Draw Custom Buttons on Windows Vista/7 Aero Titlebar

Question

I found this question on StackOverflow. Basically, the user wanted to draw custom buttons on the titlebar.

I tried the code and realised it works in vista/7 only whe

Answer 1

I did some research into this as I implemented this too in my own multi-monitor solution. The way DisplayFusion and TeamViewer implemented this is overlaying a custom form over the desired window containing the buttons. You can use Spy++ to confirm this.

This is the general idea:

1. Write a DLL hook for getting notified when a window is created, removed, activated, repositioned or resized.
2. Make a transparant form using transparancy key or using this alpha-PNG and GDI+ solution and simulate the button(s) by painting it your own.
3. On window creation/removal you show/hide your titlebarbutton form for the desired window(s).
4. On window resize/reposition messages you realign your titlebarbutton form.
5. On window activation you set the Z position of the window so that it is on top of the desired window.

Getting and setting the Z position through the GetWindow and SetWindowPos API's.
Be aware that the DLL must be written in a native language. However you van use something like this to work around that problem: Using Window Messages to Implement Global System Hooks in C#

And here is my result: