using InputSimulator

Question

Try to use InputSimulator to simulate keyboard inputs. Everything works fine except using sim.Keyboard.ModifiedKeyStroke to simulate the input of ASCII character.

I tried to simulate Alt down + numpad1 + numpad4 + numpad7 + Alt up using the following two different ways:

    sim.Keyboard.ModifiedKeyStroke(VirtualKeyCode.LMENU, new[] { VirtualKeyCode.NUMPAD1, VirtualKeyCode.NUMPAD4, VirtualKeyCode.NUMPAD7});

and

    sim.Keyboard.KeyDown(VirtualKeyCode.LMENU);
    sim.Keyboard.KeyDown(VirtualKeyCode.NUMPAD1);
    sim.Keyboard.KeyUp(VirtualKeyCode.NUMPAD1);
    sim.Keyboard.KeyDown(VirtualKeyCode.NUMPAD4);
    sim.Keyboard.KeyUp(VirtualKeyCode.NUMPAD4);
    sim.Keyboard.KeyDown(VirtualKeyCode.NUMPAD7);
    sim.Keyboard.KeyUp(VirtualKeyCode.NUMPAD7);
    sim.Keyboard.KeyUp(VirtualKeyCode.LMENU);

Neither works. I try to print out key status in console, the real key press and simulated key press both give the same result:

   LMenu key down
   NumPad1 key down
   NumPad1 key up
   NumPad4 key down
   NumPad4 key up
   NumPad7 key down
   NumPad7 key up
   LMenu key up

I think should be some problems with the library: issue 1. Could anyone help me with this please? Is there any other way to do this?

Update 1

I found "Alt+Tab" is also not working in Win8. I thought this may be the same reason so I try to fix this first. It turns out they are two different problems:

To make "Alt+Tab" working, I need to set uiAccess=true in "app.manifest" and sign the ".exe" file using a test digital signature;
Simulating the input of ASCII characters still not working.

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Aug 26 '16 at 10:02

Use keybd_event with MapVirtualKey or if using SendInput add to INPUT's Scan MapVirtualKey.

Here is example with both,

using System;
using System.Threading;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;

namespace kbd_events_example
{
    static class Program
    {
        #pragma warning disable 649
        internal struct INPUT
        {
            public UInt32 Type;
            public KEYBOARDMOUSEHARDWARE Data;
        }
        [StructLayout(LayoutKind.Explicit)]
        //This is KEYBOARD-MOUSE-HARDWARE union INPUT won't work if you remove MOUSE or HARDWARE
        internal struct KEYBOARDMOUSEHARDWARE
        {
            [FieldOffset(0)]
            public KEYBDINPUT Keyboard;
            [FieldOffset(0)]
            public HARDWAREINPUT Hardware;
            [FieldOffset(0)]
            public MOUSEINPUT Mouse;
        }
        internal struct KEYBDINPUT
        {
            public UInt16 Vk;
            public UInt16 Scan;
            public UInt32 Flags;
            public UInt32 Time;
            public IntPtr ExtraInfo;
        }
        internal struct MOUSEINPUT
        {
            public Int32 X;
            public Int32 Y;
            public UInt32 MouseData;
            public UInt32 Flags;
            public UInt32 Time;
            public IntPtr ExtraInfo;
        }
        internal struct HARDWAREINPUT
        {
            public UInt32 Msg;
            public UInt16 ParamL;
            public UInt16 ParamH;
        }
        #pragma warning restore 649
        [DllImport("user32.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Auto, ExactSpelling = true, CallingConvention = CallingConvention.Winapi)]
        static extern void keybd_event(byte bVk, byte bScan, uint dwFlags, uint extraInfo);
        [DllImport("user32.dll", SetLastError = true)]
        static extern int MapVirtualKey(uint uCode, uint uMapType);
        [DllImport("user32.dll", SetLastError = true)]
        static extern UInt32 SendInput(UInt32 numberOfInputs, INPUT[] inputs, Int32 sizeOfInputStructure);
        enum VK
        {
            MENU = 0x12,
            NUMPAD0 = 0x60,
            NUMPAD1 = 0x61,
            NUMPAD2 = 0x62,
            NUMPAD3 = 0x63,
            NUMPAD4 = 0x64,
            NUMPAD5 = 0x65,
            NUMPAD6 = 0x66,
            NUMPAD7 = 0x67,
            NUMPAD8 = 0x68,
            NUMPAD9 = 0x69
        }
        const uint KEYEVENTF_KEYUP = 0x0002;
        public const int INPUT_KEYBOARD = 1;
        [STAThread]
        static void Main()
        {
            Thread.Sleep(5000); //wait 5 seconds, so you can focus the Notepad
            keybd_event((int)VK.MENU, (byte)MapVirtualKey((uint)VK.MENU, 0), 0, 0); //Alt Press  
            keybd_event((int)VK.NUMPAD1, (byte)MapVirtualKey((uint)VK.NUMPAD1, 0), 0, 0); // N1 Press  
            keybd_event((int)VK.NUMPAD1, (byte)MapVirtualKey((uint)VK.NUMPAD1, 0), KEYEVENTF_KEYUP, 0); // N1 Release  
            keybd_event((int)VK.MENU, (byte)MapVirtualKey((uint)VK.MENU, 0), KEYEVENTF_KEYUP, 0); // Alt Release    
            Thread.Sleep(2000); //wait 2 seconds
            INPUT[] inputs = new INPUT[] {
                new INPUT {Type = INPUT_KEYBOARD, Data = new KEYBOARDMOUSEHARDWARE { Keyboard = new KEYBDINPUT { Vk = (ushort)VK.MENU, Flags = 0, Scan = (ushort)MapVirtualKey((uint)VK.MENU, 0), ExtraInfo = IntPtr.Zero, Time = 0}}},
                new INPUT {Type = INPUT_KEYBOARD, Data = new KEYBOARDMOUSEHARDWARE { Keyboard = new KEYBDINPUT { Vk = (ushort)VK.NUMPAD2, Flags = 0, Scan = (ushort)MapVirtualKey((uint)VK.NUMPAD2, 0), ExtraInfo = IntPtr.Zero, Time = 0}}},
                new INPUT {Type = INPUT_KEYBOARD, Data = new KEYBOARDMOUSEHARDWARE { Keyboard = new KEYBDINPUT { Vk = (ushort)VK.NUMPAD2, Flags = 2, Scan = (ushort)MapVirtualKey((uint)VK.NUMPAD2, 0), ExtraInfo = IntPtr.Zero, Time = 0}}},
                new INPUT {Type = INPUT_KEYBOARD, Data = new KEYBOARDMOUSEHARDWARE { Keyboard = new KEYBDINPUT { Vk = (ushort)VK.MENU, Flags = 2, Scan = (ushort)MapVirtualKey((uint)VK.MENU, 0), ExtraInfo = IntPtr.Zero, Time = 0}}}
            };
            SendInput((uint)inputs.Length, inputs, Marshal.SizeOf(typeof(INPUT)));
        }
    }
}

As for InputSimulator, you need to write your own class using the SendInput or keybd_event with MapVirtualKey to handle inputs...

using InputSimulator

1 Answers1

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