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

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    Addicted Member jalexander's Avatar
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    Red face [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?
    dim jenn as geek = true
    Learning ~ Visual Basic 2010 ~ in free time between college/work -
    currently looking for a 'programming buddy' / 'coder friend' / and or 'mentor'. p.m. me if you
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    Super Moderator Shaggy Hiker's Avatar
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    Re: [vb.net] making an app to control another app (change variables etc.) lil help? :

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

    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?
    dim jenn as geek = true
    Learning ~ Visual Basic 2010 ~ in free time between college/work -
    currently looking for a 'programming buddy' / 'coder friend' / and or 'mentor'. p.m. me if you
    have ANY free time AT ALL I'm like 33% of a novice level ~ willing 2 listen/learn +
    i am totally super motivated & promise to make an effffin amazing protege!!! #swag

    | -_-_- -_-_- |
    ...W.T..F!?.....
    ||| Matter on the atomic/quantum level isn't solid or even matter at all. It can also exist in at least 2 places simultaneously (demonstrated in lab). It's position can only be established when it's actually observed. If we turn our back on it... it goes back to a wave form. History show's that every previous generation (since the beginning of time) got almost everything wrong. Then it might very well stand to reason that up is down & right can be wrong. Admit it.. our combined perception of reality is just that, we know absolutely nothing of actual reality & to think we do is simply subscribing to a "ignorance is bliss" mantra |||

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    PowerPoster dunfiddlin's Avatar
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    Re: [vb.net] making an app to control another app (change variables etc.) lil help? :

    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)
    As the 6-dimensional mathematics professor said to the brain surgeon, "It ain't Rocket Science!"

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

    Quote Originally Posted by dunfiddlin View Post
    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)
    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
    dim jenn as geek = true
    Learning ~ Visual Basic 2010 ~ in free time between college/work -
    currently looking for a 'programming buddy' / 'coder friend' / and or 'mentor'. p.m. me if you
    have ANY free time AT ALL I'm like 33% of a novice level ~ willing 2 listen/learn +
    i am totally super motivated & promise to make an effffin amazing protege!!! #swag

    | -_-_- -_-_- |
    ...W.T..F!?.....
    ||| Matter on the atomic/quantum level isn't solid or even matter at all. It can also exist in at least 2 places simultaneously (demonstrated in lab). It's position can only be established when it's actually observed. If we turn our back on it... it goes back to a wave form. History show's that every previous generation (since the beginning of time) got almost everything wrong. Then it might very well stand to reason that up is down & right can be wrong. Admit it.. our combined perception of reality is just that, we know absolutely nothing of actual reality & to think we do is simply subscribing to a "ignorance is bliss" mantra |||

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    PowerPoster dunfiddlin's Avatar
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    Re: [vb.net] making an app to control another app (change variables etc.) lil help? :

    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.
    As the 6-dimensional mathematics professor said to the brain surgeon, "It ain't Rocket Science!"

    Reviews: "dunfiddlin likes his DataTables" - jmcilhinney

    Please be aware that whilst I will read private messages (one day!) I am unlikely to reply to anything that does not contain offers of cash, fame or marriage!

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

    Quote Originally Posted by dunfiddlin View Post
    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.
    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
    dim jenn as geek = true
    Learning ~ Visual Basic 2010 ~ in free time between college/work -
    currently looking for a 'programming buddy' / 'coder friend' / and or 'mentor'. p.m. me if you
    have ANY free time AT ALL I'm like 33% of a novice level ~ willing 2 listen/learn +
    i am totally super motivated & promise to make an effffin amazing protege!!! #swag

    | -_-_- -_-_- |
    ...W.T..F!?.....
    ||| Matter on the atomic/quantum level isn't solid or even matter at all. It can also exist in at least 2 places simultaneously (demonstrated in lab). It's position can only be established when it's actually observed. If we turn our back on it... it goes back to a wave form. History show's that every previous generation (since the beginning of time) got almost everything wrong. Then it might very well stand to reason that up is down & right can be wrong. Admit it.. our combined perception of reality is just that, we know absolutely nothing of actual reality & to think we do is simply subscribing to a "ignorance is bliss" mantra |||

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