Tip 120: Minimizing Program Manager When Visual Basic Is Run

July 1, 1995
Abstract
You can minimize a specific Microsoft Windows-based application each time you laun
ch another Windows-based application. This article explains how you can minimize
Windows Program Manager each time you run Microsoft Visual Basic. The same techn
ique can be applied to any other Windows-based program.
Launching Applications While Minimizing Others
In some situations, such as when you want to keep your desktop as clean as possi
ble, you may want to launch a specific application by first minimizing Microsoft
Windows Program Manager (or Windows Explorer). This can be done very easily in Mi
crosoft Visual Basic.
Let's assume that each time you load Visual Basic in order to design a new proje
ct, you want to minimize Program Manager. After you have finished working in Vis
ual Basic, you want Program Manager to be restored to its normal, maximized stat
e.
To accomplish this task in Visual Basic, you need to use two Windows application
programming interface (API) functions. The FindWindow function returns the hand
le of the window that matches the name of your target window. In this case, you
want to find the handle of the window belonging to Program Manager. Therefore, y
ou tell FindWindow to find the first window whose window name is "Program Manage
r".
When you have the Program Manager window handle, you use the WindowState propert
y in Visual Basic to minimize your program's window. This means that your Visual
Basic program runs quietly in the background, waiting for Visual Basic to be ru
n.
Approximately once every second, the program checks the computer system to see w
hether Visual Basic has been run. This is done in the Timer1 routine in the exam
ple program that follows. If the FindWindow function determines that Visual Basi
c is running in memory, it uses the ShowWindow function to minimize the Program
Manager window. Alternatively, if the FindWindow function finds that Visual Basi
c is not running, it tells ShowWindow to maximize the Program Manager window.
You can modify this example program to monitor any Windows-based application. In
addition, you might want to add this program to your Windows Startup group so t
hat it runs each time you start Windows.
Example Program
This program shows how to minimize Program Manager each time you run Visual Basi
c. When you quit Visual Basic, Program Manager is restored to its original, maxi
mized state.
Create a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
Add the following Dim, Constant, and Declare statements to the General Declarati
ons section of Form1 (note that each Declare statement must be typed as a single
line of code):
Private Declare Function FindWindow Lib "User" (lpClassName As Any, lpWindowName
As Any) As Integer
Private Declare Function ShowWindow Lib "User" (ByVal hWnd As Integer, ByVal
nCmdShow As Integer) As Integer
Const SW_MINIMIZE = 6
Const SW_RESTORE = 9
Dim pm_hwnd As Integer
Dim vb_hwnd As Integer
Dim R As Integer
Dim Flag As Integer
Dim VBS As String
Add the following code to the Form_Load event for Form1:
Private Sub Form_Load()
Dim PMS As String

PMS = "Program Manager"
VBS = "Microsoft Visual Basic - Project1 [design]"
pm_hwnd = FindWindow(ByVal 0&, ByVal PMS)
Form1.WindowState = 1
Flag = False
End Sub
Add a Timer control to Form1. Timer1 is created by default. Set its TimerInterva
l property to 1.
Add the following code to the Timer1 event for Timer1:
Private Sub Timer1_Timer()
vb_hwnd = FindWindow(ByVal 0&, ByVal VBS)
If Flag = False Then
If vb_hwnd <> 0 Then
Flag = True
R = ShowWindow(pm_hwnd, SW_MINIMIZE)
End If
Else
If vb_hwnd = 0 Then
Flag = False
R = ShowWindow(pm_hwnd, SW_RESTORE)
End If
End If
End Sub
On the File menu in Visual Basic, click Make EXE File. Save the file as MINPM.EX
E.
On the File menu in Program Manager, click Run. Type the program's name as MINPM
.EXE and click OK. The MINPM program is now running in memory. When you start Vi
sual Basic, Program Manager will be minimized on the desktop. As soon as you qui
t Visual Basic, Program Manager will be maximized.