pywinauto/doc_src/HowTo.txt

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========
How To's
========
How to sepcify an usable Application instance
---------------------------------------------
An ``Application()`` instance is the point of contact for all work
with the app you are automating. So the Application instance needs
to be connected to a process. There are two ways of doing this::
start_(self, cmd_line, timeout = app_start_timeout):
or ::
connect_(self, **kwargs):
``start_()`` is used when the application is not running and you
need to start it. Use it in the following way::
app = Application()
app.start_(r"c:\path\to\your\application -a -n -y --arguments")
The timeout parameter is optional, it should only be necessary to use
it if the application takes a long time to start up.
``connect_()`` is used when the application to be automated is already
running. To specify a an already runing application you need to specify
one of the following:
:process: the process id of the application, e.g.
::
app = Application()
app.connect_(process = 2341)
:handle: The windows handle of a window of the application, e.g.
::
app = Application()
app.connect_(handle = 0x010f0c)
:path: The path of the executable of the process (``GetModuleFileNameEx``
is used to find the path of each process and compared against
the value passed in) e.g.
::
app = Application()
app.connect_(path = r"c:\windows\system32\notepad.exe")
or any combination of the parameters that specify a window, these get
passed to the ``findwindows.find_windows()`` function. e.g. ::
app = Application()
app.connect_(title_re = ".*Notepad", class_name = "Notepad")
How to sepcify a dialog of the application
------------------------------------------
Once the application instance knows what application it is connected to
a dialog to work on needs to be specified.
There are many different ways of doing this. The most common will be
using item or attribute access to select a dialog based on it's title. e.g ::
dlg = app.Notepad
or equivalently ::
dlg = app['Notepad']
The next easiest method is to ask for the ``top_window_()`` e.g. ::
dlg = app.top_window_()
This will return the window that has the highest Z-Order of the top-level
windows of the application.
**Note**: This is currently fairly untested so I am not sure it will
return the correct window. It will definitely be a top level window of
the application - it just might not be the one highest in the Z-Order.
If this is not enough control they you can use the same parameters as
can be passed to ``findwindows.find_windows()`` e.g. ::
dlg = app.window_(title_re = "Page Setup", class_name = "#32770")
Finally to have the most control you can use ::
dialogs = app.windows_()
this will return a list of all the visible, enabled, top level windows
of the application. You can then use some of the methods in ``handleprops``
module select the dialog you want. Once you have the handle you need
then use ::
Application.window_(handle = win)
How to specify a control on a dialog
------------------------------------
There are a number of ways to specify a control, the simplest are::
app.dlg.control
app['dlg']['control']
The 2nd is better for non English OS's where you need to pass unicode
strings e.g. app[u'your dlg title'][u'your ctrl title']
The code builds up multiple identifiers for each control from the following:
+ title
+ friendly class
+ title + friendly class
If the control's text is empty (after removing non char characters) text is
not used. Instead we look for the closest control above and to the right fo
the contol. And append the friendly class. So the list becomes
+ friendly class
+ closest text + friendly class
Once a set of identifiers has been created for all controls in the dialog
we disambiguate them.
use the `WindowSpecification.print_control_identifiers()` method
e.g. ::
app.YourDialog.print_control_identifiers()
Sample output::
Button - Paper (L1075, T394, R1411, B485)
'PaperGroupBox' 'Paper' 'GroupBox'
Static - Si&ze: (L1087, T420, R1141, B433)
'SizeStatic' 'Static' 'Size'
ComboBox - (L1159, T418, R1399, B439)
'ComboBox' 'SizeComboBox'
Static - &Source: (L1087, T454, R1141, B467)
'Source' 'Static' 'SourceStatic'
ComboBox - (L1159, T449, R1399, B470)
'ComboBox' 'SourceComboBox'
Button - Orientation (L1075, T493, R1171, B584)
'GroupBox' 'Orientation' 'OrientationGroupBox'
Button - P&ortrait (L1087, T514, R1165, B534)
'Portrait' 'RadioButton' 'PortraitRadioButton'
Button - L&andscape (L1087, T548, R1165, B568)
'RadioButton' 'LandscapeRadioButton' 'Landscape'
Button - Margins (inches) (L1183, T493, R1411, B584)
'Marginsinches' 'MarginsinchesGroupBox' 'GroupBox'
Static - &Left: (L1195, T519, R1243, B532)
'LeftStatic' 'Static' 'Left'
Edit - (L1243, T514, R1285, B534)
'Edit' 'LeftEdit'
Static - &Right: (L1309, T519, R1357, B532)
'Right' 'Static' 'RightStatic'
Edit - (L1357, T514, R1399, B534)
'Edit' 'RightEdit'
Static - &Top: (L1195, T550, R1243, B563)
'Top' 'Static' 'TopStatic'
Edit - (L1243, T548, R1285, B568)
'Edit' 'TopEdit'
Static - &Bottom: (L1309, T550, R1357, B563)
'BottomStatic' 'Static' 'Bottom'
Edit - (L1357, T548, R1399, B568)
'Edit' 'BottomEdit'
Static - &Header: (L1075, T600, R1119, B613)
'Header' 'Static' 'HeaderStatic'
Edit - (L1147, T599, R1408, B619)
'Edit' 'TopEdit'
Static - &Footer: (L1075, T631, R1119, B644)
'FooterStatic' 'Static' 'Footer'
Edit - (L1147, T630, R1408, B650)
'Edit' 'FooterEdit'
Button - OK (L1348, T664, R1423, B687)
'Button' 'OK' 'OKButton'
Button - Cancel (L1429, T664, R1504, B687)
'Cancel' 'Button' 'CancelButton'
Button - &Printer... (L1510, T664, R1585, B687)
'Button' 'Printer' 'PrinterButton'
Button - Preview (L1423, T394, R1585, B651)
'Preview' 'GroupBox' 'PreviewGroupBox'
Static - (L1458, T456, R1549, B586)
'PreviewStatic' 'Static'
Static - (L1549, T464, R1557, B594)
'PreviewStatic' 'Static'
Static - (L1466, T586, R1557, B594)
'Static' 'BottomStatic'
This exmple has been taken from test_application.py
**Note** The identifiers printed by this method have been run through
the process that makes the identifier unique. So if you have 2 edit boxes,
they will both have "Edit" listed in their identifiers. In reality though
the first one can be refered to as "Edit", "Edit0", "Edit1" and the 2nd
should be refered to as "Edit2"
**Note** You do not have to be exact!. Say we take an instance from the
example above::
Button - Margins (inches) (L1183, T493, R1411, B584)
'Marginsinches' 'MarginsinchesGroupBox' 'GroupBox'
Let's say that you don't like any of these
- ``GroupBox`` - too generic, it could be any group box
- ``Marginsinches`` and ``MarginsinchesGroupBox`` - these just don'
look right, it would be nicer to leave out the 'inches' part
Well you CAN! The code does a best match on the identifer you use against
all the available identifiers in the dialog.
For example if you break into the debugger you can see how different
identifiers can be used::
(Pdb) print app.PageSetup.Margins.Text()
Margins (inches)
(Pdb) print app.PageSetup.MarginsGroupBox.Text()
Margins (inches)
And this will also cater for typos. Though you still have to be careful
as if there are 2 similar identifiers in the dialog the typo you have
used might be more similar to another control then the one you were
thinking of.
How to use pywinauto with application languages other than English
------------------------------------------------------------------
Because Python does not support unicode identifiers in code
you cannot use attribute access to reference a control so
you would either have to use item access or make an explicit
calls to ``window_()``.
So instead of writing::
app.dialog_ident.control_ident.Click()
You would have to write::
app['dialog_ident']['control_ident'].Click()
Or use ``window_()`` explictly::
app.window_(title_re = "NonAsciiCharacters").window_(title = "MoreNonAsciiCharacters").Click()
To see an example of this see ``examples\MiscExamples.py.GetInfo()``
How to deal with controls that do not respond as expected (e.g. OwnerDraw Controls)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Some controls (especially Ownerdrawn controls) do not respond to events as
expected. For example if you look at any HLP file and go to the Index Tab (click
'Search' button) you will see a listbox. Running Spy or Winspector on this
will show you that it is indeed a list box - but it is ownerdrawn. This means
that the developer has told Windows that they will override how items are displayed
and do it themselves. And in this case they have made it so that strings cannot be
retrieved :-(.
So what problems does this cause? ::
app.HelpTopics.ListBox.Texts() # 1
app.HelpTopics.ListBox.Select("ItemInList") # 2
1. Will return a list of empty strings, all this means is that pywinauto has not
been able to get the strings in the listbox
2. This will fail with an IndexError because the Select(string) method of a ListBox
looks for the item in the Texts to know the index of the item that it should select.
The following workaround will work on this control ::
app.HelpTopics.ListBox.Select(1)
This will select the 2nd item in the listbox, because it is not a string lookup
it works correctly.
Unfortunately not even this will always work. The developer can make it so that the
control does not respond to standard events like Select. In this case the only way
you can select items in the listbox is by using the keyboard simulation of TypeKeys().
This allows you to send any keystrokes to a control. So to select the 3rd item you
would use::
app.Helptopics.ListBox1.TypeKeys("{HOME}{DOWN 2}{ENTER}")
- ``{HOME}`` will make sure that the first item is highlighted.
- ``{DOWN 2}`` will then move the highlight down 2 items
- ``{ENTER}`` will select the highlighted item
If your application made extensive use of a similar control type then you could
make using it easier by deriving a new class from ListBox, that could use extra
knowledge about your particular application. For example in the WinHelp example
evertime an item is highlighted in the list view, it's text is inserted into the
Edit control above the list, and you CAN get the text of the item from there e.g. ::
# print the text of the item currently selected in the list box
# (as long as you are not typing into the Edit control!)
print app.HelpTopics.Edit.Texts()[1]
How to Access the System Tray (aka SysTray, aka 'Notification Area')
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Near the clock are icons representing running applications, this area is
normally referred to as the "System Tray". There are actually many different
windows/controls in this area. The control that contains the icons is actually
a toolbar. It is in a Pager control, in within a window with a class TrayNotifyWnd,
which is in yet another window with a class Shell_TrayWnd and all these windows
are part of the running Explorer instance. Thankfully you don't need to remeber
all that :-).
The things that are important to remember is that you are looking for a
window in the "Explorer.exe" application with the class "Shell_TrayWnd" that has
a Toolbar control with a title "Notification Area".
One way to get this is to do the following::
imprt pywinauto.application
app = pywinauto.application.Application().connect_(path = "explorer")
systray_icons = app.ShellTrayWnd.NotificationAreaToolbar
The taskbar module provides very preliminary access to the System Tray.
It defines the following variables:
:``explorer_app``: defines an Application() object connected to the running
explorer. You probably don't need to use this your self
very much.
:``TaskBar``: The handle to the task bar (the bar containing Start Button,
the QuickLaunch icons, running tasks, etc
:``StartButton``: "Start me up" :-) I think you might know what this is!
:``QuickLaunch``: The Toolbar with the quick launch icons
:``SystemTray``: The window that contains the Clock and System Tray Icons
:``Clock``: The clock
:``SystemTrayIcons``: The toolbar representing the system tray icons
:``RunningApplications``: The toolbar representing the running applications
I have also provided 2 functions in the module that can be used to click on
system tray icons:
:``ClickSystemTrayIcon(button)``: You can use this to left click a visible icon
in the system tray. I had to specifically say
visible icon as there may be many invisible
icons that obviously cannot be clicked. Button
can be any integer. If you specify 3 then it will
find and click the 3rd visible button. (very little
error checking is performed and this method will
more then likely be moved/renamed in the futures.
:``RightClickSystemTrayIcon(button)``: Similar to ``ClickSytemTrayIcon`` but performs
a right click.
Often when you click/right click on an icon - you get a popup menu. The thing to
remember at this point is that the popup menu is part of the application being
automated not part of explorer.
e.g. ::
# connect to outlook
outlook = Application().connect_(path = 'outlook.exe')
# click on Outlook's icon
taskbar.ClickSystemTrayIcon(2)
# Select an item in the popup menu
outlook.PopupMenu.MenuClick("Cancel Server Request")