How to get the position of the Windows Taskbar

Problem/Question/Abstract:

I want to get some desktop settings in variables, like background color etc. But I don't want to use the registry, does anybody know a different way? I also want to know the height of the taskbar, and the position of the taskbar (top of the screen, bottom, left or right).

Answer:

For the following example put a RadioGroup on your form and give it 5 items:

implementation

type
  TTaskBarPosition = (tpHide, tpBottom, tpLeft, tpRight, tpTop);

function FindTaskBarPos(aWorkArea: TRect): TTaskBarPosition;
begin
  if aWorkArea.Left <> 0 then
  begin
    Result := tpLeft;
    Exit;
  end;
  if aWorkArea.Top <> 0 then
  begin
    Result := tpTop;
    Exit;
  end;
  if aWorkArea.Right <> Screen.Width then
  begin
    Result := tpRight;
    Exit;
  end;
  if aWorkArea.Bottom <> Screen.Height then
  begin
    Result := tpBottom;
    Exit;
  end;
  Result := tpHide;
end;

procedure TForm1.FormCreate(Sender: TObject);
var
  WorkArea: TRect;
begin
  Color := clBackground;
  SystemParametersInfo(SPI_GETWORKAREA, 0, @WorkArea, 0);
  RadioGroup1.ItemIndex := Ord(FindTaskBarPos(WorkArea));
end;

end.