Get Text of focused Control in any app

[MrCreatoR]

Hi,

Is it possible to get text of control that have the focus on it?

I mean if i type something for example in address bar of my browser (Opera), then i wold like to get a text that typed in that address bar (the control itself have no particular class or id), is it possible?

Punto switcher can detect that text in any place when i type text, maybe somehow it possible on AutoIt, maybe using some advanced API-Methods?

Any help will be appreciated.

[MrCreatoR]

Any one?

[Siao]

For its conversions of selected text (Shift+Break, etc) Punto Switcher definitely uses system clipboard.

You can see this by running script

ClipPut("abc")
While 1
    $abc = ClipGet()
    If @error Then ConsoleWrite("Some error" & @CRLF)
    If $abc <> "abc" Then ConsoleWrite($abc & @CRLF)
WEnd

and using some of those features in PS.

As for replacing text as you type it, it most likely uses global keyboard hook to log the characters as you type them, checks it and then does whatever with it (and updates by sending keys to the window with keyboard focus, using probably similar methods of AutoIt's Send).

I mean, lets take for example that if you start typing "www" in address window of some browser with russian switched on, it replaces that "ццц" with "www" and turns on english. But if you type some "ц" without PS, then start PS and type some more "цц" it will replace only those that you've typed with PS running. If it had some "advanced" method of getting text from a control, why wouldn't it replace all of it?

There is no generic fail-proof method of getting text from ANY app and any custom control. Otherwise I'm pretty sure that by now AutoIt would be using it too, and there would be no "hey, ControlGetText doesn't work", "how do I automate this custom control" and similar topics created each week

Edited October 2, 2007 by Siao

[MrCreatoR]

Thanks again Siao

I found here on the forum few examples on keyboard hooking, and tryed to use them, but no seccess so far ...

I can get the typed text (just one letter), but the problem is that GetAsyncKeyState always return the last key, even if i do not press anything.. the same problem as with @HotkeyPressed macro.

And there is the issue with replacment as you mention... i can not replace only typed incorrectly letters, i will have to replace the whole line... but just maybe, i can use Send("^+{Left}"), to select only one previous word, and send there another one... ooh, i spent a few last hours trying to figure this out, but eventualy i am very very tired

Thanks again for you time to trying help me.

[Siao]

And there is the issue with replacment as you mention... i can not replace only typed incorrectly letters, i will have to replace the whole line... but just maybe, i can use Send("^+{Left}"), to select only one previous word, and send there another one... ooh, i spent a few last hours trying to figure this out, but eventualy i am very very tired

Send Backspace to delete as many typed chars as necessary one by one.