Webutil_host.nonblocking get focus back to applet

Question

When you launch a program using webutil_host.nonblocking(), is there a way to get the focus back to the Forms applet automatically without closing that program?
In older Client/Server versions I believe this was possible using the constant SW_SHOWNOACTIVATE but in webutil I can not find an alternative.
Thanks,
Jeroen

Answer 1

Controlling and external app's window focus and z-order from a java applet is not likely going to be a simple task. As I mentioned, the easiest approach would likely be to start the external app minimized or attempt to control the state of the Forms window. In other words, after calling the external app force the Forms window to the foreground. This is likely going to be the simplest place to start. You still may need to manage cursor focus, but this approach might at least get the Forms application back to the foreground where you can then figure out how to handle the cursor.
So in other words,
1. Add a java bean to your form which will control the state of the Forms applet window/frame. See the following:
http://forms.pjc.bean.over-blog.com/article-2203967.html
Understand that this will only work if Forms separateFrame=true.
2. From the form, call your external app. Immediately after making the call to WebUtil to start the external app, execute a SYNCHRONIZE then call the above bean to bring the Forms separateFrame to the foreground using an "always on top" feature.
3. Once the form is on the top of the z-order (in the foreground), disable the "always on top" option.
In theory, the above should accomplish most of what you want. However, just because you brought the form to the foreground does not necessarily mean that the cursor focus will be in any particular item of the form. In fact, it is most likely that focus will be on the title bar of the form. The user would have to click on the desired field or button to perform their next task. Controlling the cursor focus at this point may be possible by executing a GO_xxxx to an item or block. If not, another bean or modifications to this one may be necessary in order to place the cursor back on the displayed canvas.
if any of this stuff is something you are not familiar with, I suggest a google or similar search as what you are attempting to do is leaning into what many would call advanced tweaking ;)