button
of a running app minimized to the taskbar would be greatly appreciated.
The only other thing I have struggled with is identifying the location
(left, right, top, bottom) of the taskbar on a multi-monitor setup. I haven't
explored this in great detail yet, but any help there would also be appreciated.
