SetWindowsHookEx and VB.NET 2005

[bruno]

I need some help on how write SetWindowsHookE x in vb.net 2005 to hook kb input.
this is the statement:
hHOOKKb = SetWindowsHookE x( _
WH_KEYBOARD, _
lpfn, _
hMod, _
dwThreadId)

And this is from MSDN Library:
lpfn [in] Pointer to the hook procedure.
"hMod [in] Handle to the DLL containing the hook procedure pointed to
by the lpfn parameter."
"dwThreadId [in] Specifies the identifier of the thread with which the
hook
procedure is to be associated."

To get kb events from another thread, outside my program or from any desktop
thread should I put the hook procedure in a DLL (a separate module.vb)? And
if so how do I get its Handle and lpfn?

Thanks.
--
bruno

[Mattias Sjögren]

Re: SetWindowsHookE x and VB.NET 2005

[color=blue]
>To get kb events from another thread, outside my program or from any desktop
>thread should I put the hook procedure in a DLL (a separate module.vb)? And
>if so how do I get its Handle and lpfn?[/color]

You can't write global hooks in VB.NET or any other language producing
managed code. Better use plain old C for that.


Mattias

--
Mattias Sjögren [C# MVP] mattias @ mvps.org
http://www.msjogren.net/dotnet/ | http://www.dotnetinterop.com
Please reply only to the newsgroup.

[Colin Neller]

Re: SetWindowsHookE x and VB.NET 2005

Bruno,

I just posted an example on my blog:
http://www.colinneller.com/blog/Perm...e5918a39c.aspx.
Take a look and see if it's what you're looking for.

--
Colin Neller

http://www.colinneller.com/blog

"bruno" <bruno@communit y.nospam> wrote in message
news:BE8FD86E-EB04-4D01-A17C-743D7EBEFBFE@mi crosoft.com...[color=blue]
>I need some help on how write SetWindowsHookE x in vb.net 2005 to hook kb
>input.
> this is the statement:
> hHOOKKb = SetWindowsHookE x( _
> WH_KEYBOARD, _
> lpfn, _
> hMod, _
> dwThreadId)
>
> And this is from MSDN Library:
> lpfn [in] Pointer to the hook procedure.
> "hMod [in] Handle to the DLL containing the hook procedure pointed to
> by the lpfn parameter."
> "dwThreadId [in] Specifies the identifier of the thread with which the
> hook
> procedure is to be associated."
>
> To get kb events from another thread, outside my program or from any
> desktop
> thread should I put the hook procedure in a DLL (a separate module.vb)?
> And
> if so how do I get its Handle and lpfn?
>
> Thanks.
> --
> bruno[/color]

[bruno]

Re: SetWindowsHookE x and VB.NET 2005

Colin,
thank you for the sample. It is what I was looking for.
I just tried it:

Dim Hks As New GlobalHook
Hks.InstallHook s()
but I got an error: "SetWindowsHook Ex failed."

In my trials, writing:
hHOOK = SetWindowsHookE x(WH_KEYBOARD, _
hookproc, _
IntPtr.Zero, _
AppDomain.GetCu rrentThreadId() )
I was able to hook my running program. But I was not able to hook all
threads.
Can you explain me more about :
Marshal.GetHINS TANCE(Reflectio n.Assembly.GetE xecutingAssembl y().GetModules( )(0)), 0)
what does it mean?
--
bruno


"Colin Neller" wrote:
[color=blue]
> Bruno,
>
> I just posted an example on my blog:
> http://www.colinneller.com/blog/Perm...e5918a39c.aspx.
> Take a look and see if it's what you're looking for.
>
> --
> Colin Neller
> http://www.colinneller.com/blog
>
>
> "bruno" <bruno@communit y.nospam> wrote in message
> news:BE8FD86E-EB04-4D01-A17C-743D7EBEFBFE@mi crosoft.com...[color=green]
> >I need some help on how write SetWindowsHookE x in vb.net 2005 to hook kb
> >input.
> > this is the statement:
> > hHOOKKb = SetWindowsHookE x( _
> > WH_KEYBOARD, _
> > lpfn, _
> > hMod, _
> > dwThreadId)
> >
> > And this is from MSDN Library:
> > lpfn [in] Pointer to the hook procedure.
> > "hMod [in] Handle to the DLL containing the hook procedure pointed to
> > by the lpfn parameter."
> > "dwThreadId [in] Specifies the identifier of the thread with which the
> > hook
> > procedure is to be associated."
> >
> > To get kb events from another thread, outside my program or from any
> > desktop
> > thread should I put the hook procedure in a DLL (a separate module.vb)?
> > And
> > if so how do I get its Handle and lpfn?
> >
> > Thanks.
> > --
> > bruno[/color]
>
>
>[/color]

[Rocky]

Re: SetWindowsHookE x and VB.NET 2005

http://www.developer.com/net/vb/article.php/2193301

"bruno" <bruno@communit y.nospam> wrote in message
news:A3D1DFC0-AA30-4007-9F70-705C8AFFFA77@mi crosoft.com...[color=blue]
> Colin,
> thank you for the sample. It is what I was looking for.
> I just tried it:
>
> Dim Hks As New GlobalHook
> Hks.InstallHook s()
> but I got an error: "SetWindowsHook Ex failed."
>
> In my trials, writing:
> hHOOK = SetWindowsHookE x(WH_KEYBOARD, _
> hookproc, _
> IntPtr.Zero, _
> AppDomain.GetCu rrentThreadId() )
> I was able to hook my running program. But I was not able to hook all
> threads.
> Can you explain me more about :
> Marshal.GetHINS TANCE(Reflectio n.Assembly.GetE xecutingAssembl y().GetModules( )(0)),
> 0)
> what does it mean?
> --
> bruno
>
>
> "Colin Neller" wrote:
>[color=green]
>> Bruno,
>>
>> I just posted an example on my blog:
>> http://www.colinneller.com/blog/Perm...e5918a39c.aspx.
>> Take a look and see if it's what you're looking for.
>>
>> --
>> Colin Neller
>> http://www.colinneller.com/blog
>>
>>
>> "bruno" <bruno@communit y.nospam> wrote in message
>> news:BE8FD86E-EB04-4D01-A17C-743D7EBEFBFE@mi crosoft.com...[color=darkred]
>> >I need some help on how write SetWindowsHookE x in vb.net 2005 to hook kb
>> >input.
>> > this is the statement:
>> > hHOOKKb = SetWindowsHookE x( _
>> > WH_KEYBOARD, _
>> > lpfn, _
>> > hMod, _
>> > dwThreadId)
>> >
>> > And this is from MSDN Library:
>> > lpfn [in] Pointer to the hook procedure.
>> > "hMod [in] Handle to the DLL containing the hook procedure pointed to
>> > by the lpfn parameter."
>> > "dwThreadId [in] Specifies the identifier of the thread with which
>> > the
>> > hook
>> > procedure is to be associated."
>> >
>> > To get kb events from another thread, outside my program or from any
>> > desktop
>> > thread should I put the hook procedure in a DLL (a separate module.vb)?
>> > And
>> > if so how do I get its Handle and lpfn?
>> >
>> > Thanks.
>> > --
>> > bruno[/color]
>>
>>
>>[/color][/color]

[Herfried K. Wagner [MVP]]

Re: SetWindowsHookE x and VB.NET 2005

"bruno" <bruno@communit y.nospam> schrieb:[color=blue]
>I need some help on how write SetWindowsHookE x in vb.net 2005 to hook kb
>input.[/color]

<URL:http://www.developer.c om/net/net/article.php/11087_2193301_1 >

--
M S Herfried K. Wagner
M V P <URL:http://dotnet.mvps.org/>
V B <URL:http://classicvb.org/petition/>

[Colin Neller]

Re: SetWindowsHookE x and VB.NET 2005

Bruno,

I had not seen the article given by Rocky... it is a good one.

To help you better understand the getHINSTANCE call, I have broken it up
into smaller pieces. Think of and HINSTANCE as a pointer to your DLL:


****
'get a reference to this assembly
Dim thisAssembly As System.Reflecti on.Assembly
thisAssembly = System.Reflecti on.Assembly.Get ExecutingAssemb ly

'get all modules in this assembly (there is only one)
Dim myModules() As System.Reflecti on.Module
myModules = thisAssembly.Ge tModules

'get the only module
Dim thisModule As System.Reflecti on.Module
thisModule = myModules(0)

'get a pointer to the module
Dim thisModulePoint er As IntPtr
thisModulePoint er = Marshal.GetHINS TANCE(thisModul e)

hMouseHook = Win32.SetWindow sHookEx( _
Win32.WH.WH_KEY BOARD_LL, _
KeyboardHookPro cedure, _
thisModulePoint er, _
0)
*****

I think the problem with your code is that you are not using the low-level
hook (WH_KEYBOARD_LL ) but the regular hook (WH_KEYBOARD). Also, you are
specifying an ID for the thread parameter. You should pass in a "0" here to
indicate that you want to be notified for all threads (and processes.) Here
is the description of the dwThreadId parameter from the docs:

"If this parameter is zero, the hook procedure is associated with all
existing threads running in the same desktop as the calling thread."

--
Colin Neller

http://www.colinneller.com/blog

"Rocky" <noplace@nowher e.com> wrote in message
news:%23wZkPavE GHA.2184@TK2MSF TNGP10.phx.gbl. ..[color=blue]
> http://www.developer.com/net/vb/article.php/2193301
>
>
> "bruno" <bruno@communit y.nospam> wrote in message
> news:A3D1DFC0-AA30-4007-9F70-705C8AFFFA77@mi crosoft.com...[color=green]
>> Colin,
>> thank you for the sample. It is what I was looking for.
>> I just tried it:
>>
>> Dim Hks As New GlobalHook
>> Hks.InstallHook s()
>> but I got an error: "SetWindowsHook Ex failed."
>>
>> In my trials, writing:
>> hHOOK = SetWindowsHookE x(WH_KEYBOARD, _
>> hookproc, _
>> IntPtr.Zero, _
>> AppDomain.GetCu rrentThreadId() )
>> I was able to hook my running program. But I was not able to hook all
>> threads.
>> Can you explain me more about :
>> Marshal.GetHINS TANCE(Reflectio n.Assembly.GetE xecutingAssembl y().GetModules( )(0)),
>> 0)
>> what does it mean?
>> --
>> bruno
>>
>>
>> "Colin Neller" wrote:
>>[color=darkred]
>>> Bruno,
>>>
>>> I just posted an example on my blog:
>>> http://www.colinneller.com/blog/Perm...e5918a39c.aspx.
>>> Take a look and see if it's what you're looking for.
>>>
>>> --
>>> Colin Neller
>>> http://www.colinneller.com/blog
>>>
>>>
>>> "bruno" <bruno@communit y.nospam> wrote in message
>>> news:BE8FD86E-EB04-4D01-A17C-743D7EBEFBFE@mi crosoft.com...
>>> >I need some help on how write SetWindowsHookE x in vb.net 2005 to hook
>>> >kb
>>> >input.
>>> > this is the statement:
>>> > hHOOKKb = SetWindowsHookE x( _
>>> > WH_KEYBOARD, _
>>> > lpfn, _
>>> > hMod, _
>>> > dwThreadId)
>>> >
>>> > And this is from MSDN Library:
>>> > lpfn [in] Pointer to the hook procedure.
>>> > "hMod [in] Handle to the DLL containing the hook procedure pointed
>>> > to
>>> > by the lpfn parameter."
>>> > "dwThreadId [in] Specifies the identifier of the thread with which
>>> > the
>>> > hook
>>> > procedure is to be associated."
>>> >
>>> > To get kb events from another thread, outside my program or from any
>>> > desktop
>>> > thread should I put the hook procedure in a DLL (a separate
>>> > module.vb)?
>>> > And
>>> > if so how do I get its Handle and lpfn?
>>> >
>>> > Thanks.
>>> > --
>>> > bruno
>>>
>>>
>>>[/color][/color]
>
>[/color]

[Mattias Sjögren]

Re: SetWindowsHookE x and VB.NET 2005

Colin,
[color=blue]
>I had not seen the article given by Rocky... it is a good one.[/color]

Interesitng, I was just going to reply to Herfired who posted the same
link and say that I thought it was a poorly written article. It
contains incorrect statements and buggy code. The code in your blog
post was at least somewhat more correct.


Mattias

--
Mattias Sjögren [C# MVP] mattias @ mvps.org
http://www.msjogren.net/dotnet/ | http://www.dotnetinterop.com
Please reply only to the newsgroup.

[Colin Neller]

Re: SetWindowsHookE x and VB.NET 2005

Mattias,
[color=blue]
> Interesitng, I was just going to reply to Herfired who posted the same
> link and say that I thought it was a poorly written article. It
> contains incorrect statements and buggy code.[/color]

I must confess I only skimmed it... at a high level, it seemed to cover most
of the bases. I suppose I should not endorse something that I have only
skimmed :) Would you like to elaborate on "the statements that are
incorrect"?

[color=blue]
> The code in your blog post was at least somewhat more correct.[/color]

That's good. I welcome any suggestions for improvement.

--
Colin Neller

http://www.colinneller.com/blog

[bruno]

Re: SetWindowsHookE x and VB.NET 2005

Thank you Rocky,
the article is very clear and explained me thinks I was looking for.
I've just created a form with two buttons: Hook and Unhook.
I copy/pasted the full sample but I'm getting : "Keyboard hook failed: 0"

I' using:
Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Version 8.0.50727.42 (RTM.050727-4200)
Microsoft .NET Framework Version 2.0.50727
Installed Edition: Professional
Microsoft Visual Basic 2005 77626-009-0000007-41133

--
bruno


"Rocky" wrote:
[color=blue]
> http://www.developer.com/net/vb/article.php/2193301
>
>
> "bruno" <bruno@communit y.nospam> wrote in message
> news:A3D1DFC0-AA30-4007-9F70-705C8AFFFA77@mi crosoft.com...[color=green]
> > Colin,
> > thank you for the sample. It is what I was looking for.
> > I just tried it:
> >
> > Dim Hks As New GlobalHook
> > Hks.InstallHook s()
> > but I got an error: "SetWindowsHook Ex failed."
> >
> > In my trials, writing:
> > hHOOK = SetWindowsHookE x(WH_KEYBOARD, _
> > hookproc, _
> > IntPtr.Zero, _
> > AppDomain.GetCu rrentThreadId() )
> > I was able to hook my running program. But I was not able to hook all
> > threads.
> > Can you explain me more about :
> > Marshal.GetHINS TANCE(Reflectio n.Assembly.GetE xecutingAssembl y().GetModules( )(0)),
> > 0)
> > what does it mean?
> > --
> > bruno
> >
> >
> > "Colin Neller" wrote:
> >[color=darkred]
> >> Bruno,
> >>
> >> I just posted an example on my blog:
> >> http://www.colinneller.com/blog/Perm...e5918a39c.aspx.
> >> Take a look and see if it's what you're looking for.
> >>
> >> --
> >> Colin Neller
> >> http://www.colinneller.com/blog
> >>
> >>
> >> "bruno" <bruno@communit y.nospam> wrote in message
> >> news:BE8FD86E-EB04-4D01-A17C-743D7EBEFBFE@mi crosoft.com...
> >> >I need some help on how write SetWindowsHookE x in vb.net 2005 to hook kb
> >> >input.
> >> > this is the statement:
> >> > hHOOKKb = SetWindowsHookE x( _
> >> > WH_KEYBOARD, _
> >> > lpfn, _
> >> > hMod, _
> >> > dwThreadId)
> >> >
> >> > And this is from MSDN Library:
> >> > lpfn [in] Pointer to the hook procedure.
> >> > "hMod [in] Handle to the DLL containing the hook procedure pointed to
> >> > by the lpfn parameter."
> >> > "dwThreadId [in] Specifies the identifier of the thread with which
> >> > the
> >> > hook
> >> > procedure is to be associated."
> >> >
> >> > To get kb events from another thread, outside my program or from any
> >> > desktop
> >> > thread should I put the hook procedure in a DLL (a separate module.vb)?
> >> > And
> >> > if so how do I get its Handle and lpfn?
> >> >
> >> > Thanks.
> >> > --
> >> > bruno
> >>
> >>
> >>[/color][/color]
>
>
>[/color]

[Colin Neller]

Re: SetWindowsHookE x and VB.NET 2005

> I copy/pasted the full sample but I'm getting : "Keyboard hook failed: 0"

What version of windows are you running?

--
Colin Neller

http://www.colinneller.com/blog

[bruno]

Re: SetWindowsHookE x and VB.NET 2005

WinXP prof sp2
--
bruno


"Colin Neller" wrote:
[color=blue][color=green]
> > I copy/pasted the full sample but I'm getting : "Keyboard hook failed: 0"[/color]
>
> What version of windows are you running?
>
> --
> Colin Neller
> http://www.colinneller.com/blog
>
>
>[/color]

[bruno]

Re: SetWindowsHookE x and VB.NET 2005

Collin,
Thanks for your well detailed explanation of getHINSTANCE.
After revising the SetWindowsHookE x documentation I've done this:
- put your two classes "Win32" and "GlobalHook " toghether in a VB.NET
project,
- compile and get the DLL
- create a separate EXE Appl. that references that DLL

Now SetWindowsHookE x (mouse and Kb) doesn't give me error, but
"MouseHookP roc" gets never control and "KeyboardHookPr oc" gets control always
with KeyDownEvent and KeyUpEvent= nothing, so no "Onxxx" procedure get fired.
I will go on with more test, but at the moment have no idea.

Thanks to all you for informations.
--
bruno

[Rocky]

Re: SetWindowsHookE x and VB.NET 2005

Here's another one to look at:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/msdnmag/issues/02/10/CuttingEdge/

"bruno" <bruno@communit y.nospam> wrote in message
news:E7E7056E-818F-4074-9A74-85CF68ABFD3D@mi crosoft.com...[color=blue]
> Collin,
> Thanks for your well detailed explanation of getHINSTANCE.
> After revising the SetWindowsHookE x documentation I've done this:
> - put your two classes "Win32" and "GlobalHook " toghether in a VB.NET
> project,
> - compile and get the DLL
> - create a separate EXE Appl. that references that DLL
>
> Now SetWindowsHookE x (mouse and Kb) doesn't give me error, but
> "MouseHookP roc" gets never control and "KeyboardHookPr oc" gets control
> always
> with KeyDownEvent and KeyUpEvent= nothing, so no "Onxxx" procedure get
> fired.
> I will go on with more test, but at the moment have no idea.
>
> Thanks to all you for informations.
> --
> bruno
>[/color]

[Rocky]

Re: SetWindowsHookE x and VB.NET 2005

Bruno,

I found the problem. You must disable the "Enable the Visual Studio hosting
process" option in the Menu--->Project-->Properties---->Debug form. Uncheck
the box .


"bruno" <bruno@communit y.nospam> wrote in message
news:E7E7056E-818F-4074-9A74-85CF68ABFD3D@mi crosoft.com...[color=blue]
> Collin,
> Thanks for your well detailed explanation of getHINSTANCE.
> After revising the SetWindowsHookE x documentation I've done this:
> - put your two classes "Win32" and "GlobalHook " toghether in a VB.NET
> project,
> - compile and get the DLL
> - create a separate EXE Appl. that references that DLL
>
> Now SetWindowsHookE x (mouse and Kb) doesn't give me error, but
> "MouseHookP roc" gets never control and "KeyboardHookPr oc" gets control
> always
> with KeyDownEvent and KeyUpEvent= nothing, so no "Onxxx" procedure get
> fired.
> I will go on with more test, but at the moment have no idea.
>
> Thanks to all you for informations.
> --
> bruno
>[/color]