Thread: need to display a graphic always on top (even when other programs run in fullscreen)

Hi,

I want to display the temperature of the CPU/GPU using a graphic. My main purpose to do this project is that laptop users often have overheating problems when playing high performance games.

I already know how to get the temperature of the PC but I don't know how to display a graphic that is always on top even though there are games running in fullscreen.

The program "fraps" is exactly doing what I am looking for except that it shows the frames per second instead of the temperature.

So, how can I ensure that a graphic will be always on top?

Thanks,
moccajoghurt

I think that's a OS/window manager-specific problem and since you are mentioning "fraps" I guess you are speaking about Windows, aren't you?

Bye, Andreas

Download the free (for Windows), program "CoreTemp".

Click on "options" menu, and then on "Always on Top".

Works great!

Yes, I am talking about Windows.
Thank's for the hint. Well then I guess my program idea is obsolete.
However I am still kind of curious how you can display a graphic on Windows always on top, even though there are other things running in fullscreen. If anyone got a hint, I'd be thankful.
Thanks for your replys so far.
moccajoghurt

Originally Posted by moccajoghurt

Yes, I am talking about Windows.
Thank's for the hint. Well then I guess my program idea is obsolete.
However I am still kind of curious how you can display a graphic on Windows always on top, even though there are other things running in fullscreen. If anyone got a hint, I'd be thankful.
Thanks for your replys so far.
moccajoghurt

Each "Window" in windows, has a list of properties that go with it. Think of a struct in C, with a whole bunch of struct members.

Several of those properties determines the display characteristics of a window: size, position, color, border type, etc. One of those properties determines if the window should stay on top, or act like a normal window.

This is not a C language thing, it's very much a Windows thing. A Google search should take you right to the Windows API that controls it. Also, with a little poking around, you can surely find some open source projects in C, that use that property.

The MSDN library should have the answer, (and they usually have C code showing how to use it). A good Windows forum can perhaps answer it, as well. I've found the Windows 7 forum to be quite knowledgeable on Windows issues. I'm not sure if that extends to programming for it, however.

Thank you, this helped me a lot. Now I am having a starting point which is exactly what I have been looking for.