Can a program control or access data from another?

[chobo]

Sorry if this sounds dumb, but is it possible to control or gain access to data in other applications? I'm not talking about making a macro type program that has predefined mouse movements and timings, but a program that can "tap" into another and access its data, or invoke some of its functions.

I don't have any specific program in mind or specific example, I'm just curious as to how one could achieve something like this. I looked into this with Java, but no one seems to have an answer (or good one at that), so I'm trying my luck with c#. Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

[battula32]

Remoting will do.

google it!..

[jmcilhinney]

It depends what applications you're talking about. If you mean two of your own applications that have been written from the ground up to support it then Remoting is a leading candidate in .NET. If you mean that you want to interact with an application that you haven't created yourself then it's a bit more difficult. You can interact with a third-party UI via Windows API functions and Windows messages. Getting data not exposed via the UI would require reading memory directly, which is hairier still and would require a fair amount of trial and error.

[chobo]

It would be one of my application interfacing with someone elses, that I know nothing about. Could you elaborate on the third-party UI examples via Windows API function and messages, I think that's what I'm after.

Thanks

[Arjay]

It would be one of my application interfacing with someone elses, that I know nothing about. Could you elaborate on the third-party UI examples via Windows API function and messages, I think that's what I'm after.

Thanks

You'll probably have the best results using Active Accessibility. The standard windows api approach doesn't work on many types of controls (e.g retrieving the text from the 2nd column of a selected list control item).

Search google for Active Accessibility and UI Automation.

[jmcilhinney]

You'll probably have the best results using Active Accessibility. The standard windows api approach doesn't work on many types of controls (e.g retrieving the text from the 2nd column of a selected list control item).

Search google for Active Accessibility and UI Automation.

Sounds like something I could make use of myself.

[chobo]

Could any of these techniques work on programs written in Java? I've downloaded a program called winspectory spy and it shows windows messages and other stuff.

[Arjay]

Could any of these techniques work on programs written in Java? I've downloaded a program called winspectory spy and it shows windows messages and other stuff.

Sure it's possible. To check download the Active Accessibility SDK Tools and use AccExplorer32.exe on your java application.