I haven't find anything relevant in Google or any Microsoft site about it so I decided to ask a question here.
Everybody knows that in Win-based OS there is a virtual keyboard. I also know that *nix based OS, have it too. So, the question is about:
HOW DOES IT WORK INSIDE?
I mean, let's have an example that I opened on screen keyboard in Windows 10. What's the actual difference between:
input via hardware keyboard: when I'm using it, like I press X button
..and using a virtual keyboard, when I press the same button
Imagine, I have an admin access to terminal/computer, is there any option to track/distinguish that in the second time I pressed button not on hardware keyboard, but on-screen (by mouse clicking) version of it?
And there are also many different software, like AutoIt (yes, it's a language, but it's relevant to this example) that emulating pressing the X button. How does they work in Win-based OS? Do they "in-common" with default on-screen keyboard and using the same driver/WinAPI or there is a difference between them?
And the second case, between:
default on-screen keyboard
compilated AutoIt script
..any other software that emulating press X button
I guess the only way to find out "how exactly button was pressed" is to check current processes list via taskmgr and find out have anything been launched or not. Or I'm totally wrong here, and missing something?
THE SCOPE
I have written a node.js script which emulates button pressing behaviour in windows app.
TL:DR business logic short => open notepad.exe and type `Hello world`
And could someone give me any advice/recommend any powershell/bat script (or any other solution) with demonstration of GetAsyncKeyState check behavior? With which I could easily check my own node.js script (not by functional of it, but by triggering press the X button event)
I found an answer for node.js case here: Detecting Key Presses Across Applications in Powershell
SendInput is the preferred method to generate user input in software. The Windows on-screen keyboard probably uses it for everything except Ctrl+Alt+Delete which I believe has some kind of special handling. The on-screen keyboard is only able to generate Ctrl+Alt+Delete in certain configurations.
Software-generated input is merged with normal hardware input in the RIT (Raw Input Thread) in the kernel.
A low-level keyboard hook can detect software-generated input.
Related
Ctrl+Escape is a global Windows shortcut for opening main system menu. But I would like my Qt application to use this shortcut without triggering Windows main menu. I know it is probably a bad idea to override system shortcuts in general, but I would like to use this shortcut is a very limited use case.
This usecase is as follows. I have a popup window containing several rows or items. This window is opened by Ctrl+Tab and while the user holds Ctrl and keep pressing Tab, the current rows are cycled through. When the user releases Ctrl, the current row is used for some operation... But sometimes it happens that user presses Ctrl+Tab and then realizes he does not want to continue. He usually presses Escape while still holding Ctrl. And then it triggers Windows system menu and normal user gets confused, choleric user get angry... which is a bad thing. In other words I would like to be able to close the popup window when user presses Ctrl+Escape. How to do that? It is even possible?
If I write the code using this shortcut like any other short, it does not work and it always triggers Windows main menu.
As I understand it, Qt will typically not receive the key event if the underlying window system has intercepted it. For example even QtCreator cannot override system-wide shortcuts.
This question is almost a duplicate of: C++/Qt Global Hotkeys
While that question is asking specifically to capture shortcuts in a hidden/background application, I think the basic concept is the same -- capture shortcuts before the window system processes them.
From that answer, UGlobalHotkey seems pretty good, and the How to use System-Wide Hotkeys in your Qt application blog post could be useful for your limited-use case (but read the comments on that blog post about fixing the example).
Also found:
https://github.com/mitei/qglobalshortcut
https://github.com/Skycoder42/QHotkey (looks like a more detailed version of above)
I have a Windows program which has a GUI that runs on a PC.
In order to automate some of the GUI actions, I want to be able to move the mouse and type using the keyboard, but without interfering with the user's activity.
I know that I could simulate input events using SendMessage and PostMessage, but that requires the window to be in focus, and I want to eliminate this requirement.
My question is - is it possible to implement sort of a 'wrapper' that internally runs the original program, while patching its mouse and keyboard, providing it with a 'virtual' version of a mouse of keyboard?
I think of that as taking only the mouse and keyboard capabilities of a VM. Is something of that kind exists?
Thanks!
Is there any way to replace a special character with a keyboard shortcut live?
For instance: Writing $ would actually press ctrl+n or arrow key left
Every help is much appreciated!
This is primarily speculation with a little experience and research mixed in.
This sort of thing is easy enough if you are checking in an application that currently has focus, but creating a universal keypress hook? Not so much.
I built a C#/C++ program in grad school that intercepted keystrokes intended for another application, but I was only able to do it by waiting for the desired application window to open, auto-opening my own pop-up window to receive the input, and then passing keystrokes back to the original window.
I'm not saying it can't be done, period, but my background knowledge (though slightly dated) and a little cursory research isn't turning up anything in the basic scripting world that would satisfy what you appear to be after.
The only way I know how to do it (which is likely wrong) would be to have hooks in every open application, and when a textbox on the application gained focus give focus to your own text-receiving app. Analyze the keypresses, and then pass the desired text/keypresses on to the original app/textbox. This would require prior knowledge of the "windows" (i.e. all objects) in all possible apps on the machine you're working on, so you would know when a textbox received focus.
If I recall, it might be possible to tell when keys are being pressed (if you have hooks in all apps) and re-direct from there, but you might lose the first keystroke, even then.
Again, this is primarily speculative.
Problem: I am using Windows as a guest operating system in a Virtual Machine and a funky keyboard setup. I need a way to be able to troubleshoot cases when keyboard hotkey combinations are not functioning properly.
Question: Does anyone know of a program that quickly and easily displays on the screen what keypress windows thinks it got whenever I press a key or key combination on the installed keyboard?
Keyboard Jedi looks like it will do what you're after.
I read the following code in Unix Power Tools on page 117
*VT100.Translations: #override\
Button1 <Btn3Down>: select-end(primary,CUT_BUFFER0,CLIPBOARD)\n\
!Shift <Btn2Up>: insert-selection(CLIPBOARD)\n\
~Shift ~Ctrl ~Meta <Btn2Up>: insert-selection(primary,CUT_BUFFER0)
I have not managed to see any effect of the above code.
How can you use X clipboard in Screen, without your mouse?
Using the mouse. Left-click drag to select and usually the middle mouse button pastes but some terminals may differ (PuTTY uses right-click). If you only have two buttons you click them both together (left mouse button + right mouse button).
In reply to comment below ("Can you do it without your mouse?"):
ctrl-insert : copy
shift-insert : paste
shift-delete : cut
shift-ctrl-C : copy
shift-ctrl-V : paste
Not all applications will support the last three (though Konsole does). In fact most console applications will not allow you to delete text once it's printed.
As far as selecting text without a mouse I'm not sure there's a generic mechanism for that. It's probably terminal and/or application specific (ie, vim has it's own keys for marking and copying text - but only within vim). You could do it with mouse emulation but I'm sure that would be a painful process.
You can't use the traditional Mac/Windows shortcuts in a terminal because they were reserved for different actions long before these OS existed (ie, Ctrl-C terminates the running process).
I'm trying to use Ctrl-C in X
X does not handle these operations directly, they are handled by the application. That's why modern GUI programs like Firefox or Gedit support Ctrl-C for copy but terminals and command-line programs generally do not. As I said, it's a conflict in established conventions and Ctrl-C for kill got in first.
BTW, you could do some key-remapping if it drives you nuts but then you would be learning bad habits when you use a different machine. Best to just get used to it or do most of your editing in a GUI application.
More Information
EDIT: For a Mac, this may help: MacOSX-to-Konsole or This or This. It looks like you need to replace Ctrl with Command on Mac keyboards. It seems like Terminal the mac console has a right-click context menu for copy-paste so to do it the traditional way you me need to install a different console program or change some settings in Terminal.