Use a robot to type characters in Java

Question

I know how to have Robot simulate a Y keypress like so:

    Robot.keyPress(KeyEvent.VK_Y);

But how do I get Robot to press a quote and period?:

".

Can anyone provide me some reference page or sample code?

i would like to do something like that: robot.keyPress(KeyEvent.VK_D); — dfdsfsdfsddsgsrew, Jul 10 '11 at 15:37
I want to do something like that: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/397113/how-to-make-the-java-awt-robot-type-unicode-characters-is-it-possible — dfdsfsdfsddsgsrew, Jul 10 '11 at 15:41
I have re-edited your post, hopefully getting it closer to your original intent. If I am wrong, please feel free to re-edit it yourself. Best of luck! — Hovercraft Full Of Eels, Jul 10 '11 at 15:48

score 13 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 10 '11 at 16:26

You can't always just use the KeyEvent.VK... variable.

For example on my keyboard the "%" character is above the "5". To use a Robot to type a "5", the code would be:

robot.keyPress(KeyEvent.VK_5); 
robot.keyRelease(KeyEvent.VK_5);

and use a Robot to type a "%", the code would be:

robot.keyPress(KeyEvent.VK_SHIFT); 
robot.keyPress(KeyEvent.VK_5); 
robot.keyRelease(KeyEvent.VK_5);
robot.keyRelease(KeyEvent.VK_SHIFT);

Hovercraft Full Of Eels · Answer 2 · 2011-07-10T15:49:10.787

3

If you wanted to use Robot, KeyEvent has VK_QUOTE and VK_PERIOD constants. All of these constants and more are available through the KeyEvent API

edited Jul 10 '11 at 15:49

answered Jul 10 '11 at 15:41

@dfdsfsdfsddsgsrew: Your welcome. I think that someone over-edited your original post, removing key information, and I'm sorry about that. – Hovercraft Full Of Eels Jul 10 '11 at 15:44
No need feel sorry. Your response is really useful for me! – dfdsfsdfsddsgsrew Jul 10 '11 at 15:57

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Feb 07 '18 at 01:25

0

Previous Robots seem to be deprecated.

For the time being, for JavaFX, there's FXRobot

FXRobot robot = FXRobotFactory.createRobot(scene);
robot.keyPress(KeyCode.QUOTE);
robot.keyPress(KeyCode.PERIOD);

answered Feb 07 '18 at 01:25

Brad Turek

score -1 · Answer 4 · answered Jul 10 '11 at 15:39

-1

What do you mean by "programmatically type these characters?"

You can use a backslash (\) to print a double-quote, but you don't need anything special for the period:

System.out.println("This is a quote symbol: \" and this is a period: .");

Output:

This is a quote symbol: " and this is a period: .

answered Jul 10 '11 at 15:39

Chris Gregg

1

I see this isn't what you want to do. It looks like you are looking for the keyboard-code for `KeyEvent`, which **@Hovercraft Full of Eels** provided. – Chris Gregg Jul 10 '11 at 15:42

score -2 · Answer 5 · answered Jul 10 '11 at 15:40

-2

Your question is not clear, but to print the characters you can use a stream using the following snippet as a template:

System.out.println("\".");

answered Jul 10 '11 at 15:40

user510210

5 Answers5