How to check whether the Open/Save As dialog box is opened in VB.NET

Question

I have written a vb.net application to start an external application (notepad.exe) and then open the txt file located in at "D:\test.txt". I have used keyboard events to achive this.

Step1: Open the notepad

Process.Start("notepad.exe")

Step 2: Raised the keyboard event Ctrl + O to open the Open dialog box

keybd_event(VK_CONTROL, &H45, 0, 0)
keybd_event(VK_O, 0, 0, 0)
keybd_event(VK_CONTROL, &H45, KEYEVENTF_KEYUP, 0)

Step 3: Wait for 2 seconds.

Thread.Sleep(2000)

Step 4: Raised the keyboard event to type the File path "D:\Test.txt" in the File Name textbox.

Issue: Occassionally the Open dialog box operation takes more time (exceeds 2000 ms) to open, as a result the file path typing event started before opening the open dialog box. I have increased the sleep time, but the issue not fixed completely.

Is there any way to check whether the Open dialog box is opened using the notepad process id?

I have tried using EnumChildWindows, but i didn't get the result.

May I suggest `Process.Start("notepad.exe", "D:\test.txt")` as an alternative? — Heinzi, Oct 08 '15 at 13:03
I have downvoted this as I can't see why it is useful to anyone else. If you want the user to edit text in your application you can do this using a textbox control — Matt Wilko, Oct 08 '15 at 13:11
My original external application is not notepad. it is another product. — Saravana Kumar, Oct 08 '15 at 13:27

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Oct 08 '15 at 15:21

0

The PID will change every time you open or close notepad. I would suggest to use the Image Name to check to see if it is open. beware of this option though because if you have to instances open this will cause an issue.

answered Oct 08 '15 at 15:21

Still the other product will always have a different PID number as well – Oct 08 '15 at 16:40

How to check whether the Open/Save As dialog box is opened in VB.NET

1 Answers1