How to make Taskbar Flash on Lost Focus

Question

I stumbled on this code below and tried to implement it in my WinForm App to help my users as many are very NOT tech-savy.

Unfortunately, it does nothing. It does not generate any errors or anything. It just doesn't make it Flash.

Can anyone offer any insight? I have tried it on Win 7(x64) & Win XP (x86) with the same results on both.

I am calling it like so --> TaskbarFlasher.FlashWindow(this); From my Main Form.

[DllImport("user32.dll")]
 private extern static bool FlashWindow(IntPtr hwnd, bool bInvert);
 [DllImport("user32.dll")]
 private extern static IntPtr GetForegroundWindow();

 /// <summary>
 /// Notifies the user that the application requests attention
 /// by flashing the taskbar if the form is not the current window.
 /// </summary>
 /// <param name="myForm">The form in question.</param>
 public static void FlashWindow(Form myForm)
 {
  // if the current foreground window isn't this window,
  // flash this window in task bar once every 1 second
  if (GetForegroundWindow() != myForm.Handle)
  {
   FlashWindow(myForm.Handle, true);
  }
 }

Answer 1

Nevermind, I figured it out with the Following Links Help --> http://pietschsoft.com/post/2009/01/26/CSharp-Flash-Window-in-Taskbar-via-Win32-FlashWindowEx.aspx

Thanks Chris Pietschmann from a fellow SO Wisconsinite!!

public static class FlashWindow
{
    [DllImport("user32.dll")]
    [return: MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.Bool)]
    private static extern bool FlashWindowEx(ref FLASHWINFO pwfi);
    [StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
    private struct FLASHWINFO
    {
        /// <summary>
        /// The size of the structure in bytes.
        /// </summary>
        public uint cbSize;
        /// <summary>
        /// A Handle to the Window to be Flashed. The window can be either opened or minimized.
        /// </summary>
        public IntPtr hwnd;
        /// <summary>
        /// The Flash Status.
        /// </summary>
        public uint dwFlags;
        /// <summary>
        /// The number of times to Flash the window.
        /// </summary>
        public uint uCount;
        /// <summary>
        /// The rate at which the Window is to be flashed, in milliseconds. If Zero, the function uses the default cursor blink rate.
        /// </summary>
        public uint dwTimeout;
    }
    /// <summary>
    /// Stop flashing. The system restores the window to its original stae.
    /// </summary>
    public const uint FLASHW_STOP = 0;

    /// <summary>
    /// Flash the window caption.
    /// </summary>
    public const uint FLASHW_CAPTION = 1;

    /// <summary>
    /// Flash the taskbar button.
    /// </summary>
    public const uint FLASHW_TRAY = 2;

    /// <summary>
    /// Flash both the window caption and taskbar button.
    /// This is equivalent to setting the FLASHW_CAPTION | FLASHW_TRAY flags.
    /// </summary>
    public const uint FLASHW_ALL = 3;
    /// <summary>
    /// Flash continuously, until the FLASHW_STOP flag is set.
    /// </summary>
    public const uint FLASHW_TIMER = 4;
    /// <summary>
    /// Flash continuously until the window comes to the foreground.
    /// </summary>
    public const uint FLASHW_TIMERNOFG = 12;

    /// <summary>
    /// Flash the spacified Window (Form) until it recieves focus.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="form">The Form (Window) to Flash.</param>
    /// <returns></returns>
    public static bool Flash(System.Windows.Forms.Form form)
    {
        // Make sure we're running under Windows 2000 or later
        if (Win2000OrLater)
        {
            FLASHWINFO fi = Create_FLASHWINFO(form.Handle, FLASHW_ALL | FLASHW_TIMERNOFG, uint.MaxValue, 0);
            return FlashWindowEx(ref fi);
        }
        return false;
    }
    private static FLASHWINFO Create_FLASHWINFO(IntPtr handle, uint flags, uint count, uint timeout)
    {
        FLASHWINFO fi = new FLASHWINFO();
        fi.cbSize = Convert.ToUInt32(Marshal.SizeOf(fi));
        fi.hwnd = handle;
        fi.dwFlags = flags;
        fi.uCount = count;
        fi.dwTimeout = timeout;
        return fi;
    }
    /// <summary>
    /// Flash the specified Window (form) for the specified number of times
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="form">The Form (Window) to Flash.</param>
    /// <param name="count">The number of times to Flash.</param>
    /// <returns></returns>
    public static bool Flash(System.Windows.Forms.Form form, uint count)
    {
        if (Win2000OrLater)
        {
            FLASHWINFO fi = Create_FLASHWINFO(form.Handle, FLASHW_ALL, count, 0);
            return FlashWindowEx(ref fi);
        }
        return false;
    }
    /// <summary>
    /// Start Flashing the specified Window (form)
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="form">The Form (Window) to Flash.</param>
    /// <returns></returns>
    public static bool Start(System.Windows.Forms.Form form)
    {
        if (Win2000OrLater)
        {
            FLASHWINFO fi = Create_FLASHWINFO(form.Handle, FLASHW_ALL, uint.MaxValue, 0);
            return FlashWindowEx(ref fi);
        }
        return false;
    }
    /// <summary>
    /// Stop Flashing the specified Window (form)
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="form"></param>
    /// <returns></returns>
    public static bool Stop(System.Windows.Forms.Form form)
    {
        if (Win2000OrLater)
        {
            FLASHWINFO fi = Create_FLASHWINFO(form.Handle, FLASHW_STOP, uint.MaxValue, 0);
            return FlashWindowEx(ref fi);
        }
        return false;
    }
    /// <summary>
    /// A boolean value indicating whether the application is running on Windows 2000 or later.
    /// </summary>
    private static bool Win2000OrLater
    {
        get { return System.Environment.OSVersion.Version.Major >= 5; }
    }
}