I wanted to keep the SiteWatcher utility as streamlined as possible. There really isn't a need for a cumbersome menu hierarchy or flashy toolbar. But I didn't want to release an application without crediting myself! So I simply added an About SiteWatcher item to the application window's system menu.
Adding an item to the system menu is quite easy once you discover a couple of existing User32 functions. A little Interop... and... voila!
You do have to remember to override the WndProc method so you can inject your own custom handler when the menu item is clicked.
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
[DllImport("user32.dll")]
private static extern int GetSystemMenu (int hwnd, int bRevert);
[DllImport("user32.dll")]
private static extern int AppendMenu (
int hMenu,int Flagsw,int IDNewItem,string lpNewItem);
private void SetupSystemMenu ()
{
// get handle to system menu
int menu = GetSystemMenu(this.Handle.ToInt32(),0);
// add a separator
AppendMenu(menu,0xA00,0,null);
// add an item with a unique ID
AppendMenu(menu,0,1234,"About SiteWatcher");
}
protected override void WndProc (ref Message m)
{
base.WndProc(ref m);
// WM_SYSCOMMAND is 0x112
if (m.Msg == 0x112)
{
// check for my new menu item ID
if (m.WParam.ToInt32() == 1234)
{
// show About box here...
}
}
}