Windows 7 taskbar icon position

Taskbar buttons provide the gateway to access the functionality of the new Windows 7 taskbar. The biggest thing to notice is that the taskbar also contains icons for applications that are not currently running. For example, the user may pin applications to the taskbar, which results in a pinned icon on the taskbar but the application is not running. Clicking the icon causes the app to launch. This is a unification of the Quick Launch concept and the standard Windows taskbar.

In fact, there is no need for the Quick Launch area on Windows 7 any longer; the only reason the Quick Launch folder is still in Windows 7 is for backwards compatibility.

You may have already heard about jump lists, thumbnail toolbars, taskbar progress bars, and other features. They are all connected with the large, redesigned taskbar buttons that occupy the new taskbar. The Windows 7 taskbar buttons, shown in Figure 2 , are identified with multiple visual effects. They make it possible to immediately identify which applications are running, whether there are multiple windows in the same application, which application is currently active, and which taskbar button currently has the mouse hovering over it.

All the Windows 7 taskbar features are unlocked only after you have created the taskbar button for your application. This makes sense, since you can't change the taskbar overlay icon, for example, if there is no taskbar button yet! In practice, this means that managed and native applications using the new Windows 7 taskbar APIs will have to wait for a new window message, identifiable by the TaskbarButtonCreated string.

The following code shows how a Win32 application receives the window message indicating that the taskbar button is created:. A managed application, for example an application using Windows Forms, would have to override the window procedure the WndProc method of the form to process window messages. The following code shows this:.

Now you know how to make sure that your application does not use the Windows 7 taskbar before there is a taskbar button in place. Before we jump to more interesting features, there's just one additional piece of information that you need to complete the puzzle. How are taskbar buttons associated with windows and applications? How does the system decide whether an application needs two taskbar buttons for its different windows or whether multiple applications need to share a single taskbar button?

The answer is application ID. This is a new property of the Windows Shell and is an attribute of windows, processes and shell links also known as shortcuts. By controlling the application ID of individual windows and processes, application developers can ensure that the taskbar buttons are associated to their windows exactly as they deem fit. To make sure application IDs do not accidentally collide, the recommendation is to include in the application ID the company name, product name, and application name.

The default application ID for a window is determined by the default application ID for the process to which the window belongs. This is, in turn, a default application ID generated for the executable file that the process runs. Try launching an application like Notepad several times to see this in action. There is only one taskbar button created even if you run multiple instances of Notepad at the same time.

Customizing these default IDs involves explicitly setting an application ID for the process or for an individual window, producing interesting scenarios.

For example, if you set the application ID of two different processes to the same value, windows created by both of these processes will be grouped to the same taskbar button. Alternatively, if you set the application ID of two individual windows within the same process to different values, two taskbar buttons will be created, one for each window.

The combination of process application ID and window-specific application ID provides for maximum flexibility. In Figure 3 , the left pane shows that the windows from different processes are all grouped under one taskbar button. The right pane shows that multiple windows from the same process have multiple taskbar buttons. To move the location of the taskbar simply hover your mouse over it and right click.

From there click properties. After you are on the properties screen then you will see a setting that says 'taskbar location on screen. Not Helpful 7 Helpful 0. Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered. Submit a Tip All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published. You Might Also Like How to.

How to. Co-authors: Updated: September 29, Categories: Windows 7. Italiano: Spostare la Barra delle Applicazioni in Windows 7. Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read , times.

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In fact, the Windows UX Guidelines specify this:. Or if you don't need a notification balloon to display textual information of a notification, you can try using an overlay icon instead. There algorithm you ask for is described in detail on this blog: How to find the position of a taskbar button on Windows 7 or Vista. Stack Overflow for Teams — Collaborate and share knowledge with a private group.

Create a free Team What is Teams? Collectives on Stack Overflow. Learn more. Location of app on the Windows 7 Taskbar Ask Question. Asked 10 years, 8 months ago. Active 10 years, 7 months ago. Viewed 1k times. Improve this question. Move the mouse pointer to the lower left corner of the screen, right-click, and. Do I need to reinstall Windows after replacing hard drive? This site uses cookies to store data.

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