How to set foreground Window from Powershell event subscriber action

For me SetForegroundWindow works well. Check this code:

Add-Type @"  using System;  using System.Runtime.InteropServices;  public class Tricks {     [DllImport("user32.dll")]     [return: MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.Bool)]     public static extern bool SetForegroundWindow(IntPtr hWnd);  }"@sleep -sec 2$h = (Get-Process firefox).MainWindowHandle[void] [Tricks]::SetForegroundWindow($h)sleep -sec 2$h = (Get-Process -id $pid).MainWindowHandle[void] [Tricks]::SetForegroundWindow($h)

But note that if you host PowerShell or use e.g. Console (http://sourceforge.net/projects/console/) then MainWindowHandle is the handle of your host program. So instead of (Get-Process -id $pid).MainWindowHandle you would need [tricks]::SetForegroundWindow((Get-Process console).MainWindowHandle).

Example with timer event:

$timer = New-Object Timers.Timer$timer.Interval = 5000$h = (Get-Process -id $pid).MainWindowHandle$action = {     notepad;     sleep -sec 1;  # wait until the program starts (very simple approach)    [Tricks]::SetForegroundWindow($h) }Register-ObjectEvent $timer Elapsed -Action $action$timer.Start()

Otherwise if you run process that has its window hidden, it could solve your problem.

$ps = new-object system.diagnostics.processstartinfo 'notepad'$ps.windowStyle = 'hidden'[system.diagnostics.process]::Start($ps)

Example taken and altered from documentation on msdn about Process class

It sounds like it didnt work because you set focus, before you lost focus.

Have you tried setting focus through a job? It runs in the background while you use the console.

Something like this might work, it keeps your focus for 10 seconds after the event

Start-Job -ScriptBlock {    1..100 | %{        sleep -Milliseconds 100        #Set focus back    }}

If you mix in GetForegroundWindow, you can wait till you lose focus, then grab it back

http://www.leeholmes.com/blog/MorePInvokeInPowerShell.aspx

Taking my cue from @stej answer above when I found this question because I was trying to do the same thing, I expanded to produce this code, which will bring the script back into focus whether being run in the ISE, console window, or via cmd prompt (through a batch file).

#bring script back into focusAdd-Type @"  using System;  using System.Runtime.InteropServices;  public class Tricks {     [DllImport("user32.dll")]     [return: MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.Bool)]     public static extern bool SetForegroundWindow(IntPtr hWnd);  }"@$parent = Get-Process -id ((gwmi win32_process -Filter "processid='$pid'").parentprocessid)If ($parent.Name -eq "cmd") {# Being run by via cmd prompt (batch file)    $h = (Get-Process cmd).MainWindowHandle    [void] [Tricks]::SetForegroundWindow($h)    }    else{# being run in powershell ISE or console          $h = (Get-Process -id $pid).MainWindowHandle          [void] [Tricks]::SetForegroundWindow($h)    } 

Or to re-use more readily, save the following as a .psm1 file in your module directory - from PS v3 onwards, you don't have to import it, calling a function in a module in your module directory imports it.

To import manually, Import-Module .\Getfocus.psm1 (Assuming it's in your current path).

Function Get-Focus{#bring script back into focusAdd-Type @"  using System;  using System.Runtime.InteropServices;  public class Tricks {     [DllImport("user32.dll")]     [return: MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.Bool)]     public static extern bool SetForegroundWindow(IntPtr hWnd);  }"@$parent = Get-Process -id ((gwmi win32_process -Filter "processid='$pid'").parentprocessid)If ($parent.Name -eq "cmd") {# Being run by via cmd prompt (batch file)    $h = (Get-Process cmd).MainWindowHandle    [void] [Tricks]::SetForegroundWindow($h)    }    else{# being run in powershell ISE or console          $h = (Get-Process -id $pid).MainWindowHandle          [void] [Tricks]::SetForegroundWindow($h)    }} Export-ModuleMember -Function Get-Focus