Get Text From Specific Textboxes From External Application - Visual Basic .Net - vb.net

I can get text from external application text box but now I want to get text from my desired text box from external application.
My English is not so good that's why see Image Below.
The Below Code Return The First Text Box Value Only.
Imports System.Runtime.InteropServices
Public Class Form1
Private Const WM_GETTEXT As Integer = &HD
Declare Auto Function SendMessage Lib "user32.dll" (ByVal hWnd As IntPtr, ByVal msg As Integer, _
ByVal wParam As IntPtr, ByVal lParam As IntPtr) As IntPtr
<DllImport("user32.dll", SetLastError:=True, CharSet:=CharSet.Auto)> _
Private Shared Function FindWindowEx(ByVal parentHandle As IntPtr, _
ByVal childAfter As IntPtr, _
ByVal lclassName As String, _
ByVal windowTitle As String) As IntPtr
End Function
Declare Auto Function FindWindow Lib "user32.dll" (ByVal lpClassName As String, ByVal lpWindowName As String) As IntPtr
Private Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
'Find the running notepad window
Dim Hwnd As IntPtr = FindWindow(Nothing, TextBox1.Text)
'Alloc memory for the buffer that recieves the text
Dim Handle As IntPtr = Marshal.AllocHGlobal(100)
'send WM_GWTTEXT message to the notepad window
Dim NumText As Integer = SendMessage(Hwnd, WM_GETTEXT, 50, Handle)
'copy the characters from the unmanaged memory to a managed string
Dim Text As String = Marshal.PtrToStringUni(Handle)
'Display the string using a label
Label1.Text = Text
'Find the Edit control of the Running Notepad
Dim ChildHandle As IntPtr = FindWindowEx(Hwnd, IntPtr.Zero, "Edit", Nothing)
'Alloc memory for the buffer that recieves the text
Dim Hndl As IntPtr = Marshal.AllocHGlobal(200)
'Send The WM_GETTEXT Message
NumText = SendMessage(ChildHandle, WM_GETTEXT, 200, Hndl)
'copy the characters from the unmanaged memory to a managed string
Text = Marshal.PtrToStringUni(Hndl)
'Display the string using a label
Label2.Text = Text
End Sub
End Class

You'll have to loop through children of the main window (External Application) and get their properties.
You'll use the following:
<DllImport("User32.dll")> _
Public Function EnumChildWindows _
(ByVal WindowHandle As IntPtr, ByVal Callback As EnumWindowProcess, _
ByVal lParam As IntPtr) As Boolean
End Function
Public Delegate Function EnumWindowProcess(ByVal Handle As IntPtr, ByVal Parameter As IntPtr) As Boolean
Public Function GetChildWindows(ByVal ParentHandle As IntPtr) As IntPtr()
Dim ChildrenList As New List(Of IntPtr)
Dim ListHandle As GCHandle = GCHandle.Alloc(ChildrenList)
Try
EnumChildWindows(ParentHandle, AddressOf EnumWindow, GCHandle.ToIntPtr(ListHandle))
Finally
If ListHandle.IsAllocated Then ListHandle.Free()
End Try
Return ChildrenList.ToArray
End Function
For for details, check this How can I get properties of controls contained in a popup message box using VB.Net

' try this on excel vbe
External_application_handle=findwindow(vbNullString,"External_application")
textbox_1_handle=findwindowex(External_application_handle,0&,"Edit",vbNullString)
next_handle=textbox_1_handle
textbox_2_handle=findwindowex(External_application_handle,next_handle,"Edit",vbNullString")
Length = SendMessage(textbox_2_handle, WM_GETTEXTLENGTH, 0,0)
buffer$=space(Length)
call sendmessage(textbox_2_handle,Length+1,buffer$)
msgbox buffer

Related

Listen For Program Windows to be Displayed

The Goal:
I am trying to create a Visual Basic program that will execute some code whenever any new program window is displayed on screen. Just for an easy to understand example: When I launch a program like File Explorer, I want a message box to be displayed when the window for File Explorer is displayed on screen.
The Problem:
Using the code I provided below, my desired outcome works correctly. However, it will also display a message box whenever something like a context menu is displayed as well. I do not want this. I only want a message box to be displayed whenever an actual program window is displayed. I've tried adding checks for checking if the window has 'minimize', 'maximize', and 'close' buttons. But after adding those checks, a message box no longer gets displayed at all, even with a window that has caption buttons, like File Explorer.
This is my code:
Private Declare Function GetForegroundWindow Lib "user32.dll" () As IntPtr
Declare Auto Function SetWinEventHook Lib "user32.dll" (ByVal eventMin As Integer, ByVal eventMax As Integer, ByVal hmodWinEventProc As IntPtr, ByVal lpfnWinEventProc As WinEventDelegate, ByVal idProcess As Integer, ByVal idThread As Integer, ByVal dwflags As Integer) As IntPtr
Declare Auto Function UnhookWinEvent Lib "user32.dll" (ByVal hWinEventHook As IntPtr) As Boolean
Delegate Sub WinEventDelegate(ByVal hWinEventHook As IntPtr, ByVal eventType As Integer, ByVal hwnd As IntPtr, ByVal idObject As Integer, ByVal idChild As Integer, ByVal dwEventThread As Integer, ByVal dwmsEventTime As Integer)
Const WINEVENT_OUTOFCONTEXT As Integer = 0
Const EVENT_OBJECT_CREATE As Integer = &H8000
Private hook As IntPtr = IntPtr.Zero
Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
hook = SetWinEventHook(EVENT_OBJECT_CREATE, EVENT_OBJECT_CREATE, IntPtr.Zero, AddressOf WinEventProc, 0, 0, WINEVENT_OUTOFCONTEXT)
End Sub
Private Sub Form1_FormClosed(sender As Object, e As FormClosedEventArgs) Handles MyBase.FormClosed
UnhookWinEvent(hook)
End Sub
Private Sub WinEventProc(ByVal hWinEventHook As IntPtr, ByVal eventType As Integer, ByVal hwnd As IntPtr, ByVal idObject As Integer, ByVal idChild As Integer, ByVal dwEventThread As Integer, ByVal dwmsEventTime As Integer)
Dim windowTitle As String = GetWindowText(hwnd)
If windowTitle <> "" AndAlso IsPopupWindow(hwnd) Then
msgbox("New Window Detected")
End If
End Sub
Private Function IsPopupWindow(ByVal hwnd As IntPtr) As Boolean
Dim style As Long = GetWindowLong(hwnd, GWL_STYLE)
Return (style And WS_POPUP) = WS_POPUP
End Function
Declare Auto Function GetWindowLong Lib "user32.dll" (ByVal hWnd As IntPtr, ByVal nIndex As Integer) As Integer
Private Const GWL_STYLE As Integer = -16
Private Const WS_POPUP As Long = &H80000000
Private Function GetWindowText(ByVal hwnd As IntPtr) As String
Dim textLength As Integer = GetWindowTextLength(hwnd) + 1
Dim text As String = New String(" "c, textLength)
GetWindowText(hwnd, text, textLength)
Return text.Trim()
End Function
Declare Auto Function GetWindowText Lib "user32.dll" (ByVal hWnd As IntPtr, ByVal lpString As String, ByVal nMaxCount As Integer) As Integer
Declare Auto Function GetWindowTextLength Lib "user32.dll" (ByVal hWnd As IntPtr) As Integer
What approach could I use to better listen for the creation of new program windows? Or, how could I fix my code?
EVENT_OBJECT_CREATE gets triggered for all kinds of objects, not just windows. You will have to retrieve the created object's window class name via GetClassName() and ignore whichever classes you don't want to process. Menus have a standard class name of #32768.

Force scroll to the top of a RichTextBox

I'm using the following code to force the RichTextBox to scroll to the real bottom
Private Const WM_VSCROLL As Integer = 277
Private Const SB_PAGEBOTTOM As Integer = 7
<DllImport("user32.dll", CharSet:=CharSet.Auto)>
Private Shared Function SendMessage(ByVal hWnd As IntPtr, ByVal wMsg As Integer, ByVal wParam As IntPtr, ByVal lParam As IntPtr) As IntPtr
End Function
Friend Shared Sub ScrollToBottom(ByVal richTextBox As RichTextBox)
SendMessage(richTextBox.Handle, WM_VSCROLL, CType(SB_PAGEBOTTOM, IntPtr), IntPtr.Zero)
richTextBox.SelectionStart = richTextBox.Text.Length
End Sub
' to call it
ScrollToBottom(RichTextBox1)
Is there a way to reverse this code so I can force it to to always scroll up?
I am not looking to append text solutions.
Thanks
This Should do it:
Private Const WM_VSCROLL As Integer = &H115
Private Const SB_TOP As Integer = 6
Private Const SB_BOTTOM As Integer = 7
<DllImport("user32.dll")> _
Private Shared Function SendMessage(ByVal hWnd As IntPtr, ByVal Msg As Integer, _
ByVal wParam As Integer, ByVal lParam As Integer) As Integer
End Function
' scroll RichTextBox
Friend Shared Sub ScrollRichTextBox(ByVal richTextBox As RichTextBox, Direction as integer)
SendMessage(richTextBox.Handle, WM_VSCROLL, Direction, 0)
End Sub
' to call it
ScrollRichTextBox(RichTextBox1, SB_TOP) 'Scrolls to top
ScrollRichTextBox(RichTextBox1, SB_BOTTOM) 'Scrolls to bottom

Retrieving text from an Hwnd and releasing the allocated memory space

I am new to VB.Net. I came from vb6 and VBA so I'm still learning. I am trying to clear the memory space for when I retrieve text using my GetWinTxt() function. I am not sure if I am properly releasing the memory space or not. I have researched MSDN and a multitude of other sites including this one trying to learn about this and I find it somewhat confusing. This function will be used a lot and i don't want a memory leak. It seems to be working fine as there isn't any error codes but can someone with more knowledge please tell me if I'm doing this right? Also should I be using Marshal.DestroyStructure() before I use Marshal.FreeHGlobal()? And if so how would I use that in my code below?
Option Explicit On
Imports System.Runtime.InteropServices
Declare Auto Function SendMessage Lib "user32.dll" (ByVal hWnd As IntPtr, ByVal msg As Integer, ByVal wParam As IntPtr, ByVal lParam As IntPtr) As IntPtr
<DllImport("user32.dll", SetLastError:=True, CharSet:=CharSet.Auto)>
Shared Function FindWindow(ByVal lpClassName As String, ByVal lpWindowName As String) As IntPtr
End Function
<DllImport("user32.dll", SetLastError:=True, CharSet:=CharSet.Auto)>
Shared Function FindWindowEx(ByVal parentHandle As IntPtr, ByVal childAfter As IntPtr, ByVal lclassName As String, ByVal windowTitle As String) As IntPtr
End Function
Friend Const WM_GETTEXT = &HD
Friend Const WM_GETTEXTLENGTH = &HE
Private Sub Button5_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Button5.Click
Dim Hwnd As IntPtr = FindWindow(Nothing, "Untitled - Notepad") 'notepad parent win
Dim Handle As IntPtr = FindWindowEx(Hwnd, IntPtr.Zero, "Edit", Nothing) 'notepad edit area
MsgBox(Lf.GetWinTxt(Handle))'Lf is my class name
End Sub
Friend Function GetWinTxt(hwnd As IntPtr) As String
Dim TextLen As Integer = SendMessage(hwnd, WM_GETTEXTLENGTH, 0, 0) + 1
Dim WinHandle As IntPtr = Marshal.AllocHGlobal(TextLen)
Call SendMessage(hwnd, WM_GETTEXT, TextLen, WinHandle)
Dim txt As String = Marshal.PtrToStringUni(WinHandle)
GetWinTxt = txt
Dim ByteString(TextLen) As Byte ' the next 3 lines are what i'm not sure if i'm doing it right or not
Marshal.Copy(WinHandle, ByteString, 0, TextLen)
Marshal.FreeHGlobal(txt)
End Function
EDITED FINAL CODE:
Public Function GetWinTxt(hwnd As IntPtr) As String
Dim TextLen As IntPtr = SendMessage(hwnd, WM_GETTEXTLENGTH, 0, 0) + 1
Dim f As Integer = TextLen
Winhandle = Marshal.AllocHGlobal(f)
Call SendMessage(hwnd, WM_GETTEXT, f, Winhandle)
Dim txt As String = Marshal.PtrToStringUni(Winhandle)
Return txt
Try
Dim ByteString(f) As Byte
Marshal.Copy(Winhandle, ByteString, 0, f)
Marshal.FreeHGlobal(Winhandle)
Catch ex As Exception
Return ""
Debug.Print(ex.Message)
End Try
End Function
The answer is no, unless you call method like Marshal. StructureToPtr().
You should use the counterpart of whatever method you used to allocate it.
Marshal. Destroy Structure will free all substructures that specify unmanaged memory block points to. But you don't have any structure in it.
In addition, you call Dim WinHandle As IntPtr = Marshal.AllocHGlobal(TextLen) Allocates memory from the unmanaged memory of the process to WinHandle, then free anther one, Marshal.FreeHGlobal(txt). This will cause memory leaks.
try to change it to Marshal.FreeHGlobal(WinHandle).

How can I get properties of controls contained in a popup message box using VB.Net

I'm working on a VB.Net project where in part of it I catch a pop up message box when it's displayed and handle it in some way.
My problem is that I have to know what buttons are included in this pop up window (their captions mainly).
Is this possible? Can someone please tell me how this can be done? A sample would be much appreciated.
Thanks.
Update:
Since I got a down vote, and Ed Cottrell told me that this is because of not adding any code related to my question. Now I have the answer to my question so I'm adding some code:
My app catches a pop-up window displayed by another windows application, I used EnumWindows API to know when a new pop-up window is displayed.
Public Declare Function EnumWindows Lib "User32.dll" (ByVal WNDENUMPROC As EnumWindowDelegate, ByVal lparam As IntPtr) As Boolean
Delegate Function EnumWindowDelegate(ByVal hWnd As IntPtr, ByVal Lparam As IntPtr) As Boolean
When I catch this window, I use its handle that I got from EnumWindows result and get its child windows using EnumChildWindows (which are the controls I'm looking for , since controls are kind of windows too):
APIs I used
<DllImport("User32.dll")> _
Public Function EnumChildWindows _
(ByVal WindowHandle As IntPtr, ByVal Callback As EnumWindowProcess, _
ByVal lParam As IntPtr) As Boolean
End Function
Public Delegate Function EnumWindowProcess(ByVal Handle As IntPtr, ByVal Parameter As IntPtr) As Boolean
' Get window text length signature.
Public Declare Function SendMessage _
Lib "user32" Alias "SendMessageA" _
(ByVal hwnd As Int32, ByVal wMsg As Int32, ByVal wParam As Int32, ByVal lParam As Int32) As Int32
' Get window text signature.
Public Declare Function SendMessage _
Lib "user32" Alias "SendMessageA" _
(ByVal hwnd As Int32, ByVal wMsg As Int32, ByVal wParam As Int32, ByVal lParam As StringBuilder) As Int32
Structure ApiWindow
Public Structure ApiWindow
Public MainWindowTitle As String
Public ClassName As String
Public hWnd As Int32
End Structure
Functions
Public Function GetChildWindows(ByVal ParentHandle As IntPtr) As IntPtr()
Dim ChildrenList As New List(Of IntPtr)
Dim ListHandle As GCHandle = GCHandle.Alloc(ChildrenList)
Try
EnumChildWindows(ParentHandle, AddressOf EnumWindow, GCHandle.ToIntPtr(ListHandle))
Finally
If ListHandle.IsAllocated Then ListHandle.Free()
End Try
Return ChildrenList.ToArray
End Function
Public Function EnumWindow(ByVal Handle As IntPtr, ByVal Parameter As IntPtr) As Boolean
Dim ChildrenList As List(Of IntPtr) = GCHandle.FromIntPtr(Parameter).Target
If ChildrenList Is Nothing Then Throw New Exception("GCHandle Target could not be cast as List(Of IntPtr)")
ChildrenList.Add(Handle)
Return True
End Function
Now when I have the handle of pop-up window (parentHandle), I can get its children windows:
Dim hndls() As IntPtr = GetChildWindows(parentHandle)
Dim window As ApiWindow
For Each hnd In hndls
window = GetWindowIdentification(hnd)
'Add Code Here
Next
Where GetWindowIdentification is:
''' <summary>
''' Build the ApiWindow object to hold information about the Window object.
''' </summary>
Public Function GetWindowIdentification(ByVal hwnd As Integer) As ApiWindow
Const WM_GETTEXT As Int32 = &HD
Const WM_GETTEXTLENGTH As Int32 = &HE
Dim window As New ApiWindow()
Dim title As New StringBuilder()
' Get the size of the string required to hold the window title.
Dim size As Int32 = SendMessage(hwnd, WM_GETTEXTLENGTH, 0, 0)
' If the return is 0, there is no title.
If size > 0 Then
title = New StringBuilder(size + 1)
SendMessage(hwnd, WM_GETTEXT, title.Capacity, title)
End If
' Set the properties for the ApiWindow object.
window.MainWindowTitle = title.ToString()
window.hWnd = hwnd
Return window
End Function
I found this answer on the net on another website, I thought I should share it in case someone sees this question in the future:
Buttons are nothing but more windows. You just look for more child
windows of the message box window you found. You can NOT just get
the handle from a window and then try to cast it to a Form object and
expect all the properties to work. It just doesn't work that way.

Convert C++ to VB.NET

the purpose is to send a message from an vb.net application to another application using winapi sendmessage. I cannot get it to work. Your help is greatly appreciated
This is what I have, but it does not seems to work
Public Class WinAPI
Private hwnd As Integer
Private Declare Auto Function FindWindow Lib "user32" _
(ByVal lpClassName As String, _
ByVal lpWindowName As String) As IntPtr
'FindWindowByClass
Private Declare Auto Function FindWindow Lib "user32" _
(ByVal lpClassName As String, _
ByVal zero As IntPtr) As IntPtr
'FindWindowByCaption
Private Declare Auto Function FindWindow Lib "user32" _
(ByVal zero As IntPtr, _
ByVal lpWindowName As String) As IntPtr
Private Declare Auto Function SendMessage Lib "user32" _
(ByVal hWnd As IntPtr, _
ByVal Msg As Integer, _
ByVal wParam As IntPtr, _
ByRef lParam As COPYDATASTRUCT) As Boolean
Public Const WM_COPYDATA As Integer = &H4A
<StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)> _
Structure COPYDATASTRUCT
Dim dwData As Long
Dim cbData As Long
Dim lpData As IntPtr
End Structure
Public Sub SendToeSignal(ByVal strMessage As String)
hwnd = FindWindow(vbNullString, "eSignalSink")
' hwnd = FindWindow("eSignalSink", "vbNullString")
Dim DataStruct As New COPYDATASTRUCT
' strMessage = "1" & "," & strMessage & Chr(0) & vbCr 'Null terminated & carriage return
strMessage = "1" & "," & strMessage & vbCr 'Null terminated & carriage return
DataStruct.dwData = 1
DataStruct.cbData = strMessage.Length * Marshal.SystemDefaultCharSize
DataStruct.lpData = Marshal.StringToCoTaskMemAuto(strMessage)
SendMessage(hwnd, WM_COPYDATA, 0, DataStruct)
Marshal.FreeCoTaskMem(DataStruct.lpData)
End Sub
End Class
It looks like you have a VB6 style definition of your COPYDATASTRUCT try this instead.
From above PInvoke link:
<StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)> _
Structure COPYDATASTRUCT
Public dwData As IntPtr
Public cdData As Integer
Public lpData As IntPtr
End Structure
First of all do yourself a favor and enable Option Strict expecially when you are working with API functions. You are sending a structure between your applications and will need to make sure you can retrieve it at the receiving application. I made some changes to your example code and it does work, receiving the data in a test program that the main Form is named TestApp.
Your example with modifications
Option Strict On
Imports System.Runtime.InteropServices
Public Class Form1
Public Sub New()
' This call is required by the designer.
InitializeComponent()
Dim myWinAPI As WinAPI = New WinAPI
myWinAPI.SendToeSignal("Hello World")
' Add any initialization after the InitializeComponent() call.
End Sub
End Class
Public Class WinAPI
Private hwnd As IntPtr
Private Declare Auto Function FindWindow Lib "user32" _
(ByVal lpClassName As String, _
ByVal lpWindowName As String) As IntPtr
'FindWindowByClass
Private Declare Auto Function FindWindow Lib "user32" _
(ByVal lpClassName As String, _
ByVal zero As IntPtr) As IntPtr
'FindWindowByCaption
Private Declare Auto Function FindWindow Lib "user32" _
(ByVal zero As IntPtr, _
ByVal lpWindowName As String) As IntPtr
Private Declare Auto Function SendMessage Lib "user32" _
(ByVal hWnd As IntPtr, _
ByVal Msg As Integer, _
ByVal wParam As IntPtr, _
ByRef lParam As COPYDATASTRUCT) As Boolean
Public Const WM_COPYDATA As Integer = &H4A
<StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)> _
Structure COPYDATASTRUCT
Dim dwData As IntPtr
Dim cbData As Integer
Dim lpData As IntPtr
End Structure
Public Sub SendToeSignal(ByVal strMessage As String)
hwnd = FindWindow(IntPtr.Zero, "TestApp")
Dim DataStruct As New COPYDATASTRUCT
strMessage = "1" & "," & strMessage & vbCr 'Null terminated & carriage return
DataStruct.dwData = CType(1, IntPtr)
DataStruct.cbData = strMessage.Length * Marshal.SystemDefaultCharSize
DataStruct.lpData = Marshal.StringToCoTaskMemAuto(strMessage)
SendMessage(hwnd, WM_COPYDATA, IntPtr.Zero, DataStruct)
Marshal.FreeCoTaskMem(DataStruct.lpData)
End Sub
Public Sub New()
End Sub
End Class
Receiving Application
Imports System.Runtime.InteropServices
Imports System.Text
Public Class Form1
<StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)> _
Structure COPYDATASTRUCT
Dim dwData As IntPtr
Dim cbData As Integer
Dim lpData As IntPtr
End Structure
Public Const WM_COPYDATA As Integer = &H4A
Dim split() As String = New String() {",", " "}
Dim myData() As String
Protected Overrides Sub WndProc(ByRef m As System.Windows.Forms.Message)
MyBase.WndProc(m)
If m.Msg = WM_COPYDATA Then
Dim CD As COPYDATASTRUCT = DirectCast(m.GetLParam(GetType(COPYDATASTRUCT)), COPYDATASTRUCT)
Dim B As Byte() = New Byte(CD.cbData - 1) {}
Dim lpData As IntPtr = CD.lpData
Marshal.Copy(lpData, B, 0, CD.cbData)
Dim strData As String = Encoding.[Default].GetString(B)
myData = strData.Split(split, StringSplitOptions.None)
End If
End Sub
End Class
Thanks for the first example that almost worked for my application.
The receiver application need the string in ANSI ( WinAmp ) so I had to change the line:
DataStruct.lpData = Marshal.StringToCoTaskMemAuto(strMessage)
to
DataStruct.lpData = Marshal.StringToCoTaskMemAnsi(strMessage)
Besides that it worked like a charm, first example that got the pointers correctly for x64 - x32. Just wish I found this first in my 24 hr quest
Win 10. Visualstudio2017 vb.net