[RESOLVED] How To Make A Child Window Immovable

[1369Times]

Hi All,
Here I have a child window such as Microsoft Word window set to a VB Form. The issue is that the Word window is movable inside the form. This is undesirable. The only way I have tried to prevent this movement at the moment was to remove the WS_CAPTION attribute from the window like this:

dim defaultAttribute as Integer = GetWindowLong(hWnd, GWL_STYLE)

dim preferedAttribute as Integer =  defaultAttribute And (Not WS_CAPTION)

SetWindowLong(hWnd, GWL_STYLE, preferedAttribute)

The window can no longer be moved because the Toolbar has been removed. But I need the Toolbar and the window caption in the window. Anybody knows how I can resolve this problem?

Thanks.

[Niya]

I don't think MS Windows can do what you're asking. A window with a title bar is always movable.

[1369Times]

Eh, I am just wondering. A child form with a title bar in an Mdi parent can be prevented from moving by something like this:

Public Sub OnMove(....)
.
.
.
myChildForm.location = New Point(X,Y) 

End Sub

Is there a way to make the movement of a Word window trigger an event on the VB form?

Thanks.

[Niya]

No you can't unfortunately.

[.paul.]

you can render a form immoveable by removing the Move item from the form's System Menu.
don't know if that'll be helpful in your app:

Public Class Form1

    Private Declare Function GetSystemMenu Lib "user32" Alias _
    "GetSystemMenu" (ByVal hwnd As IntPtr, _
    ByVal bRevert As Integer) As IntPtr

    Private Declare Auto Function RemoveMenu Lib "user32.dll" ( _
        ByVal hMenu As IntPtr, _
        ByVal nPosition As Integer, _
        ByVal wFlags As Integer _
        ) As Integer

    Private Const MF_BYPOSITION As Integer = &H400
    Private Const MF_REMOVE As Integer = &H1000

    Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
        Dim iMenu As IntPtr = GetSystemMenu(Me.Handle, 0)
        RemoveMenu(iMenu, 1, MF_BYPOSITION + MF_REMOVE)
    End Sub

End Class

[AceInfinity]

The issue is that the Word window is movable inside the form.

We are talking about MDI child forms here then correct? edit: Ahh, I left this Window open for a while, others posted before me.

[1369Times]

Thank you very much. Your suggestion was exactly what I wanted.
I need to understand the RemoveMenu (...) command. However, I could not find the complete list of the possible flags for this command in MSDN. Where can I see the complete list that includes the MF_REMOVE?
Another thing, in your example; RemoveMenu(iMenu, 1, MF_BYPOSITION + MF_REMOVE) what menu item does the value 1 refer to?

Much respect!

[1369Times]

The MS Word window is in a form that is an MDI child. That is, the MDI parent contains the form that contains the MS Word window.

[.paul.]

not sure if this is the complete list, but it's all I have:

Private Const MF_BYPOSITION As Integer = &H400
Private Const MF_BITMAP As Integer = &H4&
Private Const MF_STRING As Integer = 0
Private Const MF_SEPARATOR As Integer = 2048
Private Const MF_ENABLED As Integer = &H0I
Private Const MF_DISABLED As Integer = &H2I
Private Const MF_GRAYED As Integer = &H1I
Private Const MF_REMOVE As Integer = &H1000
Private Const WM_SYSCOMMAND As Integer = &H112

[.paul.]

in your example; RemoveMenu(iMenu, 1, MF_BYPOSITION + MF_REMOVE) what menu item does the value 1 refer to?

it's the zero based index of the Move menu item in a standard form's System Menu

[1369Times]

Again, I thank you. I would have given up on my little trivia task even before I started it, but folks like you kept me going. I am almost there.

The code is still having issues loading PowerPoint or Excel files. The program sometimes misses the handles for these particular applications and therefore not position them on the preferred location. Sometimes, it just freezes while loading PowerPoint or Excel. It works satisfactorily when loading Word, Notepad or PDF documents. Perhaps, the Virtual machine I am using is not powerful enough. I will compile the program and run it on a physical, more powerful computer and see what happens.

[.paul.]

can you post the code you're using to load these apps?

[1369Times]

I ran the program on a physical computer that has 16GB RAM. The program did not catch the handle PowerPoint or Excel and it still got frozen. It worked very well for Word, Notepad and PDF.

The main part of my code is attached here. To run it, just place a command button on a form, copy and paste the code. The click event of the command button will bring up a FileOpen Dialog box to enable the user select the file to open. That's about it.

I will really be happy to know why the program is missing the handles and why it becomes non responsive after the miss.
Please note, I could not insert the whole code as it was more than the stipulated length. The complete version is in the attachment. Thanks.

Imports System
Imports System.Runtime.InteropServices
Imports System.Text
Imports System.Text.RegularExpressions

Public Class Form1
    'Declare the required constants
    Private Const GW_CHILD = 5
    Private Const GW_HWNDNEXT = 2
    Private Const GW_HWNDPREV = 3
    Private Const GWL_STYLE = (-16)
    Private Const WS_VISIBLE = &H10000000
    Private Const MAX_LEN = 1024
    Private Const GW_OWNER = 4

    Private Const SW_HIDE = 0
    Private Const SW_SHOWNORMAL = 1
    Private Const SW_NORMAL = 1
    Private Const SW_SHOWMINIMIZED = 2
    Private Const SW_SHOWMAXIMIZED = 3
    Private Const SW_MAXIMIZE = 3
    Private Const SW_SHOWNOACTIVATE = 4
    Private Const SW_SHOW = 5
    Private Const SW_MINIMIZE = 6
    Private Const SW_SHOWMINNOACTIVE = 7
    Private Const SW_SHOWNA = 8
    Private Const SW_RESTORE = 9
    Private Const SW_SHOWDEFAULT = 10
    Private Const SW_MAX = 10
    Private Const WM_USER = 1024
    Private Const WM_CLOSE = &H10

    'Declare the WinAPI
    <DllImport("user32.dll", CharSet:=CharSet.Auto)> _
    Private Shared Function FindWindow(ByVal strClass As String, ByVal lpWindow As String) As IntPtr
        'Leave empty
    End Function
    <DllImport("user32.dll", CharSet:=CharSet.Auto)> _
    Private Shared Function SendMessage(ByVal Hwnd As IntPtr, ByVal Msg As IntPtr, ByVal wParam As IntPtr,
                                        ByVal lParam As IntPtr) As IntPtr
        'Leave empty
    End Function
    <DllImport("user32.dll", CharSet:=CharSet.Auto)> _
    Private Shared Function SetForegroundWindow(ByVal Hwnd As IntPtr) As IntPtr
        'Leave empty
    End Function
    <DllImport("user32.dll", CharSet:=CharSet.Auto)> _
    Private Shared Function ShowWindow(ByVal Hwnd As IntPtr, ByVal nCmdShow As IntPtr) As IntPtr
        'Leave empty
    End Function

    <DllImport("user32.dll", CharSet:=CharSet.Auto)> _
    Private Shared Function GetClassName(<[In]()> ByVal hWnd As IntPtr, <[Out]()> ByVal lpClassName As StringBuilder,
                                         <[In]()> ByVal nMaxCount As Integer) As IntPtr
        ' Leave empty 
    End Function
    <DllImport("user32.dll", CharSet:=CharSet.Auto)> _
    Private Shared Function GetDesktopWindow() As IntPtr
        ' Leave empty
    End Function
    <DllImport("user32.dll", CharSet:=CharSet.Auto)> _
    Private Shared Function GetWindow(ByVal Hwnd As IntPtr, ByVal wCmd As IntPtr) As IntPtr
        'Leave empty
    End Function
    <DllImport("User32.dll", CharSet:=CharSet.Auto)> _
    Private Shared Function GetWindowLong(ByVal Hwnd As IntPtr, ByVal nIndex As Integer) As IntPtr
        'Leave empty
    End Function

    <DllImport("User32.dll", CharSet:=CharSet.Auto)> _
    Private Shared Function SetWindowLong(ByVal Hwnd As IntPtr, ByVal nIndex As Integer, ByVal dNewValue As IntPtr) As IntPtr
        'Leave empty
    End Function
    <DllImport("user32.dll", CharSet:=CharSet.Auto)> _
    Private Shared Function GetWindowText(ByVal Hwnd As IntPtr, ByVal lpString As String, ByVal aint As IntPtr) As IntPtr
        'Leave empty
    End Function

    <DllImport("user32.dll", CharSet:=CharSet.Auto)> _
    Private Shared Function GetWindowThreadProcessId(<[In]()> ByVal hWnd As IntPtr, <[Out]()> ByVal lpdwProcessId As IntPtr) As IntPtr
        'Leav empty
    End Function

    <DllImport("user32.dll", SetLastError:=True, CharSet:=CharSet.Auto)> _
    Public Shared Function SetParent(ByVal hWndChild As IntPtr, ByVal hWndNewParent As IntPtr) As IntPtr
        'Leave empty
    End Function

    <DllImport("user32.dll", CharSet:=CharSet.Auto)> _
    Private Shared Function IsWindowVisible(ByVal hWnd As IntPtr) As Boolean
        'Leave empty
    End Function

    <DllImport("user32.dll", CharSet:=CharSet.Auto)> _
    Private Shared Function IsWindow(ByVal hWnd As IntPtr) As Boolean
        'Leave empty
    End Function

    <DllImport("user32.dll", CharSet:=CharSet.Auto)> _
    Private Shared Function IsIconic(ByVal hWnd As IntPtr) As Boolean
        'Leave empty
    End Function
    <DllImport("user32.dll", CharSet:=CharSet.Auto)> _
    Private Shared Function GetTopWindow(ByVal hwnd As IntPtr) As IntPtr
        'Leave empty
    End Function

    <DllImport("user32.dll", CharSet:=CharSet.Auto)> _
    Private Shared Function SetWindowPos(ByVal hWnd As IntPtr, ByVal hWndInsertAfter As IntPtr, ByVal X As Int32,
                                    ByVal Y As Int32, ByVal CX As Int32, ByVal CY As Int32, ByVal wFlags As Int32) As Boolean
        'Leave empty
    End Function

    <DllImport("user32.dll")> _
    Public Shared Function MoveWindow(ByVal hWnd As IntPtr, ByVal x As Int32, ByVal y As Int32, ByVal nWidth As Int32,
                                    ByVal nHeight As Int32, ByVal bRepaint As Boolean) As Boolean
        'Leave empty  
    End Function

    <DllImport("user32.dll", CharSet:=CharSet.Auto)> _
    Private Shared Function GetSystemMenu(ByVal hwnd As IntPtr, ByVal bRevert As Boolean) As IntPtr

        'Leave empty

    End Function

    <DllImport("user32.dll", CharSet:=CharSet.Auto)> _
    Private Shared Function RemoveMenu(ByVal hMenu As IntPtr, ByVal nPosition As Integer, ByVal wFlags As Integer) As Boolean

        'Leave empty
        'http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ms647994(v=vs.85).aspx
        'http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ms647993(v=vs.85).aspx
        'http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ms646360(v=vs.85).aspx

    End Function

    'Declare module level variables
    Dim application As Process
    Dim relativeName2 As String
    Dim nameLength As Integer
    Dim newHandle As IntPtr


    Private Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click

        StartApplication()

    End Sub


Private Function EnumerateOpenedWindows() As Boolean
        Dim desktopHandle, windowHandle As IntPtr
        Dim caption As String = vbNullString
        Dim defaultAttribute As Integer
        Dim preferedAttribute As Integer
        Dim windowPositionFlag As UInteger

        Try
            Do
                desktopHandle = GetDesktopWindow()

                'Get the first (top most) child window on the Desktop
                windowHandle = GetWindow(desktopHandle, GW_CHILD)
                newHandle = windowHandle
                Do
                    If IsWindowVisible(windowHandle) AndAlso (Not IsIconic(windowHandle)) Then
                        'Get the file name without extension from the window's caption and compare it with
                        'the file name without extension of the application that has justed been started.
                        caption = GetWindowCaption(windowHandle)
                        If LSet(caption, nameLength) = relativeName2 Then

                            'set the paste the child form to its container
                            SetParent(windowHandle, Me.CurrentChildHandle)

                            'get the default attributes of the application window
                            defaultAttribute = GetWindowLong(windowHandle, GWL_STYLE)

                            'Set the prefered attributes of the application window
                            preferedAttribute = defaultAttribute And
                                (Not SomeWindowStyles.WS_MAXIMIZEBOX) And (Not SomeWindowStyles.WS_MINIMIZE) And
                                (Not SomeWindowStyles.WS_MINIMIZEBOX) And (Not SomeWindowStyles.WS_MAXIMIZE)

                            SetWindowLong(windowHandle, GWL_STYLE, New IntPtr(preferedAttribute))

                            'Size the window before positioning it.
                            windowPositionFlag = SetWindowPosFlags.SWP_SHOWWINDOW Or SetWindowPosFlags.SWP_DRAWFRAME Or
                            SetWindowPosFlags.SWP_FRAMECHANGED Or SetWindowPosFlags.SWP_NOZORDER

                            'Make the window immovable. Note, the value 1 in the command corresponds with the zero-based
                            'index of the Move menu on a standard system window.
                            Dim iMenu As IntPtr = GetSystemMenu(windowHandle, vbFalse)
                            RemoveMenu(iMenu, 1, MenuFlags.MF_BYPOSITION + MenuFlags.MF_REMOVE)

                            'Now, set the window's position on its parent.
                            SetWindowPos(windowHandle, IntPtr.Zero, Me.ClientRectangle.Left,
                                         Me.ClientRectangle.Top, Me.ClientRectangle.Width, Me.ClientRectangle.Height, windowPositionFlag)

                            'There is no need to continue.
                            Return True
                            Exit Function

                        End If
                    End If
                    'Get the next child window of the desktop.  The retrieved handle identifies the window just 
                    'below the current window in the Z order.
                    windowHandle = GetWindow(windowHandle, GW_HWNDNEXT)
                    newHandle = windowHandle
                Loop Until windowHandle = 0  'reached the end of the child windows collection

            Loop Until LSet(caption, nameLength) = relativeName2

        Catch ex As Exception
            MsgBox(ex.Message, vbApplicationModal + vbAbort, "Error!")

            'The function has failed
            Return False
            Exit Function
        End Try

        'If the execution got to this point, then it was successful.
        Return True

    End Function

Private Function GetWindowCaption(ByVal winHandle As IntPtr) As String
        Dim caption As String = vbNullString
        Dim counter As Integer = 0

        Try
            'The string variable must already have space for the maximum number of characters it is to hold.
            caption = StrDup(MAX_LEN - 1, "*")

            'The GetWindowText(Hwnd, caption, MAX_LEN) returns a positive value if successful, else it returns 0.
            counter = GetWindowText(winHandle, caption, MAX_LEN)
            If counter <= 0 Then
                GetWindowCaption = vbNullString
                Exit Function
            End If
            GetWindowCaption = Trim(caption)
        Catch ex As Exception
            MsgBox(ex.Message, vbApplicationModal + vbAbort, "Error!")
            Return vbNullString
            Exit Function
        End Try

    End Function

Private Function StartApplication() As Boolean
        Dim slashPosition, fullFilePath, relativeName1 As String
        Dim lastDotIndex As Integer

        Dim fileOpen As New OpenFileDialog()
        Dim result As DialogResult = fileOpen.ShowDialog()
        'Unless you select a file name or type in a file name, the operation will not continue.

        Try
            If (result = DialogResult.OK) AndAlso (Trim(fileOpen.FileName).Length > 0) Then
                fullFilePath = fileOpen.FileName
                'Get the relative file name with extension
                slashPosition = fullFilePath.LastIndexOf("\")
                relativeName1 = Mid(fullFilePath, slashPosition + 2)

                'Not all applications shows relative file name with extension on its window title. 
                lastDotIndex = relativeName1.LastIndexOf(".")
                relativeName2 = LSet(relativeName1, lastDotIndex)

                'Get the length of the relativeName2
                nameLength = Len(Trim(relativeName2))

                'Start the application
                application = Process.Start(fullFilePath)
                application.WaitForInputIdle()
                application.Refresh()

                'Walkthrough the opened windows
                Call EnumerateOpenedWindows()

                'MsgBox("Application will now close", vbApplicationModal + vbOKOnly, "Shutting down!")
                'SendMessage(newHandle, WM_CLOSE, 0, 0)

                'If execution got to this point, then things must have gone well.
                Return True
                Exit Function

            ElseIf (result = DialogResult.OK) AndAlso (Trim(fileOpen.FileName).Length = 0) Then
                MsgBox("You have not selected a file name", vbExclamation + vbOKOnly, "Choose file to open")
                Return False
                Exit Function

            Else
                'User cancelled operation.  This was not due to a failure of the function.
                Return True
                Exit Function
            End If

        Catch ex As Exception
            MsgBox(ex.Message, vbApplicationModal + vbOKOnly, "Choose file to open")
            Return False
            Exit Function
        End Try

        'If execution got to this point, then things must have gone wrong.
        Return False
    End Function

Public Enum MenuFlags As Integer

    MF_BYPOSITION = &H400
    MF_BITMAP = &H4&
    MF_STRING = 0
    MF_SEPARATOR = 2048
    MF_ENABLED = &H0I
    MF_DISABLED = &H2I
    MF_GRAYED = &H1I
    MF_REMOVE = &H1000
    WM_SYSCOMMAND = &H112
End Enum

End Class

[1369Times]

Hello All,
I eventually found what was wrong with my code. I had assumed that the window text always starts with a file name. While this is true for Word, NotePad, PDF, JPG , etc, it is not the case with Excel, PowerPoint, etc. So, rather than assuming the file name is at the start of the window text, I used Regex to search the entire window text for the file name of the of the document the user has just opened. If a match is found, I use the corresponding window handle to set the application window to the preferred form. The previously attached code was freezing when attempting to set Excel or PowerPoint window to a parent form because it could not find a matching file name.

You may wish to replace the portion:

If LSet(caption, nameLength) = relativeName2 Then

                            'set the paste the child form to its container
                            SetParent(windowHandle, Me.CurrentChildHandle)

                            'get the default attributes of the application window
                            defaultAttribute = GetWindowLong(windowHandle, GWL_STYLE)

                            'Set the prefered attributes of the application window
                            preferedAttribute = defaultAttribute And
                                (Not SomeWindowStyles.WS_MAXIMIZEBOX) And (Not SomeWindowStyles.WS_MINIMIZE) And
                                (Not SomeWindowStyles.WS_MINIMIZEBOX) And (Not SomeWindowStyles.WS_MAXIMIZE)

                            SetWindowLong(windowHandle, GWL_STYLE, New IntPtr(preferedAttribute))

                            'Size the window before positioning it.
                            windowPositionFlag = SetWindowPosFlags.SWP_SHOWWINDOW Or SetWindowPosFlags.SWP_DRAWFRAME Or
                            SetWindowPosFlags.SWP_FRAMECHANGED Or SetWindowPosFlags.SWP_NOZORDER

                            'Make the window immovable. Note, the value 1 in the command corresponds with the zero-based
                            'index of the Move menu on a standard system window.
                            Dim iMenu As IntPtr = GetSystemMenu(windowHandle, vbFalse)
                            RemoveMenu(iMenu, 1, MenuFlags.MF_BYPOSITION + MenuFlags.MF_REMOVE)

                            'Now, set the window's position on its parent.
                            SetWindowPos(windowHandle, IntPtr.Zero, Me.ClientRectangle.Left,
                                         Me.ClientRectangle.Top, Me.ClientRectangle.Width, Me.ClientRectangle.Height, windowPositionFlag)

                            'There is no need to continue.
                            Return True
                            Exit Function

                        End If
                    End If
                    'Get the next child window of the desktop.  The retrieved handle identifies the window just 
                    'below the current window in the Z order.
                    windowHandle = GetWindow(windowHandle, GW_HWNDNEXT)
                    newHandle = windowHandle
                Loop Until windowHandle = 0  'reached the end of the child windows collection

            Loop Until LSet(caption, nameLength) = relativeName2

with:

dim searchFilenameInCaption  as string
If Trim(caption).Length <> 0 Then searchFilenameInCaption = Regex.IsMatch(caption, relativeName2)
                        If searchFilenameInCaption = vbTrue Then

                            'set the paste the child form to its container
                            SetParent(windowHandle, Me.CurrentChildHandle)

                            'get the default attributes of the application window
                            defaultAttribute = GetWindowLong(windowHandle, GWL_STYLE)

                            'Set the prefered attributes of the application window
                            preferedAttribute = defaultAttribute And
                                (Not SomeWindowStyles.WS_MAXIMIZEBOX) And (Not SomeWindowStyles.WS_MINIMIZE) And
                                (Not SomeWindowStyles.WS_MINIMIZEBOX) And (Not SomeWindowStyles.WS_MAXIMIZE)

                            SetWindowLong(windowHandle, GWL_STYLE, New IntPtr(preferedAttribute))

                            'Size the window before positioning it.
                            windowPositionFlag = SetWindowPosFlags.SWP_SHOWWINDOW Or SetWindowPosFlags.SWP_DRAWFRAME Or
                            SetWindowPosFlags.SWP_FRAMECHANGED Or SetWindowPosFlags.SWP_NOZORDER

                            'Make the window immovable. Note, the value 1 in the command corresponds with the zero-based
                            'index of the Move menu on a standard system window.
                            Dim iMenu As IntPtr = GetSystemMenu(windowHandle, vbFalse)
                            RemoveMenu(iMenu, 1, MenuFlags.MF_BYPOSITION + MenuFlags.MF_REMOVE)

                            'Now, set the window's position on its parent.
                            SetWindowPos(windowHandle, IntPtr.Zero, Me.ClientRectangle.Left,
                                         Me.ClientRectangle.Top, Me.ClientRectangle.Width, Me.ClientRectangle.Height, windowPositionFlag)

                            'There is no need to continue.
                            Return True
                            Exit Function

                        End If
                    End If
                    'Get the next child window of the desktop.  The retrieved handle identifies the window just 
                    'below the current window in the Z order.
                    windowHandle = GetWindow(windowHandle, GW_HWNDNEXT)
                    newHandle = windowHandle
                Loop Until windowHandle = 0  'reached the end of the child windows collection

            Loop Until searchFilenameInCaption = vbTrue

and try the code again. Do remember Imports System.Text.RegularExpressions