[jawsscripts] Re: Searching menu structures for a particular menu item
- From: Jamal Mazrui <empower@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: jawsscripts@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 30 Dec 2008 13:02:54 -0500 (EST)
Hey Vic,
It's possible to do that via the Windows API but not native JAWS
scripting functions, as far as I know. WinDig is open source
http://EmpowermentZone.com/wdsetup.exe
so feel free to look at the source code in WinDig.wbt (the WinBatch
language).
I also wrote a utility dedicated to enumerating menu items which is
included in HomerKit
http://EmpowermentZone.com/kitsetup.zip
MenuList.bas is in PowerBASIC. The small executable, MenuList.exe,
creates a text file that lists all menu items, including their current
state (which addresses another question someone had about whether a menu
item is disabled). Look at the UIAlterNateMenu script in Editor.jss for
an example of how the output is parsed.
Jamal
On Wed, 24 Dec 2008, Victor Tsaran
wrote:
> Date: Wed, 24 Dec 2008 12:10:48 -0800
> From: Victor Tsaran <vtsaran@xxxxxxxxx>
> Reply-To: jawsscripts@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> To: jawsscripts@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [jawsscripts] Re: Searching menu structures for a particular
> menu item
>
> Hey Jamal,
> A quick question for you: is there a way to retrieve text string
> associated with a menu ID without actually activating the menu item
> itself? I am not able to figure that one out and not sure if the method
> even exists..
> Thx,
> Vic
>
> Jamal Mazrui wrote:
> > I found a message I previously wrote explaining the SendMessage (or
> > PostMessage) technique for invoking a menu item. Once again, WinDig is
> > available at
> > http://EmpowermentZone.com/wdsetup.exe
> >
> > You can get almost any of my programs from the Open Source Projects page
> > of
> > http://NonvisualDevelopment.org
> >
> > Jamal
> >
> > From: Jawsscripts-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx on behalf of Jamal Mazrui
> > [empower@xxxxxxxxx]
> > Sent: Friday, September 23, 2005 6:36 AM
> > To: jawsscripts@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > Subject: Using WinDig output to invoke menu choices via SendMessage
> >
> > In the "Menus" section of WinDig output, the last piece of data on the
> > line for a menu item is its menu ID--if one exists. If a menu item does
> > not have a hot key but does have a menu ID, you can create a hot key via a
> > JAWS script and the SendMessage function. For example, the following line
> > of WinDig output is about the Paste Special menu item of WordPad:
> >
> > 2.5 Paste Special... S 57639
> >
> > The 2.5 number is the outline number of the menu hierarchy, indicating
> > that the menu item is the fifth one down the second menu, the Edit menu.
> > The ... ellipses indicate that the menu item presents a dialog. S is the
> > access letter, indicating that you can press it when the Edit menu is
> > dropped down to invoke this menu item. Finally, the 57639 number is the
> > menu ID, similar to a control ID.
> >
> > This review of the WinDig output for WordPad showed no accelerator key for
> > PasteSpecial but a menu ID was available. I am not suggesting that
> > scripts are needed for every menu item without a hot key--this is just to
> > illustrate the technique, and you would judge whether such a script adds
> > significant value in the context of the application.
> >
> > Although it is also possible to invoke a menu item by sending keystrokes
> > to the application, that technique is less reliable because it is affected
> > by the current keyboard focus. It also tends to produce extra speech
> > which you may then need to silence with SpeechOff and Delay functions.
> >
> > The SendMessage approach, on the other hand, does not actually activate
> > and navigate the menus of the application's user interface. It uses a
> > Windows message constant, WM_COMMAND, which is passed with a menu ID to
> > the application window associated with the menu of interest. The relevant
> > window handle is usually the one returned by GetAppMainWindow, but the
> > InvokeMenuItem wrapper function below does not assume this in case you
> > wish to use another window, including a window of an application other
> > than the one with focus.
> >
> > The code below consists of a generic function called InvokeMenuItem, and
> > a sample script called PasteSpecial, which might be attached to
> > Control+Shift+V. Note that a limitation of this approach is that it only
> > works if the application implements standard menus of the Win32 API.
> > Unfortunately, many applications do not, such as those in the Microsoft
> > Office suite.
> >
> > Jamal
> >
> >
> > Int Function InvokeMenuItem(Handle h, Int i)
> > Var
> > Int WM_COMMAND
> >
> > Let WM_COMMAND = 273
> > Return SendMessage(h, WM_COMMAND, i, 0)
> > EndFunction
> >
> > Script PasteSpecial()
> > Var
> > Handle h,
> > Int i
> >
> > Let h = GetAppMainWindow(GetFocus())
> > Let i = 57639 ; menu ID of Paste Special in WordPad
> >
> > InvokeMenuItem(h, i)
> > EndScript
> >
> >
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