Contributor: GARY NIELSEN unit OnlyOne; { * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * OnlyOne, version 1.00, Freeware A Delphi 2.0 component composed by Gary Nielsen, 3/26/96 70323.2610@compuserve.com Drop the OnlyOne component onto a form and only one instance of that window will occur. Any attempt to make a second instance will restore the previous window. caveat artifex: Use this component at your own risk. OnlyOne may not work with applications that change their title bar, or with applications that have names longer than 20 chars. I have only tested this component on a limited number of programs, so treat it as 'alpha'-ware. Acknowledgements: To make this into a component, I used Steven L. Keyser's JustOne component as a template. I also derived some code from PC Mag's Michael J. Mefford's PicAlbum utility, in which hPrevInst is used, but, according to the documentation, hPrevInst always equals NULL with Delphi 2 and Win95. Please, if you modify or enhance this code, drop me a note so that I can learn from your work. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * } interface uses SysUtils, Windows, Messages, Classes, Graphics, Controls, Forms, Dialogs; type TOnlyOne = class(TComponent) private public constructor Create(AOwner:TComponent); override; destructor Destroy; override; published end; procedure Register; procedure LookForPreviousInstance; var AtomText: array[0..31] of Char; implementation procedure Register; begin RegisterComponents('Win95', [TOnlyOne]); end; procedure LookForPreviousInstance; var PreviousInstanceWindow : hWnd; AppName : array[0..30] of char; FoundAtom : TAtom; begin {put the app name into AtomText} StrFmt(AtomText, 'OnlyOne%s', [Copy(Application.Title,1,20)]); {check to see if there's a global atom based on the app name } FoundAtom := GlobalFindAtom(AtomText); if FoundAtom <> 0 then {another instance exists} begin {get the app name into a pointer string } StrFmt(AppName,'%s', [Application.Title]); {change current title so that FindWindow doesn't see it } Application.Title := 'destroy me'; {locate the previous instance of the app } PreviousInstanceWindow := FindWindow(nil,AppName); {give focus to the previous instance of the app } if PreviousInstanceWindow <> 0 then if IsIconic(PreviousInstanceWindow) then ShowWindow(PreviousInstanceWindow,SW_RESTORE) else BringWindowToTop(PreviousInstanceWindow); {stop the current instance of the application } Application.Terminate; end; { make the global atom so no other instances can occur } FoundAtom := GlobalAddAtom(AtomText); end; constructor TOnlyOne.Create(AOwner:TComponent); begin inherited Create(AOwner); LookForPreviousInstance; end; destructor TOnlyOne.Destroy; var FoundAtom : TAtom; ValueReturned : word; begin { must not forget to remove the global atom, so first check to see if there's a global atom already } FoundAtom := GlobalFindAtom(AtomText); if FoundAtom <> 0 then {and now remove that atom} ValueReturned := GlobalDeleteAtom(FoundAtom); inherited Destroy; end; end.