TypeText method of the Msvm_Keyboard class

Simulates a series of typed characters. This is equivalent to calling PressKey followed by ReleaseKey for each character in the string.

Syntax

uint32 TypeText(
  [in] string asciiText
);

Parameters

asciiText [in]

Type: string

The series of ASCII or Unicode characters to type. The maximum length of this string depends on the type of characters in the string.

String type	Maximum characters
ASCII	512
Unicode	256 to 512, depending on the number of surrogate pairs in the string.

Return value

Type: uint32

A return value of zero indicates success. A return value of one indicates a failure caused by nontranslatable characters in the input string. All other nonzero values indicate a failure to modify the key state.

Completed with No Error (0)

Method Parameters Checked - Job Started (4096)

Failed (32768)

Access Denied (32769)

Not Supported (32770)

Status is unknown (32771)

Timeout (32772)

Invalid parameter (32773)

System is in used (32774)

Invalid state for this operation (32775)

Incorrect data type (32776)

System is not available (32777)

Out of memory (32778)

Remarks

Access to the Msvm_Keyboard class might be restricted by UAC Filtering. For more information, see User Account Control and WMI.

Examples

The following C# sample simulates typing text. The referenced utilities can be found in Common utilities for the virtualization samples (V2).

using System;
using System.Management;

namespace HyperVSamples
{
    class TypeTextClass
    {
        static ManagementObject GetComputerKeyboard(ManagementObject vm)
        {
            ManagementObjectCollection keyboardCollection = vm.GetRelated
            (
                "Msvm_Keyboard",
                "Msvm_SystemDevice",
                null,
                null,
                "PartComponent",
                "GroupComponent",
                false,
                null
            );

            ManagementObject keyboard = null;

            foreach (ManagementObject instance in keyboardCollection)
            {
                keyboard = instance;
                break;
            }

            return keyboard;
        }

        static void TypeText(string vmName, string text)
        {
            ManagementScope scope = new ManagementScope(@"root\virtualization\v2", null);
            ManagementObject vm = Utility.GetTargetComputer(vmName, scope);
            ManagementObject keyboard = GetComputerKeyboard(vm);

            ManagementBaseObject inParams = keyboard.GetMethodParameters("TypeText");

            inParams["asciiText"] = text;

            ManagementBaseObject outParams = keyboard.InvokeMethod("TypeText", inParams, null);

            if ((UInt16)outParams["ReturnValue"] == ReturnCode.Completed)
            {
                string.Format("Text {0} was typed on {1}", text, vm["ElementName"]);
            }
            else
            {
                string.Format("Unable to type '{0}' on {1}", text, vm["ElementName"]);
            }

            inParams.Dispose();
            outParams.Dispose();
            keyboard.Dispose();
            vm.Dispose();
        }

        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            if (args != null && args.Length != 2)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("Usage: TypeText vmName Text");
                return;
            }
            TypeText(args[0], args[1]);
        }
    }
}

The following Visual Basic Scripting Edition (VBScript) sample simulates typing text.

option explicit 

dim objWMIService
dim fileSystem
const wmiSuccessful = 0

Main()

'-----------------------------------------------------------------
' Main routine
'-----------------------------------------------------------------
Sub Main()
    dim computer, objArgs, vmName, computerSystem, text, keyboard
    
    set fileSystem = Wscript.CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")

    computer = "."
    set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:\\" & computer & "\root\virtualization\v2")

    set objArgs = WScript.Arguments
    if WScript.Arguments.Count = 2 then
       vmName= objArgs.Unnamed.Item(0)
       text = objArgs.Unnamed.Item(1)
    else
       WScript.Echo "usage: cscript TypeText.vbs vmName text"
       WScript.Quit
    end if
    
    set computerSystem = GetComputerSystem(vmName)
    set keyboard = GetComputerKeyboard(computerSystem)

    if TypeText(keyboard, text) then

        WriteLog "Done"
        WScript.Quit(0)
    else
        WriteLog "TypeText operation failed"
        WScript.Quit(1)
    end if

End Sub

'-----------------------------------------------------------------
' Retrieve Msvm_VirtualComputerSystem from base on its ElementName
' 
'-----------------------------------------------------------------
Function GetComputerSystem(vmElementName)
    dim query
    On Error Resume Next
    query = Format1("select * from Msvm_ComputerSystem where ElementName = '{0}'", vmElementName)
    set GetComputerSystem = objWMIService.ExecQuery(query).ItemIndex(0)
    if (Err.Number <> 0) then
        WriteLog Format1("Err.Number: {0}", Err.Number)
        WriteLog Format1("Err.Description:{0}",Err.Description)
        WScript.Quit(1)
    end if
End Function


'-----------------------------------------------------------------
' Retrieve Msvm_Keyboard from given computer system
' 
'-----------------------------------------------------------------
Function GetComputerKeyboard(computerSystem)
    dim query
    On Error Resume Next
    query = Format1("ASSOCIATORS OF {{0}} WHERE resultClass = Msvm_Keyboard", computerSystem.Path_.Path)
    set GetComputerKeyboard = objWMIService.ExecQuery(query).ItemIndex(0)
    if (Err.Number <> 0) then
        WriteLog Format1("Err.Number: {0}", Err.Number)
        WriteLog Format1("Err.Description:{0}",Err.Description)
        WScript.Quit(1)
    end if
End Function

'-----------------------------------------------------------------
' Type the given text to the given keyboard
'-----------------------------------------------------------------
Function TypeText(keyboard, text)
    WriteLog Format2("TypeText({0}, {1})", keyboard.ElementName, text)
    
    dim objInParam, objOutParams

    TypeText = false
    set objInParam = keyboard.Methods_("TypeText").InParameters.SpawnInstance_()
    objInParam.asciiText = text

    set objOutParams = keyboard.ExecMethod_("TypeText", objInParam)

    if objOutParams.ReturnValue = wmiSuccessful then
        WriteLog Format2("'{0}' was typed on {1}", text, keyboard.ElementName)
        TypeText = true
    end if

End Function

'-----------------------------------------------------------------
' Create the console log files.
'-----------------------------------------------------------------
Sub WriteLog(line)
    dim fileStream
    set fileStream = fileSystem.OpenTextFile(".\Typetext.log", 8, true)
    WScript.Echo line
    fileStream.WriteLine line
    fileStream.Close

End Sub


'------------------------------------------------------------------------------
' The string formatting functions to avoid string concatenation.
'------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Function Format2(myString, arg0, arg1)
    Format2 = Format1(myString, arg0)
    Format2 = Replace(Format2, "{1}", arg1)
End Function

'------------------------------------------------------------------------------
' The string formatting functions to avoid string concatenation.
'------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Function Format1(myString, arg0)
    Format1 = Replace(myString, "{0}", arg0)
End Function

Requirements

Requirement	Value
Minimum supported client	Windows 8 [desktop apps only]
Minimum supported server	Windows Server 2012 [desktop apps only]
Namespace	Root\Virtualization\V2
MOF	WindowsVirtualization.V2.mof
DLL	Vmms.exe

See also

Msvm_Keyboard