Is it possible to create console apps like the Edit app in CMD with visual basic or C#? I want the program to respond to mouse input, have menubar, mssgboxes and windows.
Yes, this is possible! Instead of doing it completely from scratch, check out Curses Sharp. It is a wrapper for the curses library, which helps in building applications like this.
I must admit though, I have never used it. Please let us know how it goes.
Console API provided with .NET is not suitable for that sort of development. You'll need to do lots of P/Invoke to the platform console API. I would really suggest WinForms/WPF if you need GUI.
If you really want to do it anyway, you'll need to implement low level mouse/keyboard hooks. This will get you started: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/toub/archive/2006/05/03/589468.aspx
If you want it to run on DOS, you can't (because C#/vb.net don't run on DOS). If you want it to run on Windows, I think you're better off using Windows Forms or WPF.
To answer your question; it is probably possible but it would take an enormous amount of work and for the above reasons I don't think it would have any payoff.
Related
I have an .exe that runs on my computer. How can I connect to it from c#?
For example notepad.exe is running. I would like to write in notepad from windows form app or console app form. How can I do that?
Two suggestions:
either start the process using Process.Start()
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.diagnostics.process.start.aspx
or use SendKeys from Windows Script Host
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/8c6yea83(VS.85).aspx
It depends on exactly what you want to do. Using SendKeys is the simplest solution but it's crude and limited in functionality. You can do more and better with SendMessage, but this will be harder to code.
Have a look at this tutorial. As far as I can tell, it does exactly what you are looking for. I realize it's in German, so just look at the source code.
Reading from another process in windows is problematic to say the least. We did some work on this a while ago and it involved hooking into the low-level Win32 API using assembly language. Essentially, it's really not pleasant and if you can avoid doing this you'll have a lot more hair on your head.
Using SendMessage would work if the application you are sending to understands the message you are trying to send to it. I suspect that you start to get into security problems with this on later Windows versions (Vista + Win7) and would have to run your application with elevated privileges.
Why do you want to do this?
I'm rebuilding an Embedded application:
Prebuild application Specifications:
Use : For dispaying the captured images/video from microscope image capturing device on windows based PC or Laptops.
Sepcifications: Prebuild on .NET plateform using VC++
Flaws : Lacks some specified features.
Current Requirement:
Want to rebuild that entire application using C# and add some additional client features.
My Questions:
Is it feasible to develop such application in C#.net?
If yeh,What kind of resources available in C# to develop desktop embedded application?
Any references which show any of such kind of application?
Your suggestions on building this kind of application.
P.S. It is essential to buid it on .NET platform.
I think by "Prebuild" you mean "Existing". Why do you want to rewrite the complete application? As you have stated that the application is written in C++.Net. You can easily add all the new functions in C# and use that code from your existing C++.Net code.
Note: I'm making this answer CW because the question is hard on the limit towards some close reasons. Everyone feel free to edit and extend it.
Is it feasible to develop such application in C#.net?
That's a tough one...from the top of my head I'd argue that it doesn't matter. If you know C#, then build it in C#, if the client wants it in C#, then build it in C#. You'll most likely have to use COM-Components or API-Invokes anyway to accomplish this.
If it is a TWAIN device, you might be better of to stick with VC++, I found TWAIN on .NET a real pain in the a** and have given up on such features. Same goes for WIA, but that might just be me.
If yes, what kind of resources available in C# to develop desktop embedded application?
I guess you mean a Widget? In that case I have no idea, I never really looked at that (at least not on Windows). But as far as I know widgets on Windows consist of a data-backend and a HTML/JavaScript-Frontend, so you'll most likely have to develop the two separately.
Any references which show any of such kind of application?
I guess any WIA/TWAIN application would be a reference, at least your description sounds so.
Your suggestions on building this kind of application.
See your first question.
I am planning to develop a UI control suite (open source) on .net because there is hardly such things as free or open source out in the market. But I am not really able to decide the following factors before going into design phase:
Should I write it for Winforms only?
Should I write it for WPF only?
Or, should I write it for both?
Which one would be more effort effective in the long run and help the community better? Can you guys please help me to sort this things out?
'Writing it for both' is basically 'write it twice', as I can't imagine much would be shared.
I think if I was suddenly filled with the idea that the world needed yet more 3rd party controls, I would write them for WPF/Silverlight/WP7.
WPF, but it's just my opinion.
Windows OSs that are supported (XP, Vista, 7) all support it, and WPF is the future. I don't see Winforms' death in the proximity, but we should support things that are right now actively supported.
It's like developing for IE6 instead of Firefox/Safari/Chrome/Opera. Most of us don't see IE6 dying, but we have to move forward.
I know that you can create a separate console application, however, I am in the final stages of testing and my application does not have an interface. Is there a way to simply open a console and interact with that inside the desktop application? This would be in a test method. (I am using C#, in Visual Studio 2008).
Thanks,
badPanda
You might be able to do what you want using AllocConsole (creates a new console) or AttachConsole (attaches to an existing console), but I think there are some limitations to what you can do with them.
See here for the API documentation for AllocConsole and here's the PInvoke page.
Here's a list of lots of Console functions, might be something else useful there too.
This may or may not be helpful, but some of the same techniques of GUI testing can be applied to a console app too, of course.
Here is an article and example code in C# for a user interface test.
Or there are totally different tools/languages that can be used for UI testing, such as AutoIt v3, which is easy to learn and apply. AutoIt does have a DLL/COM control that you can access from your preferred programming language (but I haven't used it that way so I can't comment on how well it works).
How can I do this in a C# program? I'm pretty sure it should be possible, since various media programs for example do this so the computer doesn't go into stand-by while watching a movie, etc.
So, if I for example create a plain and basic WinForm application, what do I need to do to prevent a laptop from going into Stand-By as long as this application is running?
I think you'll have to P/Invoke. But don't be scared... it's pretty easy.
SetThreadExecutionState is your friend. It's available in the PInvoke project, also available on NuGet.