So I'm trying to create a tooltip at some point on the screen.
ToolTip tip = new ToolTip();
tip.Show("foobar", **IWin32Window window**, new Point(100, 100))
The problem is I don't know what to insert as the window
parameter in the above. My app runs entirely out of the system tray, and has no other GUI elements. It's called notifyIcon1
. That is created through Form1
. Neither of these values work when plugged in to tip.Show().
How can I generate a tooltip anywhere on my screen using only the system tray?
Thanks.
The IWin32Window interface is a simple interface that only provides a IntPtr
property named Handle
. Feasibly something like this should work:
using System;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
using System.Windows.Forms;
namespace SO_ToolTip
{
public partial class Form1 : Form
{
[DllImport("user32.dll")]
public static extern IntPtr GetDesktopWindow();
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
WindowWrapper windowWrapper = new WindowWrapper(GetDesktopWindow());
ToolTip toolTip = new ToolTip();
toolTip.Show("Blah blah... Blah blah... Blah blah...", windowWrapper, 1, 1, 10000);
}
}
public class WindowWrapper : IWin32Window
{
public WindowWrapper(IntPtr handle)
{
Handle = handle;
}
public IntPtr Handle { get; protected set; }
}
}
But it doesn't. It complains about a NullReferenceException and I haven't debugged further. This does work:
...
private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
ToolTip toolTip = new ToolTip();
toolTip.Show("Blah blah... Blah blah... Blah blah...", this, 1, 1, 10000);
}
...
Although the position is relative to the current form. Maybe that will get you going in the right direction.
Edit: Even this doesn't work so I'm not sure if it's an issue with WindowWrapper (how?) or what:
...
private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
WindowWrapper windowWrapper = new WindowWrapper(this.Handle);
ToolTip toolTip = new ToolTip();
toolTip.Show("Blah blah... Blah blah... Blah blah...", windowWrapper, 1, 1, 10000);
}
...
Here you go, use a transparent, maximized form that you BringToFront()
before showing the ToolTip
Form1 Code:
using System;
using System.Windows.Forms;
namespace SO_ToolTip
{
public partial class Form1 : Form
{
Random _Random = new Random();
ToolTip _ToolTip = new ToolTip();
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
private void timer1_Tick(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
BringToFront();
_ToolTip.Show("Blah blah... Blah blah... Blah blah...", this, _Random.Next(0, Width), _Random.Next(0, Height), 10000);
}
}
}
Form1 Designer Code: So you can see the forms properties:
namespace SO_ToolTip
{
partial class Form1
{
/// <summary>
/// Required designer variable.
/// </summary>
private System.ComponentModel.IContainer components = null;
/// <summary>
/// Clean up any resources being used.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="disposing">true if managed resources should be disposed; otherwise, false.</param>
protected override void Dispose(bool disposing)
{
if (disposing && (components != null))
{
components.Dispose();
}
base.Dispose(disposing);
}
#region Windows Form Designer generated code
/// <summary>
/// Required method for Designer support - do not modify
/// the contents of this method with the code editor.
/// </summary>
private void InitializeComponent()
{
this.components = new System.ComponentModel.Container();
this.timer1 = new System.Windows.Forms.Timer(this.components);
this.SuspendLayout();
//
// timer1
//
this.timer1.Enabled = true;
this.timer1.Interval = 1000;
this.timer1.Tick += new System.EventHandler(this.timer1_Tick);
//
// Form1
//
this.AutoScaleDimensions = new System.Drawing.SizeF(6F, 13F);
this.AutoScaleMode = System.Windows.Forms.AutoScaleMode.Font;
this.ClientSize = new System.Drawing.Size(284, 264);
this.ControlBox = false;
this.MaximizeBox = false;
this.MinimizeBox = false;
this.Name = "Form1";
this.Opacity = 0;
this.ShowIcon = false;
this.ShowInTaskbar = false;
this.WindowState = System.Windows.Forms.FormWindowState.Maximized;
this.ResumeLayout(false);
}
#endregion
private System.Windows.Forms.Timer timer1;
}
}
Joining late to the party:
In case you prefer/need to have WPF window:
private class ToolTipWPFWindow : Window
{
private readonly TextBlock m_txtToDisplay = new TextBlock();
private readonly DispatcherTimer m_timer = new DispatcherTimer();
public ToolTipWindow(string p_strStringToDisplay, int p_intXOnScreen = 0, int p_intYOnScreen = 0, double p_dblDurationInMilliSeconds = 1500)
{
if (p_intXOnScreen == 0 && p_intYOnScreen == 0)
{
p_intXOnScreen = System.Windows.Forms.Cursor.Position.X;
p_intYOnScreen = System.Windows.Forms.Cursor.Position.Y;
}
m_txtToDisplay.Text = p_strStringToDisplay;
m_txtToDisplay.Margin = new Thickness(3);
Background = new SolidColorBrush(Colors.LightGoldenrodYellow);
ShowInTaskbar = false;
ResizeMode = System.Windows.ResizeMode.NoResize;
Topmost = true;
// Location on screen - As Set
WindowStartupLocation = WindowStartupLocation.Manual;
Left = p_intXOnScreen;
Top = p_intYOnScreen;
WindowStyle = WindowStyle.None;
SizeToContent = SizeToContent.WidthAndHeight;
Content = m_txtToDisplay;
m_timer.Interval = TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(p_dblDurationInMilliSeconds);
m_timer.Tick += timer_Tick;
m_timer.Start();
}
private void timer_Tick(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if (m_timer != null)
{
m_timer.Stop();
m_timer.Tick -= timer_Tick;
}
Close();
}
Usage:
// Display the ToolTip Window to the right of the Cursor
int intX = Cursor.Position.X + 20;
int intY = Cursor.Position.Y;
ToolTipWindow wpfWindow = new ToolTipWindow("Text To Display", intX, intY, 800);
wpfWindow.Show();
Result:
I didn't implement the Mouse leave event, since I've used short display duration.