- 1 year ago
VB.NET - ShowInTaskBar doesn't work with a theme
The ShowInTaskbar
property in VB.NET allows you to control whether the form should be displayed in the taskbar or not. However, it is important to note that the behavior of this property can be affected by the current theme settings on the operating system.
In some cases, certain themes or visual styles may override the ShowInTaskbar
setting and enforce a specific behavior for taskbar visibility. This can result in the form still being displayed in the taskbar even when ShowInTaskbar
is set to False
.
If you are experiencing this issue where the ShowInTaskbar
property is not working as expected due to the theme settings, you can try the following approaches:
Use the
SetWindowLong
API: You can use theSetWindowLong
API function to modify the extended window style of the form and hide it from the taskbar. Here's an example of how you can use it:vbImports System.Runtime.InteropServices
Public Class Form1
Inherits Form
Private Const GWL_EXSTYLE As Integer = -20
Private Const WS_EX_APPWINDOW As Integer = &H40000
<DllImport("user32.dll", SetLastError:=True)>
Private Shared Function SetWindowLong(hWnd As IntPtr, nIndex As Integer, dwNewLong As Integer) As Integer
End Function
Protected Overrides Sub OnLoad(e As EventArgs)
MyBase.OnLoad(e)
' Hide the form from the taskbar
SetWindowLong(Handle, GWL_EXSTYLE, GetWindowLong(Handle, GWL_EXSTYLE) And Not WS_EX_APPWINDOW)
End Sub
End Class
This approach modifies the extended window style of the form to remove the
WS_EX_APPWINDOW
flag, which is responsible for displaying the form in the taskbar.Modify the application manifest: Another approach is to modify the application manifest to explicitly specify the desired behavior for taskbar visibility. You can include the
taskbar
element in the manifest and set its value tofalse
to indicate that the form should not be displayed in the taskbar.To modify the application manifest, follow these steps:
Right-click on your project in the Solution Explorer and select "Properties".
In the project properties window, go to the "Application" tab.
Click on the "View Windows Settings" button to open the application manifest file.
Locate the
<application>
element and add the following line within it:xml<taskbar>false</taskbar>
Save the manifest file and rebuild your project.
This approach ensures that the taskbar visibility setting is explicitly defined in the application manifest.
By using one of these approaches, you can override the default behavior affected by the theme settings and control the taskbar visibility of your VB.NET application form more effectively.