Hi,

I developped an application (MFC) for an XP Tablet PC (Edition 2005,
Version 2002, SP2). In this application I want to open the soft keyboard
automatically when certain edit controls have the input focus.

On Pocket PCs this was very easy. There you can add a certain element to
a dialog (WC_SIPPREF) to get this behaviour. Keyboard (SIP) will open
automatically if a control that expects keyboard input will get the
focus and the keyboard disappears if a control that does not expect
keyboard input will get the focus. This might be the best solution to my
problem. But I will be happy if I only know how to open and close the
keyboard by code in my application.

Claus

I dont believe there are any documented API's to do this. It might be
possible to locate the floating icon and post a click message to it but this
would be flaky at best because of the timing issues. Prior to SP2, Windows
had a "PenInputPanel" component that was separate from the system's input
panel that provided a similar UI. But this was dropped in SP2 and no longer
works.

I think Infragistics has a control that does that though.

http://www.infragistics.com/dotnet/n...kprovider.aspx

--
Josh Einstein (Tablet PC MVP)
Einstein Technologies
Tablet Enhancements for Outlook - Try it free: www.tabletoutlook.com


"Claus Henning" <claus#minus#guntram#dot#henning#at#ortim#dot#de > wrote in
message news:%23MfOhYJHIHA.1212@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
> Hi,
>
> I developped an application (MFC) for an XP Tablet PC (Edition 2005,
> Version 2002, SP2). In this application I want to open the soft keyboard
> automatically when certain edit controls have the input focus.
>
> On Pocket PCs this was very easy. There you can add a certain element to a
> dialog (WC_SIPPREF) to get this behaviour. Keyboard (SIP) will open
> automatically if a control that expects keyboard input will get the focus
> and the keyboard disappears if a control that does not expect keyboard
> input will get the focus. This might be the best solution to my problem.
> But I will be happy if I only know how to open and close the keyboard by
> code in my application.
>
> Claus

On Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 there is not a good way to do this.

With Windows Vista, we have introduced the new TextInputPanel API [1], that
allows you to do this easily like this:

TextInputPanel tip = new TextInputPanel(textBox1);
tip.DefaultInputArea = PanelInputArea.Keyboard;
tip.DefaultInPlaceState = InPlaceState.Expanded;

Now, whenever 'textBox1' gets focus, the soft keyboard pops up for the user.

Thanks,
Stefan Wick - http://blogs.msdn.com/swick

[1] http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms698524.aspx


"Josh Einstein" wrote:

> I dont believe there are any documented API's to do this. It might be
> possible to locate the floating icon and post a click message to it but this
> would be flaky at best because of the timing issues. Prior to SP2, Windows
> had a "PenInputPanel" component that was separate from the system's input
> panel that provided a similar UI. But this was dropped in SP2 and no longer
> works.
>
> I think Infragistics has a control that does that though.
>
> http://www.infragistics.com/dotnet/n...kprovider.aspx
>
> --
> Josh Einstein (Tablet PC MVP)
> Einstein Technologies
> Tablet Enhancements for Outlook - Try it free: www.tabletoutlook.com

Very useful to know. Is there any "what's new for Tablet PC in Vista" in
MSDN?

--
Josh Einstein (Tablet PC MVP)
Einstein Technologies
Tablet Enhancements for Outlook - Try it free: www.tabletoutlook.com

"Stefan Wick[MS]" <StefanWickMS@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:EB1EEDAF-4762-453A-BA02-299BE835D51F@microsoft.com...
> On Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 there is not a good way to do this.
>
> With Windows Vista, we have introduced the new TextInputPanel API [1],
> that
> allows you to do this easily like this:
>
> TextInputPanel tip = new TextInputPanel(textBox1);
> tip.DefaultInputArea = PanelInputArea.Keyboard;
> tip.DefaultInPlaceState = InPlaceState.Expanded;
>
> Now, whenever 'textBox1' gets focus, the soft keyboard pops up for the
> user.
>
> Thanks,
> Stefan Wick - http://blogs.msdn.com/swick
>
> [1] http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms698524.aspx
>
>
> "Josh Einstein" wrote:
>
>> I dont believe there are any documented API's to do this. It might be
>> possible to locate the floating icon and post a click message to it but
>> this
>> would be flaky at best because of the timing issues. Prior to SP2,
>> Windows
>> had a "PenInputPanel" component that was separate from the system's input
>> panel that provided a similar UI. But this was dropped in SP2 and no
>> longer
>> works.
>>
>> I think Infragistics has a control that does that though.
>>
>> http://www.infragistics.com/dotnet/n...kprovider.aspx
>>
>> --
>> Josh Einstein (Tablet PC MVP)
>> Einstein Technologies
>> Tablet Enhancements for Outlook - Try it free: www.tabletoutlook.com
>

MSDN has this one:
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms704356.aspx

Unfortunately, it doesn't mention the new TextInputPanel API in that
overview. I'll make sure we add that.

Thanks,
Stefan Wick - http://blogs.msdn.com/swick

"Josh Einstein" <josh@einsteintech.net> wrote in message
news:5562FB03-9B61-4B6F-A0BF-8815A52D8B7C@microsoft.com...
> Very useful to know. Is there any "what's new for Tablet PC in Vista" in
> MSDN?
>
> --
> Josh Einstein (Tablet PC MVP)
> Einstein Technologies
> Tablet Enhancements for Outlook - Try it free: www.tabletoutlook.com

Stefan Wick[MS] schrieb/wrote:
> On Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 there is not a good way to do this.

And what is a not-good way to do this?

Claus

It doesn't work well if I remember, but I experimented with posting messages
to the invisible hwnd before. But it won't be suitable for users.

--
Josh Einstein (Tablet PC MVP)
Einstein Technologies
Tablet Enhancements for Outlook - Try it free: www.tabletoutlook.com


"Claus Henning" <claus#minus#guntram#dot#henning#at#ortim#dot#de > wrote in
message news:Oi0XIUoJIHA.4712@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
> Stefan Wick[MS] schrieb/wrote:
>> On Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 there is not a good way to do this.
>
> And what is a not-good way to do this?
>
> Claus

Josh Einstein schrieb/wrote:
> It doesn't work well if I remember, but I experimented with posting
> messages to the invisible hwnd before. But it won't be suitable for users.
>

Maybe, I'll give it a try.

Thanks
Claus