Send keys for 3rd party application

Question

0.00/5 (No votes)

See more:

Hi All,

I'm trying to send text from my application to some 3rd party application and it's not happening.
With my application I'me able to send to Notepad and other text editor software but not to all the application.

Can anyone help me to fix this issue.
Any suggestion are welcome.

Regards,
Dom

What I have tried:

Here is my code snippet:

C#

Process[] notepads = Process.GetProcessesByName("notepad");
if (notepads.Length == 0) return;
if (notepads[0] != null)
{
    IntPtr child = FindWindowEx(notepads[0].MainWindowHandle, new IntPtr(0), "Edit", null);

    System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(2500);
    
    SendKeys.Send("Hi");
   
}

Posted 13-May-20 20:25pm

domneck

Updated 14-May-20 3:39am

v3

Add a Solution

Comments

Richard MacCutchan 14-May-20 4:48am

Your question is unclear. What is that code supposed to do, and what is the actual error? What is the 3rd party app that you send messages to?

Richard MacCutchan 14-May-20 10:34am

Well you have changed the code in your question, but you have still not explained what the problem is.

Dave Kreskowiak 14-May-20 13:15pm

You do realize that the Process class you get back has a MainWindowHandle property for the app, right? That makes the Win32 call to FindWindowEx a moot point.

Also, the code you posted gets the window handle, but you never do anything with it. The call to FindWindowEx does NOT activate the window, so SendKeys is going to just type into whatever window has the focus.

Really, using SendKeys at all is a horrible idea.

domneck 15-May-20 0:27am

Yes I agree, SendKeys is going to just type into whatever window has the focus. This is still fine for me.
But it's not working for 3rd party application is there any alternative for this.

Dave Kreskowiak 15-May-20 9:33am

You have to activate the target window to get it the focus before SendKeys is going to do anything.

Keep in mind, SendKeys is so bad because the user can switch the active window any time they want, and there's nothing your code can do to prevent it.

domneck 15-May-20 23:05pm

Yes, I’m activating target window and it works as expected for notepad but not for 3 rd party.

Dave Kreskowiak 15-May-20 23:31pm

Not with the code you posted.

Also, if the 3rd party window doesn't follow standard window messaging, like a game, SendKeys is not going to work at all.

domneck 15-May-20 23:34pm

Ok now it’s clear that 3 rd party doesn’t support..

Is there any alternatives to achieve this.?

Dave Kreskowiak 16-May-20 0:28am

Without knowing anything about the 3rd party app, there's nothing but guessing.

domneck 16-May-20 0:34am

Yes. Agree with you.
About 3rd part software there is no information.
But one thing using on screeen keyboard I’m able to type.
Is there any option to take control of on screen ketboard to type.
I’m able to launch on screen keyboard from my application

Dave Kreskowiak 16-May-20 10:23am

No, there isn't any way to "take over" the on-screen keyboard.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/inputdev/about-keyboard-input

Add your solution here

Treat my content as plain text, not as HTML

Preview 0

…

Existing Members

Sign in to your account

...or Join us

Download, Vote, Comment, Publish.

Your Email
Password
Forgot your password?

Your Email
This email is in use. Do you need your password?
Optional Password

I have read and agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
Please subscribe me to the CodeProject newsletters

When answering a question please:

Read the question carefully.
Understand that English isn't everyone's first language so be lenient of bad spelling and grammar.
If a question is poorly phrased then either ask for clarification, ignore it, or edit the question and fix the problem. Insults are not welcome.
Don't tell someone to read the manual. Chances are they have and don't get it. Provide an answer or move on to the next question.

Let's work to help developers, not make them feel stupid.

This content, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)