Code to move window not working.

User 12768383

I'm trying to get a window to move along the x axis however currently the code(timer4_tick) that i have is having no effect. Is there something that i am missing? I'll try to post only the code that is relevant.

//This is in my form1.cs

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Data;
using System.Drawing;
using System.IO;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Windows.Forms;

public partial class Form1 : Form
{
private int WindowVx, WindowVy;
private int WindowX, WindowY;
private int width = Screen.PrimaryScreen.WorkingArea.Width;
private int height = Screen.PrimaryScreen.WorkingArea.Height;

private void timer1_Tick(object sender, EventArgs e)
{

        WindowX = random.Next(width);
        WindowY = random.Next(height);
        int wx = random.Next(width / 2);
        int wy = random.Next(height / 2);
        WindowVx = random.Next (1, 4);
        WindowVy = random.Next (1, 4);
        this.Left = WindowX;
        this.Top = WindowY;
        this.Width = wx;
        this.Height = wx;
        //form.Show();
        //new Form1().Show();

    }

private void timer4_Tick (object sender, EventArgs e)
{
WindowX += WindowVx;
if (WindowX < 0) {
WindowVx = -WindowVx;
} else if (WindowX + width > ClientSize.Width) {
WindowVx = -WindowVx;
}

        this.Refresh ();
    }

//The following part is in form1.designer.cs

this.timer4 = new System.Windows.Forms.Timer (this.components);

        this.timer4.Enabled = true;
        this.timer4.Interval = 1000;
        this.timer4.Tick += new System.EventHandler (this.timer4\_Tick);

    private System.Windows.Forms.Timer timer4;

OriginalGriff

That's because it doesn't move anything. All it does is change the values of your internal variables, which are only subsequently used in your timer1_tick method, but immediately overwritten. You need to affect the Top and Left properties of the window itself in order to move it.

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User 12768383

Oh thank you! I got it working now!

OriginalGriff

You're welcome!

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User 12768383

Ok, I've gotten it to move horizontally, vertically and diagonally fine so i've added boundaries so that it can't move past the screen limits. However when i added that it just shakes back and forth. From what i understand it first increases the x co-ordinates, moving the window to the right. Then the if statement checks if it has gone past the left of the screen and if it has it will reverse the direction the window moves. The second if statement checks that x co-ordinates including the width of the window doesn't past the width of the screen. Is this all correct?

private void timer4_Tick (object sender, EventArgs e)
{
this.Left += WindowVx;
if (this.Left < 0) {
WindowVx = -WindowVx;
}
if (this.Left + this.Width > ClientSize.Width) {
WindowVx = -WindowVx;
}
this.Refresh ();
}

OriginalGriff

So what you want it to do is move all the way right, then when it reaches the edge, turn round and move the other way? To do that isn't difficult - when you reach the screen edge, change the sign on the value you are adding! Then, when you reach the other edge, change it back again.

Left += deltaX;
if (Left < 0 || (Left + Width) > ClientSize.Width)
{
deltaX = -deltaX;
}

You don't need to specify this all the time - you only need it when you have a local variable of the same name as your class level one and you want to access the class level variable. You also don't need to refresh anything - when you update Left and Top they will refresh for you.

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User 12768383

Hm... for some reason the window just moves back and forth kind of like it's vibrating. I'm not really sure what's causing it as the code without the if statement works fine. This is the code right now:

        this.Left += WindowVx;
        if (Left < 0 || (Left + this.Width) > ClientSize.Width){
            WindowVx = -WindowVx;
        }

OriginalGriff

Check your "ClientSize" object and see what values it has - at a guess the Width is zero. You know how to use the debugger, yes?

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User 12768383

I checked and the width is 282 i think. And by debugger you mean like the play button on xamarin studio? That's what i've been using to test my program. Also just in case i'll post the rest of my form information.

        this.AutoScaleDimensions = new System.Drawing.SizeF(8F, 16F);
        this.AutoScaleMode = System.Windows.Forms.AutoScaleMode.Font;
        this.ClientSize = new System.Drawing.Size(282, 253);
        this.ControlBox = false;
        this.Controls.Add(this.webBrowser1);
        this.KeyPreview = true;
        this.MaximizeBox = false;
        this.MinimizeBox = false;
        this.Name = "Form1";
        this.ShowIcon = false;
        this.ShowInTaskbar = false;
        this.Text = "test";
        this.TopMost = true;
        this.ResumeLayout(false);

OriginalGriff

OK: so you can't affect the Left and Top of your current window - because the ClientSize of the current window is going to be at best the same as the width of the window! So, if you are trying to move something within the current window, use its properties: Left, Width, and Top, and the Window Client Area. Your original code shows you being inside the form, so this refers to the whole form, not anything within it. If you are trying to move the form, then you need to get the information on sizing from whatever it is displayed on - probably the desktop (or android equivalent, if that's what you are using).

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User 12768383

When you say move the form do you mean the things inside the window? I'm trying to move the entire window and by information on sizing do you mean my screen resolution? If i use Left, Width, and Top, and the Window Client Area to move the thing inside the window, do i need something else to move the window itself? Edit: Oh i just looked it up and form is the window itself.

OriginalGriff

Backup a second... When you are a form, you have four properties you are interested in: Width and Height - which tell you how big the whole form is; then Top and Left - which tell you where you are relative to the container the form is displayed within. For Windows, that's the Desktop - so Top and Left of zero is the top left hand corner of your monitor. The Client Area of a form is the bit of the form that isn't the title bar and the form border and it measured relative to the form top left corner - so the Client Area will normally be smaller than the Width and Height, and never, ever bigger. So trying to move the form doesn't involve the form's client area for "reaching an edge" - it involves whatever the form is contained within: normally the Desktop. See if you have a Screen object you can access the Width and Height from and try those.

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User 12768383

Oh i think the problem is that sometimes the window is created partially outside the screen resolution and for some reason the if statements make the window start vibrating because it's constantly changing directions. So to fix the problem i need to make sure that the window isn't created outside of the screen. I changed a few things and it seemed to fix a majority of the problems:

WindowX = (random.Next(0, width - Width));
WindowY = (random.Next(0, height - Height));

        this.Left += WindowVx;
        if (Left < 0 || (Left + this.Width) > width){
            WindowVx = -WindowVx;
        } 


        this.Top += WindowVy;
        if (Top < 0 || (Top + this.Height) > height) {
            WindowVy = -WindowVy;
        }

However sometimes the window is still created a bit past the bounds for some reason, but I'll work on it tomorrow, for now i need to sleep. Thank you for the help so far though! Oh, and for screen object, do you mean this?:

    private int width = Screen.PrimaryScreen.WorkingArea.Width;
    private int height = Screen.PrimaryScreen.WorkingArea.Height;

I changed it to this:

    private int width = Screen.PrimaryScreen.Bounds.Width;
    private int height = Screen.PrimaryScreen.Bounds.Height;

That way it'll go over my task bar.

OriginalGriff

:thumbsup: Sleep well!

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Rahul VB

That was an excellent thread ! Very nice OG :thumbsup: