[jawsscripts] Re: UIA
- From: "Travis Roth" <travis@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <jawsscripts@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2015 15:26:35 -0500
I would disagree about the UIA reference, by itself it is less than obvious to
most of us what methods and properties and elements feed into others.
And perhaps with the complexities of UIA there is no easy answer. Unfortunatley
if that is so there will not be to many JAWS scripters using it.
-----Original Message-----
From: jawsscripts-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:jawsscripts-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Soronel Haetir
Sent: Thursday, March 19, 2015 2:10 PM
To: jawsscripts@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [jawsscripts] Re: UIA
I am not aware of any jaws UIA introduction in particular, but do believe the
UIA reference mentioned in the quoted post along with the basics of scripting
manual along with the much expanded information to be found in recent versions
of FSDN should be sufficient.
On 3/19/15, Travis Roth <travis@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Hi,
> Following up on the below post, has anyone found good tutorial type
> documentation? It'd be ideal to have some task-based workflows to
> follow I think.
> For example, how does one use FindAll() given the only thing you know
> is that you have an application window and somewhere in it is a
> certain type of control? For example, say you have Excel and you want
> to get the worksheet tabs at the bottom of the window.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: jawsscripts-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> [mailto:jawsscripts-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Stefan Moisei
> Sent: Monday, March 16, 2015 3:25 PM
> To: jawsscripts@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [jawsscripts] Re: Learning More About Scripting and modifying
> a keystroke for a specific application
>
> Here's a post from Doug Lee, one of the greatest scripters in my
> opinion, that talks about this problem. I completely agree with him. I
> find myself in the position of scripting visual studio and found out I
> really need UIA to do something meaningful.
>
> For years I have complained, as many probably have, that it is hard to
> know how to start off a new JAWS scripter in a way that will empower
> him or her to script the average application without getting
> hopelessly lost or buried in details. A common initial approach has
> been to teach window hierarchy navigation and cursor manipulation, but
> these techniques increasingly fail to be sufficient to fix major
> problems in current applications. This leaves new scripters stuck in
> dead ends wondering where to go next. I believe it is time to change
> where we start them off.
>
> I believe, starting in recent JAWS 15 updates, that we finally have
> one consistent, all-empowering path for scripters to take. There are
> of course caveats, but I'll get to that. This path will give scripters
> access to many things that previously required entire different sets
> of function calls - window tree functions here, MSAA functions there, HTML
> DOM access, etc.
>
> JAWS 15, particularly starting with the 15.0.5056 update, introduces
> direct scripter access to the Microsoft User Interface Automation
> (UIA) API. This single API provides a way to get to pretty much
> everything else one would usually need: window tree information, MSAA
> properties, information from HTML nodes, and of course, native UIA
> support for newer platforms like WPF and Silverlight. I regard the
> current interface as complicated, I admit; but I think it is worth
> learning for any JAWS scripter because of how much it can do.
>
> Wherever JAWS itself provides ways to get information not provided by
> this UIA interface, the UIA interface can help you find where to start
> using other methods. For example, if you need to test the style bits
> of a window though the UIA interface does not provide a means for
> this, you can find the window's UIA object via the UIA interface, get
> the nativeWindowHandle for it, and then call the JAWS
> getWindowStyleBits() function on that handle.
> In
> other words, whereas we used to think of navigating the window tree as
> the first step to finding things, I now think we should consider
> navigating the UIA tree the first step. What we do from there, in both
> cases, will depend on what we need.
>
> The definitive reference document for the JAWS UIA interface is
> located at
> http://www.freedomscientific.com/documentation/scripts/JAWS-UIAScriptA
> PI.asp
> .
> It is likely to be a tough read for anyone who is not already familiar
> with objects and object-oriented programming, so I imagine my post is
> going to start a lot of chatter on this list about how this system works.
>
> The caveats:
>
> 1. As I said, it's complicated: Scripters must understand some
> concepts of object-oriented programming and COM in order to use this
> system. Objects, in JAWS scripting at least, have long been considered
> an advanced topic. I say it's time to consider them central to
> scripting.
>
> 2. It can be slow. Wise scripters should minimize UIA queries because
> of this, by caching results, asking for as few nodes as possible by
> crafting searches carefully, etc.
>
> 3. As already mentioned, this system will not work before JAWS 15.0.5056.
> (The fine print: Some of this works as far back as JAWS 14, but
> several things aren't there that far back, some key items are there
> but with different names, etc.) This means that you can't write
> scripts this way if you want compatibility with old JAWS versions.
>
> 4. As the aforementioned Freedom Scientific reference document for the
> UIA script API says, some of the features of UIA do not work on all
> Windows versions. The document implies that support for this system
> may start in Windows 7, but I have successfully used much of this
> under Windows Vista and even XP.
>
> In conclusion:
>
> I do not think we are at the point of saying the old ways of
> navigating window trees, working directly with MSAA objects, etc. are
> obsolete and useless. I simply think the new UIA interface is the
> single most promising place for a new scripter to begin, since it
> doesn't miss much in terms of what it can let you find. Direct window
> tree traversal and FindWindow calls, MSAA getFocusObject calls and
> direct MSAA object access, etc., will sometimes run faster and should
> not be dismissed as valid pursuits. The UIA interface, though,
> certainly seems sufficient for solving many current scripting
> problems, even if in a "fix first, optimize later" sort of way.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Robert Spangler
> Sent: Saturday, March 14, 2015 9:03 PM
> To: jawsscripts@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [jawsscripts] Learning More About Scripting and modifying a
> keystroke for a specific application
>
> Hello:
>
> I have just joined this list. I am looking to expand my JAWS
> scripting knowledge and experience beyond what is provided in the
> scripting tutorial from FS. Are there any classes or additional
> books/documents that I can use for furthering my scripting knowledge?
> In addition, are there scripting certifications such as the one
> provided for knowing how to operate JAWS?
>
> Also, if I wish to change what a keystroke does in a particular
> application, how would I do that? The particular example is within
> iTunes, where
> alt+ctrl+right/left arrows are assigned to rewind/fast forward but are
> alt+ctrl+table
> navigations in JAWS.
>
> Thanks for your responses!
> Robert
>
>
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Soronel Haetir
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