Skip to main content
BuyLog In
WinForms Controls
Search in…
Docs > Controls and Libraries > Messages, Notifications, and Dialogs > Toast Notification Manager
A newer version of this page is available. .
All docs
V18.2
WinForms Controls
Prerequisites
What's Installed
Build an Application
Controls and Libraries
Forms and User Controls
Messages, Notifications, and Dialogs
XtraMessageBox
Input Box
XtraDialog
Flyout Dialog
Flyout Panel
Alert Windows
Toast Notification Manager
WinRTLiveTileManager
Editors and Simple Controls
Ribbon, Bars and Menu
Application UI Manager
Docking Library
Data Grid
Vertical Grid
Property Grid
Pivot Grid
Tree List
Chart Control
Diagrams
Gauges
Map Control
Scheduler
Spreadsheet
Rich Text Editor
Spell Checker
Form Layout Managers
Navigation Controls
Printing-Exporting
PDF Viewer
Reporting
Snap
TreeMap
Sunburst Control
Common Features
Get More Help
API Reference
Download CHM

Toast Notification Manager

  • 10 minutes to read

The Toast Notification Manager component shows toast notifications - a Windows 10 version of alert windows.

Toast Notifications - Overview

Note

  • Toast notifications can only be displayed in Windows 8.0 or higher. For older Windows versions, use alert windows instead.
  • Windows displays toast notifications only for those apps that are pinned to the Start menu.

An application can display multiple notifications simultaneously, or one notification multiple times at once. The ToastNotification object has nine content templates, and can play a sound.

Create Notifications

Follow the steps below to create toast notifications.

  1. Locate the ToastNotificationManager component in Visual Studio’s toolbox and drop it onto the form.

    ToastNotifications - Component

  2. Windows displays toast notifications only for those apps that are pinned to the Start menu, so make sure your application has a valid shortcut with an Application User Model ID. For debugging purposes, invoke the component’s smart tag and click the “Create Application Shortcut” link.

    Toast Notifications - Create shortcut

  3. Invoke the manager’s smart-tag and click the Edit Notifications… link.

    Toast Notifications - Collection editor

  4. In the Collection Editor dialog, click Add to add a notification. This creates new ToastNotification objects and adds them to the manager’s ToastNotificationsManager.Notifications collection. You can customize the notification settings in the property grid.

  5. To display a specific notification, use the ToastNotificationsManager.ShowNotification method.

    
toastNotificationsManager1.ShowNotification(toastNotificationsManager1.Notifications[3]);
//or
toastNotificationsManager1.ShowNotification("3b7fcd8b-a1e0-4ff5-83ce-023cdf6be24b");

Manage End-User Interactions

Depending on end user actions, the following events occur.

  • ToastNotificationsManager.Activated - occurs if an end user clicks this notification. Handle this event to check which notification was clicked, and perform actions depending on the result. The code below illustrates an example.

    
private void toastNotificationsManager1_Activated(object sender, DevExpress.XtraBars.ToastNotifications.ToastNotificationEventArgs e) {
    switch (e.NotificationID.ToString()) {
        case "3b7fcd8b-a1e0-4ff5-83ce-023cdf6be24b":
            MessageBox.Show("Notification #1 Clicked");
            break;
        case "66501f90-ac6b-440d-bf73-483c5ab22143":
            MessageBox.Show("Notification #2 Clicked");
            break;
    }
}
  • ToastNotificationsManager.UserCancelled - occurs if an end user closes the notification.

  • ToastNotificationsManager.TimedOut - occurs when an end user does not respond to the notification and the notification is hidden after a certain period. The code below re-sends timed out notifications.

    
private void toastNotificationsManager1_TimedOut(object sender, DevExpress.XtraBars.ToastNotifications.ToastNotificationEventArgs e) {
    toastNotificationsManager1.ShowNotification(e.NotificationID);
}
  • ToastNotificationsManager.Hidden - occurs when a toast notification is hidden via the ToastNotificationsManager.HideNotification or ToastNotificationsManager.HideNotifications method.
  • ToastNotificationsManager.Dropped - fires when a notification is canceled due to end user’s system settings.

Customize Notifications with the “Generic” Template

The following XML markup is a sample toast notification’s content layout:


<toast displayTimestamp="2018-01-05T13:35:00Z">
  <visual>
    <binding template="ToastGeneric">
      <text id="1">Header Text</text>
      <text id="2">Body Text</text>
      <text id="3">Body 2 Text</text>
      <text placement="attribution">Attribution Text</text>
      <image src="file:///C:/Users/John.Doe/AppData/Local/Temp/tmpBC2C.tmp4e9214ef-f478-4cea-972a-3fdd6c3acac0.png" placement="appLogoOverride" hint-crop="circle" />
      <image src="file:///C:/Users/John.Doe/AppData/Local/Temp/tmpBC2D.tmpeb4a5986-fd2a-4d7d-a69d-a78f0061d754.png" placement="hero" />
      <image src="file:///C:/Users/John.Doe/AppData/Local/Temp/tmpBC1B.tmp43598461-7e59-4600-a95c-88edbc57b2ec.png" />
    </binding>
  </visual>
</toast>

You can handle the ToastNotificationsManager.UpdateToastContent event to modify this template using the System.XML namespace’s API. For instance, the following code adds a group with two subgroups to the notification layout. Each subgroup displays two additional text blocks, arranged vertically.


using System.Xml;

 public Form1() {
     InitializeComponent();
     //. . .
     toastNotificationsManager1.UpdateToastContent += ToastNotificationsManager1_UpdateToastContent;    
 }

 private void ToastNotificationsManager1_UpdateToastContent(object sender, DevExpress.XtraBars.ToastNotifications.UpdateToastContentEventArgs e) {
     XmlDocument content = e.ToastContent;
     XmlNode bindingNode = content.GetElementsByTagName("binding").FirstOrDefault();
     XmlElement group = content.CreateElement("group");
     bindingNode.AppendChild(group);

     XmlElement subGroup = content.CreateElement("subgroup");
     group.AppendChild(subGroup);

     XmlElement text = content.CreateElement("text");
     subGroup.AppendChild(text);
     text.SetAttribute("hint-style", "base");
     text.InnerText = "subgroup1";

     text = content.CreateElement("text");
     subGroup.AppendChild(text);
     text.SetAttribute("hint-style", "captionSubtle");
     text.InnerText = "captionSubtle";

     subGroup = content.CreateElement("subgroup");
     group.AppendChild(subGroup);

     text = content.CreateElement("text");
     subGroup.AppendChild(text);
     text.SetAttribute("hint-style", "captionSubtle");
     text.SetAttribute("hint-align", "right");
     text.InnerText = "subgroup2";

     text = content.CreateElement("text");
     subGroup.AppendChild(text);
     text.SetAttribute("hint-style", "captionSubtle");
     text.SetAttribute("hint-align", "right");
     text.InnerText = "captionSubtle";
     //save the toast markup as an XML file for debugging purposes
     content.Save(@"D:\Toast.xml");
 }

Toast Notifications - Custom Template

Buttons

Handle the following events to display a button in a notification:

The code below shows sample handlers.


using DevExpress.XtraBars.ToastNotifications;
using System.Xml;
//Add the "Show Details" button.
private void toastNotificationsManager1_UpdateToastContent(object sender, DevExpress.XtraBars.ToastNotifications.UpdateToastContentEventArgs e) {
    XmlDocument content = e.ToastContent;
    XmlElement toastElement = content.GetElementsByTagName("toast").OfType<XmlElement>().FirstOrDefault();

    XmlElement actions = content.CreateElement("actions");
    toastElement.AppendChild(actions);

    XmlElement action = content.CreateElement("action");
    actions.AppendChild(action);
    action.SetAttribute("content", "Show details");
    action.SetAttribute("arguments", "viewdetails");
}
//Handle button clicks.
private void toastNotificationsManager1_Activated(object sender, DevExpress.XtraBars.ToastNotifications.ToastNotificationEventArgs e) {
    ToastNotificationActivatedEventArgs args = e as ToastNotificationActivatedEventArgs;
    MessageBox.Show(string.Format("The {0} button is clicked", args.Arguments));
}

User Input

The Generic toast template allows you to add input boxes and selection menus to notifications.

Toasts - Input


private void toastNotificationsManager1_UpdateToastContent(object sender, DevExpress.XtraBars.ToastNotifications.UpdateToastContentEventArgs e) {
    XmlDocument content = e.ToastContent;
    XmlElement toastElement = content.GetElementsByTagName("toast").OfType<XmlElement>().FirstOrDefault();
    toastElement.SetAttribute("launch", "performAction");
    XmlElement actions = content.CreateElement("actions");
    toastElement.AppendChild(actions);
    XmlElement text = content.CreateElement("input");
    //Input Box
    actions.AppendChild(text);
    text.SetAttribute("id", "textBox");
    text.SetAttribute("type", "text");
    text.SetAttribute("placeHolderContent", "Type a reply");

    //Time selector
    XmlElement input = content.CreateElement("input");
    actions.AppendChild(input);
    input.SetAttribute("id", "time");
    input.SetAttribute("type", "selection");
    input.SetAttribute("defaultInput", "15min");
    XmlElement selection = content.CreateElement("selection");
    input.AppendChild(selection);
    selection.SetAttribute("id", "15min");
    selection.SetAttribute("content", "15 minutes");
    selection = content.CreateElement("selection");
    input.AppendChild(selection);
    selection.SetAttribute("id", "30min");
    selection.SetAttribute("content", "30 minutes");

    XmlElement action = content.CreateElement("action");
    //Send button
    actions.AppendChild(action);
    action.SetAttribute("content", "Send");
    action.SetAttribute("arguments", "Send");
    //Snooze button
    action = content.CreateElement("action");
    actions.AppendChild(action);
    action.SetAttribute("content", "Snooze");
    action.SetAttribute("arguments", "snooze");
    //Dissmiss button
    action = content.CreateElement("action");
    actions.AppendChild(action);
    action.SetAttribute("content", "Dismiss");
    action.SetAttribute("arguments", "dismiss");
}

To handle end-user interactions with these elements, an Activator is required. The latter is a descendant of the DevExpress.XtraBars.ToastNotifications.ToastNotificationActivator class. Mark this descendant with the ComVisible and Guid attributes to allow the Component Object Model (COM) to create and access instances of this class. In the sample below, a message box shows which notification button a user has pressed, what text the user entered, and which time interval this user selected. Change the OnActivate method override to implement your own functionality.


[Guid("-type-your-GUID-here-"), ComVisible(true)]
public class ToastNotificationActivatorCustom : DevExpress.XtraBars.ToastNotifications.ToastNotificationActivator {

    public override void OnActivate(string arguments, Dictionary<string, string> data) {
        StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
        sb.AppendLine(arguments);
        foreach (string key in data.Keys) {
            sb.AppendLine(string.Format("{0} = {1}", key, data[key]));
        }
        MessageBox.Show(sb.ToString());
    }
}

Tip

You can use on-line GUID generators to randomly generate a valid GUID. Note that all GUIDs must be unique.

Important

  • If you have clicked the “Create Application Shortcut” link in the Toast Notification Manager’s smart-tag to debug notifications, click the “Update Application Shortcut” link every time you change the Activator class. Otherwise, notifications will not reflect your changes.
  • Component Object Model invokes the OnActivate method in a worker thread. Make sure all calls to controls and components from this method are performed in a thread-safe way.

To assign this custom Activator to the Toast Notification Manager, specify the ToastNotificationsManager.ApplicationActivator property at design time…

Toasts - Activator

…or call RegisterApplicationActivator/UnregisterApplicationActivator methods in code (hidden from IntelliSense).


public XtraForm1() {
    InitializeComponent();
    toastNotificationsManager1.RegisterApplicationActivator(typeof(ToastNotificationActivatorCustom));
    this.FormClosed += XtraForm1_FormClosed;
}

private void XtraForm1_FormClosed(object sender, FormClosedEventArgs e) {
    toastNotificationsManager1.UnregisterApplicationActivator();
}

Important

The Custom Activator requires that the application shortcut contains a unique application ID (ToastNotificationsManager.ApplicationId) and a CLSID that points to your COM class (a GUID passed to the Guid attribute). Additionally, the application must be registered as a local COM server that can be invoked when users interact with toasts. To do that, create the following registry key when deploying the application:

  • Key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID{–your-GUID-here–}\LocalServer32
  • Value: C:\Users\Sample\Desktop\YourApplication.exe (specify an actual path to an executable)

Notes

  • The notification’s background color is chosen automatically by the operating system, you cannot modify it manually.
  • The operating system displays notifications. They can remain visible after an end user closes the application.
  • Windows 8-style notifications automatically display a shortcut icon in the bottom-right corner. This icon cannot be removed.
  • The number of notifications that a visible simultaneously depends on the end user’s system settings.
  • Windows 10 Anniversary Update (Redstone 1, build 1607) and newer versions support the Generic notification template.