mouse event in mdi client.

Question

0.00/5 (No votes)

See more:

Hi,

I have a MDI Form as the main form in my application.
I would like to do something when the mouse clicks down on the main grey space in which the child forms appear.

However, when using the MouseDown event handler, the event does not seem to fire.
Is there something simple I'm missing here? Does the 'grey space' count as part of the MDI form?

Code sample below:

C#

public class MyMdiForm : Form
{
   
    public MyMdiForm
    {
       this.MouseDown += new System.Windows.Forms.MouseEventHandler(MyMdiForm_MouseDown);
    }
   
    public void MyMdiForm_MouseDown(object sender, MouseEventArgs e)
    {
        // This should fire when clicking on the grey space?
        // I want to do something here.
    }
}

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Posted 19-Nov-11 22:39pm

Santoshshrest

Updated 19-Nov-11 22:41pm

André Kraak

v2

Add a Solution

3 solutions

Solution 1

I was also surprised to try and find that these events don't fire.

One option might be to dock (and fill) a panel control in the area which would be the workspace background and handle the mouse click on that. Add a panel and simply set ists colour to the default workspace background and you would never know it was there.

I'm sure there must be more elegant solutions, but you would need to dig around on the big G, or see what others come up with.

Posted 19-Nov-11 23:31pm

DaveAuld

Comments

Santoshshrest 20-Nov-11 6:15am

but this solution does not allow me to do the multiple task...
even though i do, there is still problem i.e, panel blocking the child form.
thank you...

DaveAuld 20-Nov-11 8:53am

The panel sits behind the child forms.......

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov 20-Nov-11 19:13pm

Oh yes, there are more elegant solutions... :-) Please see mine, for example.
--SA

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov 20-Nov-11 19:15pm

Speaking of MDI: gray background belongs to another window which HWND is not exposed in .NET, called "MDI Client", it is an implicit child of MDIParent and holds all the MDIChildren. So, no wonder the event is not fired, as OP installs it on MDIParent, and "MDI Client" is not exposed. Using it, rendering any graphics on it, modification of its behavior is a known set of the problems. Why bothering?

Again, see my solution. :-)
--SA

Solution 2

Do yourself a great favor: do not use MDI at all. You can do much easier to implement design without it, with much better quality. MDI is highly discouraged even by Microsoft, in fact, Microsoft dropped it out of WPF and will hardly support it. More importantly, you will scare off all your users if you use MDI. Just don't. I can explain what to do instead.

Please see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_document_interface#Disadvantages[^] — Wikipedia,
Question on using MDI windows in WPF[^],
MDIContainer giving error[^] — SA,
How to Create MDI Parent Window in WPF?[^] — Wayne Gaylard.

[EDIT]

Please see my comment to the Dave's answer where I try to explain why the event is not fired. Why bothering?

—SA

Posted 20-Nov-11 13:12pm

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov

Updated 20-Nov-11 13:18pm

v3

Comments

Santoshshrest 21-Nov-11 3:07am

if not using mdi then what shuld sdi...
what about the main form...
the other form may over lap it..
what can be the solution that using the sdi form we can do multifle task...
mdi can be the solution for this..
any way thanks for the response...
i know the mdi is old interface design.. but every one use this...
i dont have any choice...
its may be i am new to .net

Add a Solution

Add your solution here

Treat my content as plain text, not as HTML

Preview 0

…

Existing Members

Sign in to your account

...or Join us

Download, Vote, Comment, Publish.

Your Email
Password
Forgot your password?

Your Email
This email is in use. Do you need your password?
Optional Password

I have read and agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
Please subscribe me to the CodeProject newsletters

When answering a question please:

Read the question carefully.
Understand that English isn't everyone's first language so be lenient of bad spelling and grammar.
If a question is poorly phrased then either ask for clarification, ignore it, or edit the question and fix the problem. Insults are not welcome.
Don't tell someone to read the manual. Chances are they have and don't get it. Provide an answer or move on to the next question.

Let's work to help developers, not make them feel stupid.

This content, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)

Santoshshrest · Accepted Answer · 2011-11-21T20:17:00

I have found the solution for this event.... but it carries some error..

C#

protected override void WndProc(ref Message m)
       {
           Screen Src = Screen.PrimaryScreen;
           if ( m.Msg == (int)WM_LBUTTONDOWN)
           {
               int x = m.LParam.ToInt32() & Src.Bounds.Width;
               int y = m.LParam.ToInt32() & Src.Bounds.Height;
               OnMDIMouseLBtnDown(new MouseEventArgs(MouseButtons.Left, 1, x, y, 0));
               OnMDIMouseLBtnDown(new MouseEventArgs(System.Windows.Forms.MouseButtons.Left, 1, x, y, 0));
           }
           else if (m.Msg == (int)WM_NCMOUSEMOVE || m.Msg == WM_MOUSEMOVE)
           {
               int x = m.LParam.ToInt32() & Src.WorkingArea.X;
               int y = m.LParam.ToInt32() & Src.WorkingArea.Y;
               OnMDIMouseMove(new MouseEventArgs(MouseButtons.None, 0, m.LParam.ToInt32(), m.LParam.ToInt32(), 0));
           }
           base.WndProc(ref m);
       }

       protected virtual void OnMDIMouseLBtnDown(MouseEventArgs e)
       {
           if (e.X <=250 && e.Y >=200)
           {
               MessageBox.Show("X: " + (e.X).ToString() + Environment.NewLine +
                              "Y: " + (e.Y).ToString() + Environment.NewLine);
           }
       }

       protected virtual void OnMDIMouseMove(MouseEventArgs e)
       {
           MessageBox.Show("X: " + (e.X).ToString() + Environment.NewLine +
                           "Y: " + (e.Y).ToString());
       }

but mdi form does not notice wm_mousemove...
it only detects the wm_mouseactivate,
what can be the solution..
moreover i am unable to find the accurate mouse location...