How to click Windows key in Java

Question

Can I click "Windows" key in Java? I need to emulate pressing Win + ARROW_UP keys. May be this button has Key Unicode and it could be called by .getKeyFromUnicode() method? Will be appreciated for any help. Thank you.

Answer 1

1) You can simply try this:

private void pressKey() {

    try {
        Robot r = new Robot();
        r.keyPress(KeyEvent.VK_WINDOWS)
        r.keyPress(KeyEvent.VK_UP); //Windows button is still pressed at this moment
        r.keyRelease(KeyEvent.VK_UP);
        r.keyRelease(KeyEvent.VK_WINDOWS);          
    } catch (Exception e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
    }
}

2) Another variant for solving your task - is sikuli.docs

If you want to simulate pressing and holding one button, while then typing another, use type(TheKeyDoingTheAction, KeyModifier.TheKeyYoureHoldingDown It's written like this:

 type(Key.UP, KeyModifier.WIN)

Please check docs and samples here: http://doc.sikuli.org/keys.html

3) Finally, you could use the following code:

Runtime.getRuntime().exec("rundll32 user32.dll,LockWorkStation");

Note: This will work for Win OS only.

Answer 2

Try out the Robot class to emulate a key press. Use the Key Event class's VK_WINDOWS constant to press the windows key (this can be generalized to also press the up key with VK_UP):

import java.awt.Robot;
import java.awt.event.KeyEvent;
Robot r = new Robot();
r.keyPress(KeyEvent.VK_WINDOWS);
r.keyRelease(KeyEvent.VK_WINDOWS);

Keep in mind the Robot class throws an IllegalArgumentException if the key is invalid. I'm not 100% on what happens if you try to press the Windows key on a non-Windows OS.