Convert String to KeyEvents

Question

I want to convert a String into KeyEvent to do something like this :

writeKeyboard(myBot,"abcd");  public void writeKeyboard(Robot bot, String st){      char[] arr = arr.toCharArray();      int i = arr.length();      int j = 0;      int keycode;      while (j<i) {          keycode = arr[j].something;          bot.keyPress(keycode);          bot.keyRelease(keycode);          j++;      } } 

Answer 1

I'm basically using a glorified switch statement. Simple and fast:

import static java.awt.event.KeyEvent.*;  public class Keyboard {      private Robot robot;      public static void main(String... args) throws Exception {         Keyboard keyboard = new Keyboard();         keyboard.type("Hello there, how are you?");     }      public Keyboard() throws AWTException {         this.robot = new Robot();     }      public Keyboard(Robot robot) {         this.robot = robot;     }      public void type(CharSequence characters) {         int length = characters.length();         for (int i = 0; i < length; i++) {             char character = characters.charAt(i);             type(character);         }     }      public void type(char character) {         switch (character) {         case 'a': doType(VK_A); break;         case 'b': doType(VK_B); break;         case 'c': doType(VK_C); break;         case 'd': doType(VK_D); break;         case 'e': doType(VK_E); break;         case 'f': doType(VK_F); break;         case 'g': doType(VK_G); break;         case 'h': doType(VK_H); break;         case 'i': doType(VK_I); break;         case 'j': doType(VK_J); break;         case 'k': doType(VK_K); break;         case 'l': doType(VK_L); break;         case 'm': doType(VK_M); break;         case 'n': doType(VK_N); break;         case 'o': doType(VK_O); break;         case 'p': doType(VK_P); break;         case 'q': doType(VK_Q); break;         case 'r': doType(VK_R); break;         case 's': doType(VK_S); break;         case 't': doType(VK_T); break;         case 'u': doType(VK_U); break;         case 'v': doType(VK_V); break;         case 'w': doType(VK_W); break;         case 'x': doType(VK_X); break;         case 'y': doType(VK_Y); break;         case 'z': doType(VK_Z); break;         case 'A': doType(VK_SHIFT, VK_A); break;         case 'B': doType(VK_SHIFT, VK_B); break;         case 'C': doType(VK_SHIFT, VK_C); break;         case 'D': doType(VK_SHIFT, VK_D); break;         case 'E': doType(VK_SHIFT, VK_E); break;         case 'F': doType(VK_SHIFT, VK_F); break;         case 'G': doType(VK_SHIFT, VK_G); break;         case 'H': doType(VK_SHIFT, VK_H); break;         case 'I': doType(VK_SHIFT, VK_I); break;         case 'J': doType(VK_SHIFT, VK_J); break;         case 'K': doType(VK_SHIFT, VK_K); break;         case 'L': doType(VK_SHIFT, VK_L); break;         case 'M': doType(VK_SHIFT, VK_M); break;         case 'N': doType(VK_SHIFT, VK_N); break;         case 'O': doType(VK_SHIFT, VK_O); break;         case 'P': doType(VK_SHIFT, VK_P); break;         case 'Q': doType(VK_SHIFT, VK_Q); break;         case 'R': doType(VK_SHIFT, VK_R); break;         case 'S': doType(VK_SHIFT, VK_S); break;         case 'T': doType(VK_SHIFT, VK_T); break;         case 'U': doType(VK_SHIFT, VK_U); break;         case 'V': doType(VK_SHIFT, VK_V); break;         case 'W': doType(VK_SHIFT, VK_W); break;         case 'X': doType(VK_SHIFT, VK_X); break;         case 'Y': doType(VK_SHIFT, VK_Y); break;         case 'Z': doType(VK_SHIFT, VK_Z); break;         case '`': doType(VK_BACK_QUOTE); break;         case '0': doType(VK_0); break;         case '1': doType(VK_1); break;         case '2': doType(VK_2); break;         case '3': doType(VK_3); break;         case '4': doType(VK_4); break;         case '5': doType(VK_5); break;         case '6': doType(VK_6); break;         case '7': doType(VK_7); break;         case '8': doType(VK_8); break;         case '9': doType(VK_9); break;         case '-': doType(VK_MINUS); break;         case '=': doType(VK_EQUALS); break;         case '~': doType(VK_SHIFT, VK_BACK_QUOTE); break;         case '!': doType(VK_EXCLAMATION_MARK); break;         case '@': doType(VK_AT); break;         case '#': doType(VK_NUMBER_SIGN); break;         case '$': doType(VK_DOLLAR); break;         case '%': doType(VK_SHIFT, VK_5); break;         case '^': doType(VK_CIRCUMFLEX); break;         case '&': doType(VK_AMPERSAND); break;         case '*': doType(VK_ASTERISK); break;         case '(': doType(VK_LEFT_PARENTHESIS); break;         case ')': doType(VK_RIGHT_PARENTHESIS); break;         case '_': doType(VK_UNDERSCORE); break;         case '+': doType(VK_PLUS); break;         case '\t': doType(VK_TAB); break;         case '\n': doType(VK_ENTER); break;         case '[': doType(VK_OPEN_BRACKET); break;         case ']': doType(VK_CLOSE_BRACKET); break;         case '\\': doType(VK_BACK_SLASH); break;         case '{': doType(VK_SHIFT, VK_OPEN_BRACKET); break;         case '}': doType(VK_SHIFT, VK_CLOSE_BRACKET); break;         case '|': doType(VK_SHIFT, VK_BACK_SLASH); break;         case ';': doType(VK_SEMICOLON); break;         case ':': doType(VK_COLON); break;         case '\'': doType(VK_QUOTE); break;         case '"': doType(VK_QUOTEDBL); break;         case ',': doType(VK_COMMA); break;         case '<': doType(VK_SHIFT, VK_COMMA); break;         case '.': doType(VK_PERIOD); break;         case '>': doType(VK_SHIFT, VK_PERIOD); break;         case '/': doType(VK_SLASH); break;         case '?': doType(VK_SHIFT, VK_SLASH); break;         case ' ': doType(VK_SPACE); break;         default:             throw new IllegalArgumentException("Cannot type character " + character);         }     }      private void doType(int... keyCodes) {         doType(keyCodes, 0, keyCodes.length);     }      private void doType(int[] keyCodes, int offset, int length) {         if (length == 0) {             return;         }          robot.keyPress(keyCodes[offset]);         doType(keyCodes, offset + 1, length - 1);         robot.keyRelease(keyCodes[offset]);     }  } 

If you want some custom key typing, you can extend the class and override the type(char) method. For example:

import static java.awt.event.KeyEvent.*;  public class WindowUnicodeKeyboard extends Keyboard {      private Robot robot;      public WindowUnicodeKeyboard(Robot robot) {         super(robot);         this.robot = robot;     }      @Override     public void type(char character) {         try {             super.type(character);         } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {             String unicodeDigits = String.valueOf(Character.getCodePoint(character));             robot.keyPress(VK_ALT);             for (int i = 0; i < unicodeDigits.length(); i++) {                 typeNumPad(Integer.parseInt(unicodeDigits.substring(i, i + 1)));             }             robot.keyRelease(VK_ALT);         }     }      private void typeNumPad(int digit) {         switch (digit) {         case 0: doType(VK_NUMPAD0); break;         case 1: doType(VK_NUMPAD1); break;         case 2: doType(VK_NUMPAD2); break;         case 3: doType(VK_NUMPAD3); break;         case 4: doType(VK_NUMPAD4); break;         case 5: doType(VK_NUMPAD5); break;         case 6: doType(VK_NUMPAD6); break;         case 7: doType(VK_NUMPAD7); break;         case 8: doType(VK_NUMPAD8); break;         case 9: doType(VK_NUMPAD9); break;         }     }  } 

There is, of course, room for improvement, but you get the idea.