GetText in Windows 10

[Jerry Thomas]

I have a script that has been running for a couple years on Win7.
On a machine that I upgraded to Win10 it fails where I was grabbing some text off of the screen.

I have tried the GetText variations and GetWindow variations.
I have tried the TextCaptureWizard.

None of these get the text I need.
(Application is written Delphi 8(?)).

Is my best option to go with OCR?

I am verifying & testing this issue with a basic simple script:

Code: Select all

GetTextInit
GetTextAtPoint>108,68,result,0
MDL>result
Wait>1

[Marcus Tettmar]

Unfortunately many of the text rendering APIs have been changed in Windows 10 so where you might once have been able to capture text you may not now be able to in Windows 10. So you would need to use a different method.

[Jerry Thomas]

Is there a recommended /suggested approach (until you catch up with the new Windows APIs)?

[Marcus Tettmar]

You could try the UIAccessible functions. As always I'm afraid it's a case of trial and error - try the wizards and all the functions to see what can be capturable. Fall back on copy to clipboard if the text can be selected.

[Jerry Thomas]

Looks like I am out of luck until you get new functionality going!

Thanks for help!

[Jerry Thomas]

Any updates on being able to grab text from Win10?

[Marcus Tettmar]

I can grab text in Windows 10. It will vary from app to app however, and some apps which may have been "grabbable" in previous Windows versions may not be now. Some Windows 10 apps have changed massively in the way they output text. Others haven't.

So e.g. text capture in IE11 still works fine for me in Windows 10. But won't in Edge.

[CyberCitizen]

Any updates on being able to grab text from Win10?

Jerry, This is not a Macro Scheduler issue but a function of Windows that has changed, its not so much that MS needs to be updated to capture the text but more that Microsoft has changed a function as per below and what was once possible may no longer be, could be a number of reasons as to why. I have had success with Tesseract-OCR depending on the content and the size etc, however need to look at all the functions of getting the text first, it might still be possible.

Unfortunately many of the text rendering APIs have been changed in Windows 10 so where you might once have been able to capture text you may not now be able to in Windows 10. So you would need to use a different method.

Is there a recommended /suggested approach (until you catch up with the new Windows APIs)?

[Jerry Thomas]

I was hoping MS would be able to come up with a way to deal with Microsoft's "Improvements"
I really don't want to have to move to a different automation tool!