How to write on Windows desktop from C/C++ code ?

Ametis

I want to display on my desktop some useful informations like my IP, MAC address, current time, etc.. Is it possible to write these informations directly on Windows desktop from C/C++ code

Any ideea

Marius Bancila

First, why do you want to draw it on the desktop Doesn't look like a good idea for me.

You can get a handle to the desktop window with GetDesktopWindow().

Ametis

Why do you think that is not a good ideea

In romanian language: Am un prieten care are un Internet Cafe si ma bate la cap de vreo cateva luni sa-i fac un program care sa-i scrie pe fiecare desktop cateva informatii. Nu sunt un mare programator. Si n-am mai incercat niciodata sa scriu pe desktop. Nici n-am stiu ca e posibil. Am intrebat doar :)

einaros

If you do want to write there, you will have to intercept all painting calls aswell. Otherwise your output will be obscured / erased every time there's a repaint or invalidation.

Anyway, please direct this question to the UI newsgroup at http://msdn.microsoft.com/newsgroups/default.aspx dg=microsoft.public.win32.programmer.ui&lang=en&cr=US. This forum deals with C++ language questions, so unspecific concept discussions are better routed to the appropriate newsgroups.

BTW.: there's another application, Samurize (http://www.samurize.com/modules/news/), which does just about what you describe here. You could perhaps get away with using or writing a plugin for that.

Marius Bancila

Ametis wrote:

Why do you think that is not a good ideea In romanian language: Am un prieten care are un Internet Cafe si ma bate la cap de vreo cateva luni sa-i fac un program care sa-i scrie pe fiecare desktop cateva informatii. Nu sunt un mare programator. Si n-am mai incercat niciodata sa scriu pe desktop. Nici n-am stiu ca e posibil. Am intrebat doar :)

OK. I had a slighly feeling it was about it. The thing is that everything is possible. Personally, I never wrote on the desktop directly. I think you should take a look at the program Einar pointed, Samurize. It's free and it may already have the kind of feature you need (I've seen something similar on the list of features).

PS: nice to see something in Romanian, but since this is an English forum, let's keep it in English.

Simple Samples

There is something called an Active Desktop, at least that is what it was called in the past. It allows use of a HTML file for the desktop and then you have a very flexible way to customize the desktop. It has been a long time since I tried it so I might have the details wrong. You can ask in another forum or a newsgroup about this.

In XP, when I click on the desktop and select Properties I get a Display Properties box. When I go to the Desktop tab and click on the Customize Desktop button, then click on the Web tab (got that so far ) I get a box for entering web pages to be displayed on the desktop. That is probably worth exploring. If you have questions, ask elsewhere; the topic is out of scope for here and I don't remember much about it, even if it is what I remember using.