SetActiveWindow info  Overview  Group

The SetActiveWindow function activates a window.

HWND SetActiveWindow(

Parameters

hWnd

Identifies the top-level window to be activated.

Return Values

If the function succeeds, the return value is the handle of the window that was previously active.

If the function fails, the return value is NULL. To get extended error information, call GetLastError.

Remarks

The SetActiveWindow function activates a window, but not if the application is in the background. The window will be brought into the foreground (top of Z order) if the application is in the foreground when it sets the activation.

If the window identified by the hWnd parameter was created by the calling thread, the active window status of the calling thread is set to hWnd. Otherwise, the active window status of the calling thread is set to NULL.

The SetForegroundWindow window function, on the other hand, activates a window and forces it into the foreground. An application should only call SetForegroundWindow if it needs to display critical errors or information that needs the user’s immediate attention .

See Also

GetActiveWindow, SetForegroundWindow, WM_ACTIVATE