Win32, C++: Creating a popup window without stealing focus

Question

I am creating a program that displays a popup at certain times (just like some chat clients for example) on which the user can click. However, I do not want to take away the focus from the current application.

The way I'm doing it now is by using a HWND with WS_POPUPWINDOW and minimizing and then restoring the window. However, this steals the focus from the current application. Setting foreground or hiding and showing a window did not make it appear on the foreground. I would like to be able to keep using a HWND so I can use other elements in this window, but I have no idea how to give it foreground without stealing focus.

I use win32 and c++.

Answer 1

To show without activating:

ShowWindow(hwnd, SW_SHOWNOACTIVATE);

To raise without activating:

SetWindowPos(hwnd, HWND_TOP, 0, 0, 0, 0, SWP_NOMOVE|SWP_NOSIZE|SWP_NOACTIVATE);