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SetForegroundWindow

Set a window into the foreground and activate the automation control.

void SetForegroundWindow();

Parameters​

None

Remarks​

For some windows this action may result in the icon in the taskbar flashing to indicate use attention is required rather than putting the window at the top of the Z-order. To put a top level window into the foreground use ShowWindow. To set focus for an automation control use AutomationControl.Element.Setfocus().

Often the most reliable way to ensure a window is in focus is to perform a Left mouse click on a area such as the title bar.

Example​

AutomationControl notepadWindow = FindTopAutomationWindow("Untitled - Notepad"); // find the top level window
notepadWindow.SetForegroundWindow(); // this will ensure the window is in the foreground and activated
notepadWindow.Element.setFocus(); // set the focus using the automation element
notepadWindow.LeftClickLHS(100, 5); // set focus by clicking on the title bar

// The example below demonstrates how multiple windows are treat with SetForegroundWindow() method.

IList<AutomationControl> notepadWindows = FindTopAutomationWindows("Notepad", TextMatch.EndsWith); //finds all active notepad windows
if(notepadWindows.Count == 0)
{
  WriteMessage("Couldn't to find any windows open with indicated name");
}
else
{
  for (int windowNumber = 0; windowNumber < notepadWindows.Count; windowNumber++)
  {
    notepadWindows[windowNumber].SetForegroundWindow();//this will ensure the window is in the foreground and activated
    SendKeys("Window number: " + (windowNumber + 1)); //type window number on each open window
  }
}

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