Some "secrets" of Windows Taskbar
How to press a "Start" button from your program:
procedure TForm1.PressStart(Sender: TObject);
var
hTaskBar, hButton : HWND;
hDCScreen : HDC;
ScreenHeight : DWORD;
begin
//find "Start" button
hDCScreen := GetDC(0);
ScreenHeight :=GetDeviceCaps(hDCScreen,VERTRES);
ReleaseDC(0, hDCScreen);
hTaskBar := FindWindow('Shell_TrayWnd', nil);
hButton := GetWindow(hTaskBar, GW_CHILD);
//press "Start" button
SendMessage(hButton, WM_LBUTTONDOWN,MK_LBUTTON,LOWORD(5)+
HIWORD(ScreenHeight-20));
//hide "Start" button
ShowWindow(hButton, SW_HIDE);
Sleep(2000);
//show "Start" button
ShowWindow(hButton, SW_NORMAL);
end;
How to hide and show Windows Taskbar:
procedure TForm1.HideTaskBar(Sender: TObject);
var
H : HWND;
begin
H := FindWindow('Shell_TrayWnd', nil);
ShowWindow(H, SW_HIDE);
Sleep(2000);
ShowWindow(H, SW_SHOW);
end;
How to hide an application button from Windows Taskbar:
procedure TForm1.HideButton(Sender: TObject);
begin
ShowWindow(Application.Handle,SW_HIDE);
end;
procedure TForm1.ShowButton(Sender: TObject);
begin
ShowWindow(Application.Handle,SW_SHOW);
end;
The same example, but using Windows API:
var
m_hWnd : HWND;
hMain : HWND;
procedure TForm1.CreateWindow(Sender: TObject);
begin
m_hWnd :=CreateWindowEx(0,'staic', '', WS_POPUP, 0,0,1600,1200,
0, 0, 0, nil);
hMain := CreateWindowEx (0,'static', 'Main window',
WS_POPUP + WS_VISIBLE, 40,50,200,300,m_hWnd, 0, 0, nil);
end;
procedure TForm1.HideWindow(Sender: TObject);
begin
//hide button
ShowWindow(hMain,SW_HIDE);
end;
procedure TForm1.ShowWindow(Sender: TObject);
begin
//show button
ShowWindow(hMain,SW_SHOW);
end;