asked on
Help me get started on a VB .Net Application--docking toolbar form
I am a fairly experienced VB 6 programmer and ASPX VB.NET developer about to build my first .NET VB Application, but the requirements of the program are such that I'm not even sure where I would start the form design in VB6.
The application needs functionality very similar to that of the old Microsoft Office toolbar. I need it to be one form that will:
* "dock" to the top or bottom of the screen (either right above the Windows Start Menu or at the very top of the screen).
*It needs to fill the width of the screen no matter what resolution the user is running (if running multiple monitors it should stay on the monitor that has the Start Menu
*When docked, it needs to always be visible. It's not that it can be "always on top"; I don't want pieces of programs hidden behind it. Rather, it needs to take that screen real estate and maximized programs should not go there (i.e. if the Start Menu was double height)
The program also needs to be able to "float" as a window when not docked, and when floating it needs to not be modal, and just act like a normal window.
When in Window mode I want the application to have an item in the TaskBar; when docked I do not want the item there.
I'm not looking for exact code to do this (necissarily) but does anyone have a place (web site, print book, etc.) where they can point me to at least get started developing something that meets these criteria?
The application needs functionality very similar to that of the old Microsoft Office toolbar. I need it to be one form that will:
* "dock" to the top or bottom of the screen (either right above the Windows Start Menu or at the very top of the screen).
*It needs to fill the width of the screen no matter what resolution the user is running (if running multiple monitors it should stay on the monitor that has the Start Menu
*When docked, it needs to always be visible. It's not that it can be "always on top"; I don't want pieces of programs hidden behind it. Rather, it needs to take that screen real estate and maximized programs should not go there (i.e. if the Start Menu was double height)
The program also needs to be able to "float" as a window when not docked, and when floating it needs to not be modal, and just act like a normal window.
When in Window mode I want the application to have an item in the TaskBar; when docked I do not want the item there.
I'm not looking for exact code to do this (necissarily) but does anyone have a place (web site, print book, etc.) where they can point me to at least get started developing something that meets these criteria?
.NET ProgrammingVisual Basic.NET
Last Comment
Mike Tomlinson