Hide and unhide

[traewathen]

Hello all i am rather new to the whole c # and .net language. my question is in regards to the c# portion of the matter. this is my code block which i have for hiding and unhiding::

        private void Form1_KeyDown(object sender, KeyEventArgs e)
        {
            if (e.Alt && e.KeyCode.ToString() == "F")
            {
                // When the user presses both the 'Alt' key and 'F' key,
                // KeyPreview is set to False, and a message appears.
                // This message is only displayed when KeyPreview is set to True.
                this.Visible = false;
                MessageBox.Show("KeyPreview is True, and this is from the FORM.");
            }
        }
        private void textBox1_KeyDown(object sender, KeyEventArgs e)
        {
            if (e.Alt && e.KeyCode.ToString() == "F")
            {
                // When the user presses both the 'Alt' key and 'F' key,
                // KeyPreview is set to False, and a message appears.
                // This message is only displayed when KeyPreview is set to False.
                this.KeyPreview = true;
                MessageBox.Show("KeyPreview is False, and this is from the CONTROL.");
            }
        }

now what my main question is how do i call to a form after it hidden per a keyboard shortcut... i do not want a system tray icon to show or anything this a key combination to bring it back. what it appears is that i may have to use another method due to the fact that i can't input to the form directly if it is hidden. any help is greatly appreciated.

Trae Wathen

[Plater]

You need to create what I believe is refered to as a "global hook", your program will monitor keyboard events even when it does not have the focus.
I cannot remember how to do this (it might require a dllimport) but google "global hook in c#" or something.
They are not natively supported in .NET
See: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/318804
And : http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms644959.aspx