I have a virtual keyboard and I am trying to figure out a way to detect the user swiping keys, ie, pressing one winapi button control down (for eg 'Q') then moving the mouse/finger around over other keys to type out words. For a better description see the below image.
Currently the only solution I can think of is detect a WM_LBUTTONDOWN on a button. Then detect WM_MOUSEMOVE events over other buttons (by hit testing?) and record that key. When I next receive a WM_LBUTTONUP I know the user is finished typing. I've also tried to detect WM_TOUCH and WM_TOUCHHITTESTING events but on a Surface Pro 3 these events are not firing but this could be I need to register for these events?
Is there an existing WinAPI function/methodology I could use that I am unaware of?
Related
I'm trying to implement a simple X11 key grabber in C for window switching with Alt-Tab etc. I can use the function XSelectInput to handle keyboard events for a specific window:
XSelectInput(display, window, KeyPressMask | KeyReleaseMask);
How can I receive "global" keyboard events regardless of which window is focused?
You need XGrabKey. This function is specifically designed for implementing hotkeys.
When the desired key combination is pressed, you get the event no matter what, and no other window gets the event.
I am writing a small proof of concept for detecting extra inputs across mouses and keyboards on Windows, is it possible and how do I go about detecting input from a large amount of buttons in the Windows API? From what I have read, there is only support for 5 buttons but many mice have more buttons than that, is my question even possible with the Windows API, is it possible at all within the constraints of Windows?
You can use the Raw Input API to receive WM_INPUT messages directly from the mouse/keyboard driver. There are structure fields for the 5 standard mouse buttons (left, middle, right, x1, and x2). Beyond the standard buttons, additional buttons are handled by vendor-specific data that you would have to code for as needed. The API can give you access to the raw values, but you will have to refer to the vendor driver documentation for how to interpret them. Sometimes extra buttons are actually reported as keyboard input instead of mouse input.
Or, try using the DirectInput API to interact with DirectInput devices to receive Mouse Data and Keyboard Data.
Or, you could use the XInput API, which is the successor of DirectInput. However, XInput is more limited than DirectInput, as it is designed primarily for interacting with the Xbox 360 controller, whereas DirectInput is designed to interact with any controller. See XInput and DirectInput for more details.
Very simple: use GetKeyState
SHORT WINAPI GetKeyState(
_In_ int nVirtKey
);
Logic is next:
Ask user not to press buttons
Loop GetKeyState for all buttons 0-255
Drop pressed buttons state (some virtual keys can be pressed even it not pressed, not know why)
Now start keys monitor thread for rest keys codes and save them to any structure (pause between loop is 25ms is enough)
Ask user to press button
From keys monitor array you will see the any pressed buttons by user
Direct input and all other is more usable for other user input devices. For keyboard and mouse - GetKeyState is best.
I am trying to emulate simple mouse movement in a window belonging to another process. My app uses global hooks to inject DLL into the target process (WH_CBT and WH_GETMESSAGE) and the injection works like a charm. The intention is to fool the target process into thinking the mouse went over a portion of the screen. When I do a movement with the physical mouse, this triggers a certain app behavior (e.g. a tooltip is being shown). I would prefer if the actual mouse pointer remained in its current position when I perform the "trick".
I have established message monitoring with Spy++. Sending (or posting) plain WM_MOUSEMOVE messages to the target HWND is registered by Spy++ but has no desired effect. When the mouse is physically moved, the app does its thing. I have tried sending some other messages in conjunction to WM_MOUSEMOVE (e.g. WM_SETCURSOR) but things didn't improve. I have even hijacked GetCursorPos in the target process to return the same coordinate as posted in WM_MOUSEMOVE (former is screen, latter is client) but this didn't help either.
When I do a simple SetCursorPos, the app does what it's supposed to do. What other magic am I missing that the SetCursorPos is doing? The messages captured by Spy++ look more or less the same in both scenarios.
Any suggestions on how to send mouse movement are welcome. I do not want to use SendInput, mouse_event or other APIs. I need to target a specific HWND for a very brief period of time.
Usually a tooltip is shown as a result of the WM_NOTIFY message, which is sent with the TTN_SHOW notification code. Have you tried it?
In order to block ALL keyboard access, mouse access and keyboard shortcut events in one of my projects, I:
Created a full screen transparent borderless window, in front of other windows, but invisible.
Handle all keyboard and mouse events with simple return; the window itself.
Make the window modal [NSApp runModalForWindow:myWindow] in order to block keyboard shortcuts.
Release window from touchpad's gesture events only.
But this guy made it look simple in a tiny app -MACIFIER:
How did he do it?
not really sure if this would be usable, but you could use the program hotkeynet (generally used for gaming, but I have had success using other methods) and map every single key/mouse action to do nothing. I did something similar by blocking access to a specific program with it in about 20-30 minutes.
not sure if it will help; but it might be the solution you need?
I believe you can use Quartz Event Services. In particular, have a look at CGEventTapCreate, and note the 4th parameter, which allows you to specify what kinds of events you'd like to intercept. The available kinds of events are listed in the CGEventType enum.
If you set your tap to be an active filter, returning NULL from the callback will delete the event.
How can I fire an automatic key press or mouse click event when a color appears on the screen
on other application or browser?
It depends a lot on what you want. Do you want to send the keys to
your Application
another fixed Application
Simulate a global keypress
Simulating keys globally
All of these will cause problems targeting a specific application and the active window changes.
SendKeys Sends Messages to the active app. It's a high level function taking a string which encodes a sequence of keys.
keybd_event is very low level and injects a global keypress. In most cases SendKeys is easier to use.
mouse_event simulates mouse input.
SendInput supersedes these functions. It's more flexible but a bit harder to use.
Sending to a specific window
When working with a fixed target window, sending it messages can work depending on how the window works. But since this doesn't update all states it might not always work. But you don't have a race condition with changing window focus, which is worth a lot.
WM_CHAR sends a character in the basic multilingual plane (16 bit)
WM_UNICHAR sends a character supporting the whole unicode range
WM_KEYDOWN and WM_KEYUP Sends keys which will be translated to characters by the keyboard layout.
My recommendation is when targeting a specific window/application try using messages first, and only if that fails try one of the lower level solutions.
when a color appears on the screen on other application or browser
I made one program using OpenCV and C++ for operating mouse with finger gesture. I used 3 color strips for 3 mouse function.
Yellow color for Left click
Blue color for Right click
Pink color for controlling cursor position
Whenever camera detect these colors, associated function takes place, I have used mouse_event for performing mouse function.
For more information you may read my code, blog, video.
I'm not 100% sure what you want, but if all you are after is running the method linked the the button.Clicked event, then you can manually run the method just like any other method.
You can use the .NET SendKeys class to send keystrokes.
Emulating mouse clicks requires P/Invoke.
I don't know how to detect colors on the screen.