Question

I have some trouble showing a disabled Form in non-modal state. Here is the example code:

public partial class Form1 : Form
{
    // ....
    private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        try
        {
            Form2 form = new Form2();
            form.Enabled = false;
            form.Show();    // works, but form has no owner
            // form.Show(this); // gives an System.InvalidOperationException
            // ...
            // ... my program here shows a message box, ask user for something
            // ... while 'form' is shown in the background 
            form.Close();
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            MessageBox.Show(ex.Message);
        }

    }
}

Any idea why Show() (without parameter) works, but Show(this) gives an exception? In my scenario, form must know its owner to be shown correctly, so I can do the following:

            form.Enabled = false;
            form.Owner=this;
            form.Show();

but is this really a good solution?

EDIT: Thanks for the quick answers. Seems that we really found a bug in the framework here. In spite of your suggestions, I think I will keep with my solution, since disabling the form after the ‘Show’ gives an ugly visible effect to the user.

Answer 1

That or call Show(this) and then disable it are the only two ways that I can think of.