Module java.desktop
Package java.awt

Class Robot

  • public class Robot
extends Object
    This class is used to generate native system input events for the purposes of test automation, self-running demos, and other applications where control of the mouse and keyboard is needed. The primary purpose of Robot is to facilitate automated testing of Java platform implementations.

    Using the class to generate input events differs from posting events to the AWT event queue or AWT components in that the events are generated in the platform's native input queue. For example, Robot.mouseMove will actually move the mouse cursor instead of just generating mouse move events.

    Note that some platforms require special privileges or extensions to access low-level input control. If the current platform configuration does not allow input control, an AWTException will be thrown when trying to construct Robot objects. For example, X-Window systems will throw the exception if the XTEST 2.2 standard extension is not supported (or not enabled) by the X server.

    Applications that use Robot for purposes other than self-testing should handle these error conditions gracefully.

    Since:
    1.3

    • Method Detail

      • mouseMove

        public void mouseMove​(int x,
                      int y)
        Moves mouse pointer to given screen coordinates.
        Parameters:
        x - X position
        y - Y position

      • mousePress

        public void mousePress​(int buttons)
        Presses one or more mouse buttons. The mouse buttons should be released using the mouseRelease(int) method.
        Parameters:
        buttons - the Button mask; a combination of one or more mouse button masks.

        It is allowed to use only a combination of valid values as a buttons parameter. A valid combination consists of InputEvent.BUTTON1_DOWN_MASK, InputEvent.BUTTON2_DOWN_MASK, InputEvent.BUTTON3_DOWN_MASK and values returned by the InputEvent.getMaskForButton(button) method. The valid combination also depends on a Toolkit.areExtraMouseButtonsEnabled() value as follows:

        • If support for extended mouse buttons is disabled by Java then it is allowed to use only the following standard button masks: InputEvent.BUTTON1_DOWN_MASK, InputEvent.BUTTON2_DOWN_MASK, InputEvent.BUTTON3_DOWN_MASK.
        • If support for extended mouse buttons is enabled by Java then it is allowed to use the standard button masks and masks for existing extended mouse buttons, if the mouse has more then three buttons. In that way, it is allowed to use the button masks corresponding to the buttons in the range from 1 to MouseInfo.getNumberOfButtons().
          It is recommended to use the InputEvent.getMaskForButton(button) method to obtain the mask for any mouse button by its number.

        The following standard button masks are also accepted:

        • InputEvent.BUTTON1_MASK
        • InputEvent.BUTTON2_MASK
        • InputEvent.BUTTON3_MASK
        However, it is recommended to use InputEvent.BUTTON1_DOWN_MASK, InputEvent.BUTTON2_DOWN_MASK, InputEvent.BUTTON3_DOWN_MASK instead. Either extended _DOWN_MASK or old _MASK values should be used, but both those models should not be mixed.
        Throws:
        IllegalArgumentException - if the buttons mask contains the mask for extra mouse button and support for extended mouse buttons is disabled by Java
        IllegalArgumentException - if the buttons mask contains the mask for extra mouse button that does not exist on the mouse and support for extended mouse buttons is enabled by Java
        See Also:
        mouseRelease(int), InputEvent.getMaskForButton(int), Toolkit.areExtraMouseButtonsEnabled(), MouseInfo.getNumberOfButtons(), MouseEvent

      • mouseRelease

        public void mouseRelease​(int buttons)
        Releases one or more mouse buttons.
        Parameters:
        buttons - the Button mask; a combination of one or more mouse button masks.

        It is allowed to use only a combination of valid values as a buttons parameter. A valid combination consists of InputEvent.BUTTON1_DOWN_MASK, InputEvent.BUTTON2_DOWN_MASK, InputEvent.BUTTON3_DOWN_MASK and values returned by the InputEvent.getMaskForButton(button) method. The valid combination also depends on a Toolkit.areExtraMouseButtonsEnabled() value as follows:

        • If the support for extended mouse buttons is disabled by Java then it is allowed to use only the following standard button masks: InputEvent.BUTTON1_DOWN_MASK, InputEvent.BUTTON2_DOWN_MASK, InputEvent.BUTTON3_DOWN_MASK.
        • If the support for extended mouse buttons is enabled by Java then it is allowed to use the standard button masks and masks for existing extended mouse buttons, if the mouse has more then three buttons. In that way, it is allowed to use the button masks corresponding to the buttons in the range from 1 to MouseInfo.getNumberOfButtons().
          It is recommended to use the InputEvent.getMaskForButton(button) method to obtain the mask for any mouse button by its number.

        The following standard button masks are also accepted:

        • InputEvent.BUTTON1_MASK
        • InputEvent.BUTTON2_MASK
        • InputEvent.BUTTON3_MASK
        However, it is recommended to use InputEvent.BUTTON1_DOWN_MASK, InputEvent.BUTTON2_DOWN_MASK, InputEvent.BUTTON3_DOWN_MASK instead. Either extended _DOWN_MASK or old _MASK values should be used, but both those models should not be mixed.
        Throws:
        IllegalArgumentException - if the buttons mask contains the mask for extra mouse button and support for extended mouse buttons is disabled by Java
        IllegalArgumentException - if the buttons mask contains the mask for extra mouse button that does not exist on the mouse and support for extended mouse buttons is enabled by Java
        See Also:
        mousePress(int), InputEvent.getMaskForButton(int), Toolkit.areExtraMouseButtonsEnabled(), MouseInfo.getNumberOfButtons(), MouseEvent

      • mouseWheel

        public void mouseWheel​(int wheelAmt)
        Rotates the scroll wheel on wheel-equipped mice.
        Parameters:
        wheelAmt - number of "notches" to move the mouse wheel Negative values indicate movement up/away from the user, positive values indicate movement down/towards the user.
        Since:
        1.4

      • keyPress

        public void keyPress​(int keycode)
        Presses a given key. The key should be released using the keyRelease method.

        Key codes that have more than one physical key associated with them (e.g. KeyEvent.VK_SHIFT could mean either the left or right shift key) will map to the left key.

        Parameters:
        keycode - Key to press (e.g. KeyEvent.VK_A)
        Throws:
        IllegalArgumentException - if keycode is not a valid key
        See Also:
        keyRelease(int), KeyEvent

      • keyRelease

        public void keyRelease​(int keycode)
        Releases a given key.

        Key codes that have more than one physical key associated with them (e.g. KeyEvent.VK_SHIFT could mean either the left or right shift key) will map to the left key.

        Parameters:
        keycode - Key to release (e.g. KeyEvent.VK_A)
        Throws:
        IllegalArgumentException - if keycode is not a valid key
        See Also:
        keyPress(int), KeyEvent

      • getPixelColor

        public Color getPixelColor​(int x,
                           int y)
        Returns the color of a pixel at the given screen coordinates.
        Parameters:
        x - X position of pixel
        y - Y position of pixel
        Returns:
        Color of the pixel

      • createMultiResolutionScreenCapture

        public MultiResolutionImage createMultiResolutionScreenCapture​(Rectangle screenRect)
        Creates an image containing pixels read from the screen. This image does not include the mouse cursor. This method can be used in case there is a scaling transform from user space to screen (device) space. Typically this means that the display is a high resolution screen, although strictly it means any case in which there is such a transform. Returns a MultiResolutionImage.

        For a non-scaled display, the MultiResolutionImage will have one image variant:

        • Base Image with user specified size.

        For a high resolution display where there is a scaling transform, the MultiResolutionImage will have two image variants:

        • Base Image with user specified size. This is scaled from the screen.
        • Native device resolution image with device size pixels.

        Example: 

        
      Image nativeResImage;
      MultiResolutionImage mrImage = robot.createMultiResolutionScreenCapture(frame.getBounds());
      List<Image> resolutionVariants = mrImage.getResolutionVariants();
      if (resolutionVariants.size() > 1) {
          nativeResImage = resolutionVariants.get(1);
      } else {
          nativeResImage = resolutionVariants.get(0);
      }
        Parameters:
        screenRect - Rect to capture in screen coordinates
        Returns:
        The captured image
        Throws:
        IllegalArgumentException - if screenRect width and height are not greater than zero
        SecurityException - if readDisplayPixels permission is not granted
        Since:
        9
        See Also:
        SecurityManager.checkPermission(java.security.Permission), AWTPermission

      • isAutoWaitForIdle

        public boolean isAutoWaitForIdle()
        Returns whether this Robot automatically invokes waitForIdle after generating an event.
        Returns:
        Whether waitForIdle is automatically called

      • setAutoWaitForIdle

        public void setAutoWaitForIdle​(boolean isOn)
        Sets whether this Robot automatically invokes waitForIdle after generating an event.
        Parameters:
        isOn - Whether waitForIdle is automatically invoked

      • getAutoDelay

        public int getAutoDelay()
        Returns the number of milliseconds this Robot sleeps after generating an event.
        Returns:
        the delay duration in milliseconds

      • setAutoDelay

        public void setAutoDelay​(int ms)
        Sets the number of milliseconds this Robot sleeps after generating an event.
        Parameters:
        ms - the delay duration in milliseconds
        Throws:
        IllegalArgumentException - If ms is not between 0 and 60,000 milliseconds inclusive

      • delay

        public void delay​(int ms)
        Sleeps for the specified time. To catch any InterruptedExceptions that occur, Thread.sleep() may be used instead.
        Parameters:
        ms - time to sleep in milliseconds
        Throws:
        IllegalArgumentException - if ms is not between 0 and 60,000 milliseconds inclusive
        See Also:
        Thread.sleep(long)

      • waitForIdle

        public void waitForIdle()
        Waits until all events currently on the event queue have been processed.
        Throws:
        IllegalThreadStateException - if called on the AWT event dispatching thread

      • toString

        public String toString()
        Returns a string representation of this Robot.
        Overrides:
        toString in class Object
        Returns:
        the string representation.