How to get the "Handle" of the ToolStripItem object?

Question

It is written that this is impossible because the object is not inherited from Control and belongs to ToolStrip, but I checked with Window Scanner that such a descriptor exists and the object can be controlled.

Actually, we are talking about the ToolStripTextBox. – Antinet Jun 09 '20 at 08:02 — Antinet, Jun 09 '20 at 08:02

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 09 '20 at 08:14

0

The problem has been solved specifically for the ToolStripTextBox:

IntPtr handle = tstb.Control.Handle;

answered Jun 09 '20 at 08:14

Antinet

1
2

`ToolStripTextBox` doesn't derive from `ToolStripItem`, it derives from `ToolStripControlHost`. It has a handle because it actually hosts a TextBox Control. You should fix your question to explain what you're really after: `ToolStripItems` or just UI elements that derive from `ToolStripControlHost` (as `ToolStripComboBox`, but not `ToolStripButton`, for example). If you need to *control* these elements, you can use UI Automation. – Jimi Jun 09 '20 at 08:24
If you need to access the Components from your app, you can also use reflection, or, inside the same Form class, just the `components` private Field. – Jimi Jun 09 '20 at 08:31

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 16 '23 at 12:52

if you are doing some Desktop Application Automation by yourself (since UIautomation is just ridiculously badly designed ), you can design a method which returns a Control class this way:

    public virtual Control FindControlByName(string name)
    {

[...]
                if (control is ToolStrip)
                {
                    var toolStrip = control as ToolStrip;
                    for (int i=0; i<toolStrip.Items.Count; i++)
                    {
                        ToolStripItem currrentItem = toolStrip.Items[i];
                        ToolStripTextBox textBox = currrentItem as ToolStripTextBox;
                        if (textBox != null)
                        {
                            if (textBox.Name == name)
                            {
                                return textBox.Control;
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
        }
        return null;
    }

If you can speak with developer of TargetApp, ask him to change the ToolStripLabel by a ToolStripTextBox . Indeed you will benefit from ToolStripControlHost : https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/api/system.windows.forms.toolstripcontrolhost?view=windowsdesktop-7.0

which is also a ToolStripItem, but which exposes the 'Automation crucial element' : Control property.

Just set the ToolStripTextBox as readonly and with no border , and with a width, and done !

How to get the "Handle" of the ToolStripItem object?

2 Answers2