Binaryworld - Change the ShowInTaskbar property at runtime ... [ VB -> Forms & Controls ]

The ShowInTaskbar property lets you decide whether a form is visible in Windows taskbar or not. However, this property is read-only at runtime, so it seems that you can't change this setting while the program is running. Luckly, you just need to change the window's style, using a pair of API functions, and you can stuff all the code in just one line:

Click here to copy the following block

Private Declare Function GetWindowLong Lib "user32" Alias "GetWindowLongA" _
  (ByVal hWnd As Long, ByVal nIndex As Long) As Long
Private Declare Function SetWindowLong Lib "user32" Alias "SetWindowLongA" _
  (ByVal hWnd As Long, ByVal nIndex As Long, ByVal dwNewLong As Long) As Long
Private Const GWL_EXSTYLE = (-20)
Private Const WS_EX_APPWINDOW = &H40000

Private Sub Form_Load()
  ' hide this form from the taskbar
  SetWindowLong Me.hWnd, GWL_EXSTYLE, (GetWindowLong(hWnd, _
    GWL_EXSTYLE) And Not WS_EX_APPWINDOW)
End Sub

The next example demonstate that you can use the same approach to force a form to display itself in the taskbar:

Click here to copy the following block

Private Sub Form_Load()
  ' show this form on the taskbar
  SetWindowLong Me.hWnd, GWL_EXSTYLE, (GetWindowLong(hWnd, _
    GWL_EXSTYLE) Or WS_EX_APPWINDOW)
End Sub

Notice that changing the form's style in this way works only when the form hasn't become visible yet, so you should put this code in the Form_Load event procedure.