Z-Order problem with tool windows

Docking/MDI for Windows Forms Forum

Posted 18 years ago by Thierry Bouchard
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Hi,

I am trying to figure out while the whole application isnt showing up when I click on my app in the task bar, but instead only the last tool window that had focus is showing. I remember having such a problem with MFC and non-modal dialogs and setting the parent of the non-modal dialog to something valid would always ensure that the parent window would show behind the non-modal dialog in the Z-Order. Unfortunately, it doesnt seem to be as simple here.

Basically, the problem occurs when I switch between my application and another fullscreen application AND there is a toolwindow opened in my application. When I switch back to my application, sometimes, only the toolwindow is shown over the other app and the main form of my application is not bringed back to top , and sometimes, my form is shown correctly with the toolwindow above it.

Is there a way to always have the proper behavior, i.e. my Form showing under the tool window? Is there something wrong with Actipro or is it something that is more related to a Windows bug? Am I missing a flag somewhere, I dunno? Any help is very appreciated.

Thx

Comments (2)

Posted 18 years ago by Actipro Software Support - Cleveland, OH, USA
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Hi Thierry,

For floating tool windows we do set the Owner for the containing Form to the Form that contains (or is) the DockManager.HostContainerControl. So per Windows Forms behavior, if the tool window is focused then the DockManager.HostContainerControl's parent Form should also be brought into view.

If you are seeing some other behavior then perhaps it is a core Windows Forms bug. I tried to get it to happen here but was unable. If you can figure out repro steps in our sample project then please post them and we can look into it more to see if it is something we can work around.


Actipro Software Support

Posted 18 years ago by Thierry Bouchard
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I was able to reproduce it once with the DockControls sample this morning but now I can't reproduce it. It seems pretty random, its just like at some point I was able to "slide" another window (not from the application Im testing on) between the main form and the tool window. I guess Ill just be stuck with this behavior.

Thx for the help
The latest build of this product (v24.1.0) was released 1 month ago, which was after the last post in this thread.

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