How to invoke the screen saver in Windows in C#?

Question

I'd like to invoke the user's screen saver if such is defined, in a Windows environment.

I know it can be done using pure C++ code (and then the wrapping in C# is pretty simple), as suggested here.

Still, for curiosity, I'd like to know if such task can be accomplished by purely managed code using the dot net framework (version 2.0 and above), without p/invoke and without visiting the C++ side (which, in turn, can use windows API pretty easily).

Answer 1

I've an idea, I'm not sure how consistently this would work, so you'd need to research a bit I think, but hopefully it's enough to get you started.

A screen saver is just an executable, and the registry stores the location of this executable in HKCU\Control Panel\Desktop\SCRNSAVE.EXE

On my copy of Vista, this worked for me:

RegistryKey screenSaverKey = Registry.CurrentUser.OpenSubKey(@"Control Panel\Desktop");
if (screenSaverKey != null)
{
    string screenSaverFilePath = screenSaverKey.GetValue("SCRNSAVE.EXE", string.Empty).ToString();
    if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(screenSaverFilePath) && File.Exists(screenSaverFilePath))
    {
        Process screenSaverProcess = Process.Start(new ProcessStartInfo(screenSaverFilePath, "/s"));  // "/s" for full-screen mode
        screenSaverProcess.WaitForExit();  // Wait for the screensaver to be dismissed by the user
    }
}

Answer 2

I think having a .Net library function that does this is highly unlikely - I'm not aware of any. A quick search returned this Code Project tutorial which contains an example of a managed wrapper which you mentioned in your question.

P/invoke exists so that you're able to access OS-specific features, of which screen savers are an example.

Answer 3

I'm not sure you can use completely managed code to do this.

This uses Windows API but is still very simple: Launch System Screensaver from C# Windows Form

Answer 4

Working on any version of windows...

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.Linq;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;

namespace HQ.Util.Unmanaged
{
    public class ScreenSaverHelper
    {
        [DllImport("User32.dll")]
        public static extern int SendMessage(IntPtr hWnd, uint Msg, IntPtr wParam, IntPtr lParam);

        [DllImport("user32.dll", EntryPoint = "GetDesktopWindow")]
        private static extern IntPtr GetDesktopWindow();

        // Signatures for unmanaged calls
        [DllImport("user32.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Auto)]
        private static extern bool SystemParametersInfo(int uAction, int uParam, ref int lpvParam, int flags);

        // Constants
        private const int SPI_GETSCREENSAVERACTIVE = 16;
        private const int SPI_SETSCREENSAVERACTIVE = 17;
        private const int SPI_GETSCREENSAVERTIMEOUT = 14;
        private const int SPI_SETSCREENSAVERTIMEOUT = 15;
        private const int SPI_GETSCREENSAVERRUNNING = 114;
        private const int SPIF_SENDWININICHANGE = 2;

        private const uint DESKTOP_WRITEOBJECTS = 0x0080;
        private const uint DESKTOP_READOBJECTS = 0x0001;
        private const int WM_CLOSE = 16;

        public const uint WM_SYSCOMMAND = 0x112;
        public const uint SC_SCREENSAVE = 0xF140;
        public enum SpecialHandles
        {
            HWND_DESKTOP = 0x0,
            HWND_BROADCAST = 0xFFFF
        }
        public static void TurnScreenSaver(bool turnOn = true)
        {
            // Does not work on Windows 7
            // int nullVar = 0;
            // SystemParametersInfo(SPI_SETSCREENSAVERACTIVE, 1, ref nullVar, SPIF_SENDWININICHANGE);

            // Does not work on Windows 7, can't broadcast. Also not needed.
            // SendMessage(new IntPtr((int) SpecialHandles.HWND_BROADCAST), WM_SYSCOMMAND, SC_SCREENSAVE, 0);

            SendMessage(GetDesktopWindow(), WM_SYSCOMMAND, (IntPtr)SC_SCREENSAVE, (IntPtr)0);
        }
    }
}