Disabling dangerous keys in full-screen
Author
hi friends
I've recently found an article at MSDN about disabling the dangerous keys (i.e. win logo, alt-tab...) in full screen apps, and as it is mentioned, there's no more any need to do the common dirty works (reseting, reloading & etc). Is it safe to use this method? Do I still need to do the old stuff or I can feel free to use this approach and be sure of the promised operations?
thanks for your help
www.galaxyroad.com
You should ALWAYS have it set up for a proper reset and reload no matter what.
There are more things than the windows key that can bring you out of full screen mode.
To disable them you need to subclass the keyboard and intercept the messages yourself before they are passed to the WndProc.
There are more things than the windows key that can bring you out of full screen mode.
To disable them you need to subclass the keyboard and intercept the messages yourself before they are passed to the WndProc.
A lot of people are going to want to be able to Alt-Tab, and if you don't let them they will not be happy. I'm one of those people.
You should always have some means to reset and recreate your objects, even if you disable those keys. Unexpected things can still happen like a modal dialog or message box of another program which will minimize your's.
And, IMHO, the ability to tab out of a fullscreen game to adjust mp3 player settings and similar things is basic functionality.
And, IMHO, the ability to tab out of a fullscreen game to adjust mp3 player settings and similar things is basic functionality.
You should really take proper care of reseting devices when task switching as a task switch can be called also by programms as the well known icq as example or any other app that pops up and demands focus.
So don't try to avoid this piece of work.
cheers,
Marcel
So don't try to avoid this piece of work.
cheers,
Marcel
FFXI PC for example, you alt+tab, the game crash's... nicely of course, with a warning "FFXI lost fullscreen mode."
That drives me nuts! Nothing should be that controlling of how I can manuever around my comp. ALT+TAB should be available in any programs running on the Win Kernel.
That drives me nuts! Nothing should be that controlling of how I can manuever around my comp. ALT+TAB should be available in any programs running on the Win Kernel.
I agree with everyone who has posted. Look at Quake 3 arena for example (well, atleast Rocket Arena 3). It doesn't allow for alt-tabbing and it is the most annoying thing ever. Then, when another program demands attention (like AIM losing connection or someone trying to send you a file), the window starts flickering into the game, and there's no way to fix it except to exit and restart. Bad design, avoid it at all costs.
Quote:From Official DirectX Developers FAQ
How do I disable ALT+TAB and other task switching?
You don't!
hth
Jack
exactly. as a developer you starting point should always be: what do my users want my program to do. Not what you think would be the easiest/fastest solution.
Disabling shortcut keys for games instructs yo how to disable annoying things like the windows key, which is often between the ctrl/alt keys, and is thus pressed accidently.
"Games for Microsoft Windows" Logo for Applications is a specification of things you should and shouldn't do in your game. It's a good idea to follow it, even if you don't want to get certified. 1.7 says you should support switching between tasks.
"Games for Microsoft Windows" Logo for Applications is a specification of things you should and shouldn't do in your game. It's a good idea to follow it, even if you don't want to get certified. 1.7 says you should support switching between tasks.
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