Desktop Toast

A library for toast notifications from desktop app. This library will, if necessary, install a shortcut in Windows startup and show a toast asynchronously.

Requirements

• .NET Framework 4.5.2
• Windows 8.0 or newer

Contents

• DesktopToast - The library.

• DesktopToast.Wpf - Sample WPF app to use this library.

• DesktopToast.WinForms - Sample WinForms app to use this library.

• DesktopToast.Proxy - Sample console app which acts as proxy to this library. This app will accept a request in JSON format from standard input, transfer the request to this library and return the result to standard output.

Note

• Windows in project references is for using Windows Runtime (WinRT) API. It refers to Windows.winmd whose location has been changed over time. If it is not solved, find its location in your system and modify its path in .csproj file.

Usage

Instantiate ToastRequest class, set its properties and then call ToastManager.ShowAsync method.

public async Task<bool> ShowToastAsync()
{
    var request = new ToastRequest
    {
        ToastTitle = "DesktopToast WPF Sample",
        ToastBody = "This is a toast test.",
        ToastLogoFilePath = string.Format("file:///{0}", Path.GetFullPath("toast128.png")),
        ShortcutFileName = "DesktopToast.Wpf.lnk",
        ShortcutTargetFilePath = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().Location,
        AppId = "DesktopToast.Wpf",
    };

    var result = await ToastManager.ShowAsync(request);

    return (result == ToastResult.Activated);
}

ToastRequest class is a container of information necessary for installing a shortcut and showing a toast. It has the following properties:

Property	Description	Note
ToastTitle	Toast title	Optional
ToastBody	Toast body	Required for toast
ToastBodyList	Toast body list (If specified, toast body will be substituted by this list.)	Optional
ToastLogoFilePath	Logo image file path of toast	Optional
ToastAudio	Audio type of toast	Optional
ToastXml	XML representation of Toast (If specified, this XML will be used for a toast as it is.)	Optional
ShortcutFileName	Shortcut file name to be installed in Windows startup	Required for shortcut
ShortcutTargetFilePath	Target file path of shortcut	Required for shortcut
ShortcutArguments	Arguments of shortcut	Optional
ShortcutComment	Comment of shortcut	Optional
ShortcutWorkingFolder	Working folder of shortcut	Optional
ShortcutWindowState	Window state of shortcut	Optional
ShortcutIconFilePath	Icon file path of shortcut	Optional
AppId	AppUserModelID of application	Required
ActivatorId	AppUserModelToastActivatorCLSID of application (for Action Center of Windows 10)	Optional
WaitingDuration	Waiting duration before showing a toast after the shortcut file is installed	Optional

Action Center of Windows 10

To interact with Action Center of Windows 10, an application needs to register COM class type which implements INotificationActivationCallback. In addition, the registration of COM server in the registry is required for an application to be started by COM when it is not running.

See WPF sample for implementation. Note that the CLSID of COM class type (AppUserModelToastActivatorCLSID) must be unique for each application.

Also check the following sample.

• WindowsNotifications/desktop-toasts

Interactive toast of Windows 10

To show an interactive toast of Windows 10, prepare a XML representation of toast and set it to ToastXml property. Check the following article.

• Adaptive and interactive toast notifications for Windows 10

You can compose it from scratch or utilize NotificationsExtensions.Win10 library. See WPF sample.

License

• MIT License