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Keyboard

Background/Foreground Key handler

Allows a developer the ability using the C# stack the ability of sending background keypresses and mouse events to any process.

This is useful for any type of automation, or testing. Although it's original roots come from being the key input handler for a botting program for the Aion online MMORPG. Since then it has been tested with many more applications and proven to be a solid library for background input events.

Demo added that shows this process working on the standard Notepad application, which only accepts Foreground input. Use notepad++ or another application to test background key presses.

PostMessage and SendMessage

How to send background keypresses.

Hello, This I feel is something that is completely misunderstood by most people so i thought i’d drop a knowledge bomb. PostMessage and SendMessage are two c/c++ functions that allow for a programmer to access Win32 API messaging. The parameters required for these messages are hWnd, wMsg, wParam, lParam.

Details:

hWnd: This is the handle to the window that you wish to send a message to in this case that will be the aion.bin mainwindowhandle. wMsg: This is the message that you plan on sending, generally to impersonate key presses you’ll need to send multiple messages, below is a simple list.

KEY_DOWN = (0x0100),  
KEY_UP = (0x0101),  
VM_CHAR = (0x0102),  
SYSKEYDOWN = (0x0104),  
SYSKEYUP = (0x0105),  
SYSCHAR = (0x0106),  
LBUTTONDOWN = (0x201), //Left mousebutton down  
LBUTTONUP = (0x202),  //Left mousebutton up   
LBUTTONDBLCLK = (0x203), //Left mousebutton doubleclick 
RBUTTONDOWN = (0x204), //Right mousebutton down  
RBUTTONUP = (0x205),   //Right mousebutton up  
RBUTTONDBLCLK = (0x206) //Right mousebutton doubleclick

wParam: Quite simply this for key pressing is the Virtual Key Code of the key you want to press. A list can be found http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms645540(VS.85).aspx.

//0 key
KEY_0 = 0x30,
//1 key
KEY_1 = 0x31,
//2 key
KEY_2 = 0x32,
//3 key
KEY_3 = 0x33,
//4 key
KEY_4 = 0x34,
//5 key
KEY_5 = 0x35,
//6 key
KEY_6 = 0x36,
//7 key
KEY_7 = 0x37,
//8 key
KEY_8 = 0x38,
//9 key
KEY_9 = 0x39,
// - key
KEY_MINUS = 0xBD,
// + key
KEY_PLUS = 0xBB,
//A key
KEY_A = 0x41,
//B key
KEY_B = 0x42,
//C key
KEY_C = 0x43,
//D key
KEY_D = 0x44,
//E key
KEY_E = 0x45,
//F key
KEY_F = 0x46,
//G key
KEY_G = 0x47,
//H key
KEY_H = 0x48,
//I key
KEY_I = 0x49,
//J key
KEY_J = 0x4A,
//L key
KEY_L = 0x4C,
//K key
KEY_K = 0x4B,
//M key
KEY_M = 0x4D,
//N key
KEY_N = 0x4E,
//O key
KEY_O = 0x4F,
//P key
KEY_P = 0x50,
//Q key
KEY_Q = 0x51,
//R key
KEY_R = 0x52,
//S key
KEY_S = 0x53,
//T key
KEY_T = 0x54,
//U key
KEY_U = 0x55,
//V key
KEY_V = 0x56,
//W key
KEY_W = 0x57,
//X key
KEY_X = 0x58,
//Y key
KEY_Y = 0x59,
//Z key
KEY_Z = 0x5A,
//Left mouse button
KEY_LBUTTON = 0x01,
//Right mouse button
KEY_RBUTTON = 0x02,
//Control-break processing
KEY_CANCEL = 0x03,
//Middle mouse button (three-button mouse)
KEY_MBUTTON = 0x04,  
//BACKSPACE key  
KEY_BACK = 0x08,
//TAB key
KEY_TAB = 0x09,
//CLEAR key
KEY_CLEAR = 0x0C,
//ENTER key
KEY_RETURN = 0x0D,
//SHIFT key
KEY_SHIFT = 0x10,
//CTRL key
KEY_CONTROL = 0x11,
//ALT key
KEY_MENU = 0x12,
//PAUSE key
KEY_PAUSE = 0x13,
//CAPS LOCK key
KEY_CAPITAL = 0x14,
//ESC key
KEY_ESCAPE = 0x1B,
//SPACEBAR
KEY_SPACE = 0x20,
//PAGE UP key
KEY_PRIOR = 0x21,
//PAGE DOWN key
KEY_NEXT = 0x22,
//END key
KEY_END = 0x23,
//HOME key
KEY_HOME = 0x24,
//LEFT ARROW key
KEY_LEFT = 0x25,
//UP ARROW key
KEY_UP = 0x26,
//RIGHT ARROW key
KEY_RIGHT = 0x27,
//DOWN ARROW key
KEY_DOWN = 0x28,
//SELECT key
KEY_SELECT = 0x29,
//PRINT key
KEY_PRINT = 0x2A,
//EXECUTE key
KEY_EXECUTE = 0x2B,
//PRINT SCREEN key
KEY_SNAPSHOT = 0x2C,
//INS key
KEY_INSERT = 0x2D,
//DEL key
KEY_DELETE = 0x2E,
//HELP key
KEY_HELP = 0x2F,
//Numeric keypad 0 key
KEY_NUMPAD0 = 0x60,   
//Numeric keypad 1 key
KEY_NUMPAD1 = 0x61,   
//Numeric keypad 2 key
KEY_NUMPAD2 = 0x62,   
//Numeric keypad 3 key  
KEY_NUMPAD3 = 0x63,   
//Numeric keypad 4 key  
KEY_NUMPAD4 = 0x64,   
//Numeric keypad 5 key  
KEY_NUMPAD5 = 0x65,   
//Numeric keypad 6 key  
KEY_NUMPAD6 = 0x66,
//Numeric keypad 7 key
KEY_NUMPAD7 = 0x67,
//Numeric keypad 8 key  
KEY_NUMPAD8 = 0x68,   
//Numeric keypad 9 key  
KEY_NUMPAD9 = 0x69,
//Separator key
KEY_SEPARATOR = 0x6C,
//Subtract key
KEY_SUBTRACT = 0x6D,
//Decimal key
KEY_DECIMAL = 0x6E,
//Divide key
KEY_DIVIDE = 0x6F,
//F1 key
KEY_F1 = 0x70,
//F2 key
KEY_F2 = 0x71,
//F3 key
KEY_F3 = 0x72,
//F4 key
KEY_F4 = 0x73,
//F5 key
KEY_F5 = 0x74,
//F6 key
KEY_F6 = 0x75,
//F7 key
KEY_F7 = 0x76,
//F8 key
KEY_F8 = 0x77,
//F9 key
KEY_F9 = 0x78,
//F10 key
KEY_F10 = 0x79,
//F11 key
KEY_F11 = 0x7A,
//F12 key
KEY_F12 = 0x7B,
//SCROLL LOCK key
KEY_SCROLL = 0x91,
//Left SHIFT key
KEY_LSHIFT = 0xA0,
//Right SHIFT key
KEY_RSHIFT = 0xA1,
//Left CONTROL key
KEY_LCONTROL = 0xA2,
//Right CONTROL key
KEY_RCONTROL = 0xA3,
//Left MENU key
KEY_LMENU = 0xA4,
//Right MENU key
KEY_RMENU = 0xA5,
//, key
KEY_COMMA = 0xBC,
//. key
KEY_PERIOD = 0xBE,
//Play key
KEY_PLAY = 0xFA,
//Zoom key
KEY_ZOOM = 0xFB,
NULL = 0x0,

lParam: This is a structure and is quite complex. Since we are simply dealing with keypresses messaging this simplifies the lParam quite a bit.

Here is the bit mapping for the 32-bit lParam:
0-15 Specifies the repeat count. The value is the number of times the keystroke is repeated as a result of the user holding down the key. The repeat count is always one for a WM_KEYUP message.
16-23 Specifies the scan code. The value depends on the original equipment manufacturer (OEM).
24 Specifies whether the key is an extended key, such as the right-hand ALT and CTRL keys that appear on an enhanced 101- or 102-key keyboard. The value is 1 if it is an extended key; otherwise, it is 0.
25-28 Reserved; do not use.
29 Specifies the context code. The value is always 0 for a WM_KEYUP message.
30 Specifies the previous key state. The value is always 1 for a WM_KEYUP message.
31 Specifies the transition state. The value is always 1 for a WM_KEYUP message. Return Value

const uint MAPVK_VK_TO_VSC = 0x00;
const uint MAPVK_VSC_TO_VK = 0x01;
const uint MAPVK_VK_TO_CHAR = 0x02;
const uint MAPVK_VSC_TO_VK_EX = 0x03;
const uint MAPVK_VK_TO_VSC_EX = 0x04;
uint lParam = (uint)repeatCount;
uint scanCode = MapVirtualKey((uint)[One of the VM_KEYS], MAPVK_VK_TO_VSC_EX);
lParam += (uint)(scanCode * 0x10000);
lParam += (uint)((extended) * 0x1000000);
lParam += (uint)((contextCode * 2) * 0x10000000);
lParam += (uint)((previousState * 4) * 0x10000000);
lParam += (uint)((transitionState * 8) * 0x10000000);
return lParam;

Since you will need the Scan Code for the virtual key i recommend using http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms646306(VS.85).aspx function since it will make it easy. I hope this helps everyone.

Use Spy++ it comes with visual studio and enjoy.

grandiloquent/Keyboard

DEPRECATED

Keyboard

PostMessage and SendMessage

How to send background keypresses.

Details: