Finding hWnd for any window or subsection of a window

For use withVB 2005
The attached module is what I use to find the different parts of the Paltalk window. It is based on code that I found here a long time ago but can not find any more. I do not know who created it originally, but I have modified it to make it more versitile. If used with my automatic paltalk detection program, you should have all the pieces to use this.

Below are 2 examples of how to use this module:

Private Sub SendPalText()
RTB.Text = "Text to send"
'*******************
'set rtb font & color if wanted here
'*******************
iHnd = FindWindowHnd(WindowClass, MyRoomName, _
RoomOutboundTextBoxClass, SendTxtIndex)
SendMessageByString(iHnd, WM_SETTEXT, 0, RTB.Rtf)
SendMessageByString(iHnd, WM_KEYDOWN, 13, 0)
End Sub

Function FindNic() As String
iHnd = FindWindowHnd(WindowClass, MyRoomName, SysListCtrlClass, _
NicListIndex)
FindNic = GetListviewItem(iHnd)
End Function

To use the FindNic sample, you will need to also have the GetListviewItem function (code from BattleStar-Galactica).

Structure LV_ITEMA
Dim mask As Integer
Dim iItem As Integer
Dim iSubItem As Integer
Dim state As Integer
Dim stateMask As Integer
Dim pszText As Integer
Dim cchTextMax As Integer
Dim iImage As Integer
Dim lParam As Integer
Dim iIndent As Integer
End Structure

Public Function GetListviewItem(ByVal lstviewhwnd As Integer) As String
Dim result As Integer
Dim myItem As LV_ITEMA
Dim pHandle As Integer
Dim pStrBufferMemory As Integer
Dim pMyItemMemory As Integer
Dim strBuffer() As Byte
Dim index As Integer
Dim itemIndex As Integer
Dim tmpString As String = String.Empty
Dim ProcessID As Integer
Dim usernum As Integer
Dim i As Short
UserNic = String.Empty
itemIndex = SendMessage(lstviewhwnd, LVM_GETNEXTITEM, _
-1, LVNI_SELECTED)
usernum = SendMessage(lstviewhwnd, LVM_GETITEMCOUNT, _
0, 0)
'**********************
'init the string buffer
'**********************
ReDim strBuffer(MAX_LVMSTRING)
'********************************************************
'open a handle to the process and allocate the string buffer
'********************************************************
Call GetWindowThreadProcessId(lstviewhwnd, ProcessID)
pHandle = OpenProcess(PROCESS_VM_OPERATION Or _
PROCESS_VM_READ Or PROCESS_VM_WRITE, False, ProcessID)
pStrBufferMemory = VirtualAllocEx(pHandle, 0, MAX_LVMSTRING, _
MEM_COMMIT, PAGE_READWRITE)
'********************************************************
'initialize the local LV_ITEM structure
'The myItem.iSubItem member is set to the index of the column
'that is being retrieved
'********************************************************
myItem.mask = LVIF_TEXT
myItem.iSubItem = 2
myItem.pszText = pStrBufferMemory
myItem.cchTextMax = MAX_LVMSTRING
'********************************************************
'write the structure into the remote process's memory space
'********************************************************
pMyItemMemory = VirtualAllocEx(pHandle, 0, Len(myItem), _
MEM_COMMIT, PAGE_READWRITE)
result = WriteProcessMemory(pHandle, pMyItemMemory, myItem, _
Len(myItem), 0)

'*********************************************************
i = itemIndex
'*********************************************************
'send the get the item message and write back the memory space
'*********************************************************
result = SendMessage(lstviewhwnd, LVM_GETITEMTEXT, i, _
pMyItemMemory)
result = ReadProcessMemory(pHandle, pStrBufferMemory, _
strBuffer(0), MAX_LVMSTRING, 0)
result = ReadProcessMemory(pHandle, pMyItemMemory, myItem, _
Len(myItem), 0)
'**************************************************
'turn the byte array into a string and send it back
'**************************************************
For index = LBound(strBuffer) To UBound(strBuffer)
If Chr(strBuffer(index)) = vbNullChar Then Exit For
tmpString = tmpString & Chr(strBuffer(index))
Next index
tmpString = Trim(tmpString)
'**************************************************
'deallocate the memory and close the process handle
'**************************************************
result = VirtualFreeEx(pHandle, pStrBufferMemory, 0, MEM_RELEASE)
result = VirtualFreeEx(pHandle, pMyItemMemory, 0, MEM_RELEASE)
result = CloseHandle(pHandle)
Return tmpString
End Function

Edit: we have a vb tag 😉
~Ghost
Edit: fixed variable names to match autodetecte project
autopilot