always on top

[Cyber Axe]

i want to make my main form always on top but have all child dialogs and forms and message boxes always on top of the main form

ive got all my child forms/dialogs set to top most but if i set topmost for the main form then its what ever is active thats on top

anyone know how to make children always ontop of the parent regardless of parents settings? or are there any z-index type parameters around?

[dman]

If you are planning this for your editor please put toggle to turn this behavior off... many people find it extremely annoying.

In answer to question, try making main form "IsMdiContainer" true, then when launching child form, set MdiParent to main form. I.E.

Private Sub Button3_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button3.Click
     Form2.MdiParent = Me
     Form2.Show()
End Sub

[Cyber Axe]

I tried that and it didn’t work, though is an mdi container not a window that opens all windows within the main window and can’t be moved outside it? Because I don’t want to do that

what’s I am trying to do is make the main form "second from top" more like so other things that are topmost such as dialogs and such are always on top but the main form is always on top of other apps though it doesn’t seem to be possible

[dman]

Yes that is MDI Container. All child forms contained in main form. Visual Foxpro has a property "Desktop" to allow you to move child forms outside of the main window, but I haven't found equiv for .NET.

I think "AddOwnedForm" may be closer to what you want then. Like the find box in notepad that is not modal but floats over the main form? That is what you are going for I guess.

Private Sub Button3_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button3.Click
    Me.AddOwnedForm(Form2)
    Form2.Show()
End Sub

Edited August 25, 2005 by dman

[Cyber Axe]

thats exactly what i wanted to do thanks (i suck at explaining what i am trying to achieve most of the time)