Read Shadowed Passwords

[GuitarMan]

Hi,
You know those shadowed passwords (i.e. *****). Im trying to create a program that allows you to recover stored passwords, such as dialup connection as such. BTW the reason im creating this program is coz i always forget the password if i dont have to type them in.

What i have so for;
1. Not alot
2. You can find these using Spy++ by viewing the messages sent and received by the text box.
3. I need to send message WM_GetText

But what i would like to know is how can i find the handle of the textbox by letting the user drag a picture over the text box (like in spy++) and what parameters do i need to use and where can i find these?

[Megatron]

You need the FindWindowEx function.

Private Declare Function FindWindowEx Lib "user32" Alias "FindWindowExA" (ByVal hWnd1 As Long, ByVal hWnd2 As Long, ByVal lpsz1 As String, ByVal lpsz2 As String) As Long

Usage:

hParentWindow = FindWindowEx(0, 0, "ClassName", "WindowName")

' The EDIT Class is used to find Textboxes. vbNullString specifies
' that we don't care what it is, e.g: In this example, we don't care
' what the text of the window is
hChildWindow = FindWindowEx(hParentWindow, 0, "Edit", vbNullString)

[MerrionComputin]

You can use the WindowFromPoint API call:

Private Declare Function WindowFromPoint Lib "user32" (ByVal xPoint As Long, ByVal yPoint As Long) As Long

Where X and Y are the mouse coordinates when the user clicks the textbox.

Better still you could install a low level mouse hook and pop up a menu when the user right clicks over a textbox with the password char set with the unhidden password therein. The EventVB.dll at http://www.merrioncomputing.com/Download/index.htm is the easiest way to do this.

e.g. in your application's main form:

'--[Declarations]----------------------------------------------
Private WithEvents ApiLink As EventVB.APIFunctions
Private WithEvents enHandler As EnumHandler
Private mNotifyIcon As ApiNotifyIcon

'--[Form_Load]-------------------------------------------------
Private Sub Form_Load()

'\\ Link the api dispenser
Set ApiLink = New EventVB.APIFunctions
Set enHandler = ApiLink.EventhandlerLink

'\\ Start the shell notify icon bit
Set mNotifyIcon = New ApiNotifyIcon
With mNotifyIcon
Set .NotifyWindow = mwnd
Dim mIcon As ApiIcon
Set mIcon = New ApiIcon
mIcon.hIcon = Me.Icon.Handle
Set .Icon = mIcon
.ToolTip = "Password Unhider"
.SetNotifyIcon
End With

'\\ Hook the keyboard proc...
Call enHandler.StartHook(WH_MOUSE_LL, ApiLink.AppModuleHandle, 0)
If enHandler.HookIdByType(WH_MOUSE_LL) = 0 Then
MsgBox "Failed to hook mouse", vbCritical, "Fatal error"
End If

End Sub

'--[Form_Terminate]-------------------------------------------------
Private Sub Form_Terminate()

'\\ Remove icon from system tray
mNotifyIcon.UnsetNotifyIcon

'\\ And clear all the object references
Set mNotifyIcon = Nothing
Set enHandler = Nothing
Set ApiLink = Nothing

End Sub

'--[Mouse Event]-----------------------------------------------------
Private Sub enHandler_HOOKPROCMOUSELL(Action As EventVB.enHookCode, wParam As EventVB.WindowMessages, lParam As EventVB.ApiLLMOUSEHOOKSTRUCT, lMsgRet As Long)

Dim wnd As ApiWindow
Dim sText As String
Dim TargethWnd As Long

TargethWnd = WindowFromPoint(lParam.pt.X, lParam.pt.Y)

Set wnd = New ApiWindow
wnd.hwnd = TargethWnd
If TargethWnd <> Me.hwnd Then
If wParam = WM_RBUTTONDOWN Then
mnuPopup.Text = wnd.WindowText
Popupmenu mnuPopup
End If
End If
End If

End Sub



And there you have it - a system tray sitting always on the right mouse click password decoder.

HTH,
Duncan