Double Click Event in the Output Window in Visual Studio 2005

Question

Hello all.
I made a add-in for visual studio 2005 and can read and write from and to the output window via DTE2.
Now I would like to react on a double click event in the output window.
How can I do so?

Regards,
Michael

Sam Hobbs · Answer

You got zero for h at the second if because the output window is not showing. There ae other Windows API functions that will work even if the window is not showing but I am not sure which ones are like that. You probably must use one of the API functions such as EnumWindows that use a callback. I found the class names using Spy++. It can be very useful for things such as this. There is a find tool in the toolbar; you can use it by dragging the mouse to a window and then it shows information about the window selected when the mouse is released. You then have two options; you can either choose to see information about the window or you can choose to see messages sent to the window.

Michael · Answer

I made the VS addin starting automatically with VS2005. So I have objects being alive as long as VS is running. I also found the implementation with NativeWindow: public class SubclassedWindow : NativeWindow { private DTE2 dte; private const int WM_LBUTTONDOWN = 0x201; private const int XBUTTON1 = 1; private const int XBUTTON2 = 2; public SubclassedWindow( int hWnd DTE2 dte) { this .dte = dte; AssignHandle(( IntPtr )hWnd); } static int HiWord( IntPtr Number) { return ( ushort )((Number.ToInt32() >> 16) & 0xffff); } protected override void WndProc( ref Message m) { if (m.Msg == WM_LBUTTONDOWN) { MessageBox .Show( !! ); } base .WndProc( ref m); } } But I still have Problems getting the right handle. I put in the handle of the MainWindow for hvs: const string ClassName1 = GenericPane ; const string ClassName2 = OutputWindowClass ; const string ClassName3 = VsTextEditPane ; IntPtr h = FindWindowEx(( IntPtr )_applicationObject.MainWindow.HWnd IntPtr .Zero ClassName1 null ); IntPtr h2; if (h != IntPtr .Zero) { h = FindWindowEx(h IntPtr .Zero ClassName1 null ); if (h != IntPtr .Zero) { h = FindWindowEx(h IntPtr .Zero ClassName2 null ); if (h != IntPtr .Zero) { h2 = h; h = FindWindowEx(h IntPtr .Zero ClassName3 null ); while (h != IntPtr .Zero) { h = FindWindowEx(h2 h ClassName3 null ); } } } } But at the second if h is 0. Where do you get the information of all the classes from? Regards Michael

Sam Hobbs · Answer

There might be a relatively easy way to do this but I have spent too much time on this so I will leave some of it for you to do. Here is the part that I have not done. You need to handle some event such as VS startup so that you can allocate (create) an instance of an object that will exist for as long as VS is executing. You need that so you can have something waiting for messages. Can you do that? Here is the part I have done. First import the following into your module: Imports System.Windows.Forms Imports System.Windows.Forms.NativeWindow Then copy this class: Friend Class MyNativeWindow Inherits NativeWindow Private Const WM_LBUTTONDBLCLK As Integer = &H0203 Public Sub New(ByVal h As IntPtr) AssignHandle(h) End Sub Sub Finalize() ReleaseHandle() MyBase.Finalize() End Sub (System.Security.Permissions.SecurityAction.Demand Name:=FullTrust)> _ Protected Overrides Sub WndProc(ByRef m As Message) Select Case (m.Msg) Case WM_LBUTTONDBLCLK Debug.Print(WM_LBUTTONDBLCLK) End Select MyBase.WndProc(m) End Sub End Class The next thing you need to do is to get the correct window handle(s). Then create a MyNativeWindow as in: Dim nw As MyNativeWindow = New MyNativeWindow(HWnd) Where HWnd is a window handle to subclass. Note that messages won't be processed after the MyNativeWindow is destroyed. If you get all that working then you can use the OutputWindows using the NativeWindow class in Forms.

Sam Hobbs · Answer

You can use the Windows API function FindWindowEx to find handles but subclassing won't work if the add-in is executing in a separate process and I don't know if that is true of add-ins. I hope you know how to use Spy++. Note that the following will work only if the Output window is showing  so this is probably not acceptable for what you need to do. Note also there is a VS child window with class GenericPane and a child of that window that also has class GenericPane. A child of that is class OutputWindowClass. Under the OutputWindowClass class window there are several VsTextEditPane class windows. I think you must sublcass all of the VsTextEditPane windows or just the one that you need. I hope the code below helps. In the following code hvs is the window handle for VS main window. [DllImport(user32.dll SetLastError = true)] static extern IntPtr FindWindowEx(IntPtr hwndParent IntPtr hwndChildAfter string lpszClass string lpszWindow); . . . const string ClassName1 = GenericPane; const string ClassName2 = OutputWindowClass; const string ClassName3 = VsTextEditPane; IntPtr h = FindWindowEx(hvs IntPtr.Zero ClassName1 null); IntPtr h2; if (h != IntPtr.Zero) { h = FindWindowEx(h IntPtr.Zero ClassName1 null); if (h != IntPtr.Zero) { h = FindWindowEx(h IntPtr.Zero ClassName2 null); if (h != IntPtr.Zero) { h2 = h; h = FindWindowEx(h IntPtr.Zero ClassName3 null); while (h != IntPtr.Zero) { h = FindWindowEx(h2 h ClassName3 null); } } } }

Michael · Answer

Hy Sam. Thanks for this answer again. I think I now would be able to subclass the window. But I have troubles getting the Window Handle. I found the one of the Main Window (MainWindow.HWnd) but there isn't one for the OutputWindow. How can I get this? Regards Michael

Sam Hobbs · Answer

Subclassing is very basic Windows programming. The Sub classing a C# window in a DLL created using embedded VC++ C-SharpCorner article discusses it. You can search the MSDN for subclass . Subclassing means that we provide a procedure for processing messages for a window and in that procedure (method) we then call the original procedure to process messages that we did not process and to further process messages we processed. In .Net the windows procedure for each control is the WndProc Method for the control. Also see How to: Use a Class for Hooking Windows Procedures for a useful article. The Windows API article is Safe Subclassing in Win32 . The following will process the double-click message for a form. To use it just put this code in the code for the form (in the Form1 class code or whatever the name of the form class is). [System.Security.Permissions.PermissionSet(System.Security.Permissions.SecurityAction.Demand Name = FullTrust)] protected override void WndProc(ref Message m) { const int WM_LBUTTONDBLCLK = 0x0203; if (m.Msg == WM_LBUTTONDBLCLK) { Debug.Print(WM_LBUTTONDBLCLK lParam: {0:x} m.LParam.ToInt32()); } base.WndProc(ref m); } Note that for what you are doing you need to get the window handle and then use it somehow in a managed (.Net) class. Another gotcha is that window messages are supposed to be processed in the same thread that the window is in. I don't know how much work it would be to subclass a non-managed window using managed code; it might be easier to use C++ for the subclassing part. Since you are unfamiliar with subclassing it is likely too advanced to use subclassing to do what you are trying to do.

Michael · Answer

Hello. As I've found nothing about such event handlers this will be the way. But I really don't know what to subclass means and how I can process teh message directly. Regards Michael

Sam Hobbs · Answer

I don't know but if there is not an event provided by the VS object model (DTE or whatever) then you probably need to subclas the window and process the double-click message directly (in a windows procedure).