show form at shortcut key

I have this form which I need to be hidden (me.hide) and I would like still to be able to view it sometimes without putting it on tray, is it possible to create a shortcut key to make it visible(me.show)? Thanks

Yes there is, and since the form won't have focus while you press this keyevent occurs we're going to have to get it from GetAysncKeyState.

VB Code:

'Put this in General Declarations
Private Declare Function GetAsyncKeyState Lib "user32" (ByVal vKey As KeyCodeConstants) As Long
 
'Function to capture key-events
Public Function KeyDown(ByVal vKey As KeyCodeConstants) As Boolean
   KeyDown = GetAsyncKeyState(vKey) And &H8000
End Function

Now create a timer and paste this code;

VB Code:

If KeyDown(vbKeyControl) And KeyDown(vbKeyS) Then
   Me.Show
 End If

Thanks, that works wonderful.

You can try RegisterHotKey API.

VB Code:

' Paste this code inside a form
Option Explicit
Private Const MOD_ALT = &H1
Private Const MOD_CONTROL = &H2
Private Const MOD_SHIFT = &H4
Private Const PM_REMOVE = &H1
Private Const WM_HOTKEY = &H312
Private Type POINTAPI
    x As Long
    y As Long
End Type
Private Type Msg
    hWnd As Long
    Message As Long
    wParam As Long
    lParam As Long
    time As Long
    pt As POINTAPI
End Type
Private Declare Function RegisterHotKey Lib "user32" (ByVal hWnd As Long, ByVal id As Long, ByVal fsModifiers As Long, ByVal vk As Long) As Long
Private Declare Function UnregisterHotKey Lib "user32" (ByVal hWnd As Long, ByVal id As Long) As Long
Private Declare Function PeekMessage Lib "user32" Alias "PeekMessageA" (lpMsg As Msg, ByVal hWnd As Long, ByVal wMsgFilterMin As Long, ByVal wMsgFilterMax As Long, ByVal wRemoveMsg As Long) As Long
Private Declare Function WaitMessage Lib "user32" () As Long
Private bCancel As Boolean
Private Sub ProcessMessages()
    Dim Message As Msg
    'loop until bCancel is set to True
    Do While Not bCancel
        'wait for a message
        WaitMessage
        'check if it's a HOTKEY-message
        If PeekMessage(Message, Me.hWnd, WM_HOTKEY, WM_HOTKEY, PM_REMOVE) Then
            'Hide/Unhide the form
            [b]Me.Visible = Not Me.Visible[/b]
        End If
        'let the operating system process other events
        DoEvents
    Loop
End Sub
Private Sub Form_Load()
    'KPD-Team 2000
    'URL: [url]http://www.allapi.net/[/url]
    'E-Mail: [email][email protected][/email]
    Dim ret As Long
    bCancel = False
    'register the Ctrl-F hotkey
    ret = RegisterHotKey(Me.hWnd, &HBFFF&, MOD_CONTROL, vbKeyF)
    'show some information
    Me.AutoRedraw = True
    Me.Print "Press CTRL-F to minimize this form"
    'show the form and
    Show
    'process the Hotkey messages
    ProcessMessages
End Sub
Private Sub Form_Unload(Cancel As Integer)
    bCancel = True
    'unregister hotkey
    Call UnregisterHotKey(Me.hWnd, &HBFFF&)
End Sub