C#: Get complete desktop size?

Question

How do I find out the size of the entire desktop? Not the \"working area\" and not the \"screen resolution\", both of which refer to only o

Answer 1

I think the best way to get the "real" screen-size, is to get the values directly from the video-controller.

---

    using System;
    using System.Management;
    using System.Windows.Forms;

    namespace MOS
    {
        public class ClassMOS
        {
            public static void Main()
            {
                try
                {
                    ManagementObjectSearcher searcher = 
                        new ManagementObjectSearcher("root\\CIMV2", 
                        "SELECT * FROM Win32_VideoController"); 

                    foreach (ManagementObject queryObj in searcher.Get())
                    {
                        Console.WriteLine("CurrentHorizontalResolution: {0}", queryObj["CurrentHorizontalResolution"]);
                        Console.WriteLine("-----------------------------------");
                        Console.WriteLine("CurrentVerticalResolution: {0}", queryObj["CurrentVerticalResolution"]);
                    }
                }
                catch (ManagementException e)
                {
                    MessageBox.Show("An error occurred while querying for WMI data: " + e.Message);
                }
            }
        }
}

---

This should do the job ;) Greetings ...

Answer 2

This method returns the rectangle that contains all of the screens' bounds by using the lowest values for Left and Top, and the highest values for Right and Bottom...

static Rectangle GetDesktopBounds() {
   var l = int.MaxValue;
   var t = int.MaxValue;
   var r = int.MinValue;
   var b = int.MinValue;
   foreach(var screen in Screen.AllScreens) {
      if(screen.Bounds.Left   < l) l = screen.Bounds.Left  ;
      if(screen.Bounds.Top    < t) t = screen.Bounds.Top   ;
      if(screen.Bounds.Right  > r) r = screen.Bounds.Right ;
      if(screen.Bounds.Bottom > b) b = screen.Bounds.Bottom;
   }
   return Rectangle.FromLTRB(l, t, r, b);
}

Answer 3

You can use the Bounds of System.Drawing.

You can create a function like this

public System.Windows.Form.Screen[] GetScreens(){
    Screen[] screens = Screen.AllScreens;
    return screens;
}

and than you can get the screen one, two, etc. in a variable like this:

System.Windows.Form.Screen[] screens = func.GetScreens();
System.Windows.Form.Screen screen1 = screens[0];

then you can get the bounds of the screen:

System.Drawing.Rectangle screen1Bounds = screen1.Bounds;

With this code you will get all the properties like Width, Height, etc.

Answer 4

This doesn't answer the question, but merely adds additional insight on a window's Point (location) within all the screens).

Use the code below to find out if a Point (e.g. last known Location of window) is within the bounds of the overall Desktop. If not, reset the window's Location to the default pBaseLoc;

Code does not account for the TaskBar or other Toolbars, yer on yer own there.

Example Use: Save the Window location to a database from station A. User logs into station B with 2 monitors and moves the window to the 2nd monitor, logs out saving new location. Back to station A and the window wouldn't be shown unless the above code is used.

My further resolve implemented saving the userID and station's IP (& winLoc) to database or local user prefs file for a given app, then load in user pref for that station & app.

Point pBaseLoc = new Point(40, 40)
int x = -500, y = 140;
Point pLoc = new Point(x, y);
bool bIsInsideBounds = false;

foreach (Screen s in Screen.AllScreens)
{
    bIsInsideBounds = s.Bounds.Contains(pLoc);
    if (bIsInsideBounds) { break; }
}//foreach (Screen s in Screen.AllScreens)

if (!bIsInsideBounds) { pLoc = pBaseLoc;  }

this.Location = pLoc;

Answer 5

You have two options:

1. PresentationFramework.dll

   SystemParameters.VirtualScreenWidth   
   SystemParameters.VirtualScreenHeight
   

2. System.Windows.Forms.dll

   SystemInformation.VirtualScreen.Width   
   SystemInformation.VirtualScreen.Height
   

Use the first option if you developing a WPF application.

Answer 6

To get the physical pixel size of the monitor you can use this.

static class DisplayTools
{
    [DllImport("gdi32.dll")]
    static extern int GetDeviceCaps(IntPtr hdc, int nIndex);

    private enum DeviceCap
    {
        Desktopvertres = 117,
        Desktophorzres = 118
    }

    public static Size GetPhysicalDisplaySize()
    {
        Graphics g = Graphics.FromHwnd(IntPtr.Zero);
        IntPtr desktop = g.GetHdc();

        int physicalScreenHeight = GetDeviceCaps(desktop, (int)DeviceCap.Desktopvertres);
        int physicalScreenWidth = GetDeviceCaps(desktop, (int)DeviceCap.Desktophorzres);

        return new Size(physicalScreenWidth, physicalScreenHeight);
    }


}