Request: Left-mouse-click triggers a PrtScr press in the background

[davidvan]

Basically, I am currently using Screenshot Captor and I defined the PrtScr button to capture the active window each time I press it.  What I hope to do is to eliminate the need to press the PrtScr button by leveraging the left-button click on mouse to trigger it.  The left-mouse button click must still function as normal but now with an added function of simulating a press of the PrtScr button.  Is there such a program available that can help me do this?  Or can someone create a script to do this?  Thank you in advance for any suggestions.

[mouser]

when we talked earlier i think an important aspect of what you wanted was not to trigger the hotkey every time you pressed the left mouse button, but only when you clicked left mouse button on the title bar of a menu.

[davidvan]

Yes, you are correct.  However, after giving it some thoughts, I figured it may be easier to implement for every click then conditional clicks.  If by making the request simpler, my hope is that I can find a close-enough solution sooner.   Thanks.

[skwire]

This AutoHotkey code will send a PrintScreen every time you left click a titlebar.  Save it out to something.ahk, run it, and left click a titlebar.  Let me know if you have issues.

Code: AutoIt [Select]

1. ~LButton::
2. {
3.     CoordMode, Mouse, Screen
4.     SetMouseDelay, -1
5.     SetKeyDelay, -1
6.     MouseGetPos, X, Y, hWnd
7.    
8.     ; 0x84 is WM_NCHITTEST
9.     SendMessage, 0x84, , ( x & 0xFFFF ) | ( y & 0xFFFF ) << 16, , ahk_id %hWnd%
10.     If ErrorLevel in 2,3,8,9,20,21
11.     {
12.         Send, {PrintScreen}
13.         ; Send, !{PrintScreen} ; Sends an alt-printscreen.
14.     }
15. }
16. Return

[mouser]

just tested it.. works.  very cool  
to make it trigger Alt+Prtscr (screenshot captor's default for capturing the active window) skwire said to use "Send, !{PrintScreen}"

That may be a small amount of code.. but there's a fair amount of knowledge behind it.  Kudos to skwire for another amazing job. 

[skwire]

Thanks, mouser.     The kudos needs to go to Microsoft, however, for providing the window message that makes it easy to do stuff like that.

[davidvan]

Skwire, this is awesome!  Thank you so much for such a quick turn-around.  I will test it tomorrow in my work pc...but given the confirmation from mouser (thanks!), I know it will work for me.

One question: what change can I make to the code to have every mouse click trigger the prtscr without clicking on the titlebar?  Is this significantly more difficult to achieve?  Thanks! 

[skwire]

You want every left mouse click, no matter where, to trigger a PrintScreen?  If so:

Code: AutoIt [Select]

1. ~LButton::
2. {
3.     Send, {PrintScreen}
4.     ; Send, !{PrintScreen} ; Sends an alt-printscreen.
5. }
6. Return

[davidvan]

Thank you again.  This is exactly what I was looking for! 

A final question if I may (I promise):

If the mouse click in not on an application window (ie: desktop area, task bar, Start, etc.), can I not trigger the prtscr?  In other words, can I trigger only when a click is in an app window (including the title bar and border)? 

[skwire]

This should do it (under XP, at least):

Code: AutoIt [Select]

1. ~LButton::
2. {
3.     CoordMode, Mouse, Screen
4.     SetMouseDelay, -1
5.     SetKeyDelay, -1
6.     MouseGetPos, X, Y, hWnd
7.  
8.     WinGetClass, myClass, % "ahk_id " . hWnd
9.  
10.     If myClass not in Progman,Shell_TrayWnd
11.     {
12.         Send, {PrintScreen}
13.     }
14. }
15. Return

[davidvan]

Skwire,  this is perfect!  Thank you again for all your help!

[skwire]

You're welcome.  Happy to help.