How do I find out if the desktop is in the foreground or is the active window?

Question

 What i want to find out is if the desktop is shown (i.e. in the foreground) and no other applications are visible (i.e. all minimized). I would think this is a very quick process using either GetDesktopWindow(), GetForegroundWindow() or GetTopWindow().

 Any way to do this easily in C# using Pinvoke or .NET libraries?

Answer 1

Hi Kwacks,

Based on my understanding, you want to minimize all windows on the desktop and show desktop. Please have a try using the following sample code through Type.InvokeMember Method. Correct me if I misunderstand you.

        private Type typeShell = null;
        private object objShell = Type.Missing;

        // Invoke MinimizeAll to minimize all windows on the desktop 
        private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            // Get the type from Shell.Application
            typeShell = Type.GetTypeFromProgID("Shell.Application");

            // Create object objShell from the type typeShell
            objShell = Activator.CreateInstance(typeShell);

            // Invoke MinimizeAll to show the desktop
            typeShell.InvokeMember("MinimizeAll", System.Reflection.BindingFlags.InvokeMethod, null, objShell, null);
        }

        // Invoke UndoMinimizeAll to restore all the Desktop windows
        private void button2_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            typeShell = Type.GetTypeFromProgID("Shell.Application");
            objShell = Activator.CreateInstance(typeShell);
            typeShell.InvokeMember("UndoMinimizeAll", System.Reflection.BindingFlags.InvokeMethod, null, objShell, null);
        }

Best regards,
Guo

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