MouseMove in VMWARE session

[bmclellan]

Good morning,

I can't seem to get the MouseMove function to work when running Winbatch within a Windows 10 virtual window.

The MouseClick function works fine, as well as SendKey. I am using 'Track Mouse Coordinates" shows me the application and coordinates I am on.

My function looks like this:
      MouseMove(240,544,"","") and have tried MouseMove(70,353,"Calculator","")

Has anyone seen this type of issue before?

I am currently running WinBatch 2017B.


Thanks!
Barry

[td]

VMWare happens to be the in-house virtual machine software of choice so WinBatch is used inside VMWare virtual machines all the time.  This includes WinBatch testing.  We have never had a problem using the MouseMove function from within a VMWare virtual machine.  It is not likely that your problem is caused by running in a virtual machine unless you are using a version of VMWare that is not completely compatible with either your host or guest OS, or your host's hardware.

[td]

Take that back.  MouseMove doesn't seem to want to work in VMWare Windows 10 guest using Workstation 14 or Workstation 15.  I guess we will have to hope the VMWare addresses whatever the underlying issue is at some point.

[bmclellan]

Thanks for double checking, glad I'm not losing my mind.

I'll look around their site and see if it is a known issue.


Thanks
Barry

[td]

Looking back at my notes this problem has been around since early versions of Windows 10 and extends to MousePlay, as well.  MousePlay communicates with the OS at a lower level than MouseMove.  This suggests that the problem resides in the VMWare virtual drivers someplace and it is definitely not some kind of addressable WinBatch problem.

[td]

It looks like the problem has spread to Windows 7 guests on VMWare Workstation 15.  It is interesting that on a Windows 7 guest, using the MouseMove function to move the mouse cursor to a number button on the Windows Calculator app causes that button to change color but does not cause the displayed mouse cursor image to move over that button.   

[bmclellan]

Sigh, what do we do now?

Of course the program I need to interact with as ZERO short cut keys and TAB not enabled.

[td]

You could give Roboscripter a try.  Based on your description you may be working with a "Windows Universal App" so there is not guaranteed Robscripter will work either.  But it should only take a few minutes to figure that out.

On the VMWare font, I discovered that my trusty Logitech M705 no longer has a working scroll button in Workstation 15 guests.  When I get a free moment I might try fiddling with some VMWare 15's configuration option to see if some combo of setting might improve mouse input in guests.

[td]

The strangeness continues.  I recorded a WinMacro script that simply moved the mouse cursor to a button on the Windows 10 calculator and played it back.  Much to my amazement, it worked.  WinMacro does nothing more than write scripts containing SendKey and MousePlay function calls.   So it appears that unlike Workstation 14 MousePlay has mysteriously started working in VMWare Workstation 15.  Wish I knew what if anything I did to cause this to happen... 

[bmclellan]

Well... I was looking for an excuse to upgrade to 15!

[td]

Guest OSes do seem to be more responsive in 15 so there must be some significant performance improvements.  I can't promise that MousePlay will work for you because of all the variables relating to system setup but let us know what you discover.

[bmclellan]

Good afternoon, it's been a month or so, and no luck here on V15

If anyone comes up with anything, please let me know.


Thanks!

[td]

By "no luck" are you referring to MouseMove or MousePlay?  MouseMove does not work on VMWare 15 but MousePlay does.  At least, MousePlay does in our testing.

[bmclellan]

Thanks Tony, I didn't even see the MousePlay command, I will try that. At first glance, it seems way better than mousemove!


Barry

[td]

MouseMove relies on calls to high-level win32 APi functions, whereas, MousePlay relies on low-level win32 API functions that are much closer to device drivers.