Visual Basic 2008 Recipes: A Problem-Solution Approach

13.2. Get the Handle for a Control, Window, or File

Problem

You need to call an unmanaged function, such as GetWindowText, that requires the handle for a control, a window, or a file.

Solution

Many classes, including all Control-derived classes and the FileStream class, return the handle of the unmanaged Windows object they are wrapping as an IntPtr through a property named Handle. Other classes also provide similar information; for example, the System.Diagnostics.Process class provides a Process.MainWindowHandle property in addition to the Handle property.

How It Works

The .NET Framework does not hide underlying details such as the operating system handles used for controls and windows. Although you usually will not use this information, you ...