>>>>>Why does it only work with a top level form???
>>>>
>>>>Sorry, don't have an answer for that. Although I would guess it has to do with the way VFP paints forms in the VFP screen.
>>>
>>>Roi,
>>>It has nothing to do with VFP. The WS_EX_LAYERED attribute needs to be set on the window for this function to work. Only top-level forms and forms with the Desktop property set to .T. are capable of having this.
>>
>>Larry,
>>
>>Have you tried it with a form that has the ShowWindow property set to in screen and the desktop property set to .T.? The reason I as is that the Platform SDK states: "Note that WS_EX_LAYERED cannot be used for child windows", and that even though a window has its Desktop property set to .T., it is still a child of the main VFP window.
>
>Hi George,
>Yes I have. The term "child window" is misleading (IMO) in the MSDN documentation. A child window is a window that has the WS_CHILD/WS_CHILDWINDOW attribute set.
>
>Desktop windows are child windows in that they have a Parent window. However, they have the WS_POPUP attribute set. A popup window is a form of top-level window, one which could (and in this case does) have a Parent window.
>
Larry,

Thanks for the clarification. I'd been following the thread and knew you'd done more in this area than I. When I saw the quote in the SDK, I wasn't quite sure what it meant in regards to a popup. I was aware of the WS_CHILD/WS_CHILDWINOW styles not applying, but didn't know whether or not (because of message processing) the fact that the window had a parent was an issue.

Regards,