Moving UWP application window by native c++ code - c++

Question

I am trying to control the size and position of a UWP APP (Windows Mixed Reality Portal) via a sepate app. In my case, I am using a console app for simplicity. A Command script would also work for what I want to achieve.
I have tried Windows api such as MoveWindow,SetWindowPos but they do not work as expected and GetWindowRect returns a 0,0,0,0 rect. I can get the window handle but not change the size/position.
My reason for doing this is to send virtual mouse keys to the app in order to initialise the front position of the Windows Mixed Reality system. Sending the virtual keys are fine but I am having trouble automating shifting of the position of the uwp app itself.
#include <iostream>
#include <ShObjIdl.h>
#include <atlbase.h>
#include <tlhelp32.h>
BOOL CALLBACK EnumWindowsProcBack(HWND windowHandle, LPARAM lParam) {
DWORD searchedProcessId = (DWORD)lParam; // This is the process ID we search for (passed from BringToForeground as lParam)
DWORD windowProcessId = 0;
GetWindowThreadProcessId(windowHandle, &windowProcessId); // Get process ID of the window we just found
if (searchedProcessId == windowProcessId) { // Is it the process we care about?
//std::cout << "moving window..\n";
//bool s=MoveWindow(windowHandle, 0, 0, 1920, 1080, true);
SetWindowPos(
windowHandle,
HWND_TOP,
0,
0,
600,
600,
SWP_NOSIZE
);
return FALSE; // Stop enumerating windows
}
return TRUE; // Continue enumerating
}
void MoveWindowToFixedLocation(DWORD processId) {
EnumWindows(&EnumWindowsProcBack, (LPARAM)processId);
}
HRESULT LaunchApp(LPCWSTR AUMID, DWORD &pid)
{
HRESULT hr = CoInitializeEx(nullptr, COINIT_APARTMENTTHREADED);
if (FAILED(hr))
{
wprintf(L"LaunchApp %s: Failed to init COM. hr = 0x%08lx \n", AUMID, hr);
}
{
CComPtr<IApplicationActivationManager> AppActivationMgr = nullptr;
if (SUCCEEDED(hr))
{
hr = CoCreateInstance(CLSID_ApplicationActivationManager, nullptr,
CLSCTX_LOCAL_SERVER, IID_PPV_ARGS(&AppActivationMgr));
if (FAILED(hr))
{
wprintf(L"LaunchApp %s: Failed to create Application Activation Manager.hr = 0x%08lx \n", AUMID, hr);
}
}
if (SUCCEEDED(hr))
{
//DWORD pid = 0;
hr = AppActivationMgr->ActivateApplication(AUMID, nullptr, AO_NONE,
&pid);
if (FAILED(hr))
{
wprintf(L"LaunchApp %s: Failed to Activate App. hr = 0x%08lx \n", AUMID, hr);
}
}
}
CoUninitialize();
return hr;
}
int main() {
DWORD pid = 0;
LaunchApp(L"Microsoft.Windows.HolographicFirstRun_cw5n1h2txyewy!App", pid);
//cout << pid;
MoveWindowToFixedLocation(pid);
}

Answer 1

It's impossible. UWP app runs in own closed environment. A desktop application cannot sent it any signal.