Resize 3rd Party Application

[nittnitt]

Public Class Form1
    Const LWA_COLORKEY As Int32 = 1
    Const LWA_ALPHA As Int32 = 2
    Const GWL_EXSTYLE As Int32 = (-20)
    Const WS_EX_LAYERED As Int32 = 524288
    Private Declare Function apiGetWindowLong Lib "user32" Alias "GetWindowLongA" (ByVal hWnd As Int32, ByVal nIndex As Int32) As Int32
    Private Declare Function apiSetWindowLong Lib "user32" Alias "SetWindowLongA" (ByVal hWnd As Int32, ByVal nIndex As Int32, ByVal dwNewLong As Int32) As Int32
    Private Declare Function apiSetLayeredWindowAttributes Lib "user32" Alias "SetLayeredWindowAttributes" (ByVal hWnd As Int32, ByVal crKey As Int32, ByVal bAlpha As Byte, ByVal dwFlags As Int32) As Int32
    Dim nhwnd As Int32

    Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
        Dim p As New System.Diagnostics.Process
        p = Process.Start("notepad")
        p.WaitForInputIdle()
        nhwnd = p.MainWindowHandle.ToInt32
        TrackBar1.Maximum = 255
        TrackBar1.Value = 100
    End Sub

    Private Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
        Transparency(nhwnd, 100) 'Set transparency to 100, or anywhere between 0-255.  Use a trackbar if you want.
    End Sub

    Private Sub Transparency(ByVal hwnd As Int32, ByVal sOpacity As Int32)
        Dim Ret As Int32 = apiGetWindowLong(hwnd, GWL_EXSTYLE)  'Set the window style to 'Layered'
        Ret = Ret Or WS_EX_LAYERED
        apiSetWindowLong(hwnd, GWL_EXSTYLE, Ret)
        apiSetLayeredWindowAttributes(hwnd, 0, sOpacity, LWA_ALPHA) 'Set the opacity of the layered window
    End Sub

    Private Sub TrackBar1_Scroll(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles TrackBar1.Scroll
        Transparency(nhwnd, TrackBar1.Value)
    End Sub
End Class

first of all im sorry for bringing up an old topic
im new at vb and rly dont know how to do this with an already started application
could somebody rewrite it to make it work with and already started application?

[TT(n)]

Public Class Form1
    Const LWA_COLORKEY As Int32 = 1
    Const LWA_ALPHA As Int32 = 2
    Const GWL_EXSTYLE As Int32 = (-20)
    Const WS_EX_LAYERED As Int32 = 524288
    Private Declare Function apiGetWindowLong Lib "user32" Alias "GetWindowLongA" (ByVal hWnd As Int32, ByVal nIndex As Int32) As Int32
    Private Declare Function apiSetWindowLong Lib "user32" Alias "SetWindowLongA" (ByVal hWnd As Int32, ByVal nIndex As Int32, ByVal dwNewLong As Int32) As Int32
    Private Declare Function apiSetLayeredWindowAttributes Lib "user32" Alias "SetLayeredWindowAttributes" (ByVal hWnd As Int32, ByVal crKey As Int32, ByVal bAlpha As Byte, ByVal dwFlags As Int32) As Int32
   Private Declare Function apiFindWindow Lib "user32" Alias "FindWindowA" (ByVal lpClassName As String, ByVal lpWindowName As String) As Int32

    Dim nhwnd As Int32 = 0 'Handle of window


    Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
        TrackBar1.Maximum = 255
        TrackBar1.Value = 100


        nhwnd = Me.Handle.ToInt32 'Set handle to this application

       'Or uncomment, and insert any application title below
       'nhwnd = apiFindWindow(Nothing, "Application Title Here")

    End Sub

    Private Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
        Transparency(nhwnd, 100) 'Set transparency to 100, or anywhere between 0-255.  Use a trackbar if you want.
    End Sub

    Private Sub Transparency(ByVal hwnd As Int32, ByVal sOpacity As Int32)
        Dim Ret As Int32 = apiGetWindowLong(hwnd, GWL_EXSTYLE)  'Set the window style to 'Layered'
        Ret = Ret Or WS_EX_LAYERED
        apiSetWindowLong(hwnd, GWL_EXSTYLE, Ret)
        apiSetLayeredWindowAttributes(hwnd, 0, sOpacity, LWA_ALPHA) 'Set the opacity of the layered window
    End Sub

    Private Sub TrackBar1_Scroll(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles TrackBar1.Scroll
        Transparency(nhwnd, TrackBar1.Value)
    End Sub
End Class

[nittnitt]

Thanks!
1 more question
can i pick the window by process name instead of form name?

[TT(n)]

    Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
        nhwnd = HandleFromProcessName("Running process name here")
        TrackBar1.Maximum = 255
        TrackBar1.Value = 100
    End Sub

    Private Function HandleFromProcessName(ByVal pName As String) As Int32
        For Each p As Process In Process.GetProcesses
            If p.ProcessName = pName Then HandleFromProcessName = p.MainWindowHandle.ToInt32
        Next
    End Function

[nittnitt]

hehe tyvm again
and is there any other way to make it trasparent but without using apis?

[TT(n)]

I don't think so.
If there is a way in .NET, then it's not very well known.

[HanneSThEGreaT]

There is no way IMHO, that there is a non - API solution to making a third party window transparant.

[nittnitt]

as i tought, anyway thanks for helping me out
P.S. doesnt work with every application

[TT(n)]

P.S. doesnt work with every application

I'm sure it doesn't.
However, there are several possible reasons.

A. The application is doing a custom paint operation, or it's non regular window form.
Not much you can do about that without going way overboard.

B. The process loop is not obtaining the correct main window handle(or common zero .net bug).
In which case you have to use a bunch more API for getting the process information.
It would be more reliable, but still not failsafe.
However, you would get almost all windows covered.
I use API for this usually.

C. You've simply used it wrong, and the handle is zero.

D. Your reply may have meant, that not all applications(processes) with the same name become transparent.
If so, you can extend that so that all processes with the same name get the transparency applied.

E. Other


_

[nittnitt]

A. The application is doing a custom paint operation

this is the reason why it doesnt work with the application which i want to make trasparent

also noticed that it doesnt work well with the applications which have a 3D render field like 3DS max or 3D games

[dglienna]

DirectX draws directly into memory on the GPU, not the screen buffer area. It gets to the screen buffer automagically. You can't intercept that