Click background window programmatically

[Dude]

Hi all, I want my app to click a button control on my Winamp window when I press a hotkey, to go to the next track. Let's ignore the fact that Winamp may have a hotkey to do this, because the end goal is to adapt the code to work with any background window.

So, without bringing Winamp to the front, how can I simulate a mouse click on it, without bringing it to the foreground, and at a specific X/Y mouse position without moving the mouse so obviously to the user?

I found this StackOverflow link:

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/123 ... ck-message

And it appears that I can perhaps do it with these two lines of code:

Code: Select all

Macro MAKELPARAM(loWord,hiWord) : (hiWord << 16 | loWord) : EndMacro
SendMessage_(Winamp_hWnd,#WM_LBUTTONDOWN,#MK_LBUTTON,MAKELPARAM(x,y))

But it doesn't work. According to this post, it should:

viewtopic.php?p=465341#p465341

Alternatively, how can I convert the following to PureBasic (from that same link), which also appears to be what I want:

Code: Select all

{
    INPUT input;
    input.type=INPUT_MOUSE;
    input.mi.dx=0;
    input.mi.dy=0;
    input.mi.dwFlags=(MOUSEEVENTF_ABSOLUTE|MOUSEEVENTF_MOVE|MOUSEEVENTF_LEFTDOWN|MOUSEEVENTF_LEFTUP);
    input.mi.mouseData=0;
    input.mi.dwExtraInfo=NULL;
    input.mi.time=0;
    SendInput(1,&input,sizeof(INPUT));
    return 0;
}

Thanks!

[infratec]

viewtopic.php?p=363502#p363502

You can modify this for mouse instead of keyboard.

But I don't think that you can use this.
You need the xy coordinates of the button.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/window ... -sendinput

[infratec]

Code: Select all

Define MouseInput.Input

MouseInput\type = #INPUT_MOUSE
MouseInput\mi\dx = 0
MouseInput\mi\dy = 0
MouseInput\mi\dwFlags =(#MOUSEEVENTF_ABSOLUTE|#MOUSEEVENTF_MOVE|#MOUSEEVENTF_LEFTDOWN|#MOUSEEVENTF_LEFTUP)
MouseInput\mi\mouseData = 0
MouseInput\mi\dwExtraInfo = #Null
MouseInput\mi\time = 0
SendInput_(1, @MouseInput, SizeOf(Input))

[Dude]

Thanks for your replies, infratec, but I couldn't make them do what I want.

The following thread apparently shows how to do it, if someone can look? It's the reply that starts with: "I found in the past, a way to send message to Windows Media Player":

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/103 ... her-window

Thanks!

[infratec]

As I told you, you need the coordinates of the Button.
Else you click on coordinates 0,0. Where definately no button is located.
Or, if yuo send only WM_LBUTTONDOWN you may select/activate the button before you send something.

[RASHAD]

You can do it IF you know the handle of the Button

[Dude]

As I told you, you need the coordinates of the Button.

Of course I changed the co-ords to other than 0,0.

Rashad: The handle is actually irrelevant. The goal is just to click whatever's there at the X/Y position; not to click a specific control. I didn't make that properly clear in my first post. The button in my first post was where the calculated X/Y positon was.

[RASHAD]

In your case you must
- Find first the handle of winAMP
- Get it's rectangle (to get x & y for the origin)
- Calculate your aim x & y relative to the origin
- Call winAMP to top
- Set the cursor to x & y
- Simulate mouse click
- Send winAmp to it's Z order again

[Dude]

Rashad, what you posted is literally exactly how I'm already doing it. But the part I'd like to avoid is the bringing of Winamp to the top to do the click. It looks ugly to flash to the front like that, so I was hoping there'd be a background way.