I need to get the text found in an notepad process instance that isn't saved on the hard-drive. For example the notepad app is opened and contains a string "This is a notepad Window" but still isn't saved, I wanna get the string inside the notepad without saving it to a file.
I must complete this task, in powershell. But if it can't be done in powershell C# is the next best option. The closest thing to my case I found in an answer on stack overflow is the following code in C#, but I couldn't really figure out how to make use of it
I've tried dumping the memory data of the notepad app, but it wasn't useful.
I've tried creating an com object for the notepad app but it wasn't doable.
Code I talked about:
[DllImport("user32.dll", EntryPoint = "FindWindowEx")]
public static extern IntPtr FindWindowEx(IntPtr hwndParent, IntPtr hwndChildAfter, string lpszClass, string lpszWindow);
[DllImport("User32.dll")]
public static extern int SendMessage(IntPtr hWnd, int uMsg, int wParam, string lParam);
private void btnCopyToNotepad_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
StartNotepad();
Process[] notepads = null;
while (notepads == null || notepads.Length == 0)
{
notepads = Process.GetProcessesByName("notepad");
Thread.Sleep(500);
}
if (notepads.Length == 0) return;
if (notepads[0] != null)
{
Clipboard.SetText(textBox1.Text);
SendMessage(FindWindowEx(notepads[0].MainWindowHandle, new IntPtr(0), "Edit", null), 0x000C, 0, textBox1.Text);
}
}
private static void StartNotepad()
{
Process.Start("notepad.exe");
}
I expect to be able to copy the text from a running notepad instance without saving it on the hard-drive.
As for...
I expect to be able to copy the text from a running notepad instance
without saving it on the hard-drive.
...why are you trying to grab something that you had to put there to start with?
Or... are you saying, some other process started and wrote something to notepad?
If so, then capture why not just content from the other process before it goes to notepad?
Anyway, you can just do something like this directly and avoid all the C# stuff...
Old school...
$wshell = New-Object -ComObject wscript.shell
$wshell.AppActivate((Get-Process -Name notepad).MainWindowTitle)
$wshell.SendKeys("^{A}^{C}")
Or via .Net
[void] [System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName("'Microsoft.VisualBasic")
[Microsoft.VisualBasic.Interaction]::AppActivate((Get-Process -Name notepad).MainWindowTitle)
[System.Windows.Forms.SendKeys]::SendWait("^{A}^{C}")
Update for OP
As for …
Any Chance we can get the text from the memory ? Without using the
Send Keys ?
Not without using some other 3rd UI Automation tool, or writing your own or memory dumping (but the last one is a serialization thing, soooo..., it would be just as easy to save the notepad session in a tempo location and call it up later).
There 3rdP tools around for PowerShell UI automation. Be aware some are no longer updated, though they still work.
Still, you'd have to get these on every system you need to hit.
Here is a list:
WASP
UiAutomation
selenium
FlaUI
BitCollectors.UIAutomationLib
AutoIt Scripting Language
https://www.autoitconsulting.com/site/scripting/autoit-cmdlets-for-windows-powershell
Otherwise, you end up digging at this.
Inspect
UI Automation Overview
As per the author, with FlaUI, you would do something like this.
Add-Type -Path "\Documents\WindowsPowerShell\Modules\FlaUI\src\FlaUI.UIA3\bin\Debug\FlaUI.Core.dll"
Add-Type -Path "\Documents\WindowsPowerShell\Modules\FlaUI\src\FlaUI.UIA3\bin\Debug\FlaUI.UIA3.dll"
$app = [FlaUI.Core.Application]::AttachOrLaunch('notepad')
$uia = New-Object FlaUI.UIA3.UIA3Automation
$mw = $app.GetMainWindow($uia)
$Document = $mw.FindFirstChild($uia.ConditionFactory.ByControlType([FlaUI.Core.Definitions.ControlType]::Document))
$mw.Title
$Document.Patterns.Value.Pattern.Value.Value
Sure, SendKeys can be finicky (but easy to use), and the list are more polished, but use similar approaches.
Related
I'm currently creating a WPF application, and like to add as a small side feature the ability to clear the windows file explorer history.
If one were to manually do this operation, it is possible via the file menu within a file explorer window,
as shown here.
My goal is pretty much to programmatically execute the same action as this button does, but I've been unable to find what executable or user32.dll method is behind this operation (if it exists), and been also unsuccessful on finding the full logic behind it (namely, finding what folder and files it targets), to replicate it.
Can you help me?
As the comment by dxiv suggested, you can achieve this via the following:
enum ShellAddToRecentDocsFlags
{
Pidl = 0x001,
Path = 0x002,
PathW = 0x003
}
[DllImport("shell32.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Unicode)]
private static extern void SHAddToRecentDocs(ShellAddToRecentDocsFlags flag, string path);
// How To Clear Everything
SHAddToRecentDocs(ShellAddToRecentDocsFlags.Pidl, null);
I am complete beginner with C#, but advanced user with autohotkey.
If I have this script, how could I call that from C#?
ins::suspend
SendMode Input
Lbutton::
Loop
{
GetKeyState, state, Lbutton, P
if state=U
break
Sendinput {Click down}
Sleep 25
Sendinput {Click up}
Sleep 25
}
return
Could you show me simple example, so I can get to understand how to do it.
This is a may be reached through AutoHotkey.dll (that has COM Interface).
You to need download this library, move in c:\Windows\System32.
And register for the system (Run, % "regsvr32.exe AutoHotkey.dll", % "c:\Windows\System32").
Then in VS create a console application project, and choose Project tab/Add reference.
In opened window find AutoHotkey library, click on "Add" button, then close the window.
So now you have connected this library in your project, and this you'll see in reference folder.
Select all in Program.cs and replace on this code:
using System.Threading;
using AutoHotkey;
namespace work_with_AHK_object
{
class Program
{
static void Main()
{
/// write content for ahk script (thread)
string scriptContent=""
//+"#NoTrayIcon\n"
+"#KeyHistory, 0\n"
+"#NoEnv\n"
//+"ListLines, Off\n"
//+"DetectHiddenWindows, On\n"
//+"Process, Priority,, High\n"
+"SetBatchLines, -1\n"
+"SetMouseDelay, 25\n"
//+"Menu, Tray, Icon, % \"shell32.dll\", -153\n"
//+"WinSet, AlwaysOnTop, On, % \"ahk_id\"A_ScriptHwnd\n"
//+"WinSet, Style, -0xC00000, % \"ahk_id\"A_ScriptHwnd\n"
//+"WinMove, % \"ahk_id\"A_ScriptHwnd,, 888, 110, 914, 812\n"
//+"ListLines\n"
//+"ListLines, On\n"
+"TrayTip,, % \"Ready to use!\"\n" /// some notice
+""
+"Ins::\n"
+" Suspend\n"
+" Loop, % A_IsSuspended ? 1:2\n"
+" SoundBeep, 12500, 50\n"
+" KeyWait, % A_ThisHotkey\n"
+" Return\n"
+""
+"LButton::\n"
+" Loop\n"
+" Send, {Click}\n"
+" Until, !GetKeyState(\"LButton\", \"P\")\n"
+" Return\n"
+""
+"Space::\n"
+" Suspend, Off\n"
+" ExitApp";
/// initialize instance
CoCOMServer ahkThread=new CoCOMServer();
/// launch a script in a separate thread
ahkThread.ahktextdll(scriptContent);
/// wait for exit
while (ahkThread.ahkReady()!=0) Thread.Sleep(1000);
}
}
}
Open project property, in Application tab change it Output type to Windows Application.
I know this is quite an old post but I just had this issue myself and struggled quite a bit to find a solution, since I couldn´t use any of the available wrapper projects for AHK in C#.
If it´s an issue for you as well to register a the dll or to use a wrapper you can use the approach from this post on the ahk forums by basi.
Essentially you only need to place the dll in your project folder, include it into the project and set "Copy to Output Directory" to "Copy if newer" in the properties.
Then import the dll functions like this:
[DllImport(
"AutoHotkey.dll",
CallingConvention = CallingConvention.Cdecl,
CharSet = CharSet.Unicode,
EntryPoint = "ahkdll")]
private static extern int ahkdll(
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPWStr)] string scriptFilePath,
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPWStr)] string parameters = "",
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPWStr)] string title = "");
[DllImport(
"AutoHotkey.dll",
CallingConvention = CallingConvention.Cdecl,
CharSet = CharSet.Unicode,
EntryPoint = "ahktextdll")]
private static extern int ahktextdll(
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPWStr)] string script,
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPWStr)] string parameters = "",
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPWStr)] string title = "");
ahkdll allows to run a script from a file, ahktextdll allows to directly insert a script as a string.
I only tested this with the v1 dll from HotKeyIt (i used the one in the win32w folder).
Sleep is easy:
System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(25);
Getting the Key and MouseDown events (ins:: and Lbutton::) when your application is not the active one is a lot more complicated. It can be achieved by using global hooks. Have a look at this CodeProject article A Simple C# Global Low Level Keyboard Hook
Ultimately it depends on why you want to use C# when AHK offers you a much simpler environment to achieve similar things.
I cant think of any simple example which does the job.
Your going to want to use send keys
this video is a great example!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyDEelZbmEc
My goal is to write a C# code that will open a Windows Explorer window, with a particular file selected. If such window is already open, I want to bring it to front. I have tried two options.
First, I start by explicitly calling explorer.exe:
arg = "/select, " + pathToFile;
Process.Start("explorer.exe", arg);
This opens and selects a window fine, but the problem is that it will always open a new window, even if one exists. So I tried this:
Process.Start(pathToDir);
This either opens a new window or focuses an old one, but gives me no option to select a file.
What can I do? I looked at explorer's arguments and I don't see anything I can use. A last-resort option I can come up with is to get the list of already open windows and use some WINAPI-level code to handle it, but that seems like an overkill.
I don't know if it's possible using process start, but the following code opens the Windows explorer on the containing folder only if needed (if the folder is already open, or selected on another file, it's reused) and selects the desired file.
It's using p/invoke interop code on the SHOpenFolderAndSelectItems function:
public static void OpenFolderAndSelectFile(string filePath)
{
if (filePath == null)
throw new ArgumentNullException("filePath");
IntPtr pidl = ILCreateFromPathW(filePath);
SHOpenFolderAndSelectItems(pidl, 0, IntPtr.Zero, 0);
ILFree(pidl);
}
[DllImport("shell32.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Unicode)]
private static extern IntPtr ILCreateFromPathW(string pszPath);
[DllImport("shell32.dll")]
private static extern int SHOpenFolderAndSelectItems(IntPtr pidlFolder, int cild, IntPtr apidl, int dwFlags);
[DllImport("shell32.dll")]
private static extern void ILFree(IntPtr pidl);
I am using Tamas Szekeres builds of GDAL including the C# bindings in a desktop GIS application using C# and .net 4.0
I am including the entire GDAL distribution in a sub-directory of my executable with the following folder structure:
\Plugins\GDAL
\Plugins\GDAL\gdal
\Plugins\GDAL\gdal-data
\Plugins\GDAL\proj
We are using EPSG:4326, and the software is built using 32-bit target since the GDAL C# API is using p/invoke to the 32-bit libraries (could try 64 bit since Tamas provides these, haven't gotten around to it yet).
When I run my application I get the following error
This error typically happens when software tries to access a device that is no longer attached, such as a removable drive. It is not possible to "catch" this exception because it pops up a system dialog.
After dismissing the dialog using any of the buttons, the software continues to execute as designed.
The error occurs the first time I call the following method
OSGeo.OSR.CoordinateTransformation.TransformPoint(double[] inout);
The strange stuff:
The error occurs on one, and only one computer (so far)
I've run this software in several other computers both 32 and 64 bit without problems
The error does not ocurr on the first run after compiling the GDAL shim library I am using, it only occurrs on each subsequent run
it happens regardless of release, or debug builds
it happens regardless of whether the debugger is attached or not
it happens regardless of whether I turn on or off Gdal.UseExceptions or Osr.UseExceptions();
disabling removable drives causes the bug to disappear. This is not what I consider a real solution as I will not be able to ask a customer to do this.
I have tried the following:
catching the error
changing GDAL directories and environment settings
changing computers and operating systems: this worked
used SysInternals ProcMon to trace what files are being opened with no luck, they all appear to be files that exist
I re-built the computer in question when the hard drive failed, to no avail.
"cleaning" the registry using CCleaner
files in GDAL Directory are unchanged on execution
Assumptions
Error is happening in unmanaged code
During GDAL initialization, some path is referring to a drive on the computer that is no longer attached.
I am also working on the assumption this is limited to a computer configuration error
Configuration
Windows 7 Pro
Intel Core i7 920 # 2,67GHz
12.0 GB RAM
64-bit OS
Drive C: 120 GB SSD with OS, development (Visual Studio 10), etc
Drive D: 1 TB WD 10,000k with data, not being accessed for data.
The Question
I either need a direction to trap the error, or a tool or technique that will allow me to figure out what is causing it. I don't want to release the software with the possibility that some systems will have this behaviour.
I have no experience with this library, but perhaps some fresh eyes might give you a brainwave...
Firstly, WELL WRITTEN QUESTION! Obviously this problem really has you stumped...
Your note about the error not occurring after a rebuild screams out: Does this library generate some kind of state file, in its binary directory, after it runs?
If so, it is possible that it is saving incorrect path information into that 'configuration' file, in a misguided attempt to accelerate its next start-up.
Perhaps scan this directory for changes between a 'fresh build' and 'first run'?
At very least you might find a file you can clean up on shut-down to avoid this alert...
HTH
Maybe you can try this:
Run diskmgmt.msc
Change the driveletter for Disk 2 (right click) if my assumption that Disk 2 is a Removable Disk is true
Run your application
If this removes the error, something in the application is referring to the old driveletter
It could be in the p/invoked libs
Maybe see: http://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=46501 It talks about gcc somehow compiling a driveletter into a binary
+1 Great question, but It is not possible to "catch"
Its one of these awful solutions that will turn up on DailyWTF in 5 years. But for now it is stored here http://www.pinvoke.net/default.aspx/user32.senddlgitemmessage
using Microsoft.VisualBasic; //this reference is for the Constants.vbNo;
public partial class Form1 : Form
{
[DllImport("user32.dll")]
static extern IntPtr SendDlgItemMessage(IntPtr hDlg, int nIDDlgItem, uint Msg, UIntPtr wParam, IntPtr lParam);
[DllImport("user32.dll", SetLastError = true)]
public static extern IntPtr SetActiveWindow(IntPtr hWnd);
// For Windows Mobile, replace user32.dll with coredll.dll
[DllImport("user32.dll", SetLastError = true)]
static extern IntPtr FindWindow(string lpClassName, string lpWindowName);
// Find window by Caption only. Note you must pass IntPtr.Zero as the first parameter.
[DllImport("user32.dll", EntryPoint = "FindWindow", SetLastError = true)]
static extern IntPtr FindWindowByCaption(IntPtr ZeroOnly, string lpWindowName);
[DllImport("user32.dll", SetLastError = true)]
static extern uint GetDlgItemText(IntPtr hDlg, int nIDDlgItem,[Out] StringBuilder lpString, int nMaxCount);
public void ClickSaveBoxNoButton()
{
//In this example, we've opened a Notepad instance, entered some text, and clicked the 'X' to close Notepad.
//Of course we received the 'Do you want to save...' message, and we left it sitting there. Now on to the code...
//
//Note: this example also uses API calls to FindWindow, GetDlgItemText, and SetActiveWindow.
// You'll have to find those separately.
//Find the dialog box (no need to find a "parent" first)
//classname is #32770 (dialog box), dialog box title is Notepad
IntPtr theDialogBoxHandle; // = null;
string theDialogBoxClassName = "#32770";
string theDialogBoxTitle = "Notepad";
int theDialogItemId = Convert.ToInt32("0xFFFF", 16);
StringBuilder theDialogTextHolder = new StringBuilder(1000);
//hardcoding capacity - represents maximum text length
string theDialogText = string.Empty;
string textToLookFor = "Do you want to save changes to Untitled?";
bool isChangeMessage = false;
IntPtr theNoButtonHandle; // = null;
int theNoButtonItemId = (int)Constants.vbNo;
//actual Item ID = 7
uint theClickMessage = Convert.ToUInt32("0x00F5", 16);
//= BM_CLICK value
uint wParam = 0;
uint lParam = 0;
//Get a dialog box described by the specified info
theDialogBoxHandle = FindWindow(theDialogBoxClassName, theDialogBoxTitle);
//a matching dialog box was found, so continue
if (theDialogBoxHandle != IntPtr.Zero)
{
//then get the text
GetDlgItemText(theDialogBoxHandle, theDialogItemId, theDialogTextHolder, theDialogTextHolder.Capacity);
theDialogText = theDialogTextHolder.ToString();
}
//Make sure it's the right dialog box, based on the text we got.
isChangeMessage = Regex.IsMatch(theDialogText, textToLookFor);
if ((isChangeMessage))
{
//Set the dialog box as the active window
SetActiveWindow(theDialogBoxHandle);
//And, click the No button
SendDlgItemMessage(theDialogBoxHandle, theNoButtonItemId, theClickMessage, (System.UIntPtr)wParam, (System.IntPtr)lParam);
}
}
It turns out there was no way to definitely answer this question.
I ended up "solving" the problem by figuring out that there was some hardware registered on the system that wasn't present. It is still a mystery to me why, after several years, only GDAL managed to provoke this bug.
I will put the inability to catch this exception down to the idiosyncrasies involved with p/invoke and the hardware error thrown at a very low level on the system.
You could add custom error handlers to gdal. This may help:
Link
http://trac.osgeo.org/gdal/ticket/2895
I'm building a small GUI-Test automation tool in C# for a application.
One of the functions in the test tool is to close dialogs pops up from the tested application.
The trouble that I have is to find the button to click on without giving the full class name. I have used the FindWindowEx method to get the dialog box and the button that I want to click on. I know the Caption of the button, but the trouble is that I also need to specify the class name for the button. The class name is not always the same, but it looks something like this: "WindowsForms10.BUTTON.app.0.3ce0bb8". For instance is the part in the end "3ce0bb8" different if you start the application locally or via click-once.
So, my question is: How can I find the button with just specifying the first part (that is always the same) of the class like this ""WindowsForms10.BUTTON.app." Or could I solve this in some other way?
The dll import looks like this:
[DllImport("user32.dll", SetLastError = true)]
static extern IntPtr FindWindowEx(IntPtr hwndParent, IntPtr hwndChildAfter, string lpszClass, string pszWindow);
My code looks something like this when trying to click the button:
private void SendDialogButtonClick(IntPtr windowHandle, ApplicationStartType applicationStartType)
{
if (applicationStartType == ApplicationStartType.Localy)
buttonClassName = "WindowsForms10.BUTTON.app.0.3ce0bb8";
else if (applicationStartType == ApplicationStartType.ClickOnce)
buttonClassName = "WindowsForms10.BUTTON.app.0.3d893c";
// Find the "&No"-button
IntPtr buttonAndNoHandle = FindWindowEx(windowHandle, IntPtr.Zero, buttonClassName, "&No");
// Send the button click event to the appropriate button found on the dialog
if (buttonAndNoHandle.ToInt64() != 0)
{
SendMessage(new HandleRef(null, buttonAndNoHandle), WM_CLICK, IntPtr.Zero, IntPtr.Zero);
}
}
Yes, that's difficult, the class names are auto-generated. You can't use FindWindowEx(), you have to iterate the controls with EnumChildWindows() and GetClassName().
You could adapt the source code for the Managed Spy tool to make all this a lot easier and cleaner.