[vb.net] making an app to control another app (change variables etc.) lil help? :)

Ok way back when in vb6, i remember using api to do stuff like set username/passwords on other applications like AIM, ICQ etc. My big brother gave me a program where i could just drag a + sign icon over any other programs txtbox etc. & it would give me the code i needed to fill out the forms, click buttons etc. Think it was called a windows api spy or something. Anyways, now I am writing a 'service' program..that will change variables on another program of mine (just changing txt variables in textbox's), re-start it after it closes itself (based on a timer/schedule/calendar), click start, stop etc. Are things like that fairly simple in 2010? I skipped right to the advanced stuff & never spent any time learning low-end basic stuff like this when i started a year or so ago. Do these auto-program/code API spy things still exist & do they work for 2010? Or is there a much simpler way now for generating the code i need?

You may be thinking of Spy++, which has a crosshairs tool that gives you information about windows that you drag it over. I don't remember whether it was around in VB6, though, and I have never found the crosshairs tool in Spy++ to be all that useful compared to the other parts of that program. However, it is around in 2010, so you might take a look at that to see if it is what you remember, or whether it is similar.

Ok well, basically i just want to make a secondary .exe that will reload exe #1....& change 3 txtbox variables upon re-starting it
What's going to be the easiest way to go about that?

Funny you should ask that. You may care to have a look at the thread I've just given a solution to (SendKeys.Send not working for 3rd party app)

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Originally Posted by dunfiddlin

Funny you should ask that. You may care to have a look at the thread I've just given a solution to (SendKeys.Send not working for 3rd party app)

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Ok i checked that out....but from other posts in that thread....do you think AutoIt would be a simple solution to my problem?
I.E. Can autoit be scheduled to run an .exe at a specified time every day, and change txt variables on a vb form?

Sendkeys is never any fun

Yes (possibly with the help of Windows Scheduler). Yes. And yes. AutoIt and its ilk is always the better option. I didn't mean to suggest otherwise.

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Originally Posted by dunfiddlin

Yes (possibly with the help of Windows Scheduler). Yes. And yes. AutoIt and its ilk is always the better option. I didn't mean to suggest otherwise.

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Ok i actually just came up with another idea....for the variables anyways. Utilizing the properties function (to save the current txt data at close) and simply ticking a integer up at each form_closed event.
So now I just need to figure out windows scheduler for purposes of loading the .exe at specified times/days. Are there any good resources off the top of your head for Windows Scheduler? I've never used it