CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c#ui-automationmicrosoft-ui-automation
ResVic
ResVic

Reputation: 117

How to get the window Automation id of controls in 3rd party application with UIAutomation at specific screen coordinates

I am using UIAutomation and trying to get the window Id of any control in 3rd party applications. I want to know how to find out the ID of the control at a specific coordinate on the screen.

Example: I have Calculator, Notepad, and Word running on the desktop. All of them are running and sharing the screen partially. I want to be able to run my program and then click at any location on the screen and get the window ID of the underlying control (if there is any under the mouse).

What do I need to use to achieve this functionality. I understand that I need to have some sort of mouse hook, but the real problem is how to get the window ID (not the window handle) of the control on the screen where the mouse was clicked.

Upvotes: 1

Views: 6113

Answers (2)

Ronak Agrawal
Ronak Agrawal

Reputation: 1066

If i understand it Correctly, what your are trying to achieve is-> Click at any point of screen, get the window id of the underlying element ,if any, from the running elements:

If that's the case,the following should help/give an idea(NOTE: This would extend for not only cursor position but will continue search along X-axis for 100 pixels with a interval of 10):

 /// <summary>
    /// Gets the automation identifier of underlying element.
    /// </summary>
    /// <returns></returns>
    public static string GetTheAutomationIDOfUnderlyingElement()
    {
        string requiredAutomationID = string.Empty;
        System.Drawing.Point currentLocation = Cursor.Position;//add you current location here
        AutomationElement aeOfRequiredPaneAtTop = GetElementFromPoint(currentLocation, 10, 100);
        if (aeOfRequiredPaneAtTop != null)
        {
            return aeOfRequiredPaneAtTop.Current.AutomationId;
        }
        return string.Empty;
    }
    /// <summary>
    /// Gets the element from point.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="startingPoint">The starting point.</param>
    /// <param name="interval">The interval.</param>
    /// <param name="maxLengthToTraverse">The maximum length to traverse.</param>
    /// <returns></returns>
    public static AutomationElement GetElementFromPoint(Point startingPoint, int interval, int maxLengthToTraverse)
    {
        AutomationElement requiredElement = null;
        for (Point p = startingPoint; ; )
        {
            requiredElement = AutomationElement.FromPoint(new System.Windows.Point(p.X, p.Y));
            Console.WriteLine(requiredElement.Current.Name);
            if (requiredElement.Current.ControlType.Equals(ControlType.Window))
            {
                return requiredElement;

            }
            if (p.X > (startingPoint.X + maxLengthToTraverse))
                break;
            p.X = p.X + interval;
        }
        return null;
    }

Upvotes: 1

Eric Brown
Eric Brown

Reputation: 13942

AutomationElement.FromPoint() will return the automation element at a given point. Once you have that, you can trivially get the automation ID:

private string ElementFromCursor()
{
    // Convert mouse position from System.Drawing.Point to System.Windows.Point.
    System.Windows.Point point = new System.Windows.Point(Cursor.Position.X, Cursor.Position.Y);
    AutomationElement element = AutomationElement.FromPoint(point);
    string autoIdString;
    object autoIdNoDefault = element.GetCurrentPropertyValue(AutomationElement.AutomationIdProperty, true);
    if (autoIdNoDefault == AutomationElement.NotSupported)
    {
           // TODO Handle the case where you do not wish to proceed using the default value.
    }
    else
    {
        autoIdString = autoIdNoDefault as string;
    }
    return autoIdString;
}

Upvotes: 1

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