Block all other input to an application and control it from a wrapper in Java

Posted by Oren on Stack Overflow See other posts from Stack Overflow or by Oren
Published on 2010-04-27T03:32:40Z Indexed on 2010/04/27 3:33 UTC
Read the original article Hit count: 249

Filed under:

java

|

automation

|

wrapper

|

Windows

I have a windows application which has a complex GUI that I would like to hide from users. In order to do this, I would like to create a wrapper with an extremely simple interface that overlays this application and automates a number of actions when a user clicks a single button on the wrapper. (I hope "wrapper" is the proper term.) Is it possible to use Java to block input to the underlying application so that users cannot inadvertently mess up the automation? How would I go about this? Also, how can I automate key presses and clicks to the application without hijacking the mouse? Is this possible in Java?

I have looked at java.awt.Robot, but it appears to hijack the mouse. I have also looked at AutoIT, but it too hijacks the mouse and does not integrate with Java.

Neither of these options seem powerful enough for what I need, but I do not know how else to proceed.

© Stack Overflow or respective owner

Related posts about java

Tomcat 6: Access Control Exception?

as seen on Server Fault - Search for 'Server Fault'
I'm trying to setup a tomcat6 server, and I'm trying to match another setup someone else established. However, my deployment (default Ubuntu install) uses a policy.d/ directory structure, and the established server just uses a catalina.policy file. I've tried setting every entry in policy.d to match… >>> More
Problem in creation MDB Queue connection at Jboss StartUp

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
I am not able to create a Queue connection in JBOSS4.2.3GA Version & Java1.5, as I am using MDB as per the below details. I am putting this MDB in a jar file(named utsJar.jar) and copied it in deploy folder of JBOSS, In the test env. this MDB works well but in another env. [ env settings and… >>> More
failing to establish connection between Postgres db and gwt

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
Hi, I am using Postgres and gwt 2.0 for one of my applications. I am facing problem connecting to the database. When I try to connect it gives "ClassNotFoundException". Here is what I get when I try to connect to database: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: org.postgresql.Driver at java.net… >>> More
failing to establish connection between postgre db and gwt

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
Hi, For i am using postgre and gwt 2.0 for one of my applications. I am facing problem connecting to the database. When i try to connect it gives "ClassNotFoundException". Here is what i get when i try to connect to database: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: org.postgresql.Driver at java.net… >>> More
Migration and deployement problems JBoss 4.2.2.GA to JBoss 6.0.0.M2

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
Hi, I'm trying to migrate an application running on JBoss 4.2.2.GA to JBoss 6.0.0.M2 I give you some log to explain my problem : boot.log : 2010-03-16 09:59:29,406 ERROR [org.jboss.system.server.profileservice.ProfileServiceBootstrap] (Thread-2) Failed to load profile: Summary of incomplete deployments… >>> More

Related posts about automation

Documenting applications - automation / semi-automation for screenshots?

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
For me one of the biggest bores of being a developer is writing user documentation. (I am referring to the stuff that gets exported into PDF files files that ship with the product, not comments in code here). The task off adding or updating new bits of text to the existing documentation is OK. However… >>> More
Why the cucumber features keeps running even though it fails?

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
Its a rails 2.3.5 app. I'm using the rspec and cucumber for testing. When I run autospec, it runs correctly with the warning (Not running features. To run features in autotest, set AUTOFEATURE=true.) as below: [~/rails_apps/automation (campaign)?] ? autospec (Not running features. To run features… >>> More
Automation testing tool for Regression testing of desktop application

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
Hi I am working on a desktop application which uses Infragistic grids. We need to automate the regression tests for same. QTP alone does not support this, we need to buy new plug in for same which my company is not very much interested in. Do we have any open source tool for automating regression… >>> More
automation of data format conversion to parent child format

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
This is an excel sheet which has only a single column filled for each row. (explanation : all CITY categories fall under V21 , all handset categories fall under CityJ and so on ) V21 CITYR CITYJ HandsetS HandsetHW HandsetHA … >>> More
Automation: how to automate transforming .doc to .docx?

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
I have a bunch of .doc files in a folder which I need to convert to .docx. To manually convert the .doc to .docx is pretty simple: Open .doc in Word 2007 Click on Save As... Save it as .docx However, doing this for hundreds of files definitely ain't fun. =p How would you automate this? >>> More