PPT97: How to Use the WindowState Property

MORE INFORMATION

The WindowState property stores information about the window such as whether the Window is maximized, minimized, or normal. Two types of windows use the WindowState property: ActiveWindow (the presentation) and Application (PowerPoint). The following constants are used to describe the different window states.

WindowState Constants

The WindowState can be one of the following three ppWindowState constants:

Name of Constant     Description
----------------     -----------

ppWindowMaximized    Specifies that the window is maximized.

ppWindowMinimized    Specifies that the window is minimized.

ppWindowNormal       Specifies the window is neither maximized nor
                     minimized.
				

Retrieving a WindowState

Microsoft provides programming examples for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied. This includes, but is not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. This article assumes that you are familiar with the programming language that is being demonstrated and with the tools that are used to create and to debug procedures. Microsoft support engineers can help explain the functionality of a particular procedure, but they will not modify these examples to provide added functionality or construct procedures to meet your specific requirements. The following sample Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications code retrieves the current WindowState of the ActiveWindow and the application.

  Sub GetWindowState()

      ' WindowState property is a long.
      Dim lPowerPointWindowState As Long
      Dim lActiveWindowState As Long

      ' Retrieve the application window state.
      lPowerPointWindowState = PowerPoint.Application.WindowState

      ' Retrieve the active window's window state.
      lActiveWindowState = ActiveWindow.WindowState

   End Sub
				

The WindowState property is a Long data type. So, the two variables (lPowerPointWindowState and lActiveWindowState) are declared as longs.

NOTE: The lower case "l" is used at the beginning of the variable names to indicate that they are long data types.

Setting a WindowState

The following Visual Basic example sets a WindowState for the ActiveWindow and for PowerPoint.

   Sub SetWindowState()

      ' Minimizes the active presentation.
      ActiveWindow.WindowState = ppWindowMinimized

      ' Maximizes PowerPoint.
      PowerPoint.Application.WindowState = ppWindowMaximized

   End Sub
				

NOTE: You can only set the WindowState of a presentation that is currently the ActiveWindow.

To determine whether a WindowState is a particular state, you can add the following code to your macro:

   If ActiveWindow.WindowState <> ppWindowMinimized Then
      ActiveWindow.WindowState = ppWindowMinimized
   End If
				

This code example changes the WindowState only if the ActiveWindow is not already minimized. If the ActiveWindow is minimized, the code continues after the End If statement.