Virtual number pad

Question

Virtual number pad

Daniel Hoover 30

Hello, I'm quite new and i wanna have a winforms ui for a industrial machine and im pretty much done. it will have a touch screen and i want the user to be able to use a virtual keyboard. that virtual keyboard is on a separate form and i use the "send.keys" to type the number into the main form.

when i click the input textbox on the main form the numpad form pops up, All Good

My problem is that as soon as i click a number on the numpad, the numpad form highlights/focuses and the number goes nowhere.

i want the number that i click going to the main form textbox

Very simple fix but im green yet lol :)

Viorel 122.6K Reputation points

2023-01-20T17:01:13.7+00:00

If all of the forms is made by you and belong to a single program, then maybe you can access the target textboxes directly from the virtual keyboard, using the TextBox.Text property instead of SendKey.
Daniel Hoover 30 Reputation points

2023-01-20T19:27:20.07+00:00
Sorry that does not work. it cant find that textbox variable from form 2, when i try to use it on main form .cs file.

i have also tried

public class ExButton:Button { public ExButton() { SetStyle(ControlStyles.Selectable, false); } }

it for some reason it acts exactly the same way before
Daniel Hoover 30 Reputation points

2023-01-21T14:42:38.6866667+00:00

Here is a YouTube link for my project

[https://youtu.be/8SMVWRRoxeE

Here is a link to the source code

[https://we.tl/t-0eWxTqOj4i
Daniel Hoover 30 Reputation points

2023-01-22T21:33:24.11+00:00

ill take that back actually, my way of doing it still didn't work. what worked was if for example i opened notepad, it worked there and the numbers came up but when i tried to type numbers in my main form it didn't work for some reason

Accepted answer

1 additional answer

Your answer

Viorel 122.6K Reputation points

2023-01-20T17:01:13.7+00:00

If all of the forms is made by you and belong to a single program, then maybe you can access the target textboxes directly from the virtual keyboard, using the TextBox.Text property instead of SendKey.
Daniel Hoover 30 Reputation points

2023-01-20T19:27:20.07+00:00

Sorry that does not work. it cant find that textbox variable from form 2, when i try to use it on main form .cs file.

i have also tried

public class ExButton:Button { public ExButton() { SetStyle(ControlStyles.Selectable, false); } }

it for some reason it acts exactly the same way before
Daniel Hoover 30 Reputation points

2023-01-21T14:42:38.6866667+00:00

Here is a YouTube link for my project

[https://youtu.be/8SMVWRRoxeE

Here is a link to the source code

[https://we.tl/t-0eWxTqOj4i
Daniel Hoover 30 Reputation points

2023-01-22T21:33:24.11+00:00

ill take that back actually, my way of doing it still didn't work. what worked was if for example i opened notepad, it worked there and the numbers came up but when i tried to type numbers in my main form it didn't work for some reason

Answer 1

Reza Aghaei 4,986 MVP Volunteer Moderator

If you show the numpad buttons in the same form

I've answered a similar questions here: How to create a Button that can send keys to a control without stealing the focus - Virtual Keyboard

You need to makes the buttons non-selectable, then clicking on it will not steal the focus:

public class ExButton:Button
{
    public ExButton()
    {
        SetStyle(ControlStyles.Selectable, false);
    }
}

Then handle click event and send key:

private void exButton1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    SendKeys.SendWait("A");
}

You can just easily replace all your button controls with MyButton (in the designer.cs), or at design time. But if for any reason you do not want to replace the buttons, you can rely on the following extension method:

public static class Extensions
{
    public static void SetStyle(this Control control, ControlStyles flags, bool value)
    {
        Type type = control.GetType();
        BindingFlags bindingFlags = BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Instance;
        MethodInfo method = type.GetMethod("SetStyle", bindingFlags);
        if (method != null)
        {
            object[] param = { flags, value };
            method.Invoke(control, param);
        }
    }
}

And use it like this:

this.button1.SetStyle(ControlStyles.Selectable, false);

Daniel Hoover 30

It looks great but like i said i am quite new and ill need just a bit more explaining. i also hate to take up your time but here we go

so do i put this(see below) on my form1.cs? and what variables do i have to change so it works with my buttons?

public class ExButton:Button
{
    public ExButton()
    {
        SetStyle(ControlStyles.Selectable, false);
    }
}

as a matter of fact here is my form1.cs u could just change it then ill see what u changed and paste it back to my code

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Data;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Windows.Forms;

namespace Number_Pad
{
    public partial class Form1 : Form
    {






        string numpad = "";
        public Form1()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
        }

        private void button_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            Button b = (Button)sender;
            SendKeys.Send("{8}");
            result.Text = result.Text + b.Text;
            numpad = result.Text;
        }

        private void button12_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            result.Text = "";
            numpad = "";
        }


        private void button13_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            SendKeys.Send("{ENTER}");
            result.Focus();
        }

        private void button9_MouseEnter(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
          //  SendKeys.Send("9");
        }

        private void button9_MouseClick(object sender, MouseEventArgs e)
        {
            SendKeys.SendWait("9");
        }
    }
}

Reza Aghaei 4,986 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2023-01-20T00:23:51.7566667+00:00
Assuming you have a file in your project with the following content:

using System; using System.Windows.Forms; namespace MyControls { public class ExButton : Button { public ExButton() { SetStyle(ControlStyles.Selectable, false); } } }

If you build the project, the ExButton will appear in Toolbox, and you can drop an instance of it on the form and use it like any other button, and handle its events.

Or if you don't want to design the form again, Open Form1.Designer.cs file which contains the designer generated code of your form. So be careful and back up the code if necessary.

Each button has a declaration line this this:

private System.Windows.Forms.Button button1;

And an instantiation line like this:

this.button1 = new System.Windows.Forms.Button();

So for the buttons that you are interested in, replace System.Windows.Forms.Button with MyControls.ExButton. You can use find/replace to find and replace them.

Daniel Hoover 30

again im quite new, are the first 2 code boxes 1 way to do it and the 3 and 4 code boxes another way to do it?

it still does not work

here is my code, what am i doing wrong?

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Data;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Windows.Forms;

namespace Number_Pad
{
    public partial class Form1 : Form
    {


        



        string numpad = "";
        public Form1()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
            SetStyle(ControlStyles.Selectable, false);
        }

        private void button_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            Button b = (Button)sender;
            SendKeys.Send("{8}");
            result.Text = result.Text + b.Text;
            numpad = result.Text;
        }

        private void button12_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            result.Text = "";
            numpad = "";
        }


        private void button13_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            SendKeys.Send("{ENTER}");
            result.Focus();
        }

        private void button9_MouseEnter(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
          //  SendKeys.Send("9");
        }

        private void button9_MouseClick(object sender, MouseEventArgs e)
        {
            SendKeys.SendWait("9");
        }
    }
}

Reza Aghaei 4,986 MVP Volunteer Moderator

What I posted as answer is two different ways. In the last comment I explained the first way. In this comment I explain the second way.

Assuming you have the following file with the following code in your project:

using System;
using System.Reflection;
using System.Windows.Forms;

namespace MyControls
{
    public static class Extensions
    {
        public static void SetStyle(this Control control, ControlStyles flags, bool value)
        {
            Type type = control.GetType();
            BindingFlags bindingFlags = BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Instance;
            MethodInfo method = type.GetMethod("SetStyle", bindingFlags);
            if (method != null)
            {
                object[] param = { flags, value };
                method.Invoke(control, param);
            }
        }
    }
}

Then add the following using statement to Form1:

using MyControls;

Then in constructor of the form, after InitializeComponent, set style of any button that you would like to make non-selectable:

public Form1()
{
    InitializeComponent();
    button1.SetStyle(ControlStyles.Selectable, false);
    button2.SetStyle(ControlStyles.Selectable, false);
}

Reza Aghaei 4,986 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2023-01-20T02:17:08.37+00:00

If the numpad is on a different form, this piece of code makes the Form non-activatable. So you can click on it but it doesn't steal the focus from the other form.

Daniel Hoover 30

i got it actually i put this

 protected override CreateParams CreateParams 
           {
            get 
             {
                CreateParams param = base.CreateParams;
                    param.ExStyle |= 0x08000000;
                return param;
            }
        }

in my form1.cs and it worked. I have no idea how that did the trick but it did thanks anyway!

Daniel Hoover 30 Reputation points

2023-01-22T21:33:58.8733333+00:00

Here Is A YouTube link for my project

https://youtu.be/8SMVWRRoxeE

And here is the link to the source code

https://we.tl/t-0eWxTqOj4i

Answer 2

If you show another form as numpad

If you show another form as numpad, then you need to make sure the form is not focusable and will not activate when showing:

using System;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Windows.Forms;
public partial class VirtualNumPadForm : Form
{
    public VirtualNumPadForm()
    {
        InitializeComponent();
        this.StartPosition = FormStartPosition.Manual;
        this.BackColor = System.Drawing.Color.Black;
    }
    private const int WS_CHILD = 0x40000000;
    private const int WS_EX_NOACTIVATE = 0x08000000;
    private const int WS_EX_TOPMOST = 0x00000008;
    protected override bool ShowWithoutActivation => true;
    protected override CreateParams CreateParams
    {
        get
        {
            CreateParams p = base.CreateParams;
            p.Style = WS_CHILD;
            p.ExStyle |= WS_EX_NOACTIVATE | WS_EX_TOPMOST;
            return p;
        }
    }
    protected override void OnClosing(CancelEventArgs e)
    {
        e.Cancel = true;
        this.Hide();
        base.OnClosing(e);
    }
}

Note: If you are using this as a separate exe, then do not set p.Style = WS_CHILD but if it's inside the same process, set it.

Then handle click event of the numpad buttons like this:

private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    SendKeys.SendWait("1");
}

Now, let's say you want to show the form, when textBox1 gets focus and hid it when it lose focus:

VirtualNumPadForm vnumPadForm = new VirtualNumPadForm();
private void textBox1_Enter(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    vnumPadForm.Location = PointToScreen(new Point(textBox1.Right, textBox1.Top));
    vnumPadForm.Show();
}
private void textBox1_Leave(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    vnumPadForm.Hide();
}

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Virtual number pad

If you show the numpad buttons in the same form

1 additional answer

If you show another form as numpad

Your answer