Window Handles

Overview

XPF uses a system where the handles returned from various WPF API calls are virtual handles. In this way, XPF can intercept API calls using these handles and automatically translate them into the appropriate cross-platform API. This has the effect that many WPF APIs such as WindowInteropHelper.Handle return these virtualized window handles, as well as emulated win32 APIs.

Getting a Native Window Handle

The native handle for a window can be retrieved from the underlying Avalonia Window using the following code.

if (XpfWpfAbstraction.GetAvaloniaWindowForWindow(xpfWindow) is { } avaloniaWindow &&
    avaloniaWindow.TryGetPlatformHandle()?.Handle is { } nativeHandle)
{
    // You now have the native handle for the XPF window as an IntPtr.
}

note

The type of the handle retreived in this manner will be different depending on the OS platform and cannot be passed to the win32 API emulation layer. For example, on Windows it will be a HWND but on macOS it will be an NSWindow pointer. The type of the handle can be retreived by using the IPlatformHandle.HandleDescriptor property.