Question

See also:
How can I tell if another instance of my program is already running?

i use the following code before starting my application, to check if another instance
of it is already started:

var _PreviousHandle : THandle;
begin
  _PreviousHandle := FindWindow('TfrmMainForm',nil);
  if _PreviousHandle <> 0 then
  begin
    ShowMessage('Application "" is already running!');
    SetForegroundWindow(_PreviousHandle);
    ShowWindow(_PreviousHandle, SW_SHOW);
    Application.Terminate;
    Exit;
  end;
...

However, if it has started, i need to show that application. The problem is after it is shown in this way the minimize button no longer works, and when i click the icon in the taskbar, it “unminimizes” and the animation that is shown is as if it was minimized. Am i missing something? is there a proper way to activate and show external application while it’s minimized?

Answer 1

Here is a complete project, which keeps running only one instance of the application, and which should bring already running instance window to front.

You can download a testing project or try the code, which follows:

Project1.dpr

program Project1;

uses
  Forms,
  Windows,
  Unit1 in 'Unit1.pas' {Form1};

{$R *.res}

var
  Mutex: THandle;
const
  AppID = '{0AEEDBAF-2643-4576-83B1-8C9422726E98}';
begin
  MessageID := RegisterWindowMessage(AppID);

  Mutex := CreateMutex(nil, False, AppID);
  if (Mutex <> 0) and (GetLastError = ERROR_ALREADY_EXISTS) then
  begin
    PostMessage(HWND_BROADCAST, MessageID, 0, 0);
    Exit;
  end;

  Application.Initialize;
  Application.MainFormOnTaskbar := True;
  Application.CreateForm(TForm1, Form1);
  Application.Run;
end.

Unit1.pas

unit Unit1;

interface

uses
  Windows, Messages, SysUtils, Variants, Classes, Graphics, Controls, Forms,
  Dialogs, StrUtils, StdCtrls;

type
  TForm1 = class(TForm)
  private
    function ForceForegroundWindow(WndHandle: HWND): Boolean;
    function ForceRestoreWindow(WndHandle: HWND; Immediate: Boolean): Boolean;
  protected
    procedure WndProc(var AMessage: TMessage); override;
  end;

var
  Form1: TForm1;
  MessageID: UINT;

implementation

{$R *.dfm}

{ TForm1 }

function TForm1.ForceForegroundWindow(WndHandle: HWND): Boolean;
var
  CurrThreadID: DWORD;
  ForeThreadID: DWORD;
begin
  Result := True;
  if (GetForegroundWindow <> WndHandle) then
  begin
    CurrThreadID := GetWindowThreadProcessId(WndHandle, nil);
    ForeThreadID := GetWindowThreadProcessId(GetForegroundWindow, nil);
    if (ForeThreadID <> CurrThreadID) then
    begin
      AttachThreadInput(ForeThreadID, CurrThreadID, True);
      Result := SetForegroundWindow(WndHandle);
      AttachThreadInput(ForeThreadID, CurrThreadID, False);
      if Result then
        Result := SetForegroundWindow(WndHandle);
    end
    else
      Result := SetForegroundWindow(WndHandle);
  end;
end;

function TForm1.ForceRestoreWindow(WndHandle: HWND;
  Immediate: Boolean): Boolean;
var
  WindowPlacement: TWindowPlacement;
begin
  Result := False;
  if Immediate then
  begin
    WindowPlacement.length := SizeOf(WindowPlacement);
    if GetWindowPlacement(WndHandle, @WindowPlacement) then
    begin
      if (WindowPlacement.flags and WPF_RESTORETOMAXIMIZED) <> 0 then
        WindowPlacement.showCmd := SW_MAXIMIZE
      else
        WindowPlacement.showCmd := SW_RESTORE;
      Result := SetWindowPlacement(WndHandle, @WindowPlacement);
    end;
  end
  else
    Result := SendMessage(WndHandle, WM_SYSCOMMAND, SC_RESTORE, 0) = 0;
end;

procedure TForm1.WndProc(var AMessage: TMessage);
begin
  inherited;
  if AMessage.Msg = MessageID then
  begin
    if IsIconic(Handle) then
      ForceRestoreWindow(Handle, True);
    ForceForegroundWindow(Application.Handle);
  end;
end;

end.

Tested on OS versions:

• Windows 8.1 64-bit
• Windows 7 SP1 64-bit Home Premium
• Windows XP SP 3 32-bit Professional

Known issues and limitations:

• The MainFormOnTaskbar is not taken into account at all; it must be set to True at this time