Form.Activate Method

Definition

Namespace:

System.Windows.Forms

Assembly:

System.Windows.Forms.dll

Source:

Form.cs

Activates the form and gives it focus.

C#

public void Activate();

Examples

The following example demonstrates how to use the SetDesktopLocation, Load and Activate members. To run the example, paste the following code in a form called Form1 containing a button called Button1 and two Label controls called Label1 and Label2.

C#

static int x = 200;
static int y = 200;

private void Button1_Click(System.Object sender, 
    System.EventArgs e)
{
    // Create a new Form1 and set its Visible property to true.
    Form1 form2 = new Form1();
    form2.Visible = true;

    // Set the new form's desktop location so it  
    // appears below and to the right of the current form.
    form2.SetDesktopLocation(x, y);
    x += 30;
    y += 30;

    // Keep the current form active by calling the Activate
    // method.
    this.Activate();
    this.Button1.Enabled = false;
}

// Updates the label text to reflect the current values of x 
// and y, which was were incremented in the Button1 control's 
// click event.
private void Form1_Activated(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
    Label1.Text = "x: "+x+" y: "+y;
    Label2.Text = "Number of forms currently open: "+count;
}

static int count = 0;

private void Form1_Closed(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
    count -= 1;
}

private void Form1_Load(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
    count += 1;
}

Remarks

Activating a form brings it to the front if this is the active application, or it flashes the window caption if this is not the active application. The form must be visible for this method to have any effect. To determine the active form in an application, use the ActiveForm property or the ActiveMdiChild property if your forms are in a Multiple-document interface (MDI) application.

Applies to

See also

• ActiveForm
• ActiveMdiChild