How can I automate multiple programs at the same time (send keyboard & mouse input)

Question

I'd like to use a script to send events such as keyboard or mouse input to automate another program. Think a bot that plays a game for instance (although I don't play video-games).

I want to do this with several (script, program) pairs at the same time.

I known I can automate my mouse and keyboard on windows using autoit or the win32 API, but windows has the concept of "active windows": there is only one active window at a time, and this is the windows that can receive input.

Because of this "active window" concept, I can't automate multiple programs at once.

What alternative do I have?

EDIT: I need to automate the programs without having to wait for another program. Switching the active window using keyboard shortcuts won't do it. Also I want to use the computer while the programs are automated in background.

Answer 1

Updated to include alternatives to tying up current user's input

Autoit Using autoit you could do something similar to

Opt("WinTitleMatchMode", 2)

While WinActive('Search')
    Send("{ALT DOWN}")
    Send("{TAB}")
    Send("{ALT UP}")
WEnd

Where ‘search’ contains part of the title for the window.

If you know the order of the window’s focus you could simply send tab enough extra times to get to the given window.

The order for alt+tab is alway in reverse focus order.

Win32 This has been answered on other threads and gets deeper into programing. If you want to go this route you will have to send the windows messages to the process you would like. I would look at: How do I send key strokes to a window without having to activate it using Windows API?

It does not seem to be reliable and would have a lot of pitfalls. Assumptions have to be made about the way keyboard input is handled on the given applications.

Not knowing what you are trying to achieve I may suggest using a virtual machine and allowing that instance to run the macros/scripts. This should allow the user to continue to use the computer while not tying up the desktop the user is using.