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Comments and Discussions
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This is exactly what I needed for a project I am working with. In very little time I had it detecting a control sequence while another application had focus. Perfect. Thank you for sharing this.
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Hello!
I would like to use this class in a WPF application. I am kinda new to WPF and Winforms, can anybody give me hints about what to modify on the original class, or how to use it with WPF?
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Hi there,
you have no reference of the callback-method.
After:
public delegate int keyboardHookProc(int code, int wParam, ref keyboardHookStruct lParam);
just add a new line with:
private keyboardHookProc _keyboardHookProc;
And in function "hook" you have to change code to:
hInstance = LoadLibrary("User32");
_keyboardHookProc = new keyboardHookProc(hookProc);
hhook = SetWindowsHookEx(WH_KEYBOARD_LL, _keyboardHookProc, hInstance, 0);
with these changes the delegate won't be garbage collected
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I was using it till while. And suddenly it stopped working. Any keys that are hook will not get to application they should. For example if i use ur demo program and try to type "A" here it will get in listbox but not here. I tried redownloading the source files again and just program still same problem.
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Try to replace e.Handled = true; by e.Handled = false; in the events functions.
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It's good A Simple C# I hope this will be fun
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1 . Usually Anti Viruses are not happy to see Set Windows Hook This code expecially using the paramater "0" attaches itself to all the threads , which probably is not a good thing. Please provide your opinion. The only change that I have done is to add all the alphabets. I was trying to add other language characters as well. Please explain as to how that may be achieved. Thanks.
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Please explain how this would behave for a 32 bit Windows system and a 64 bit system.
Will a build compiled in a 32 bit system work on a 64 bit machine and vice versa ?
Any other points to consider.
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only I have a question: how to avoid repeated pressing of a key.
I need only one pressing
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thanks, it was very useful to me
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it stops working after some key strokes have been made. i do the following to get a double press event for the control button:
DateTime ctrlPressedOnce = DateTime.MinValue;
void gkh_KeyDown(object sender, KeyEventArgs e)
{
if (e.KeyCode == Keys.LControlKey)
{
TimeSpan ctrlActionSpan = DateTime.Now - ctrlPressedOnce;
if (ctrlPressedOnce == DateTime.MinValue)
ctrlPressedOnce = DateTime.Now;
else if (ctrlActionSpan.Seconds == 0 && ctrlActionSpan.Milliseconds < 500)
{
ctrlPressedOnce = DateTime.MinValue;
MessageBox.Show("OK");
}
else
{
ctrlPressedOnce = DateTime.MinValue;
}
}
else
{
ctrlPressedOnce = DateTime.MinValue;
}
e.Handled = true;
}
the first time i double tap my control button all works fine. but the second or sometimes the third time the gkh_KeyDown event simply is not fired anymore. please fix this.
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Modifier handling can be added to work on the global hook by adding GetKeyState to the globalKeyboardHook class.
This can be done in such a way the KeyEventArgs passed in the events have their Control, Alt and Shift properties correctly set.
I've blogged on how to do this, including a full version of globalKeyboardHook with the extra code built in, here.
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Thank you Sir!
Just what I needed
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For example LControl + Printscreen, but only combination.
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To avoid problems with the GC you should keep a reference to the delegate.
Something like:
75 keyboardHookProc proc;
76 public void hook() {
77 IntPtr hInstance = LoadLibrary("User32");
78 proc = new keyboardHookProc(hookProc);
79 hhook = SetWindowsHookEx(WH_KEYBOARD_LL, proc, hInstance, 0);
Otherwise an CallbackOnCollectedDelegate exception can occur.
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sir,If I want to hook combination key,such as Shift+A,
the setup code gkh.HookedKeys.Add(Keys.A & Keys.Control);
does't work, please help me.
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works on c# 2010 express, simple to use, thanks
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Hi ,
Is it possible to run this without the .NET framework installed on the Windows system.
If not , then let us think of alternates.
A low level hook should be pretty compatible every place.
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I am unable to send small letters using SendKeys.Send() with SHIFT modifier key pressed. My app needs (for example) if the user presses K button "a" should be sent and if he presses SHIFT+K, "b" should be sent. The code is:
void gkh_KeyDown(object sender, KeyEventArgs e)
{
if (e.KeyCode == Keys.K)
{
if (Control.ModifierKeys == Keys.Shift)
SendKeys.Send("b");
else
SendKeys.Send("a");
}
e.Handled == true;
}
But it sends "B" (Capital letter) instead of "b", that is the SHIFT key changes the sent keystroke "b" to uppercase. This happens even after adding Keys.Shift to the hook.
I tried many approaches including using e.SupressKeyPress, SendKeys("b".toLower()) and putting above code in KeyUp event but in vein.
Pls help me, I am very frustated, my application developement is struck at this point.
modified on Saturday, March 26, 2011 11:19 AM
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Hi ,
Can you please give some light on how to use this to make is case sensitive and
also to detect symbols like " , .;: / ? etc.
Tried using ASCII value , but e.Modifier , e.Shift are always None.
And No Idea how to approach for the special symbol keys , and to get the ones Shift + numbers.
Minor modifications or guidelines , please provide any insight.
Thanks
Aces J
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For detecting symbols you can use key codes like Keys.Oemcomma, Keys.OemQuestion etc. Visual Studio's intellisense feature automatically pops a drop-down menu showing you possible key codes as you type "Keys." Number keys are Keys.D0 to Keys.D9
To find key code of a particular key, put following code in KeyDown event.
void gkh_KeyDown(object sender, KeyEventArgs e)
{
MessageBox.Show(e.KeyCode.ToString());
}
For combination of keys with modifier keys (like SHIFT+A, CTRL+H etc), you can use following code.
if (Control.ModifierKeys == Keys.Shift)
{
if (e.KeyCode==Keys.A)
if (e.KeyCode==Keys.B)
}
If there is only one key to be checked, use AND (&) operator instead of using two if statements.
Similarly you can check for Keys.Control & Keys.Alt
For detecting Capital Keys you have to check them with SHIFT modifier key as above.
Hope this helps.
modified on Friday, March 25, 2011 10:18 PM
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They seem not to be working. It always says Modifiers None even if i am holding Shift/Ctrl/Alt.
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Same Here ,
Do share if you are able to improve it.
Any Idea about how to use it with the symbols ?
Aces J
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Great Code!
Thank you a lot!
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hi StormySpike
tnx for your great atricle.
but i have a problem,actually when i use keyboardhook to hook a key and send it for active window with sendkey() i have this error:
A callback was made on a garbage collected delegate of type 'keyboardhook!Utilities.globalKeyboardHook+keyboar dHookProc::Invoke'. This may cause application crashes, corruption and data loss. When passing delegates to unmanaged code, they must be kept alive by the managed application until it is guaranteed that they will never be called.
most time when i press a key(that i hooked it) and press a key and keep it down it for a long time.(i press a key and keep my finger on that).
and this id my code:
************
gkh.HookedKeys.Add(Keys.OemPipe);
gkh.KeyDown += new KeyEventHandler(gkh_KeyDown);
***********
void gkh_KeyDown(object sender, KeyEventArgs e)
{
if (stringgetName() == "00000429")
{
Char ch_Ye = (Char)1740;
Char ch_K = (Char)1705;
Char ch_P = (Char)1662;
Char ch_Zh = (Char)1688;
switch (e.KeyCode)
{
case Keys.D:
System.Windows.Forms.SendKeys.Send(ch_Ye.ToString());
break;
case Keys.OemSemicolon:
System.Windows.Forms.SendKeys.Send(ch_K.ToString());
break;
case Keys.Oemtilde:
System.Windows.Forms.SendKeys.Send(ch_P.ToString());
break;
case Keys.OemPipe:
System.Windows.Forms.SendKeys.Send(ch_Zh.ToString());
break;
}
e.Handled = true;
}
}
tnx for your attention.
و این منم زنی تنها در آستانه فصلی سرد...
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Hi Guys,
Does anyone know how to apply this code to Windows Service on Windows 7.
Windows Service is unable to detect KeyEventHandler in the code even though
I added Windows Form in the NameSpace.
Thank you for any help provided.
mk77
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How do I use this for Windows Service?
I tried it on Win Service but it does not recognise
the keyevent handler
mk77
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The sample works fine but in more sophisticated mdi interface you get a CallbackOnCollectedDelegate Exception.
To avoid this porblem just change code.
Replace
public void hook() {
IntPtr hInstance = LoadLibrary("User32");
hhook = SetWindowsHookEx(WH_KEYBOARD_LL, hookProc, hInstance, 0);
}
by
public void hook() {
IntPtr hInstance = LoadLibrary("User32");
// Avoid CallbackOnCollectedDelegate Exception
// when calling delegates from unmanaged code
hkbProc = new keyboardHookProc(hookProc);
hhook = SetWindowsHookEx(WH_KEYBOARD_LL, hkbProc, hInstance, 0);
}
Jean-Michel Grange
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it work.but you have to declare hkbProc before hook()'s function.
like this:
private keyboardHookProc _hookCallback;
public void hook()
{
_hookCallback = new keyboardHookProc(hookProc);
_handleToHook = SetWindowsHookEx(
_hookType,
_hookCallback,
Marshal.GetHINSTANCE(Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetModules()[0]),
0);
}
و این منم زنی تنها در آستانه فصلی سرد...
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I know it's old, but thank you for this modification!
This code is only useful in "sophisticated" application with a lot of forms,
so this revision was needed.
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This is the simplest and neatest hook code I have seen. Can you make one like that to hook keyboards too?
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Thanks StormySpike...
Helped me to learn a lot..
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can also do Ctrl + alt + i? :(
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Control.Modifiers always is None in this case
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How do you add characters to the hook like danish æ, ø and å. Or other european special characters?
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Is it possible to do with all keys? Also KeyPress event would be nice
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foreach (System.Windows.Forms.Keys item in Enum.GetValues(typeof(System.Windows.Forms.Keys)))
{
gkh.HookedKeys.Add(item);
}
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error garbage collected delegate but solution in ocmments
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it crash when we type very fast
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Is there a way to capture a key combination like CTRL+ALT+A, where those three keys are pressed simultaneously?
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Have a look at your marshalling! (Attributes) Your code can lead to some (seldom but nasty) errors.
So sorry for the bad vote but your code seems to be reused by a lot of people, i will revote if you improve your code.
A good site is: http://www.pinvoke.net[^]
Maybe you are also interested in the way I get the Instance handle for the process containing the callback.
Have a look at the code I use for a keyboard hook:
using System;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.Reflection;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
using System.Windows.Forms;
namespace Common
{
#region CLASS GlobalKeyboardHook
public class GlobalKeyboardHook
{
#region TYPES
#region CLASS KeyboardHookStruct
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
class KeyboardHookStruct
{
public int vkCode;
public int scanCode;
public int flags;
public int time;
public int dwExtraInfo;
}
#endregion
#region DELEGATE HookProc
protected delegate int HookProc(int nCode, int wParam, IntPtr lParam);
#endregion
#endregion
#region CONSTANTS
const int WH_KEYBOARD_LL = 13;
const int WH_KEYBOARD = 2;
const int WM_KEYDOWN = 0x100;
const int WM_KEYUP = 0x101;
const int WM_SYSKEYDOWN = 0x104;
const int WM_SYSKEYUP = 0x105;
const byte VK_SHIFT = 0x10;
const byte VK_CAPITAL = 0x14;
const byte VK_NUMLOCK = 0x90;
const byte VK_LSHIFT = 0xA0;
const byte VK_RSHIFT = 0xA1;
const byte VK_LCONTROL = 0xA2;
const byte VK_RCONTROL = 0x3;
const byte VK_LALT = 0xA4;
const byte VK_RALT = 0xA5;
#endregion
#region VARIABLES
bool m_bHookActive;
int m_iHandleToHook;
protected HookProc m_hookproc;
#endregion
#region EVENTS
public event KeyEventHandler KeyDown;
public event KeyEventHandler KeyUp;
public event KeyPressEventHandler KeyPress;
#endregion
#region CONSTRUCTION & DESTRUCTION
~GlobalKeyboardHook()
{
Unhook();
}
#endregion
#region PROPERTIES
public bool HookActive
{
get { return m_bHookActive; }
}
#endregion
#region METHODS
public bool Hook()
{
if(!m_bHookActive)
{
m_hookproc = new HookProc(HookCallbackProcedure);
IntPtr hInstance = GetModuleHandle(Process.GetCurrentProcess().MainModule.ModuleName);
m_iHandleToHook = SetWindowsHookEx(
WH_KEYBOARD_LL,
m_hookproc,
hInstance,
0);
if(m_iHandleToHook != 0)
{
m_bHookActive = true;
}
}
return m_bHookActive;
}
public void Unhook()
{
if(m_bHookActive)
{
UnhookWindowsHookEx(m_iHandleToHook);
m_bHookActive = false;
}
}
protected virtual void OnKeyDown(KeyEventArgs kea)
{
if(KeyDown != null)
KeyDown(this, kea);
}
protected virtual void OnKeyUp(KeyEventArgs kea)
{
if(KeyUp != null)
KeyUp(this, kea);
}
protected virtual void OnKeyPress(KeyPressEventArgs kpea)
{
if(KeyPress != null)
KeyPress(this, kpea);
}
#endregion
#region EVENTHANDLER
int HookCallbackProcedure(int nCode, int wParam, IntPtr lParam)
{
bool bHandled = false;
if(nCode > -1 && (KeyDown != null || KeyUp != null || KeyPress != null))
{
KeyboardHookStruct khs = (KeyboardHookStruct) Marshal.PtrToStructure(lParam, typeof(KeyboardHookStruct));
bool bControl = ((GetKeyState(VK_LCONTROL) & 0x80) != 0) || ((GetKeyState(VK_RCONTROL) & 0x80) != 0);
bool bShift = ((GetKeyState(VK_LSHIFT) & 0x80) != 0) || ((GetKeyState(VK_RSHIFT) & 0x80) != 0);
bool bAlt = ((GetKeyState(VK_LALT) & 0x80) != 0) || ((GetKeyState(VK_RALT) & 0x80) != 0);
bool bCapslock = (GetKeyState(VK_CAPITAL) != 0);
KeyEventArgs kea = new KeyEventArgs((Keys) (khs.vkCode |
(bControl ? (int) Keys.Control : 0) |
(bShift ? (int) Keys.Shift : 0) |
(bAlt ? (int) Keys.Alt : 0)));
if(wParam == WM_KEYDOWN || wParam == WM_SYSKEYDOWN)
{
OnKeyDown(kea);
bHandled = kea.Handled;
}
else if(wParam == WM_KEYUP || wParam == WM_SYSKEYUP)
{
OnKeyUp(kea);
bHandled = kea.Handled;
}
if(wParam == WM_KEYDOWN && !bHandled && !kea.SuppressKeyPress)
{
byte[] abyKeyState = new byte[256];
byte[] abyInBuffer = new byte[2];
GetKeyboardState(abyKeyState);
if(ToAscii(khs.vkCode, khs.scanCode, abyKeyState, abyInBuffer, khs.flags) == 1)
{
char chKey = (char) abyInBuffer[0];
if((bCapslock ^ bShift) && Char.IsLetter(chKey))
chKey = Char.ToUpper(chKey);
KeyPressEventArgs kpea = new KeyPressEventArgs(chKey);
OnKeyPress(kpea);
bHandled = kea.Handled;
}
}
}
if(bHandled)
return 1;
else
return CallNextHookEx(m_iHandleToHook, nCode, wParam, lParam);
}
#endregion
#region EXTERN
[DllImport("user32.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Auto, CallingConvention = CallingConvention.StdCall, SetLastError = true)]
static extern int SetWindowsHookEx(int idHook, HookProc lpfn, IntPtr hMod, int dwThreadId);
[DllImport("user32.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Auto, CallingConvention = CallingConvention.StdCall, SetLastError = true)]
static extern int UnhookWindowsHookEx(int idHook);
[DllImport("user32.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Auto, CallingConvention = CallingConvention.StdCall)]
static extern int CallNextHookEx(int idHook, int nCode, int wParam, IntPtr lParam);
[DllImport("user32.dll")]
static extern int GetKeyboardState(byte[] pbKeyState);
[DllImport("user32.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Auto, CallingConvention = CallingConvention.StdCall)]
static extern short GetKeyState(int vKey);
[DllImport("user32.dll")]
static extern int ToAscii(int uVirtKey, int uScanCode, byte[] lpbKeyState, byte[] lpwTransKey, int fuState);
[DllImport("kernel32.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Auto)]
public static extern IntPtr GetModuleHandle(string lpModuleName);
#endregion }
#endregion }
btw: This is .NET not Java - the convention is: type names start with capital letters...
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Hi Johannes,
Thanks for posting your code. I tried it and works perfectly for XP. However, when migrated to Windows 7, it works initially for several key strokes, but then it does not work as expected... I used the code to hook the keys for my application to control PowerPoint slide up and down by SendKeys method. Initially ok, but after ~10 key strokes, the PowerPoint does not respond to the keys. Does the code compliant with Windows 7? or any hint to change? thanks.
Best regards,
Vincent
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I've made a program using this hook and on about the 40th second I get an exception:
A callback was made on a garbage collected delegate of type 'SuperLogger!Utilities.globalKeyboardHook+keyboardHookProc::Invoke'. This may cause application crashes, corruption and data loss. When passing delegates to unmanaged code, they must be kept alive by the managed application until it is guaranteed that they will never be called.
That's quite weird. Any ideas?
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i have this error too.is there any solution????
و این منم زنی تنها در آستانه فصلی سرد...
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Hi,
First of all, thanks for sharing this code!
Second: I got a problem using this code, I'm hooking some "normal" keys (like A, S, Q...) and the alt key. After a while (30-240 minutes), my application crashes. I surrounded all of my code with try-catches and debug output in the catch clause, so i'm almost sure its not my code that causes the crash (bold statement, I know ... not to be taken too seriously).
The only piece of information I found so far: The crash seems to occur shortly after using the arrow keys (which I did not hook).
My system: Win XP SP3, 32 Bit, german language
UPDATE: After testing some more, its not bound to the arrow keys ... it happens with all keys. I had some more crashes today that occured while I was typing.
modified on Wednesday, April 7, 2010 11:16 AM
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I need to use the F1 in my application, and ive tried e.handled, but everytime ive hit F1, it brings up help.
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General News Suggestion Question Bug Answer Joke Rant Admin
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A simple description and sample of creating a global low level keyboard hook in C#
| Type | Article |
| Licence | CPOL |
| First Posted | 30 May 2007 |
| Views | 278,590 |
| Downloads | 18,806 |
| Bookmarked | 124 times |
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