Dapplo.Windows

A comprehensive .NET library providing Windows-specific functionality for .NET Framework and .NET Core applications.

Overview

Dapplo.Windows is a collection of packages that provide P/Invoke wrappers and higher-level abstractions for Windows API functionality. Originally developed for Greenshot, this library makes it easy to interact with Windows features from managed code.

Build Status & NuGet Packages

Core Packages

Package	NuGet	Description
Dapplo.Windows		Window management and event hooking
Dapplo.Windows.Clipboard		Clipboard monitoring and manipulation
Dapplo.Windows.Dpi		DPI awareness and scaling
Dapplo.Windows.Input		Keyboard and mouse input

Low-Level API Packages

Package	NuGet	Description
Dapplo.Windows.User32		User32.dll wrappers
Dapplo.Windows.Gdi32		GDI32.dll wrappers
Dapplo.Windows.Kernel32		Kernel32.dll wrappers

Specialized Packages

Package	NuGet	Description
Dapplo.Windows.Citrix		Citrix environment detection
Dapplo.Windows.DesktopWindowsManager		DWM (Aero) functionality
Dapplo.Windows.EmbeddedBrowser		Enhanced WebBrowser control
Dapplo.Windows.Messages		Windows message definitions
Dapplo.Windows.Com		COM interop helpers
Dapplo.Windows.Common		Shared types and utilities

Features

Window Management

• Query window properties (title, bounds, class name, process, etc.)
• Enumerate windows with filtering
• Monitor window events (creation, destruction, title changes, etc.)
• Manipulate windows (show, hide, minimize, maximize, move, resize)

Input Handling

• Low-level keyboard hooks using Reactive Extensions
• Low-level mouse hooks using Reactive Extensions
• Generate keyboard input (type text, key combinations)
• Generate mouse input (move, click, scroll)
• Key combination and sequence handlers

Clipboard

• Monitor clipboard changes with Reactive Extensions
• Access clipboard content in various formats (text, files, images, streams)
• Set clipboard content
• Delayed rendering support
• Control Windows Cloud Clipboard and Clipboard History behavior

DPI Awareness

• DPI-aware forms for Windows Forms
• DPI handlers for custom scaling logic
• DPI calculations and conversions
• Bitmap scaling with quality preservation
• Support for both Windows Forms and WPF

Native API Access

• Comprehensive User32 API wrappers
• GDI32 graphics API wrappers
• Kernel32 system API wrappers
• Proper SafeHandle usage for resource management
• Well-defined structs and enums

Additional Features

• Citrix session detection and querying
• Desktop Window Manager (DWM) integration
• Enhanced WebBrowser control with configurable IE version
• Software installation enumeration
• Icon extraction
• And much more...

Quick Start

Installation

Install-Package Dapplo.Windows
Install-Package Dapplo.Windows.Clipboard
Install-Package Dapplo.Windows.Dpi
Install-Package Dapplo.Windows.Input

Examples

Monitor Window Title Changes

using Dapplo.Windows.Desktop;

var subscription = WinEventHook.Create(WinEvents.EVENT_OBJECT_NAMECHANGE)
    .Subscribe(winEvent =>
    {
        var window = InteropWindow.FromHandle(winEvent.Handle);
        Console.WriteLine($"Window title changed: {window.GetCaption()}");
    });

Monitor Clipboard

using Dapplo.Windows.Clipboard;
using System.Reactive.Linq;

var subscription = ClipboardNative.OnUpdate
    .Where(info => info.Formats.Contains("Text"))
    .Subscribe(info =>
    {
        using var clipboard = ClipboardNative.Access();
        var text = clipboard.GetAsString();
        Console.WriteLine($"Clipboard: {text}");
    });

Control Cloud Clipboard and History

using Dapplo.Windows.Clipboard;

// Prevent sensitive data from being saved to clipboard history or cloud
using (var clipboard = ClipboardNative.Access())
{
    clipboard.SetAsUnicodeString("MyPassword123!");
    clipboard.SetCloudClipboardOptions(
        canIncludeInHistory: false,
        canUploadToCloud: false
    );
}

Create DPI-Aware Form

using Dapplo.Windows.Dpi.Forms;

public class MyForm : DpiAwareForm
{
    public MyForm()
    {
        InitializeComponent();
        // Form automatically scales with DPI changes
    }
}

Hook Keyboard Input

using Dapplo.Windows.Input.Keyboard;
using System.Reactive.Linq;

var keyboardHook = KeyboardHook.Create();
var subscription = keyboardHook.KeyboardEvents
    .Where(e => e.Key == VirtualKeyCode.A && e.IsDown)
    .Subscribe(e => Console.WriteLine("'A' pressed"));

Documentation

• Full Documentation - Complete guides and API reference
• Getting Started - Quick start guide with examples
• API Reference - Detailed API documentation

Examples

The repository includes example projects:

• Dapplo.Windows.Example.ConsoleDemo - Console application examples
• Dapplo.Windows.Example.FormsExample - Windows Forms examples
• Dapplo.Windows.Example.WpfExample - WPF application examples

Requirements

• .NET Framework 4.6.2 or higher
• .NET Core 3.1 or higher / .NET 5+ (for most packages)
• Windows operating system

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit issues and pull requests.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

Originally developed for Greenshot, this library has been extracted into a standalone project for easier maintenance and reuse.