B4J Question How to automate windows desktop apps

xulihang · Jan 24, 2019

I want to automate Microsoft Word to replace text.

It needs the following steps:

CTRL+H to open the search and replace dialog
ALT+P to switch to replace tab
ALT+N to switch to "find" and input the text
ALT+I to switch to "replace" and input the text
ALT+F to find a match
ALT+R to replace

I tried JAWTRobot, but it does not seem to work. Is this because AWTRobot is for java programs and I should use Autoit or VBA to do this?

xulihang · Jan 24, 2019

I plan to use Python with https://github.com/asweigart/pyautogui. Maybe BAnano can be used to write a web front end as developing GUI program with Python is not easy.

Daestrum · Jan 24, 2019

You can use JAWTRobot to interact with MS Word.

I have used it to edit files in the B4J IDE, the program it interacts with doesn't have to be a java program.

Daestrum · Jan 24, 2019

Or another thought you could use the POI lib and edit the word files directly.

xulihang · Jan 24, 2019

Daestrum said:
You can use JAWTRobot to interact with MS Word.

I find AWTRobot partly works but combo does not work, like ctrl+h. I use the test code below. Run the B4J app and switch to Word. The dialog does not show.

B4X:

Do While True
    Log("combo")
    Sleep(1000)
    Dim awt As AWTRobot
    awt.RobotSpecialKeyCombo("ctrl_h")
Loop

Daestrum said:
use the POI lib and edit the word files directly.

I have thought about this. But it is a bit complicated and users cannot see the replacing process directly. And ultimately, I want to create a universal text replacer which works for word, excel, ppt, photoshop, indesign, etc.

Roycefer · Jan 24, 2019

If my recollection serves me, ctrl_h is not one of the listed combos in the comments for RobotSpecialKeyCombo. This means you will have to separately press and release the ctrl and h keys.

xulihang · Jan 24, 2019

Roycefer said:
This means you will have to separately press and release the ctrl and h keys.

This works. Thanks!

B4X:

Do While True
    Sleep(1000)
    awt.RobotSpecialKeyPress("control")
    awt.RobotKeyPress("h")
    awt.RobotSpecialKeyRelease("control")
    awt.RobotKeyRelease("h")
    Log("combo")
Loop

B4J Question How to automate windows desktop apps

xulihang

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xulihang

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Daestrum

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Daestrum

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xulihang

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Roycefer

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xulihang

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B4J Question How to automate windows desktop apps

xulihang

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xulihang

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