Any way to make an application run frameless ?

plainman007 · 11-16-2008, 05:36 AM

Can i make an application window run frameless with no title bar (so no controls to close minimize the window etc) and with no task bar button at the bottom either ?
I tried a few kiosk applications but haven't found one that does frameless windows. I need this for an industrial pc where only 1 software is supposed to run. So i want it to run frameless so that it cat be minimized or closed either by mistake. The system is such that only that 1 software is installed after windows XP. That system has only 1 purpose and that is to open that particular software. So by putting it in startup we can ensure that when the system boots it starts with this software. The user can also power down directly (set to hibernate), but never shutting down the program. Is there something that can just make the application frameless ? The rest is handled by the kiosk software so there is no other possibility of windows functions or other applications/ drives etc being accessed. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks.

RickJ5 · 11-16-2008, 04:41 PM

I'm not sure if your trying to write an application to run frameless or make an existing application run frameless. I'm not sure how to do it with an existing application, but I fired up Visual Basic .NET and ran a couple tests. By setting the Form's ControlBox property to false the form still has a title bar, but the minimize, restore, and close buttons are gone. It still shows on the taskbar, but you can't right click the taskbar button and close it. If you don't want it to show on the taskbar at all then change the Form's ShowInTaskbar property to false too.

plainman007 · 11-17-2008, 01:04 AM

Rick, this is for an existing application. Can it be done ? I just want there to be no possibility to close the applications window. I have found a way to run it full screen but need to disable the title bar. Any work around ?

RickJ5 · 11-17-2008, 02:54 AM

I'm not sure if you can do it for an existing application. I just knew it was possible if you were writing an application using Visual Basic .NET so I went ahead and looked it up for you.

plainman007 · 11-17-2008, 09:00 AM

Hmmmmm. Any workarounds Rick ? Such as, can we prohibit the mouse from moving onto the task bar. Any ideas ?

RickJ5 · 11-17-2008, 05:27 PM

I can only think of one thing and I'm not sure that would work and it would require a custom program to be written. A while back I saw a program that allowed you to up the priority on other programs that were running. So, you can at least change the priority of a program that is already running. I don't know if maybe you could also change something for a program that was running so it couldn't be shut down. I just checked in Windows Task Manager and you can set a priority for a process and also set the affinity for which CPU it can run on, but those were the only choices available. Those may be the only things you can change on a process.

zsaz1029 · 11-17-2008, 05:39 PM

I would suggest consulting a software engineer or something.

/shrug

RickJ5 · 11-17-2008, 05:44 PM

I just started up Visual Basic .NET and looked around and found the Process class. I found some properties that you can change to set the priority and the affinity for the process, so this is likely the right class. I didn't find anything you could set or change to stop the process from being shut down. I did have another thought though. One thing that might be possible is to write a program that periodically checks to see if the other program is running and if it isn't then it starts it. That wouldn't prevent it from being shut down, but it would start it running again if it was shut down. I did write a program a while back that looped through the list of all processes running on the machine. The purpose was to find out which programs I could sent key strokes to. That same loop could also be used to check and see if a program was running on the system. I'm pretty sure you can write code in a program to have it start another program. Then all you would have to do is setup a timer so the code ran at regular intervals. That's probably the best solution I can come up with for you. But, again it would require a custom program.

plainman007 · 11-20-2008, 12:38 PM

Hi Rick,

Your right in that this might require some custom programming. Because though the end is very simple it still needs someone to write code for it since probably noone ever had a need to stop a program from being shutdown. Its more like a very simple but niche need. But i think we cant to do the rotational check thing Rick. Cause the said program is an automation that will be in the middle of a critical process. Causing it to shut and restart even for a fraction of a second can lose the flow and it will start at the begining. Its a industrial robotic application. And forcing it to shut down while its processing a 1 hr job will ruin the entire purpose. In this situation we need to stop the shutdown from ever happening so that the main process is not disturbed. I think the simplest way is to prohibit the mouse from moving to within 20pixels from the top edge of the screen. I think the perfect solution for this would be a small prog that would prevent mouse movement onto the titlebar. This allows the main program to run undisturbed. Ive seen a programmer doing a program which prevented a mouse from running onto the second screen of a dualscreen monitor. This will have to be something that can run from the taskbar near clock panel so that it runs as a background process without a window of its own. CAN YOU WRITE A SMALL PROG LIKE THAT RICK since you have programming skills.....I would be greatly indebted.

XJ. · 11-20-2008, 12:46 PM

You can overload the close button function so that it does nothing (or pops up a nasty gram dialog). What OS are you using and what programming language?

plainman007 · 11-20-2008, 12:56 PM

XJ > Hi, i know nothing about programming. Im using a commercial automation control software which is going to run on a dedicated pc. Nothing but the os and this application will be loaded on the system. It would be gr8 if some fellow member here can write a small program to prevent the mouse going into the the title bar area of the screen. If its possibly a small thing to write and create. If it not a simple program to just write up in a few minutes, do plz forgive my ignorance since i have only a paltry knowledge of programming and was trained in prehistoric turbo pascal and gw basic back in those days.

XJ. · 11-20-2008, 01:37 PM

Are you able to modify the automation program's code?

Or, do you need a separate standalone application to limit the mouse pointer's range of motion?

plainman007 · 11-20-2008, 02:29 PM

Just a seperate stand alone that would limit the mouse to not move onto the title bar. Or deactivate it so that it doesnt respond should suffice. I dont know if we can do anything with the automation software since all i have is an .exe. Not the code.

Im sorry i didnt mention, id be running windows xp pro.
Just a program that would limit the mouses movement to not cross the title bar area would do the trick. I have a small kiosk program in the background which deactivates the ctrl+alt+del or the ctrl+F4 etc so theres no other way to close the window.
Thanks.

zsaz1029 · 11-22-2008, 02:02 AM

Is the software interactive? Is there a user? Or can you just run the box with no keyboard/mouse attached?

XJ. · 11-22-2008, 01:20 PM

Well, this isn't a trivial task. There are ways to be notified of specific GUI events - but I'm not sure this would be 100% reliable.

Have you tried other kiosk applications, maybe there are better ones than the one you used.

11-16-2008, 05:36 AM	#1
plainman007 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 377	Any way to make an application run frameless ? Can i make an application window run frameless with no title bar (so no controls to close minimize the window etc) and with no task bar button at the bottom either ? I tried a few kiosk applications but haven't found one that does frameless windows. I need this for an industrial pc where only 1 software is supposed to run. So i want it to run frameless so that it cat be minimized or closed either by mistake. The system is such that only that 1 software is installed after windows XP. That system has only 1 purpose and that is to open that particular software. So by putting it in startup we can ensure that when the system boots it starts with this software. The user can also power down directly (set to hibernate), but never shutting down the program. Is there something that can just make the application frameless ? The rest is handled by the kiosk software so there is no other possibility of windows functions or other applications/ drives etc being accessed. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks. Last edited by plainman007; 11-16-2008 at 06:03 AM.. Reason: typo errors
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11-16-2008, 04:41 PM	#2
RickJ5 Registered User Join Date: May 2003 Location: Chicago Posts: 259	Re: Any way to make an application run frameless ? I'm not sure if your trying to write an application to run frameless or make an existing application run frameless. I'm not sure how to do it with an existing application, but I fired up Visual Basic .NET and ran a couple tests. By setting the Form's ControlBox property to false the form still has a title bar, but the minimize, restore, and close buttons are gone. It still shows on the taskbar, but you can't right click the taskbar button and close it. If you don't want it to show on the taskbar at all then change the Form's ShowInTaskbar property to false too. __________________ Everyday PC: Asus P4C800-E, P4 2.8C, 1 gig Corsair PC4000, ATI 9800 Pro, Audigy 2 Platinum eX, Hauppauge PVR-350, Highpoint RocketRAID 404, 3 WD SE 100 gig drives, 1 WD 80 gig drive, Plextor 40/12/40A, Lite On DVD, Antec 550, Antec 1240 VCR PC: Gigabyte GA-8KNXP, P4 2.8C, 1 gig Mushkin PC3500 Level II, ATI 9800 AIW, Audigy 2 Platinum, Beagle Software ClockCard, 2 WD 74 gig Raptor drives, 2 WD SE 120 gig drives, Plextor 48/24/48A, Lite On DVD, Enermax 550, Chieftec 6 external bay case in black Last edited by RickJ5; 11-16-2008 at 04:46 PM.. Reason: Add more detail
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11-17-2008, 01:04 AM	#3
plainman007 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 377	Re: Any way to make an application run frameless ? Rick, this is for an existing application. Can it be done ? I just want there to be no possibility to close the applications window. I have found a way to run it full screen but need to disable the title bar. Any work around ?
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11-17-2008, 02:54 AM	#4
RickJ5 Registered User Join Date: May 2003 Location: Chicago Posts: 259	Re: Any way to make an application run frameless ? I'm not sure if you can do it for an existing application. I just knew it was possible if you were writing an application using Visual Basic .NET so I went ahead and looked it up for you. __________________ Everyday PC: Asus P4C800-E, P4 2.8C, 1 gig Corsair PC4000, ATI 9800 Pro, Audigy 2 Platinum eX, Hauppauge PVR-350, Highpoint RocketRAID 404, 3 WD SE 100 gig drives, 1 WD 80 gig drive, Plextor 40/12/40A, Lite On DVD, Antec 550, Antec 1240 VCR PC: Gigabyte GA-8KNXP, P4 2.8C, 1 gig Mushkin PC3500 Level II, ATI 9800 AIW, Audigy 2 Platinum, Beagle Software ClockCard, 2 WD 74 gig Raptor drives, 2 WD SE 120 gig drives, Plextor 48/24/48A, Lite On DVD, Enermax 550, Chieftec 6 external bay case in black
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11-17-2008, 09:00 AM	#5
plainman007 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 377	Re: Any way to make an application run frameless ? Hmmmmm. Any workarounds Rick ? Such as, can we prohibit the mouse from moving onto the task bar. Any ideas ?
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11-17-2008, 05:27 PM	#6
RickJ5 Registered User Join Date: May 2003 Location: Chicago Posts: 259	Re: Any way to make an application run frameless ? I can only think of one thing and I'm not sure that would work and it would require a custom program to be written. A while back I saw a program that allowed you to up the priority on other programs that were running. So, you can at least change the priority of a program that is already running. I don't know if maybe you could also change something for a program that was running so it couldn't be shut down. I just checked in Windows Task Manager and you can set a priority for a process and also set the affinity for which CPU it can run on, but those were the only choices available. Those may be the only things you can change on a process. __________________ Everyday PC: Asus P4C800-E, P4 2.8C, 1 gig Corsair PC4000, ATI 9800 Pro, Audigy 2 Platinum eX, Hauppauge PVR-350, Highpoint RocketRAID 404, 3 WD SE 100 gig drives, 1 WD 80 gig drive, Plextor 40/12/40A, Lite On DVD, Antec 550, Antec 1240 VCR PC: Gigabyte GA-8KNXP, P4 2.8C, 1 gig Mushkin PC3500 Level II, ATI 9800 AIW, Audigy 2 Platinum, Beagle Software ClockCard, 2 WD 74 gig Raptor drives, 2 WD SE 120 gig drives, Plextor 48/24/48A, Lite On DVD, Enermax 550, Chieftec 6 external bay case in black
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11-17-2008, 05:39 PM	#7
zsaz1029 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 2,200	Re: Any way to make an application run frameless ? I would suggest consulting a software engineer or something. /shrug __________________ Spaz ----- ----- "A scar is never the same as good flesh, but it stops the bleeding." -- FitzChivalry Farseer (Assassin's Quest by Robin Hobb) "Only my pain is more silent than my anger." -- Amber (The Liveship Traders by Robin Hobb) -----
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11-17-2008, 05:44 PM	#8
RickJ5 Registered User Join Date: May 2003 Location: Chicago Posts: 259	Re: Any way to make an application run frameless ? I just started up Visual Basic .NET and looked around and found the Process class. I found some properties that you can change to set the priority and the affinity for the process, so this is likely the right class. I didn't find anything you could set or change to stop the process from being shut down. I did have another thought though. One thing that might be possible is to write a program that periodically checks to see if the other program is running and if it isn't then it starts it. That wouldn't prevent it from being shut down, but it would start it running again if it was shut down. I did write a program a while back that looped through the list of all processes running on the machine. The purpose was to find out which programs I could sent key strokes to. That same loop could also be used to check and see if a program was running on the system. I'm pretty sure you can write code in a program to have it start another program. Then all you would have to do is setup a timer so the code ran at regular intervals. That's probably the best solution I can come up with for you. But, again it would require a custom program. __________________ Everyday PC: Asus P4C800-E, P4 2.8C, 1 gig Corsair PC4000, ATI 9800 Pro, Audigy 2 Platinum eX, Hauppauge PVR-350, Highpoint RocketRAID 404, 3 WD SE 100 gig drives, 1 WD 80 gig drive, Plextor 40/12/40A, Lite On DVD, Antec 550, Antec 1240 VCR PC: Gigabyte GA-8KNXP, P4 2.8C, 1 gig Mushkin PC3500 Level II, ATI 9800 AIW, Audigy 2 Platinum, Beagle Software ClockCard, 2 WD 74 gig Raptor drives, 2 WD SE 120 gig drives, Plextor 48/24/48A, Lite On DVD, Enermax 550, Chieftec 6 external bay case in black
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11-20-2008, 12:38 PM	#9
plainman007 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 377	Re: Any way to make an application run frameless ? Hi Rick, Your right in that this might require some custom programming. Because though the end is very simple it still needs someone to write code for it since probably noone ever had a need to stop a program from being shutdown. Its more like a very simple but niche need. But i think we cant to do the rotational check thing Rick. Cause the said program is an automation that will be in the middle of a critical process. Causing it to shut and restart even for a fraction of a second can lose the flow and it will start at the begining. Its a industrial robotic application. And forcing it to shut down while its processing a 1 hr job will ruin the entire purpose. In this situation we need to stop the shutdown from ever happening so that the main process is not disturbed. I think the simplest way is to prohibit the mouse from moving to within 20pixels from the top edge of the screen. I think the perfect solution for this would be a small prog that would prevent mouse movement onto the titlebar. This allows the main program to run undisturbed. Ive seen a programmer doing a program which prevented a mouse from running onto the second screen of a dualscreen monitor. This will have to be something that can run from the taskbar near clock panel so that it runs as a background process without a window of its own. CAN YOU WRITE A SMALL PROG LIKE THAT RICK since you have programming skills.....I would be greatly indebted.
(Offline)

11-20-2008, 12:46 PM	#10
XJ. Back at the Zone! Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: NH, USA Posts: 6,365	Re: Any way to make an application run frameless ? You can overload the close button function so that it does nothing (or pops up a nasty gram dialog). What OS are you using and what programming language? __________________ Folding temporarily on hold :-(
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11-20-2008, 12:56 PM	#11
plainman007 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 377	Re: Any way to make an application run frameless ? XJ > Hi, i know nothing about programming. Im using a commercial automation control software which is going to run on a dedicated pc. Nothing but the os and this application will be loaded on the system. It would be gr8 if some fellow member here can write a small program to prevent the mouse going into the the title bar area of the screen. If its possibly a small thing to write and create. If it not a simple program to just write up in a few minutes, do plz forgive my ignorance since i have only a paltry knowledge of programming and was trained in prehistoric turbo pascal and gw basic back in those days.
(Offline)

11-20-2008, 01:37 PM	#12
XJ. Back at the Zone! Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: NH, USA Posts: 6,365	Re: Any way to make an application run frameless ? Are you able to modify the automation program's code? Or, do you need a separate standalone application to limit the mouse pointer's range of motion? __________________ Folding temporarily on hold :-(
(Offline)

11-20-2008, 02:29 PM	#13
plainman007 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 377	Re: Any way to make an application run frameless ? Just a seperate stand alone that would limit the mouse to not move onto the title bar. Or deactivate it so that it doesnt respond should suffice. I dont know if we can do anything with the automation software since all i have is an .exe. Not the code. Im sorry i didnt mention, id be running windows xp pro. Just a program that would limit the mouses movement to not cross the title bar area would do the trick. I have a small kiosk program in the background which deactivates the ctrl+alt+del or the ctrl+F4 etc so theres no other way to close the window. Thanks.
(Offline)

11-22-2008, 02:02 AM	#14
zsaz1029 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 2,200	Re: Any way to make an application run frameless ? Is the software interactive? Is there a user? Or can you just run the box with no keyboard/mouse attached? __________________ Spaz ----- ----- "A scar is never the same as good flesh, but it stops the bleeding." -- FitzChivalry Farseer (Assassin's Quest by Robin Hobb) "Only my pain is more silent than my anger." -- Amber (The Liveship Traders by Robin Hobb) -----
(Offline)

11-22-2008, 01:20 PM	#15
XJ. Back at the Zone! Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: NH, USA Posts: 6,365	Re: Any way to make an application run frameless ? Well, this isn't a trivial task. There are ways to be notified of specific GUI events - but I'm not sure this would be 100% reliable. Have you tried other kiosk applications, maybe there are better ones than the one you used. __________________ Folding temporarily on hold :-(
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