Promoting a NotifyIcon from overflow area without showing a balloon tip

Question

I'm working on a WPF/.NET 4 app that lives in the system tray and periodically shows messages to the user.

I would like to have my NotifyIcon promoted from the overflow area of the system tray to the visible portion each time there is a message. This works fine if I call 'ShowBalloonTip' on my NotifyIcon; however, I don't wish to use the standard OS balloons (I have a custom control for this, which supports multiple instances and custom animations).

Is it possible? It doesn't seem to allow showing an empty/invisible balloon, and disposing/re-adding the icon does not have the intended effect. I wonder if I should look into creating a secondary tray icon each time I have a message (like the Outlook 'new mail' icon) and removing it when my message fades away.

Answer 1

This is not possible. A significant problem with the notification area is that every programmer thinks that his app is important enough to be next to the clock. Modesty is not a programmer's trait and that's a good thing.

The user however sets different priorities. He's liable to run more than three apps that all think they should have the exalted location. This got really out of hand, I've seen screenshots of Win98 machines where 75% of the taskbar was covered with Important Programs.

This was not sustainable and Microsoft did something about it. They added the overflow area to provide a home for notification icons that the user doesn't think are all that important. Being a computer user myself, it is very quickly populated with whatever shovelware icons come with a new machine I purchase. From there, the rate I uninstall this stuff is inversely proportional to the number of times it balloons me with completely useless or inscrutable info. The only ones that ever really survive are the ones that never show a balloon.

A core feature of the overflow area is that programs cannot do anything to elevate themselves back next to the clock. That would completely defeat the point of having it. Other than showing a balloon, the user needs to know where it came from. That better be something meaningful and relevant to the user. If it is not then your uninstaller is the part of your product that gets tested most.

You are a computer yourself and have battled annoying notify icons too. Apply the exact same logic to your own. And don't forget to ask somebody else what they think about yours. And if your notifications are useful enough, this just takes care of itself. Your user will move it back. Because that's what he can do.