How to make window appear on top when click wpf năm 2024

WPF windows can initially be displayed using three positioning options. The location of a window can be set manually, or the new window can be centred on the screen or in relation to its owner.

WindowStartupLocation

In the Windows Presentation Foundation Fundamentals tutorial, I described many properties of the Window class, which controls the display of windows and dialog boxes. The articles described how you can position a window manually using the Left and Top properties, which set the window's location relative to the top-left corner of the screen.

In many cases, you will want to centralise a window, either on the screen or relative to its owner. You could do this by obtaining the resolution of the screen, or the location and size of the parent window, calculating the correct location and setting the Left and Top properties. However, you can perform this type of positioning automatically by setting the WindowStartupLocation property to a constant from the WindowStartupLocation enumeration.

To demonstrate, create a new WPF application project in Visual Studio. Name the project, "WindowStartupLocationDemo". Once the solution is prepared, replace the XAML in the main window with the code below:

<Window x:Class="WindowStartupLocationDemo.MainWindow"

    xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"  
    xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"  
    Title="MainWindow"  
    Height="250" Width="450"  
    Left="10" Top="20"  
    ResizeMode="NoResize">  
<Canvas>  
    <Button Canvas.Left="120" Canvas.Top="100" Width="100" Click="Screen_Click">  
        Centre Screen  
    </Button>  
    <Button Canvas.Left="230" Canvas.Top="100" Width="100" Click="Owner_Click">  
        Centre Owner  
    </Button>  
</Canvas>  

The above XAML creates a window with two buttons, each with its Click event registered. Switch to the code behind the window and ensure that the empty Click methods appear as follows:

private void Screen_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) { } private void Screen_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) { }

Centring Windows

A common option for a newly loaded window is to centralise it on the screen. This can help to guide the user's attention to important items. Centralising on the screen is generally used when the window has no obvious owner or parent.

To open a new window and have it centred on the screen, set the WindowStartupLocation property to CenterScreen. You can do this using the XAML or in code before the window is displayed.

Let's configure the "Centre Screen" button to load a new instance of the main window in the middle of the screen. To do so, update the button's Click method, as follows:

private void Screen_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) {

var window = new MainWindow();  
window.WindowStartupLocation = WindowStartupLocation.CenterScreen;  
window.Show();  

Run the program and click the button to see the result.

Centring in an Owning Window

When you display a child window from an existing window, it can be useful to centralise the child relative to its parent. As the user should be looking at the parent, their attention should be quickly drawn to the child.

To centre a window in this way, the new window's Owner property should be set to the parent window's object. You also set the WindowStartupLocation property to CenterOwner.

To demonstrate, update the second click method, as shown below. Note that after the MainWindow object is created, the Owner is set and the start-up location option is selected. The child window is slightly smaller than its parent, as if it was the same size, it would obscure the original window.

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Hello 🙂 Is it possible from WPF to make a overlay over another window. I wanna show some information over another window on the computer from my WPF application, and was wondering if its possible, and if so how? Thanks

Will this also work for x64 ?

yes win32 is 64 bit on 64bit machines

they updated it from 16 bit to 32 but didnt rename it from 32 to 64 <:PES_SadShrug:646092743378206760> WPF uses it under the hood too

Okay 🙂 But, what if I don't know the class name of the window

you dont need it, its optional idk how familiar you are with interop?

Can't I use like a process or smth I don't know anything about this topic I just wanna make a simple overlay for a game

the problem is overlays arent simple

while they shouldnt have to be <:PES_Think:639363477458255874>

I found a nuget package, which is for .net, but it seems to be for cheats injected into a process, and then it draws on that window, but I just wanna find the window in the current processes

i think that nuget package then hooks into the swapchain of the game process to inject extra drawing yes your own window above the game should be simpler

its called GameOverlay.NET, and I searched on some guides or smth for it, and got straight to unknown cheats, so yea im guessing

i think i have a project you might be able to build on what does your overlay need to have of functionality? just display text and shapes?

idk, it would nice to deisng it a little but primary just text yea text and shapes should be fine

its not WPF but thats maybe an advantage you just have to add this functionality and then draw whatever it should already be top most bcuz this code is quite low-level compared to WPF not every method will be as easy to understand

I'm just gonna try with the first things you send, with a WPF Window and see if I can maybe get it to work

i wish i could just change the render pipeline of WPF a little <:PES_Cry:493359762432327691>

hehe what do I need to do to use the FindWindowW functions? do I need a DllImport or using something?

DllImport but in newer C# .NET it seems to recommend LibraryImport which is pretty much the same

what dll do i need to import? winuser.dll?

idk I dont think i understand it says on the docs the return type is HWND, but when I try to make the type HWND it says it doesn't exist

yes, .NET doesnt know what HWND is but its an IntPtr

but, do I then make the function called FindowW or okay i get their inaccessible due to their protection level...

if you give it an entrypoint it imports that function and then you can name it whatever you like make it public?

its the LibraryImport not the function

put the functions in a class like this

which version of .NET are you on?

then i think you still have to use DllImport

like that then you dont need partial

Okay And now I can call the User32.FindWindow to call the FindWindowW

what type is lpRect in .Net?

you would have to make a rect structure and have a pointer or reference to it in the method im asking bing chat to give me the code so i dont have to write it all myself but i know if the code is correct or not

ah ok so i can make it a ref in the function def and then just pass a new Rect with a ref to it

you have to initialise the rect in advance and then ref it

bing chat is being annoying, why doesnt it just give me code

SetWindowPos function (winuser.h) - Win32 apps

Changes the size, position, and Z order of a child, pop-up, or top-level window. These windows are ordered according to their appearance on the screen. The topmost window receives the highest rank and is the first window in the Z order.

I would want it to be HWND_TOPMOST, but what do I pass in the function do I just pass -1?

Do I need that custom Struct Rect, or can I use the one from System.Windows

im writing the code myself bcuz the AI doesnt want to do it like this but add the accessability modifiers some methods are a hell to dll import, but there are generators to do it for you, but you dont need many so you dont really need them to be generated for you yet

idk what is accessability modifiers

public, private, internal etc just make it all public

It wants me to do LayoutKind.Sequential, is that ok?

ok Well I have a User32.cs now with the three functions and no errors, so thats a start atleast

otherwise the memory of the fields can be in a different order than you wrote it can you show it for me to check?

Since the FindWindowW, has the first parameter as optional, do I jsut pass a null value to it?

you have to change the return type of getwindowrect and setwindowpos it has to be like this

oh yea, i changed it to bool now sorry for both?

add the publics like here yes like in the docs

the return needs the marshalas bcuz a bool in C is 32bit and in c# only 8

something is an enum i forgot the name of

so what do I write instead of something

what does it tell you to write?

nothing it just says error with something

yes looks good hold on you made the second HWND an int instead of intptr in the last function

yes because isnt -1 an int?

yes but it wants more bits than an int

or it still needs to be a intpointer? Okay

intptr is 64 bit on 64 bit and int is always 32 sometimes it might work if you use the wrong types, until it doesnt or crashes everything

ok lol good to know i dont understand it says on the docs that FindWindowW can return null, but when I check if the return of the function is null, it says it can never be null And if I try to make it nullable, then I can't use it for any of the other functions...

dont look at the return value of it, its not really useful

how would I know if I have found the window then

lmao my bad yes you do need the returned value

I thought i had a way but now it says I cant use a unassigned variable...

no dont make it nullable that changes the type null is just 0, so you have to check if the IntPtr is 0

Okay How do I get around the Unassigned variable thing

IntPtr FoundWindow = default;

oh, ok, didn't know that existed

bcuz IntPtr is a struct, and if you make a struct nullable, it actually becomes a different type. which we cant have bcuz then the bytes wont align anymore null is just a fancy 0

I still dont quite understand If I run the code im doing rn, from a new WPF window, will that window then get drawed? or do I need to tell it somewhere which window to draw

i dont understand what you mean`IntPtr? is actually `Nullable<IntPtr> which is different than `IntPtr`you draw on your own WPF window but your WPF window is going to be above the game if everything goes right

im not sure i understand im just gonna write the code and try it

you need to have the window title exactly right to find the window

Okay, I have created the following now

So this code, if I understand, will draw the Window (OverLay) on top of the window title I input?

yes but why did you make your own window hidden? and you cant really have a while loop there bcuz its going to get stuck in it

Because, I don't wanna draw the overlay imediatly on startup, only when the window to draw on is found

okay so when you have found it, break the loop and show the window

Im going thru Mainwindow.overlay since I instance the class from there Okay Im gonna try to build and run it

drawoverlay doesnt have to be static

oh ok probably form before, when I tried to use DllImport it said it had to be static, just forgot to remove idk what is a good window to test on

notepad should be good but the problem is the title of notepad can not always be clear if you look in the taskbar and hover your mouse over an app icon of an open window you can see its title

ye hm it doesn't draw it on top it just draws the overlay as a new window or well it draws it in the correct location but its drawn behind

oh yeah you put notepad top most above your window instead of the opposite

oh how do I do it the other way around lol I get the window for the overlay?

you can get that like this or simular IntPtr windowHandle = new WindowInteropHelper(Application.Current.MainWindow).Handle;

but i dont want the mainwindow I need the Overlay Window

then use the overlay window as argument

eh how its not showing with Intellisense

so for the setwindowposition you need your own handle im guessing this

WindowInteropHandler(this)?

and just quick question, im not totally sure of the rect thing how would I turn that into the top left corner of the window i wanna do the overlay on is it just left; top;

Retrieves the dimensions of the bounding rectangle of the specified window. The dimensions are given in screen coordinates that are relative to the upper-left corner of the screen.it doesnt give you the size of the window it gives you the rectangle on screen where the window is

okay and how would I turn that into coordinates for the overlay?

if I have the x,y and for cornerns isnt it just x,y for top corner rect.Left, rect.Top

Okay, now it draws it on top but if I focus the application, it dissapears how do I make the overlay stay and follow

close and open notepad again and then re-run your app

well i think before you made the notepad window top most as well on accident

im not using notepad anymore im using Epic Games Launcher rn

it was just easier to type but let me check its fully closed

well if the window you are trying to get above isnt top most and yours doesnt stay above it then yours isnt top most either

hm, idk I just always want to have the overlay on top of the window i dont care about other things getting in front, as long as its on top of the actual window i want

yes, im not sure why its not top most bcuz ur passing in -1

but right now, when I jsut focus epic games launcher, it just hides behind it and if I focus something else, it hides behind that aswell

ooh i forgot about the flags read the docs about the flags of setwindowpos closely and the remarks maybe

eh i dont understand it really there is many maybe this one SWP_SHOWWINDOW - Displays the window

well it was already showing so not really

hmm maybe not a flag so your overlay window is not showing above the epic games launcher?

right when I launch it, it shows but as soon as I focus the launcher, it just goes behind like any other application would like when you focus something behind someting else on windows, it just goes beheind i found this in the remarks

they couldve written that better

i dont totally understand it

A window can be made a topmost window either by setting the hWndInsertAfter parameter to HWND_TOPMOST and ensuring that the SWP_NOZORDER flag is not set, or by setting a window's position in the Z order so that it is above any existing topmost windows.show me your code again

ah you didnt pass in a width and height into to setwindowposition, maybe thats an issue?

I did before, and it was the same issue

im clueless let me search my own code looks fine to

I also just tried to do it on the MainWindow of just the application it self, to check it wasnt something weird with epic games launcher but still it just hides behind when I focus the other window

you did change the int to an intptr right?

okay <:PES_Think:639363477458255874>

it gets shown but as soon as I click anywhere on the window under, it just goes behind

ok so what if you look into the wpf window properties maybe there is a setting to set it as topmost probably. that should solve it

like when you change properties of a label no in the editor

ah I can do TopMost = true on the window

but, now it draws over eveything else lol is that meant to happen

yes, its all or nothing sadly

:/ wish you could do something like WindowIWannaDrawOverZ+1

yeah that would be nice but unfortunatly not

okay well still also How would I make it follow the window its drawed on around? I can make like a tick or smth, i havent tried that before

you need a timer to have something happen repeatedly i think thats also a wpf thing in the editor? im going to sleep soon, you will probably also have to make your window click-trough if its not yet

Im just gonna try something, but thanks so fucking much I would have never figured this out without you

just a quick final question

getting to know internals and modifying linux?

how can I make the Handle to the overlaywindow outside of the DrawOverlay()? I can't use this outside of the method

make it a field in your overlay class also your drawoverlay method is doing too much right now, to make the code more readable you should divide it in multiple functions which each do only one thing add some DRY (dont repeat yourself) and SRP (single responsability principle) to your code

okay is it a bad idea to get the WindowSize of the window under a lot of times

30 times a second should be enough for sure and fine only as much as nescessary

I will look into it tommorow, sleep well, and thanks for the help

this is gonna be harder a simple topmost window probably wont work on fullscreen games one way i know that is used to to hook into the graphics api and draw that means you need to implement that for every graphics api that a game may use or find an implementation/lib or you can try a topmost window and see if it works

i just really dont wanna fiddle with injection, as the game has an anti cheat, and I don’t wanna get banned… So I've tried to create a timer, but it doesn't update the WindowPos for some odd reason. I have the following as a Timer.Elapsed event:

But, this doesn't update the position of the overlay for some reason, however the text get changed to the right thing, it updates like it should to the new rect coordinates. but the windowposition of the overlay never changes

this wont trigger it you wouldnt be modifying any of the games files fraps is open source iirc you can check at how they did it if their implementation still works

How do I create a pop up window in WPF?

First, in window. xaml we will define a button and pass the values to it's Click property that is the name of the event generated on the clicking of the Show popup button. ... .

Next, we will create a class, in that two events are generated, Show_Click and Hide_Click..

How do I make a window appear in the center of WPF?

To open a new window and have it centred on the screen, set the WindowStartupLocation property to CenterScreen. You can do this using the XAML or in code before the window is displayed.

What is the position of the maximized window in WPF?

WPF Window has Top and Left properties that specifies the window's location. However, if you maximize the window these properties keep the values of the window in it's normal state. If you´re running on a single-screen setup, the maximized position is naturally (0,0).

How do I create a dockable window in WPF?

Getting Started with The Docking Manager.

In Visual Studio, create a new WPF project. ... .

Install Syncfusion. ... .

Add DockingManager to the window using the namespace prefix. ... .

Add child controls to create your docking window. ... .

Set headers for the docking windows using the attached property Header of the docking manager..