AutoHotkey Community

[sl_alagappan]

Hi,

Will there by any chance or method to trace the controls in a java window ( i mean, java application )?

[Chris]

It seems doubtful since I think those controls aren't really controls, but rather just mouse hotspots and graphics drawn by Java. If so, there might be no way to interact with them except by using PixelGetColor and such.

On the other hand, it might be possible to do this using PostMessage, which is a command Rajat suggested. I think there are some tools out there, one of which is MS's Spy++, which allow you to watch what messages are being sent and received by various windows. Once you figure out the message, you might be able to use PostMessage to mimic it and thus avoid having to have the window active to interact with it.

Maybe Rajat can tell us what message spying software he uses (preferably a free one if there's one out there -- maybe Spy++ is free), and whether he thinks it might work with Java apps.

[Rajat]

this is the best of the lot i've got:

Spy & Capture
http://come.to/kobik

free and very useful, allows posting all sorts of messages too...

and finding out messages & params is best done with girder (www.girder.nl) it has a 'Capture' feature. herein one turns it on and does normal action like pressing play button on mp3 players (like WMP). the command log of that program captures the messages posted and allows them to be reposted to mimic the action.

note: i've not tried them with java apps, so u check.
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[Rajat]

and if u want something like Spy++ then check out Winspector! much better!!

http://www.gipsysoft.com/winspector/
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[Beastmaster]

That damn old story (to be honest that seems the same prob for all scripting tools). Therefore it would be very usefull to improve AHKs Pixel command(s) !

With another Macro Tool - I've managed to detect such "invisible" windows (if there's no info detectable with a window spy tool) by its change of a specific/unique pixel(color). Afterwards a MouseClick ...

That tool provides a command which is a mixture of AHK's PixelGetColor and PixelSearch command. It delivers an ERRORLEVEL if the specified timeout has passed. With AHK it would look similar to this:

PixelWaitColor, ColorID, X, Y, Timeout [0 to wait indefinitely]

eg. wait for a pixel on the OK-Button of a Java app

[Chris]

The reason I assign low priority to request like PixelWaitColor is that it's easy to script it yourself. In this case, you could do it this way:

[Beastmaster]

Me, myself and I confirmed.
Cause that makes sense.

[sl_alagappan]

Thanks for the info given.

[Chris]

The next release of AHK may have a PostMessage command (thanks to Rajat). So if you can discover what messages are received by the Java applications to trigger certain actions, you might be able to use PostMessage to automate/interact with them.

[Rajat]

I've checked it out and noticed a li'l peculiarity. See if that happens with others too.
(Chris can u plz suggest the reason)

i've my desktop BG set to black. and no wallpaper. (for testing only! i'm not a freak!!)

i run the script given below.

i've run the script from a folder and its window is activated at the moment, but isn't maximised & doesn't cover the specific part of the desktop.

the particular pixel is showing and has the correct color but the msgbox doesn't come.

now when i click anywhere on desktop and activate it then the msgbox comes.

[Chris]

Yes, they're relative (I've fixed the docs to reflect this). It was done that way because everything else in AHK is relative and I didn't want to break the precedent. In hindsight, this was probably not the best decision, especially for users with high resolution screens. For example, if you have two windows displayed next to each other, PixelGetColor will fail to work if the target window is deactivated in favor of the other window. This essentially makes it necessary to keep the target window always active while waiting for a pixel (or else have to adjust the coordinates dynamically whenever another window becomes active). I hope to provide some kind of workaround fairly soon.

[Baestmaster]

I've something similar.

An app has been minimized to the taskbar. WinActivate, WinRestore, WinMaximize seems to work fine but after the window has been maximized it still hasn't the focus (the titlebars color scheme is still grey instead of the expected blue).

Cause that script should be part of a 24/7 process - that hurts

[Chris]

Are you saying that WinActivate fails to activate that particular window? Maybe put in a WinWaitActive to be sure it's active prior to checking for a pixel color.