VBA Get text from "Edit" Control in Application outside of MA

[DesktopFlyer]

I have usually been able to research what I need to do, especially with a lot of help from this website. Unfortunately I am drawing a blank on how to retrieve the value in an "Edit" control in an application outside of Access. I have been able to do a few versions that even go through every open window and get all the child windows but am only able to return that text in a label.

I located another script that did the same thing but it too doesn't return the values for all "Edit" controls. I have tried various SendMessage functions with no luck. Can anyone please show me the missing piece to make it all work? Here is the code of someones script that shows the same issue I am having. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Option Explicit
 
Private Declare PtrSafe Function FindWindowEx Lib "user32" Alias "FindWindowExA" _
(ByVal hWnd1 As Long, ByVal hWnd2 As Long, ByVal lpsz1 As String, ByVal lpsz2 As String) As Long
Private Declare PtrSafe Function GetClassName Lib "user32" Alias "GetClassNameA" _
(ByVal hwnd As Long, ByVal lpClassName As String, ByVal nMaxCount As Long) As Long
Private Declare PtrSafe Function GetWindowText Lib "user32" Alias "GetWindowTextA" _
(ByVal hwnd As Long, ByVal lpString As String, ByVal cch As Long) As Long
Public Declare PtrSafe Function SendMessage Lib "user32" Alias "SendMessageA" _
 (ByVal hwnd As Long, ByVal wMsg As Long, ByVal wParam As Long, _
 lParam As Any) As Long
 
 
Private Const WM_GETTEXT              As Long = &HD
Private Const WM_GETTEXTLENGTH As Long = &HE&
Private X As Integer
 
 
 'Used a user defined type here rather than Enum so that it works on 97
Private Type winEnum
    winHandle As Integer
    winClass As Integer
    winTitle As Integer
    winHandleClass As Integer
    winHandleTitle As Integer
    winHandleClassTitle As Integer
End Type
Dim winOutputType As winEnum
 
Public Sub GetWindows()
    X = 0
    winOutputType.winHandle = 0
    winOutputType.winClass = 1
    winOutputType.winTitle = 2
    winOutputType.winHandleClass = 3
    winOutputType.winHandleTitle = 4
    winOutputType.winHandleClassTitle = 5
 
    GetWinInfo 0&, 0, winOutputType.winHandleClassTitle
End Sub
 
 
Private Sub GetWinInfo(hParent As Long, intOffset As Integer, OutputType As Integer)
     'Sub to recursively obtain window handles, classes and text
     'given a parent window to search
     'Written by Mark Rowlinson
     'www.markrowlinson.co.uk - The Programming Emporium
    Dim hwnd As Long, lngRet As Long, y As Integer
    Dim strText As String
    Dim L As Long
    hwnd = FindWindowEx(hParent, 0&, vbNullString, vbNullString)
    While hwnd <> 0
        Select Case OutputType
        Case winOutputType.winClass
            strText = String$(100, Chr$(0))
            lngRet = GetClassName(hwnd, strText, 100)
            Range("a1").Offset(X, intOffset) = Left$(strText, lngRet)
        Case winOutputType.winHandle
            Range("a1").Offset(X, intOffset) = hwnd
        Case winOutputType.winTitle
            strText = String$(100, Chr$(0))
            lngRet = GetWindowText(hwnd, strText, 100)
            If lngRet > 0 Then
                Range("a1").Offset(X, intOffset) = Left$(strText, lngRet)
            Else
                Range("a1").Offset(X, intOffset) = "N/A"
            End If
        Case winOutputType.winHandleClass
            Range("a1").Offset(X, intOffset) = hwnd
            strText = String$(100, Chr$(0))
            lngRet = GetClassName(hwnd, strText, 100)
            Range("a1").Offset(X, intOffset + 1) = "Left$(strText, lngRet)"
        Case winOutputType.winHandleTitle
            Range("a1").Offset(X, intOffset) = hwnd
            strText = String$(100, Chr$(0))
            lngRet = GetWindowText(hwnd, strText, 100)
            If lngRet > 0 Then
                Range("a1").Offset(X, intOffset + 1) = "D " & Left$(strText, lngRet)
            Else
                Range("a1").Offset(X, intOffset + 1) = "N/A"
            End If
        Case winOutputType.winHandleClassTitle
            Range("a1").Offset(X, intOffset) = hwnd
            strText = String$(100, Chr$(0))
            lngRet = GetClassName(hwnd, strText, 100)
 
            Range("a1").Offset(X, intOffset + 1) = Left$(strText, lngRet)
            strText = String$(100, Chr$(0))
            lngRet = GetWindowText(hwnd, strText, 100)
            If lngRet > 0 Then
                Range("a1").Offset(X, intOffset + 2) = Left$(strText, lngRet)
                '& SendMessage(hwnd, WM_GETTEXT, 100, hParent)
            Else
                Range("a1").Offset(X, intOffset + 2) = "N/A"
 
 
            End If
        End Select
         'check for children
        y = X
        Select Case OutputType
        Case Is > 4
            GetWinInfo hwnd, intOffset + 3, OutputType
        Case Is > 2
            GetWinInfo hwnd, intOffset + 2, OutputType
        Case Else
            GetWinInfo hwnd, intOffset + 1, OutputType
        End Select
         'increment by 1 row if no children found
        If y = X Then
            X = X + 1
        End If
         'now get next window
        hwnd = FindWindowEx(hParent, hwnd, vbNullString, vbNullString)
    Wend
 
End Sub

[DesktopFlyer]

Well, I am not off to a good start. I copied the version from Excel not Access but it does the same thing. Sorry about that. I can resubmit if this will cause confusion.

[twinnyfo]

DesktopFlyer,

Welcome to Bytes!

It seems like your code is doing a lot of searching for something when it "seems" that you already know what you are looking for. But, I may not completely understand exactly what you are trying to do.

If you know the application that you are trying to target, then, you should be able to go directly to it:

Call AppActivate(Title:="Document1 - Word", _
                 Wait:=False)

The example above would activate the Word application, but if you had multiple instances of Word open, just the one with Document1 open in it.

Then, there are some ways to navigate another application from within MS Access--none are terribly reliable--but they do work.

I think I would need more information to work anything further on this.

Hope this hepps!

[DesktopFlyer]

Thank you for the welcome and the feedback, I'm usually too stubborn to ask for help but this one has killed several days now. I am able to have it go to the one application that I need the data from but this way it scrolls through every open window and all of their child windows/controls. I am able to see all the controls but its the "Edit" controls text or value that I cannot retrieve.

Once I get the script to return the text I will then store it in a table.

[twinnyfo]

So far, I've understood that much. Again, if you know which app you are going to, just go to the app. No need to scroll through "everything" to find "one thing" if you already know what it is you are looking for.

Perhaps you can provide more specifics....

Just tell us the application you are looking at and tell us what the "Edit" control is that you are looking for. Speaking in abstracts when trying to provide specific solutions can be time-consuming and not very productive.

[DesktopFlyer]

I was worried that I wasn't going through all the controls so I went overboard and went through everything. Wasn't trying to be vague, simply didn't think it was a well known program. My bad (again).

The application is Q-Pulse. Attached is a screen shot of one of the windows. I would need to get the text in each of the fields. Also if a radio button or checkbox is used. Fairly simple the name field is simply named txtName, the Account Manager combobox is cbxAcMa. Hope that helps.

[twinnyfo]

So, the only way I know of to work through this is to simulate executing keystrokes in the system (using keybd_event from the user32.dll).

The number one challenge that you will come across is that this method does not (and can not) return the value of a check box. This is because even though a check box returns a value within its own system, the check box as a control has no value, only a "state". So, if you were to simulate navigating to a text box, the "value" that you can add to your clipboard is whatever is in that text box--it is a value that can be copied pasted, changed, etc. The check box simply has a state. Simulating a movement to the check box, there is no data to receive. Simulating a press of the space bar will only change the state of the check box, but not generate any data on its current state.

This also assumes that each of the requisite fields has a specific tab order and that navigation can occur.

I hope this makes sense.

Now, if, based upon some of your previous code (that no one here will be able to test or reproduce--because you have an application that is foreign to probably every other user here), you are able to go directly to the application and identify the names of controls, you may be able to glean the values of those controls. But, that is a guess. I have no idea how to go beyond that. It is very difficult to accurately and reliably automate running in this fashion.

This is quite outside of specific areas of expertise, although I have dabbled in it enough to know this will be a challenge.

Is there a particular reason that you must access the data this way, rather than some form of export? It is a highly irregular means of getting data into a db.

[DesktopFlyer]

Glad to know its a bit of a challenge and that I wasn't simply overlooking something. The gui almost looks like it was generated out of Filemaker.

Thanks again for your time and assistance. To start off with I'll try getting the text box information. If I am successful there I will go after the really fun items.

[DesktopFlyer]

As far as doing a simple export, the data changes hourly and the backend is behind a firewall that cannot be accessed. I need to consolidate the data from here with other applications. An export to Excel causes even more complications as the format produced is not user friend to bring into a db.

[twinnyfo]

Non-user friendly data is better than the method you describe. As long as the export is "consistently" non-user friendly, you can work with that. Just link to the spreadsheet and it's unfriendly data, then, as you inport it, manipulate it so that it is more friendly.

It will put a smile on everyone's face!

:-)

[DesktopFlyer]

I was hoping to then control the app from Access to make my life easier. One can dream.

[twinnyfo]

Trust me.... I am a data guy and an automation guy, but I'll take data over automation every time. Data usually doesn't kick back!

:-P