TaskbarNotifier, a skinnable MSN Messenger-like popup in C# and now in VB.NET too

Introduction

Since I am learning C#, I thought it would be helpful for me to port my C++ CTaskbarNotifier class (http://www.codeproject.com/dialog/TaskbarNotifier.asp[ ^])

As a result, I coded a MSN Messenger-like skinnable popup, with a close button which looks almost like Microsoft's one (with the associated skin).

The TaskbarNotifier class inherits from System.Windows.Forms.Form and adds a few methods to it.

Features

The MSN messenger like popup supports:

A custom transparent bitmap background
A skinnable 3-State close button
A clickable title text
A clickable content text
A selection rectangle
Custom fonts and colors for the different states of the text (normal/hover)
Animation speed parameters

Compatibility

This class is stand alone and doesn't need any particular libraries except .NET default ones. It runs in managed code and hence should be portable.

How to use the class

First of all, copy TaskbarNotifier.cs in your project directory.
Add on the top of your source code the directive:
```
using CustomUIControls;
```
Add a member variable in your class:
```
TaskbarNotifier taskbarNotifier;
```

In your constructor add the following lines:

taskbarNotifier=new TaskbarNotifier();
taskbarNotifier.SetBackgroundBitmap("skin.bmp",
                    Color.FromArgb(255,0,255));
taskbarNotifier.SetCloseBitmap("close.bmp",
        Color.FromArgb(255,0,255),new Point(127,8));
taskbarNotifier.TitleRectangle=new Rectangle(40,9,70,25);
taskbarNotifier.ContentRectangle=new Rectangle(8,41,133,68);
taskbarNotifier.TitleClick+=new EventHandler(TitleClick);
taskbarNotifier.ContentClick+=new EventHandler(ContentClick);
taskbarNotifier.CloseClick+=new EventHandler(CloseClick);

Details:

taskbarNotifier.SetBackgroundBitmap("skin.bmp",
                    Color.FromArgb(255,0,255));
taskbarNotifier.SetCloseBitmap("close.bmp",
    Color.FromArgb(255,0,255),new Point(127,8));

The first line sets the background bitmap skin and transparency color (must be present), and the second line sets the 3-State close button with its transparency color and its location on the window (this line is optional if you don't want a close button).

taskbarNotifier.TitleRectangle=new Rectangle(40,9,70,25);
taskbarNotifier.ContentRectangle=new Rectangle(8,41,133,68);

These two lines allow us to define the rectangles in which will be displayed, the title and content texts.

taskbarNotifier.TitleClick+=new EventHandler(OnTitleClick);
taskbarNotifier.ContentClick+=new EventHandler(OnContentClick);
taskbarNotifier.CloseClick+=new EventHandler(OnCloseClick);

These 3 lines allow us to intercept events on the popup such as title/content or close button have been clicked

Then we are done, we just need to call:
```
taskbarNotifier.Show("TitleText","ContentText",500,3000,500);
```
This will show the popup animation with the showing/visible/hiding animations time set as 500ms/3000ms/500ms.

You can play with a few properties:

Title, content fonts and colors
Ability to click or not on the title/content/close button
You can disable the focus rect
... (see below for more details)

Class documentation

Methods

void Show(string strTitle, string strContent, int nTimeToShow, 
                                            int nTimeToStay, int nTimeToHide)

Displays the popup for a certain amount of time.

Parameters

strTitle: The string which will be shown as the title of the popup
strContent: The string which will be shown as the content of the popup
nTimeToShow: Duration of the showing animation (in milliseconds)
nTimeToStay: Duration of the visible state before collapsing (in milliseconds)
nTimeToHide: Duration of the hiding animation (in milliseconds)

void Hide()

Forces the popup to hide.

void SetBackgroundBitmap(string strFilename, Color transparencyColor)

Sets the background bitmap and its transparency color.

Parameters

strFilename: Path of the background bitmap on the disk
transparencyColor: Color of the bitmap which won't be visible

void SetBackgroundBitmap(Image image, Color transparencyColor)

Sets the background bitmap and its transparency color.

Parameters

image: Background bitmap

transparencyColor: Color of the bitmap which won't be visible

void SetCloseBitmap(string strFilename, 
            Color transparencyColor, Point position)

Sets the 3-State close button bitmap, its transparency color and its coordinates.

Parameters

strFilename: Path of the 3-state close button bitmap on the disk (width must be a multiple of 3)
transparencyColor: Color of the bitmap which won't be visible
position: Location of the close button on the popup

void SetCloseBitmap(Image image, Color transparencyColor, Point position)

Sets the 3-State close button bitmap, its transparency color and its coordinates.

Parameters

image: Image/Bitmap object which represents the 3-state close button bitmap (width must be a multiple of 3)
transparencyColor: Color of the bitmap which won't be visible
position: Location of the close button on the popup

Properties

string TitleText (get/set)
string ContentText (get/set)
TaskbarStates TaskbarState (get)
Color NormalTitleColor (get/set)
Color HoverTitleColor (get/set)
Color NormalContentColor (get/set)
Color HoverContentColor (get/set)
Font NormalTitleFont (get/set)
Font HoverTitleFont (get/set)
Font NormalContentFont (get/set)
Font HoverContentFont (get/set)
Rectangle TitleRectangle (get/set) //must be defined before calling show())
Rectangle ContentRectangle (get/set) //must be defined before calling show())
bool TitleClickable (get/set) (default = false);
bool ContentClickable (get/set) (default = true);
bool CloseClickable (get/set) (default = true);
bool EnableSelectionRectangle (get/set) (default = true);

Events

event EventHandler CloseClick
event EventHandler TitleClick
event EventHandler ContentClick

Technical issues

The popup is skinned using a region generated dynamically from a bitmap and a transparency color:

protected Region BitmapToRegion(Bitmap bitmap, Color transparencyColor)
{
    if (bitmap == null)
        throw new ArgumentNullException("Bitmap", "Bitmap cannot be null!");

    int height = bitmap.Height;
    int width = bitmap.Width;

    GraphicsPath path = new GraphicsPath();

    for (int j=0; j<height; j++ )
        for (int i=0; i<width; i++)
        {
            if (bitmap.GetPixel(i, j) == transparencyColor)
                continue;

            int x0 = i;

            while ((i < width) && 
                    (bitmap.GetPixel(i, j) != transparencyColor))
                i++;

            path.AddRectangle(new Rectangle(x0, j, i-x0, 1));
        }

    Region region = new Region(path);
    path.Dispose();
    return region;
}

The refresh() of the popup is done using the double buffering technique to avoid flickering:

protected override void OnPaintBackground(PaintEventArgs pea)
{
    Graphics grfx = pea.Graphics;
    grfx.PageUnit = GraphicsUnit.Pixel;

    Graphics offScreenGraphics;
    Bitmap offscreenBitmap;

    offscreenBitmap = new Bitmap(BackgroundBitmap.Width, 
                                BackgroundBitmap.Height);
    offScreenGraphics = Graphics.FromImage(offscreenBitmap);

    if (BackgroundBitmap != null)
    {
        offScreenGraphics.DrawImage(BackgroundBitmap, 
            0, 0, BackgroundBitmap.Width, BackgroundBitmap.Height);
    }

    DrawCloseButton(offScreenGraphics);
    DrawText(offScreenGraphics);

    grfx.DrawImage(offscreenBitmap, 0, 0);
}

Bugs/Limitations

Since I wanted to keep only managed code, I used the Screen.GetWorkingArea(WorkAreaRectangle) function instead of using unmanaged code to get the taskbar position. As a result, I made the popup always appear at the bottom of WorkAreaRectangle whichever position the taskbar has.

I didn't find any C# managed equivalent to the Win32 function ShowWindow(SW_SHOWNOACTIVATE) to make the popup, not steal the focus of the active window.

Updates

01 April 2003: Small bug fix in the OnMouseUp handler.
11 January 2003: Patrick Vanden Driessche updated both the C# and VB.NET versions:
- The popup now doesn't close automatically when the mouse is still over it
- The popup is shown again when it was disappearing and the mouse comes over it
- A few other bugs have been corrected.
10 January 2003: A port of TaskbarNotifier has been done by Patrick Vanden Driessche in VB.NET
05 December 2002: The popup is now shown using the Win32 function ShowWindow(SW_SHOWNOACTIVATE), to prevent the popup from stealing the focus.

Conclusion

I hope this code will be useful to you. If you have suggestions to enhance this class functionalities, please post a comment.

License

This article, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under A Public Domain dedication

About the Author

John O'Byrne

Web Developer

United States

Member

I live in Santa Clara CA and work as a software engineer for SAP Business Objects.

My areas of expertise are user interface developments in Eclipse RCP / SWT / Draw 2D and C#

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Comments and Discussions

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Really terrific, Thanks!

Jamie Simon

8:26 24 Apr '09

This is great. A certain co-worker's been bugging me for this for months, and thanks to your code I was able to bang this in quickly! Kudos! -- Jamie
Sign In·View Thread·Permalink	1.00/5 (1 vote)

missing resource file

ottilia

6:47 4 Apr '09

please help i am getting this message Additional information: Resource 'skin.bmp' could not be found in class 'filecopy.frmBackup'. the resources(bmp files) are in the project
Sign In·View Thread·Permalink	1.14/5 (6 votes)

ASP.NET

Siphiwe

2:37 25 Mar '09

Would it be possible to apply the same principle in asp.net application, if so please advise of the solution siphiwe.khuzwayo@standardbank.co.za
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VB 2005 skin.bmp

roscael

18:16 25 Feb '09

i have a problem "An error occurred creating the form. See Exception.InnerException for details. The error is: Resource 'skin.bmp' cannot be found in class 'task.Form1'" I tray save images in bin/debug (when in debug modE) and bin/release (when in release mode) but nothing
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Re: VB 2005 skin.bmp

klemmax

5:36 26 Feb '09

Try this: in "solution view" right click on the bmp -> properties -> in build action dropdown select "Embedded resource" then rebuild KlemMax
Sign In·View Thread·Permalink	3.00/5 (4 votes)

Re: VB 2005 skin.bmp

roscael

7:26 26 Feb '09

thanks gracias!!!!!!!!, that was
Sign In·View Thread·Permalink	2.00/5 (1 vote)

Focus stealing woes

r_hyde

1:54 24 Feb '09

Generally, the notifier works as advertised and does not steal focus. However, if I set CloseClickable to true and add a CloseClicked event which calls Hide(), the next time I display a new notifier it does steal focus from whatever window is active (system-wide). If I let the focus-stealing popup disappear on its own then the next one to come up won't steal focus - it only happens on the next one, following one that is closed through the CloseClicked handler. This is driving me crazy, I can't figure out why it's doing this!

Re: Focus stealing woes [modified]

r_hyde

17:20 25 Feb '09

Ah, I've got it solved! I removed TopMost from the constructor, P/Invoked SetWindowPos(), and modified the switch (taskbarState) block in Show() as follows:

int left, top, width, height;
switch (taskbarState)
{
  case TaskbarStates.hidden:
    taskbarState = TaskbarStates.appearing;
    this.Opacity = 0.0;
    left = WorkAreaRectangle.Right - BackgroundBitmap.Width - nPadding - nBaseWindowRight;
    top = WorkAreaRectangle.Bottom - BackgroundBitmap.Height - nPadding - nBaseWindowBottom;
    width = BackgroundBitmap.Width;
    height = BackgroundBitmap.Height;
    SetWindowPos(this.Handle, -1, left, top, width, height, 0x0010);
    timer.Interval = nShowEvents;
    timer.Start();
 
    // Show the popup without stealing focus
    ShowWindow(this.Handle, 4);
    break;
 
  case TaskbarStates.appearing:
    Refresh();
    break;
 
  case TaskbarStates.visible:
    timer.Stop();
    timer.Interval = nVisibleEvents;
    timer.Start();
    Refresh();
    break;
 
  case TaskbarStates.disappearing:
    timer.Stop();
    taskbarState = TaskbarStates.visible;
    left = WorkAreaRectangle.Right - BackgroundBitmap.Width - nPadding - nBaseWindowRight;
    top = WorkAreaRectangle.Bottom - nPadding - nBaseWindowBottom;
    width = BackgroundBitmap.Width;
    height = 0;
    SetWindowPos(this.Handle, -1, left, top, width, height, 0x0010);
    timer.Interval = nVisibleEvents;
    timer.Start();
    Refresh();
    break;
}

I'm still not sure why the notifier was taking focus in such a limited way, but at least this made it stop. Now if only we had a 100% managed way to do this in WinForms, that would be excellent!

modified on Wednesday, February 25, 2009 10:34 PM

Re: Focus stealing woes

Josh Powers

9:04 27 Feb '09

I am having the same problem you were but when i try to impliment what you stated above I just get nothing. Any chance you could post a more complete code listing of your changes? Also where did the nPadding and nBaseWindowRight variables come from, the version I have doesnt have those variables.
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Re: Focus stealing woes [modified]

r_hyde

17:25 28 Feb '09

nPadding and nBaseWindowRight are part of Crusty Applesniffer's modification, which you can find by browsing the comments here. As for my code changes, they are as follows:

The modified constructor:

#region TaskbarNotifier Constructor
/// <summary>
/// The Constructor for TaskbarNotifier
/// </summary>
public TaskbarNotifier()
{
	// Window Style
	FormBorderStyle = FormBorderStyle.None;
	WindowState = FormWindowState.Minimized;
	base.Show();
	base.Hide();
	WindowState = FormWindowState.Normal;
	ShowInTaskbar = false;
	//TopMost = true;
	MaximizeBox = false;
	MinimizeBox = false;
	ControlBox = false;
	
	timer.Enabled = true;
	timer.Tick += new EventHandler(OnTimer);
}
#endregion

...the P/Invoke signature for SetWindowPos():

[DllImport("user32.dll")]
protected static extern bool SetWindowPos(IntPtr hWnd,
  Int32 hWndInsertAfter, Int32 X, Int32 Y, Int32 cx, Int32 cy, uint uFlags);

...and the entire Show() method (modified from the stock code, without any of Crusty Applesniffer's or my own modifications previously applied):

/// <summary>
/// Displays the popup for a certain amount of time
/// </summary>
/// <param name="strTitle">The string which will be shown as the title of the popup</param>
/// <param name="strContent">The string which will be shown as the content of the popup</param>
/// <param name="nTimeToShow">Duration of the showing animation (in milliseconds)</param>
/// <param name="nTimeToStay">Duration of the visible state before collapsing (in milliseconds)</param>
/// <param name="nTimeToHide">Duration of the hiding animation (in milliseconds)</param>
/// <returns>Nothing</returns>
public void Show(string strTitle, string strContent, int nTimeToShow, int nTimeToStay, int nTimeToHide)
{
	WorkAreaRectangle = Screen.GetWorkingArea(WorkAreaRectangle);
	titleText = strTitle;
	contentText = strContent;
	nVisibleEvents = nTimeToStay;
	CalculateMouseRectangles();
 
	// We calculate the pixel increment and the timer value for the showing animation
	int nEvents;
	if (nTimeToShow > 10)
	{
		nEvents = Math.Min((nTimeToShow / 10), BackgroundBitmap.Height);
		nShowEvents = nTimeToShow / nEvents;
		nIncrementShow = BackgroundBitmap.Height / nEvents;
	}
	else
	{
		nShowEvents = 10;
		nIncrementShow = BackgroundBitmap.Height;
	}
 
	// We calculate the pixel increment and the timer value for the hiding animation
	if( nTimeToHide > 10)
	{
		nEvents = Math.Min((nTimeToHide / 10), BackgroundBitmap.Height);
		nHideEvents = nTimeToHide / nEvents;
		nIncrementHide = BackgroundBitmap.Height / nEvents;
	}
	else
	{
		nHideEvents = 10;
		nIncrementHide = BackgroundBitmap.Height;
	}
 
	switch (taskbarState)
	{
		case TaskbarStates.hidden:
			taskbarState = TaskbarStates.appearing;
			SetWindowPos(
				this.Handle, 
				-1, 
				WorkAreaRectangle.Right - BackgroundBitmap.Width, 
				WorkAreaRectangle.Bottom - BackgroundBitmap.Height, 
				BackgroundBitmap.Width, 
				BackgroundBitmap.Height, 
				0x0010
			);
			timer.Interval = nShowEvents;
			timer.Start();
			// We Show the popup without stealing focus
			ShowWindow(this.Handle, 4);
			break;
 
		case TaskbarStates.appearing:
			Refresh();
			break;
 
		case TaskbarStates.visible:
			timer.Stop();
			timer.Interval = nVisibleEvents;
			timer.Start();
			Refresh();
			break;
 
		case TaskbarStates.disappearing:
			timer.Stop();
			taskbarState = TaskbarStates.visible;
			SetWindowPos(
				this.Handle, 
				-1, 
				WorkAreaRectangle.Right - BackgroundBitmap.Width, 
				WorkAreaRectangle.Bottom, 
				BackgroundBitmap.Width, 
				0, 
				0x0010
			);
			timer.Interval = nVisibleEvents;
			timer.Start();
			Refresh();
			break;
	}
}

Hope this helps!

modified on Saturday, February 28, 2009 10:45 PM

Re: Focus stealing woes

nraMartin

3:48 10 Feb '10

Try turning off `TopMost=true` (in the Constructor) and in the `Show()` method, add a `BringToFront()` when taskbar is appearing. E.g. case TaskbarStates.appearing: BringToFront(); Refresh(); break; Then it all works beautifully. I can post my modified class if anyone needs it.
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Use in VB.NET and Visual Studio 2008

itmanager8815

13:38 16 Feb '09

I tried using the VB.NET code in a VB.NET project and got a whole bunch of errors. For starters, TaskbarNotifier.ContentRectangle was not recognized. Has anyone got this to work with VB.NET and VS 2008?
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Display HTML or web page

RiceRocket

10:42 29 Jan '09

Has anyone modified the code to display HTML content? Wondering if it's possible to do, say with the WebBrowser control and maintaining the skin?
Sign In·View Thread·Permalink	2.67/5 (3 votes)

skin problem(C#)

picaleo

17:02 26 Jan '09

Hi Sir,

I am going to use that Notifier in my school project. That's pretty good.

Now i am facing with the skin problem.
I am using VS2008(C#). When I am add that TaskBarNotifier form into my project and "skin2.bmp" and "close2.bmp" to my project>images, no error in compilation. But when i run, the error comes out like
">>>Resource 'images\skin2.bmp' cannot be found in class 'MyProject.MyForm'.<<<<"
in this following line
>>> TaskBarNotifier.SetBackgroundBitmap(new Bitmap(GetType(), "images\\skin2.bmp"), Color.FromArgb(255, 0, 255));<<

I have tried to add image again and chage the Build property to "Embedded resources". But same error.

Please help me how to fix it.

Thanks

Re: skin problem(C#)

karanme

18:59 20 Feb '09

Write
string skinIamge = Path.GetDirectoryName(Application.ExecutablePath) + @"\Images\skin2.bmp";

string closeImage = Path.GetDirectoryName(Application.ExecutablePath) + @"\Images\close2.bmp";

And Insted of this

TaskBarNotifier.SetBackgroundBitmap(new Bitmap(GetType(), "images\\skin2.bmp"), Color.FromArgb(255, 0, 255));

Write

TaskBarNotifier.SetBackgroundBitmap(Image.FromFile(skinIamge), Color.FromArgb(255, 0, 255));
TaskBarNotifier.SetCloseBitmap(Image.FromFile(closeImage), Color.FromArgb(255, 0, 255), new Point(220, 8));

how to spread on multiple lines ?

almasih

20:48 21 Jan '09

how to spread on multiple lines...on the text ?, help..
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Transparent Layers look here!!

newspicy

5:29 18 Jan '09

Hi all!

I just first want to thanks for a good tutorial.
And second i offer a small change if you all want to put some transparence/opacity on your layers, i guess you would Wink | ;)

first:

in TaskbarNotifier.cs
Go directly to this section "TaskbarNotifier Public Methods"

#region TaskbarNotifier Public Methods

//// include here this lines ///

[DllImport("user32.dll")]
private static extern Boolean SetLayeredWindowAttributes(IntPtr hWnd, uint crkey, Byte bAlpha, Int32 dwFlags);

[DllImport("user32.dll")]
private static extern uint SetWindowLong(IntPtr hWnd , int nIndex, uint dwNewLong);

[DllImport("user32.dll")]
private static extern uint GetWindowLong(IntPtr hWnd, int nIndex);

static readonly int GWL_EXSTYLE = (-20);
public const int WS_EX_LAYERED = 0x80000;
public const int LWA_ALPHA = 0x2;

#endregion

right?
now in the function Show(....) little below you only write like this...

public void Show(string strTitle, string strContent, int nTimeToShow, int nTimeToStay, int nTimeToHide)
{

//

// This is the color, but its not to be used anyway, so put a value here.
uint c = 0x00FF00FF;

// Set WS_EX_LAYERED on this window
SetWindowLong(this.Handle,GWL_EXSTYLE, GetWindowLong(this.Handle, GWL_EXSTYLE) | WS_EX_LAYERED);

// Make this windows have the alpha value 125 from (0-255)
SetLayeredWindowAttributes(this.Handle, c, 125, LWA_ALPHA);

... more codes here, but let it be...

}

And thats it

Good luck!

Cheers

Betzie

what if I use Window form to display taskbar notification that is the popup?

Member 4449318

19:45 11 Jan '09

Can any one tell what are disadvantages if I use window form as pop up notification. I have set formborderstyle as none and button overlapping the close image, and had set the button back color as transparent.
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about skin file

sahahima

1:25 5 Jan '09

hi i got struck doing this while add my own .bmp file, how to add new bmp file in the project? i am working in vb.net 2.0 urgent please reply soon
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Re: about skin file

Schuege

23:53 5 Jan '09

just import the bmp and change the property "Build action" to embedded resource That works fine!
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Re: about skin file

sahahima

20:13 11 Jan '09

Hello Schuege Thanks a lot, it is working fine......... Thanks & Regards Hima
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Drop Shadow around image

Schuege

5:43 23 Dec '08

Hello, is it possible to drop a shadow around the image that pops up? It is not possible to show a transparant png image. Does anyone have a solutions for this question? Kind regards
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Error

trenskow

1:54 22 Dec '08

Hi I am gettings this error when trying to run it An unhandled exception of type 'System.NullReferenceException' occurred in DumpFileHandlerGUI.exe Additional information: Object reference not set to an instance of an object. in this line nEvents = Math.Min((nTimeToShow / 10), BackgroundBitmap.Height); Does anyone know how to fix this?
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