What is the best way to remap mouse events in Windows 10? - windows

Question

I need to catch and cancel any drag-and-drop event, and instead trigger a normal click on the initial coordinates where the mouse was clicked.
This is to help a disabled person with loss of motor function. Whenever she clicks on something, she keeps the button pressed and moves, registering a drag-and-drop event instead of a click.
I already tried software solutions (SteadyMouse, X-Mouse Button Control) but to no avail. Behavior modification is no longer an option due to her dementia.
I'm a webdev so not very familiar with Windows programming but I'm willing to learn if it can help her. Thanks for any ideas.

Answer 1

I suggest that you can immediately return to the release message event when the user presses the left mouse button.
Using SendInput and mouse hook,
C++ code sample,
#include <Windows.h>
#include <iostream>
#include <thread>
using namespace std;
HHOOK MouseHook;
BOOL WINAPI HandlerRoutine(_In_ DWORD dwCtrlType)
{
if (dwCtrlType == CTRL_CLOSE_EVENT)
{
UnhookWindowsHookEx(MouseHook);
}
return 1;
}
LRESULT __stdcall MouseHookCallback(int nCode, WPARAM wParam, LPARAM lParam)
{
INPUT input{};
input.type = INPUT_MOUSE;
input.mi.dwFlags = MOUSEEVENTF_LEFTUP;
if (nCode >= 0)
{
switch (wParam)
{
case WM_LBUTTONDOWN:
{
SendInput(1, &input, sizeof(INPUT));
break;
}
}
}
return CallNextHookEx(MouseHook, nCode, wParam, lParam);
}
void SetHook()
{
if (!(MouseHook = SetWindowsHookEx(WH_MOUSE_LL, MouseHookCallback, NULL, 0)))
{
cout << "Failed to install MouseHook hook!" << endl;
}
}
int main()
{
SetConsoleCtrlHandler(HandlerRoutine, 1);
SetHook();
MSG msg;
while (GetMessage(&msg, NULL, 0, 0))
{
TranslateMessage(&msg);
DispatchMessage(&msg);
}
return msg.wParam;
}
Updated:
Here is quick gif demo and I have updated part of the code.
Newly added code:
BOOL WINAPI HandlerRoutine(_In_ DWORD dwCtrlType)
{
if (dwCtrlType == CTRL_CLOSE_EVENT)
{
UnhookWindowsHookEx(MouseHook);
}
return 1;
}
This callback function will be called when you close the console window, and the function contains the unhook code.
Note: After installing the hook, you need to uninstall the hook if you not need it. If you don't uninstall the hook in time, it will cause mouse stuck.
With this app, drag events will be blocked because the mouse will receive a release event immediately after it is pressed.