How to automate mouse actions - c++

Question

I need to automate some mouse actions.
I need to do
mousemove1, lbuttondown1, wait1, mousemove1, lbuttonup1, wait1,
mousemove2, lbuttondown2, wait2, mousemove2, lbuttonup2, wait2,
...
The actions have to work regarding screen coordinates. The window which have to accept an event is the top window at this point.
There is a file with data.
For example
500 450 1000 500 300 2000
600 450 1000 600 300 5000
What did I try to do
#include <fstream>
#include <vector>
#include <windows.h>
struct A
{
POINT point1;
unsigned sleep1;
POINT point2;
unsigned sleep2;
A() { point1.x = point1.y = sleep1 = point2.x = point2.y = sleep2 = 0; }
};
void f(const A &a)
{
mouse_event(MOUSEEVENTF_LEFTDOWN, a.point1.x, a.point1.y, 0, 0);
mouse_event(MOUSEEVENTF_MOVE, a.point1.x, a.point1.y, 0, 0);
Sleep(a.sleep1);
mouse_event(MOUSEEVENTF_LEFTUP, a.point2.x, a.point2.y, 0, 0);
mouse_event(MOUSEEVENTF_MOVE, a.point2.x, a.point2.y, 0, 0);
Sleep(a.sleep2);
}
int main()
{
std::vector<A> as;
std::ifstream fin("params.txt");
if (fin) {
A a;
while (fin.good()) {
fin >> a.point1.x;
fin >> a.point1.y;
fin >> a.sleep1;
fin >> a.point2.x;
fin >> a.point2.y;
fin >> a.sleep2;
if (fin.eof()) {
break;
}
as.push_back(a);
}
}
for (;;) {
for (const A &a : as) {
f(a);
}
}
}
Something is happening but I can not understand what is and where is a mistake.

Answer 1

A problem with your code is that you are using mouse_event with screen coordinates rather than normalized absolute coordinates. Normalized absolute coordinates always range between (0,0) in the top-left corner to (65535,65535) in the bottom-right corner, no matter what the desktop size happens to be.
The MouseTo function in the example below accepts screen coordinates as inputs, then uses the dekstop window's size to convert to normalized absolute coordinates. This example uses SendInput, which supersedes mouse_event, but they both use the same coordinates. I'm not sure if mouse_event can take the MOUSEEVENTF_VIRTUALDESK flag, but this is for supporting multi-monitor desktops.
If you wish build this example, start with a new Win32 Console application.
#include <Windows.h>
#include <cmath>
void MouseTo(int x, int y) {
RECT desktop_rect;
GetClientRect(GetDesktopWindow(), &desktop_rect);
INPUT input = {0};
input.type = INPUT_MOUSE;
input.mi.dwFlags =
MOUSEEVENTF_ABSOLUTE | MOUSEEVENTF_VIRTUALDESK | MOUSEEVENTF_MOVE;
input.mi.dx = x * 65536 / desktop_rect.right;
input.mi.dy = y * 65536 / desktop_rect.bottom;
SendInput(1, &input, sizeof(input));
}
void MouseLButton(bool tf_down_up) {
INPUT input = {0};
input.type = INPUT_MOUSE;
input.mi.dwFlags = tf_down_up ? MOUSEEVENTF_LEFTDOWN : MOUSEEVENTF_LEFTUP;
SendInput(1, &input, sizeof(input));
}
void MouseLButtonDown() { MouseLButton(true); }
void MouseLButtonUp() { MouseLButton(false); }
void AnimatedDrag(const POINT& from, const POINT& to) {
static const double iteration_dist = 20;
static const DWORD iteration_delay_ms = 1;
const double dx = to.x - from.x;
const double dy = to.y - from.y;
const double dist = sqrt(dx*dx + dy*dy);
const int count = static_cast<int>(dist / iteration_dist);
MouseTo(from.x, from.y);
MouseLButtonDown();
for(int i=1; i<count; ++i) {
const int x = from.x + static_cast<int>(dx * i / count);
const int y = from.y + static_cast<int>(dy * i / count);
MouseTo(x, y);
Sleep(iteration_delay_ms);
}
MouseTo(to.x, to.y);
MouseLButtonUp();
}
int main() {
// minimize console window
ShowWindow(GetConsoleWindow(), SW_SHOWMINNOACTIVE);
Sleep(500);
// Drag whatever is at the window coordinates in "from" to "to"
const POINT from = {300, 100};
const POINT to = {900, 600};
AnimatedDrag(from, to);
}

Answer 2

Christopher's answer should suffice, but might be a little intimidating to anyone not well-versed with C++, and just trying to hack together a click-utility. This should be easy enough to hack away at for most newbies.
Pardon the use of macros; I'm using them to make the intent of the code a little more English-friendly.
It should right-click on your primary display (unless you changed the X coordinate line as-commented) then shift a few pixels over and left-click to close the Right-click menu prompt, if one was created. You can see what else is available on MSDN for your own custom requirements.
I kept click / unclick / move as seperate actions, so things like drag & drop should be fairly intuitive to perform when starting with all the right ingredients.
#include <Windows.h>
// Uses absolute coords where the primary display starts at 0,0
// That works well with enumerated monitors structures and their reported coords.
#define QUEUE_MV_MOUSE ip.mi.dwFlags = MOUSEEVENTF_ABSOLUTE | MOUSEEVENTF_MOVE;
#define QUEUE_RC_START_MOUSE ip.mi.dwFlags = MOUSEEVENTF_RIGHTDOWN;
#define QUEUE_RC_END_MOUSE ip.mi.dwFlags = MOUSEEVENTF_RIGHTUP;
#define QUEUE_LC_START_MOUSE ip.mi.dwFlags = MOUSEEVENTF_LEFTDOWN;
#define QUEUE_LC_END_MOUSE ip.mi.dwFlags = MOUSEEVENTF_LEFTUP;
#define SEND_IT SendInput(1, &ip, sizeof(ip));
#define VIRTUAL_X_MODIFIER (65536 / GetSystemMetrics(SM_CXSCREEN));
#define VIRTUAL_Y_MODIFIER (65536 / GetSystemMetrics(SM_CYSCREEN));
int main()
{
INPUT ip;
ip.type = INPUT_MOUSE;
ip.mi.mouseData = 0;
// Change 500 to -500 for a left-hand extended display.
ip.mi.dx = 500 * VIRTUAL_X_MODIFIER;
ip.mi.dy = 1000 * VIRTUAL_Y_MODIFIER;
// Un-comment this Sleep timer if you're debugging in an IDE and need a quick pause.
// Sleep(500);
QUEUE_MV_MOUSE;
SEND_IT;
// Various users advise brief Sleep pauses between queued mouse and keyboard events.
// 500 milliseconds is probably overkill for your automation requirements.
Sleep(500);
QUEUE_RC_START_MOUSE;
SEND_IT;
Sleep(500);
QUEUE_RC_END_MOUSE;
SEND_IT;
Sleep(500);
ip.mi.dx -= 10 * VIRTUAL_X_MODIFIER;
ip.mi.dx -= 10 * VIRTUAL_Y_MODIFIER;
QUEUE_MV_MOUSE;
SEND_IT;
Sleep(500);
QUEUE_LC_START_MOUSE;
SEND_IT;
Sleep(500);
QUEUE_LC_END_MOUSE;
SEND_IT;
return 0;
}