adding a "minimize-to-tray" box to main form

[steve]

hi all,

i was wondering how is it possible to add an extra box ( i think they are
called boxes: upper right corner ...) in a form that will minimize it in the
system tray?
You know some applications have a 4th one (apart from the square , bar and
X ) which contains a dot and once u click it minimizes the application to
the tray.

TIA

-steve

 

[Steve Long]

I think you can get that done with a NotifyIcon control on your form. Look
it up in the docs and see what you think.

HTH
Steve

 

[Jeff Johnson [MVP: VB]]

i was wondering how is it possible to add an extra box ( i think they are
called boxes: upper right corner ...) in a form that will minimize it in the
system tray?
You know some applications have a 4th one (apart from the square , bar and
X ) which contains a dot and once u click it minimizes the application to
the tray.

I've never seen an application that provides this. I'm not disputing that
they exist, but I think it's a non-standard thing to do. First off, adding a
button to the title bar is not a trivial task. Second, most of the programs
that I've seen that offer this ability make it a user option, so that
minimizing (with the normal minimize box) either sends the app to the
taskbar or the tray, as opposed to having two buttons which do different
things.

 

[Mick Doherty]

The Old API Viewer had this extra Caption Button as did GetRight, and I'm
sure several other programs.

I wrote code for this back in my old VB6 days the source of which you will
find on PlanetSourceCode.
It was a lot of code for a simple button and it will not be much easier to
do in dotnet since it involves drawing to the forms Non Client Area, which
is not supported by the framework. I have not attempted to repeat this task
in dotnet as it is much simpler and more common to attach the option to the
existing Minimize Button.

If you really want the appearance, and your form has no menu, then I would
suggest removing the TitleBar from the form and simulating it with a Docked
Panel and some buttons using the Marlett font.

 

[steve]

So I remembered correctly, but hard to do... oh well, it`s not important.

Thanx all of you for your kind responses! I love this newsgroup. Very
knowledgeable and kind people giving advice at roughly (what ?...) 95% of
the questions.
Excellent work.
Thanx again
"Mick Doherty"