Mac OS X: Intercept keyboard layout change - objective-c

I have a problem. I have two keyboard layouts in my Mac because I have to type in two different languages while communicating with different people. I use the keyboard shortcut Cmd+Space to switch from one layout (language) to another.
I wonder if I can run custom script when Cmd+Space is pressed? I know there is an app called Punto Switcher that can do that.
My idea is to change keyboard highlighting level to indicate current language.
Bright = German (or Russian or whatever)
Dim = English
The question is where to find API that can
intercept keyboard layout in Mac OS X
change brightness of the keyboard highlight

Neat pointer to the LED brightness stuff from #Anoop Vaidya -- looks interesting!
The system sends a notification when the input method changes.
First, declare a function to receive the notification:
void theKeyboardChanged(CFNotificationCenterRef center, void *observer, CFStringRef name, const void *object, CFDictionaryRef userInfo) {
NSLog(#"Keyboard/input method changed.");
}
Then register for the change notification:
CFNotificationCenterAddObserver(CFNotificationCenterGetDistributedCenter(),
myContextInfo, theKeyboardChanged,
kTISNotifySelectedKeyboardInputSourceChanged, NULL,
CFNotificationSuspensionBehaviorDeliverImmediately);

I found a blog of Amit Singh, where he gave idea as in undocumented APIs , he used C, for this, you can surely find some sort of help from this.
Experimenting With Light.
Or you can try with these codes:
UInt64 lightInsideGetLEDBrightness(){
kern_return_t kr = 0;
IOItemCount scalarInputCount = 1;
IOItemCount scalarOutputCount = 1;
UInt64 in_unknown = 0, out_brightness;
kr = IOConnectCallScalarMethod(dataPort, kGetLEDBrightnessID, &in_unknown, scalarInputCount, &out_brightness, &scalarOutputCount);
return out_brightness;
}

Related

headphone plug-in plug-out event when audio route doesn't change - iOS

I'm working on iPad.
I would like to detect when user plug-out headphone. First I used a listener on the property kAudioSessionProperty_AudioRouteChange. So all was working well until I've decided to add a button to switch to speakers when headphone was still plugged. So I’m now facing a problem, maybe someone would have an idea to fix it.
Here is the scenario :
I plug a headphone -> my audio route change callback is called
then I switch sound to speakers (without unplugging my headphone) -> audio route change callback is called
then I unplug my headphone (when sound is still outputting to speakers) -> audio route change callback is NOT called, which seems logical.
But here is my problem ! So my question is : Do you see a way to detect that headphone was unplugged for this last case ?
Thanks for your help
EDIT :
Ok I found a workaround :
To detect whether or not headphones are plugged, I execute a test function all the times I need to know it (instead using a boolean), this might be less good for performances but it's working, here is my code for the ones who may need it :
//set back the default audio route
UInt32 audioRouteOverride = kAudioSessionOverrideAudioRoute_None;
AudioSessionSetProperty(kAudioSessionProperty_OverrideAudioRoute, sizeof(audioRouteOverride), &audioRouteOverride);
//check if this default audio route is Heaphone or Speaker
CFStringRef newAudioRoute;
UInt32 newAudioRouteSize = sizeof(newAudioRoute);
AudioSessionGetProperty(kAudioSessionProperty_AudioRoute, &newAudioRouteSize, &newAudioRoute);
NSString *newAudioRouteString = (__bridge NSString *)newAudioRoute;
CFRelease(newAudioRoute);
//if this default audio route is not Headphone, it means no headphone is plugged
if ([newAudioRouteString rangeOfString:#"Headphones"].location != NSNotFound){
NSLog(#"Earphone available");
return true;
}
else {
NSLog(#"No Earphone available");
return false;
}
Hope it will help someone !
I imagine a solution it in the following way:
You create in the AppDelegate a boolean for the speakers, let's say:
BOOL isSpeakerOn. And every time the audio route callback is called you have to verify what the current situation with the speakers and what you want to do then.
This is the best tutorial dealing this issue:
http://www.techotopia.com/index.php/Detecting_when_an_iPhone_Headphone_or_Docking_Connector_is_Unplugged_(iOS_4)

How to know if volume hardware control is up or down in objective-c

Is possible to detect if volume hardware control is down or up? i need to play sound on button touch in my application, and i want to send a message to user that volume is down and to use this app he need to change hardware
EDIT:
I need to do something like this:
BOOL VolumeHardwareControl = getHardwareInfo();
if(VolumeHardwareControl==NO){
message: "Attention! To play sound you need to turn hardware on!"
}else
playSound();
UInt32 routeSize = sizeof (CFStringRef);
CFStringRef route;
AudioSessionGetProperty (
kAudioSessionProperty_AudioRoute,
&routeSize,
&route
);
if (route == NULL) {
NSLog(#"Silent switch is on");
}

Getting Window Number through OSX Accessibility API

I am working on an application that moves windows of third party applications around on the screen.
To get an overview of all currently open windows, I use
CGWindowListCopyWindowInfo(kCGWindowListOptionOnScreenOnly | kCGWindowListExcludeDesktopElements, kCGNullWindowID);
This returns an array of dictionaries defining every open window.
Here's an exemplary dictionary returned:
{
kCGWindowAlpha = 1;
kCGWindowBounds = {
Height = 442;
Width = 475;
X = 3123;
Y = "-118";
};
kCGWindowIsOnscreen = 1;
kCGWindowLayer = 0;
kCGWindowMemoryUsage = 907184;
kCGWindowName = Untitled;
kCGWindowNumber = 7328;
kCGWindowOwnerName = TextEdit;
kCGWindowOwnerPID = 20706;
kCGWindowSharingState = 1;
kCGWindowStoreType = 2;
kCGWindowWorkspace = 3;
},
The dictionary is full of good information used elsewhere but lacks an accessibility object that could be used to modify the windows' positions. Windows are clearly identified by the Window Number.
I am now using the PID (kCGWindowOwnerPID) to create an accessibility object for the window's application:
AXUIElementRef app = AXUIElementCreateApplication(pid);
Followed by retrieving a list of all windows the application has opened using AXUIElementCopyAttributeValues:
NSArray *result;
AXUIElementCopyAttributeValues(
(AXUIElementRef) app,
kAXWindowsAttribute,
0,
99999,
(CFArrayRef *) &result
);
This works and returns an array of AXUIElements.
This is where I am stuck. There seems to be no API call to retrieve the Window Number of an accessibility object. Is there any way to either
a) Find the accessibility object's Window Number (to ultimately iterate over the array and find the right window)
or
b) Otherwise clearly match a window described in the array returned by CGWindowListCopyWindowInfo to the Accessibility Objects returned by AXUIElementCopyAttributeValues?
We ended up hiring a dedicated Accessibility Developer for this task.
It turns out there is no way to do this without using undocumented APIs (a no go in our case).
Luckily, there is a practical workaround:
Loop over all open windows of the app. Get their position, size and title:
AXUIElementCopyAttributeValue(target, kAXPositionAttribute, (CFTypeRef*)&posValue);
AXUIElementCopyAttributeValue(target, kAXSizeAttribute, (CFTypeRef*)&sizeValue);
AXUIElementCopyAttributeValue(target, kAXTitleAttribute, (CFTypeRef*)&titleValue);
Next, convert the position and size into actual CGPoint and CGSize values:
AXValueGetValue(posValue, kAXValueCGPointType, &point);
AXValueGetValue(sizeValue, kAXValueCGSizeType, &size);
Compare the size, position and title against the values returned by the object in CGWindowListCopyWindowInfo().
If they match, you can safely assume it's the window you were looking for and use the already open AXUIElement (target in our case) to work it.
The overhead for looping through all open windows turns out to be negligible on OSX. There is a pretty low cap on how many windows are open at the same time.
Also, while this is not 100% accurate (it is possible that 2 windows have the same position, size and title), we haven't encountered any situation in real usage where this happens so far.
There is a private function for obtaining CG window number for a given AX object for window: _AXUIElementGetWindow .
More details in SO discussion Uniquely identify active window on OS X
It looks like there is no public API to do the task with 100% probability. Identifying windows by title and frame (as described in answer above) will works in 99.9% of cases.
Clarifying other answers that suggest the undocumented call of _AXUIElementGetWindow.
In Swift, do this:
1. Create Bridged-Header.h with the following contents:
#import <AppKit/AppKit.h>
AXError _AXUIElementGetWindow(AXUIElementRef element, uint32_t *identifier);
2. Reference this file in your build settings: (your path may vary, it is relative to project root)
3. Call like this:
// variable 'window' is your AXUIElement window
var cgWindowId = CGWindowID()
if (_AXUIElementGetWindow(window, &gcWindowId) != .success) {.
print("cannot get CGWindow id (objc bridged call)")
}
Congrats, you succesfully called objective C functions via a bridge!

Send auto-repeated key using CoreGraphics methods (Mac OS X Snow Leopard)

I have been successful sending keystrokes in order to automate a particular software package for drawing that I use. This software relies a lot of keyboard shortcuts so I wrote something that could call some of these keyboard shortcuts in order to streamline my workflow. As I said, this has worked out good.
My library is a Cocoa library that is loaded as a plugin to the software package. Here is a snippet of code that I have been using for sending my keystrokes.
CGEventSourceRef eventSource = CGEventSourceCreate(kCGEventSourceStateHIDSystemState);
CGEventRef eventDown = CGEventCreateKeyboardEvent(eventSource, (CGKeyCode)1, true);
CGEventRef eventUp = CGEventCreateKeyboardEvent(eventSource, (CGKeyCode)1, false);
//setting the process number somewhere else
CGEventPostToPSN(&number, eventDown);
CGEventPostToPSN(&number, eventUp);
For some procedures in the drawing package if you continue to hold the Shift key then you activate a special tool. I have been unable to simulate this. I thought I could send the Shift key and say that I wanted it to auto-repeat but that doesn't seem to work. I have been using the following code to set the auto-repeat:
//This is done before sending the key
CGEventSetIntegerValueField(eventDown, kCGKeyboardEventAutorepeat, 1);
In my testing I have been unable to make any key auto-repeat. It just send the key once and that is it.
Is there anyone that have been successful autorepeating a key using the above method? I have searched the Internet for answers but all I have found are some unanswered questions from 2008... Any help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
mobbe
The code that OP finally came up with to solve the problem (transferred here from a comment under other answer):
CGEventRef flagsChanged = CGEventCreate(eventSource);
CGEventSetType(flagsChanged, kCGEventFlagsChanged);
CGEventSetIntegerValueField(flagsChanged, kCGKeyboardEventKeycode, 56);
CGEventSetFlags(flagsChanged, 131330);
CGEventPostToPSN(&number, flagsChanged);
CFRelease(flagsChanged); CFRelease(eventSource);
131330 is a constant indicating the Shift key; it is related to NSShiftKeyMask and kCGEventFlagMaskShift, which are 131072 (0x00020000). 131330 - 256 - 2 == 131072.
UPDATE: the Shift key's code isn't 56, according to Events.h:
...
kVK_Shift = 0x38,
...
(EDIT: of course those of you who are paying attention (I wasn't) realize that HEX 38 == DEC 56.)
I also realized how to get modifier key presses: flagsChanged:. So using this keycode, I can catch Shift key presses in flagsChanged:, and the repeat works fine; I also get repeated key events for "normal" keys in keyDown: and keyUp: without difficulty.
It sounds like you may not have access to/want to change the event-handling code (to add flagsChanged:) though, so if that keycode doesn't work for you, I'm stumped and can only say "Good luck!"
I believe that the field you're setting is used to indicate not that the event should be repeated by the system, but that an event is an auto-repeat of a previous event. You still have to generate each event yourself. Something like (EDITED to use a timer instead of a loop):
CGEventSourceRef eventSource = CGEventSourceCreate(kCGEventSourceStateHIDSystemState);
CGEventRef eventDown = CGEventCreateKeyboardEvent(eventSource, (CGKeyCode)1, true);
// Post the initial keydown
CGEventPostToPSN(&pidNumber, eventDown);
// Keep track of how many Shift keydown events have been sent
shiftKeyRepeatCount = 1;
[NSTimer scheduledTimerWithTimeInterval:0.3 // I don't know exactly what the interval should be, of course
target:self
selector:#selector(repeatShiftKeyDown:)
userInfo:nil
repeats:YES];
CFRelease(eventDown);
- (void)repeatShiftKeyDown:(NSTimer *)tim {
if( shiftKeyRepeatCount >= kRepeatCountForSpecialTool ){
[tim invalidate];
[self sendShiftKeyUp];
return;
}
shiftKeyRepeatCount++;
GEventSourceRef eventSource = CGEventSourceCreate(kCGEventSourceStateHIDSystemState);
CGEventRef eventDown = CGEventCreateKeyboardEvent(eventSource, (CGKeyCode)1, true);
// Set the auto-repeat field
CGEventSetIntegerValueField(eventDown, kCGKeyboardEventAutorepeat, 1);
CGEventPostToPSN(&pidNumber, eventDown);
CFRelease(eventDown);
}
I'm not certain whether you can reuse the first event with a changed field or you'll need to generate a new event to use when repeating.

The 10.6.3 os x update broke simulated key-presses for Nestopia

The iPhone app that I released is a wireless game controller, it translates touches on the device into key-presses on the networked Mac. This allowed for playing emulator (e.g. Nestopia) games using the iPhone as a controller. Of course, the day that I released it coincided with an os x update. After installing this update, the simulated key-presses no longer work in Nestopia! The crazier thing is, when I go to 'File > Open' within Nestopia, I can cycle through the file list by hitting the up-arrow on my iphone controller; i.e. the simulated key-presses work in menu items, but not in the game itself. The code that I use to simulate keys is below. Given the list of changes here, can anyone identify which change would cause this problem?
Thanks!!
#define UP false
#define DOWN true
-(void)sendKey:(CGKeyCode)keycode andKeyDirection:(BOOL)keydirection{
CGEventRef eventRef = CGEventCreateKeyboardEvent(NULL, keycode, keydirection);
CGEventPost(kCGSessionEventTap, eventRef);
CFRelease(eventRef);
}
The author of Mac Nestopia is using an older call, GetKeys(), to capture key events. As of 10.6.3, GetKeys does not catch generated key presses using the methods detailed in this post. The workaround I found was to use this instead:
-(void)sendKey:(CGKeyCode)keycode andKeyDirection:(BOOL)keydirection{
AXUIElementRef axSystemWideElement = AXUIElementCreateSystemWide();
AXError err = AXUIElementPostKeyboardEvent(axSystemWideElement, 0, keycode, keydirection);
if (err != kAXErrorSuccess)
NSLog(#" Did not post key press!");
}
Huge thanks to Richard Bannister for his quick email responses!
I think it's a problem with your code and not with 10.6.3. I have an app I'm writing that simulates key presses, and I've upgraded to 10.6.3, and my simulated key presses still work just fine.
Here's what I'm doing:
CGEventSourceRef source = CGEventSourceCreate(kCGEventSourceStateCombinedSessionState);
CGEventRef keyDownPress = CGEventCreateKeyboardEvent(source, (CGKeyCode)keyCode, YES);
CGEventSetFlags(keyDownPress, (CGEventFlags)flags);
CGEventRef keyUpPress = CGEventCreateKeyboardEvent(source, (CGKeyCode)keyCode, NO);
CGEventPost(kCGAnnotatedSessionEventTap, keyDownPress);
CGEventPost(kCGAnnotatedSessionEventTap, keyUpPress);
CFRelease(keyDownPress);
CFRelease(keyUpPress);
CFRelease(source);