GetMonitorInfo

GetMonitorInfo is a function in the Windows API that retrieves information about a specified monitor. This information includes the monitor's bounding rectangle, the work area within the monitor, and flags indicating the monitor's characteristics. The bounding rectangle defines the entire screen area of the monitor. The work area is the portion of the monitor that is not obscured by system windows, such as the taskbar. This function is particularly useful for applications that need to adapt their layout or behavior based on the display configuration.

To use GetMonitorInfo, an application first obtains a handle to the desired monitor. This can be done using functions like EnumDisplayMonitors, which enumerates all connected displays. The application then creates a MONITORINFO structure and passes a pointer to it, along with the monitor handle, to the GetMonitorInfo function. If the function succeeds, the MONITORINFO structure is populated with the relevant monitor details. This includes the structure's size, the monitor's bounding rectangle (rcMonitor), and its work area rectangle (rcWork).

The flags field within the MONITORINFO structure provides additional information about the monitor. For example, it can indicate if the monitor is the primary display. Applications can then use this data to position windows, determine optimal display areas for content, or manage multiple monitor setups effectively. Understanding the work area is crucial for ensuring that application windows do not overlap with essential UI elements like the taskbar, thus providing a better user experience.