Hello. I am writing application and wish it to copy from the desktop or windows beneath, with effect of transparancy. I have seen similar application which uses ShowWindow(...,SW_HIDE) > (...,SW_SHOW) but naturally this creating flickering and big problems when it gives control to different window. Who knows of another way?

hi there
I''m doing something similar as a first c++ project, making a little desktop toy (and I''m indebted to the generous help I have had over the last couple of days here in gamedev.net.
I''m going to around this problem. I had also thought of using SW_SHOW & HIDE, but now I am going to use those only when a WS_PAINT message is called.
The method I''m working on at the moment is to copy the background when the window is initialised, and then leave that static and copying small chunks around the window from the display when the character is moving, and slicing these new areas into the window when I redraw the background each time the figure has moved. Which is going to look nasty and choppy if there is any animation in the background, but that''s just the way it will have to be.
I would be very interested if anyone did know of a painless alternative to hiding and showing the window, and blitting from desktop in between ''though.