Sendkeys Documentation

When you create a node that sends text to the last active window (or triggers global hotkeys) you can se the SendKeys method.

The new method simulates each key press one at a time, and most importantly, can send tabs, function keys, ctrl keys, etc.

This will let you create clips that actually fill out multiple fields by putting a TAB after each field.

And a really cool example of this is that you can create a Formatting Preset for example, that takes a string like 1111-2222-3333 and converts it to:

{sendkeys}1111{TAB}2222{TAB}3333

If you call this formatting preset something like "Paste Serial Into Fields" you can see why it would be useful -- you can use it to fill in a multi-field serial number dialog in an installation program using only a couple of key presses:

   * Select the string with dashes in it

   * Move to the first serial number field in the installer

   * Hit Ctrl+Alt+Q to bring up the quick paste menu (or whatever hotkey you configured), and choose the "Paste Serial Into Fields" preset from the menu.

   * All done.

Special strings that you can use in a {sendkeys} clip, from the TPushKeys help file:

Function key definitions are enclosed within braces, keys from F1 to F24 are represented by:

{F1}...{F24}

State Modifiers

Shift Key                +

Ctrl Key                        ^

Left Alt Key                %

Right Alt Key (Alt Gr)        !

Prefix any key definition with the appropriate modifier to affect the key press immediately following it e.g. +ab will result in the key strokes Ab being directed to the application.

To extend the modifier to affect a group of characters enclose them in parentheses e.g  !(ab) will result in AB being simulated. Parentheses may be nested so that !(+(ao)) will give ÁÓ.

Note: State Modifiers need not be used with standard keys as they can be entered directly. See example

IMPORTANT: When you want to trigger normal letter keys in combination with Ctrl Alt Shift, you *MUST* use lowercase versions of the letters, or a SHIFT key will be simulated.

To simulate the press and release of a modifier key then the key symbol must be the only character in the Keys string. See example

Numeric Keypad

Numeric keypad keys are enclosed within braces.

0 to 9                {NUMPAD0}...{NUMPAD9}

-                {NUMPAD-} or {NUMPADSUBTRACT}

+                {NUMPAD+} or {NUMPADADD}

/                {NUMPAD/} or {NUMPADDIVIDE}

*                {NUMPAD*} or {NUMPADMULTIPLY}

.                {NUMPAD.} or {NUMPADDECIMAL}

Navigation Keys

Navigation keys are enclosed within braces.

Enter                        {ENTER} or {RETURN} or ~

Newline                        {NL} or {NEWLINE}

Cursor Down                {DOWN}

Cursor Up                {UP}

Cursor Left                {LEFT}

Cursor Right                {RIGHT}

Page Up                {PGUP} or {PAGEUP} or {PRIOR}

Page Down                {PGDN} or {PAGEDOWN} or {NEXT}

Delete                        {DEL} or {DELETE}

Backspace                {BS} or {BKSP} or {BACKSPACE}

Home                        {HOME}

End                        {END}

Tab                        {TAB}

Formfeed                {FF}

Delay

A delay may be introduced into the key stream by using:

{SLEEP n}

where n is a numeric value representing a number of milli-seconds to wait. Note: the KeyDelay pause is ignored following a {SLEEP} key.  See example

Direct Entry

A key code may be entered directly in the form:

{\nnnn}

where nnnn represents the Alt-Numeric keypad keys used to generate the character.

Note: Normally this option is not needed as characters may be entered directly into the Keys string. See example

Other Keys

This section includes the method to send reserved keys: !,%,^,+,~. See example

Bell                        {BELL}

Break                        {BREAK}

Caps lock                {CAPS} or {CAPSLOCK}

Escape                        {ESC} or {ESCAPE}

Help                        {HELP}

Insert                        {INS} or {INSERT}

Number lock                {NUMLOCK}

Printscreen                {PRINTSCREEN} or {PRTSC}

Scroll lock                {SCROLLLOCK} or {SCRLK}

Pause                        {PAUSE}

Cancel                        {CANCEL}

Left Windows key        {LEFTWIN} or {START}

Right Windows key        {RIGHTWIN}

Applications key        {APPS} or {CONTEXT}

Left brace                {{}

~                        {~}

+                        {+}

%                        {%}

^                        {^}

!                        {!}

This new functionality is provided by the TPushKeys component by Alan Warriner which encapsulates, and extends, Christopher Latta's PushKeys code ([email protected], www.alan-warriner.co.uk)