Does anyone know how to use the RegisterHotKey/UnregisterHotKey API calls in a console application? I assume that setting up/removing the hotkey is the same, but how do I get the call back when the key was pressed?
Every example I see is for Winforms, and uses protected override void WndProc(ref Message m){...}
, which isn't available to me.
update: what I have is below, but the event is never hit. I thought it could be because when you load ConsoleShell it does block further execution, but even if I put
SetupHotkey
into a different thread nothing happens. Any thoughts?
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
new Hud().Init(args);
}
}
class Hud
{
int keyHookId;
public void Init(string[] args)
{
SetupHotkey();
InitPowershell(args);
Cleanup();
}
private void Cleanup()
{
HotKeyManager.UnregisterHotKey(keyHookId);
}
private void SetupHotkey()
{
keyHookId = HotKeyManager.RegisterHotKey(Keys.Oemtilde, KeyModifiers.Control);
HotKeyManager.HotKeyPressed += new EventHandler<HotKeyEventArgs>(HotKeyManager_HotKeyPressed);
}
void HotKeyManager_HotKeyPressed(object sender, HotKeyEventArgs e)
{
//never executed
System.IO.File.WriteAllText("c:\\keyPressed.txt", "Hotkey pressed");
}
private static void InitPowershell(string[] args)
{
var config = RunspaceConfiguration.Create();
ConsoleShell.Start(config, "", "", args);
}
}
I came up with a solution based on Chris' answer that uses WPF instead of WinForms:
To use this, you need to add references to PresentationFramework.dll and WindowsBase.dll.
Changed the HotKeyManager class
Class HotKeyEventArgs:
And class: HotKeyEventArgs
What you can do is Create a hidden window in your Console application which is used to handle the hotkey notification and raise an event.
The code HERE demonstrates the principal. HERE is an article on handling messages in a Console application, using this you should be able to enhance HotKeyManager to run in a Console Application.
The following update to the HotKeyManager creates a background thread which runs the message loop and handles the windows messages.
Here is an example of using HotKeyManager from a Console application
I just wanted to offer an alternative solution.
I was answering a question for someone who was using this script and I figured this might help someone else who has trouble setting up a global key hook.
Edit: Don't forget to add a reference to
System.Windows.Forms
You can do this by selecting
Project