I have an existing winforms app running on a touchscreen POS system.
There are a handful of other apps on this POS system. The customer wants the ability to start/switch to any given app and bring it to the foreground by clicking an always-on-top floating app icon.
If this is too hard to explain, take a look at how the new Google Hangouts desktop app works on windows. There is an optional floating always on top icon which you can use to restore/minimize the chat window.
Q: Do I need a commercial library?
Q: How can I add this functionality to my POS app?
I'm not even sure where to start. Off the top of my head, I am thinking that I need to:
- create a brand new always on top form
- set it to be always-on-top
- change it's shape so it looks like a floating icon
- wire the appropriate events so that it opens/hides/restores/closes my real POS app
I am hoping that there is a much easier way. I do not want to recreate the wheel if there is an existing an easier way to do this.
Any help appreciated, and thank-you in advance.
kidC!