set the mainwin as the active window

[rwg]

i prefer to have my inputs from the mainwin. when i open a graphics window, the graphic window is active and i have to click on the mainwin to make it active and continue with my inputs. i've tried dll "setactivewindow" but cant get the syntax right. can anyone out there help ?

[Rod]

It is probably possible to find the handle of the mainwin and with API calls to set the focus on it. However it will still need moved about and sent to back / brought to front etc. That's a lot of API code. It would be much simpler to add a textbox or texteditor to the foot of the graphicbox. It will be 100% better integrated than the mainwin.


The mainwin is really designed for testing and debugging, it shouldn't be there when the program is running well. That's why it has (relatively) limited functionality.


What kind of text input do you need? is it command strings, instructions or general text? Folks could code examples of alternative input if you described the task in hand a little more.

[metro]

I agree with Rod use a GUI
but I did play around with an api some time back, I was using mainwin to check my logic and results
and wanted it to close after closing my GUI and not have to close two forms....some of the code is here




CallDLL #user32, "GetActiveWindow",_
hMainwin As uLong    'returns handle of MainWin

x=200 : y=350 : w=450 : h = 350
CallDLL #user32, "MoveWindow",_
   hMainwin As uLong,_ 'handle
   x As Long,_         'x location
   y As Long,_         'y location
   w As Long,_         'width
   h As Long,_         'height
   1 As Boolean,_      'repaint, 1=true
   r As Boolean        'nonzero=success




[setup.main.Window]

   '-----Begin code for #main

  ' nomainwin
   WindowWidth = 550
   WindowHeight = 410
   UpperLeftX=int((DisplayWidth-WindowWidth)/2)
   UpperLeftY=int((DisplayHeight-WindowHeight)/2)


   '-----Begin GUI objects code

   graphicbox #main.graphicbox1,   5,   5, 100, 100
   button #main.btn1,"Click me",[dosomething],UL ,150,100
   '-----End GUI objects code

   open "untitled" for window as #main
   h1= hwnd(#main)
'   print #main.graphicbox1, "down; fill white; flush"

'    print #main, "font ms_sans_serif 10"
   print #main, "trapclose [quit.main]"


[main.inputLoop]   'wait here for input event
'maybe useful
' CallDLL #user32,"SetForegroundWindow",_
'hMain as uLong,_
'      result as Void

'CallDLL #user32, "SetActiveWindow",_
'h1 As uLong    'returns handle of MainWin
'#main.btn1, "!setfocus"

'print hMainwin
'print h1

   wait
[dosomething]
wait

[quit.main] 'End the program
   close #main

'close MainWin without ending program
Calldll #user32, "DestroyWindow",_
   hMainwin as uLong,_
   result as boolean   'nonzero=success
   end






[rwg]

many thanks Rod and Metro. i know it sounds odd but the mainwindow is v handy in my application. i'll try out Metro's solution. looks the goods

[rwg]

hi Metro - i'm not an great code writer. I've tried to break this down to something really simple. The following code sets the size of the mainwin and places it on the upper left hand side of the screen. It then opens a simple graphics window called PLOT. This window becomes the active window. All I want to do is to make the mainwin the active window. I've tried bits of your code but still cant nail it. Would be great if you could help. cheers rwg

[rwg]

sorry Metro - here's the code

open "user32" for dll as #1
calldll #user32,"GetActiveWindow",_
mainwinhandle as short
calldll #user32,"MoveWindow", _
mainwinhandle as word, _
0 as short, _
0 as short, _
300 as short, _
600 as short, _
1 as word, _
result as void
close #1

open "PLOT" for graphics_nsb_nf as #w.g

calldll #user32, "SetActiveWindow",_
mainwinhandle as short '?

[Chris Iverson]

Where did you get "short" and "word" from? Window handles should always be ULONG.

Additionally, you've left off the return value on SetActiveWindow(). Even if you don't use it, you still need to collect it.

Also, you don't need to open user32 as #1 if you're using it as #user32(which is opened by LB by default).

Aside from those, you actually got it very close.


calldll #user32,"GetActiveWindow",_
mainwinhandle as ulong

calldll #user32,"MoveWindow", _
mainwinhandle as ulong, _
0 as short, _
0 as short, _
300 as short, _
600 as short, _
1 as word, _
result as void


open "PLOT" for graphics_nsb_nf as #w.g

calldll #user32, "SetActiveWindow",_
mainwinhandle as ulong,_
ret as ulong

[rwg]

many thanks chris. most grateful. works fine