Linux, how to capture screen, and simulate mouse movements
I couldn't get the clicking working with the method @axiom used, only movement of the pointer. I used this instead: (Ubuntu 18.04).
Compiles with: g++ mouse_click.cpp -lX11 -lXtst -lstdc++
#include<stdio.h>
#include<unistd.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <X11/Xlib.h>
#include <X11/Xutil.h>
#include <X11/extensions/XTest.h>
void mouseClick(int button)
{
Display *display = XOpenDisplay(NULL);
// click left button
XTestFakeButtonEvent(display, Button1, true, 0);
XFlush(display);
usleep(10000);
// release left mouse
XTestFakeButtonEvent(display, Button1, false, 0);
XFlush(display);
XCloseDisplay(display);
}
int main(int argc,char * argv[]) {
int x , y;
x=atoi(argv[1]);
y=atoi(argv[2]);
Display *display = XOpenDisplay(0);
Window root = DefaultRootWindow(display);
XTestFakeMotionEvent(display, root, x, y, 0);
XFlush(display);
mouseClick(Button1);
XFlush(display);
XCloseDisplay(display);
return 0;
}
//sg
//Solution using Xlib for those who use Linux
#include <X11/Xlib.h>
#include<stdio.h>
#include<unistd.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <X11/Xlib.h>
#include <X11/Xutil.h>
void mouseClick(int button)
{
Display *display = XOpenDisplay(NULL);
XEvent event;
if(display == NULL)
{
fprintf(stderr, "Cannot initialize the display\n");
exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
}
memset(&event, 0x00, sizeof(event));
event.type = ButtonPress;
event.xbutton.button = button;
event.xbutton.same_screen = True;
XQueryPointer(display, RootWindow(display, DefaultScreen(display)), &event.xbutton.root, &event.xbutton.window, &event.xbutton.x_root, &event.xbutton.y_root, &event.xbutton.x, &event.xbutton.y, &event.xbutton.state);
event.xbutton.subwindow = event.xbutton.window;
while(event.xbutton.subwindow)
{
event.xbutton.window = event.xbutton.subwindow;
XQueryPointer(display, event.xbutton.window, &event.xbutton.root, &event.xbutton.subwindow, &event.xbutton.x_root, &event.xbutton.y_root, &event.xbutton.x, &event.xbutton.y, &event.xbutton.state);
}
if(XSendEvent(display, PointerWindow, True, 0xfff, &event) == 0) fprintf(stderr, "Error\n");
XFlush(display);
usleep(100000);
event.type = ButtonRelease;
event.xbutton.state = 0x100;
if(XSendEvent(display, PointerWindow, True, 0xfff, &event) == 0) fprintf(stderr, "Error\n");
XFlush(display);
XCloseDisplay(display);
}
int main(int argc,char * argv[]) {
int x , y;
x=atoi(argv[1]);
y=atoi(argv[2]);
Display *display = XOpenDisplay(0);
Window root = DefaultRootWindow(display);
XWarpPointer(display, None, root, 0, 0, 0, 0, x, y);
mouseClick(Button1);
XFlush(display);
XCloseDisplay(display);
return 0;
}
Build it and then to simulate a click at x ,y do:
$ ./a.out x y
i.e.
$ g++ -lX11 sgmousesim2.cpp
$ ./a.out 123 13
Just in case you are still interested.
Swinput is a solution for simulating mouse/key events. You need to compile it probably for your kernel. Xorg provided some headers for recording mouse/key events but I think it is broken at the moment. There is a C
code evtest that can be used to capture events from /dev/input/eventX
, /dev/input/mice
files. It can be helpful.
Edit:
The bug was fixed in Xorg record extension, so it may be working too.