How can I run another application within a panel of my C# program?

by

Using the win32 API it is possible to “eat” another application. Basically you get the top window for that application and set it’s parent to be the handle of the panel you want to place it in. If you don’t want the MDI style effect you also have to adjust the window style to make it maximised and remove the title bar.

Here is some simple sample code where I have a form with a button and a panel:

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Data;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
using System.Threading;

namespace WindowsFormsApplication2
{
    public partial class Form1 : Form
    {
        public Form1()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
        }

        private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            Process p = Process.Start("notepad.exe");
            Thread.Sleep(500); // Allow the process to open it's window
            SetParent(p.MainWindowHandle, panel1.Handle);
        }

        [DllImport("user32.dll")]
        static extern IntPtr SetParent(IntPtr hWndChild, IntPtr hWndNewParent);
    }
}

I just saw another example where they called WaitForInputIdle instead of sleeping. So the code would be like this:

Process p = Process.Start("notepad.exe");
p.WaitForInputIdle();
SetParent(p.MainWindowHandle, panel1.Handle);

The Code Project has a good article one the whole process: Hosting EXE Applications in a WinForm project

More Related Contents:

  1. How do I get the title of the current active window using c#?
  2. How to detect Windows shutdown or logoff
  3. Winforms: Application.Exit vs Environment.Exit vs Form.Close
  4. How to force C# .net app to run only one instance in Windows? [duplicate]
  5. How can I detect when Windows 10 enters tablet mode in a Windows Forms application?
  6. How do I minimize a WinForms application to the notification area?
  7. What does “Beta: Use Unicode UTF-8 for worldwide language support” actually do?
  8. C#, Winform: How to pass information from one form to another [duplicate]
  9. How do you simulate Mouse Click in C#?
  10. Checking for directory and file write permissions in .NET
  11. How do I suspend painting for a control and its children?
  12. How to deploy application with sql server database on clients
  13. Determine what control the ContextMenuStrip was used on
  14. Is there Windows system event on active window changed?
  15. How do you prevent a windows from being moved?
  16. Log off user from Win XP programmatically in C#
  17. Open link in new TAB (WebBrowser Control)
  18. Show Transparent Loading Spinner above other Controls
  19. Flip the GraphicsPath that draws the text/string
  20. How to create a C# Winforms Control that hovers
  21. Custom Caret for WinForms TextBox
  22. Merge cells in datagridview
  23. Hosting ASP.NET Core API in a Windows Forms Application
  24. How to stop Windows service programmatically
  25. How to make a button appear as if it is pressed?
  26. How to capture mouse wheel on panel?
  27. Why does “\n” give a new line on Windows?
  28. How to create a form with a border, but no title bar? (like volume control on Windows 7)
  29. How to set text to a control from resource file in design time?
  30. How to set a text box for inputing password in winforms?

Leave a Comment