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Getting input into a process

While talking with a friend over yahoo messenger, I told him would be really cool to make a bot to answer with generic messages when someone starts a conversation. Upon thinking about what I told him, I realized it would be quite interesting to do something like that. The problem is that I don't know much about win32.
So my question is this: how do you 'link' a process to both another one and the windows environment? The goal would be to have an application running in the background which makes some sort of a query to see what windows are opened and when a new yahoo messenger conversation window appears it should send a list of keystroke events to that window.
I could use either C# or VC++ for the programming part and I can use any help: either specific answers or tips that could help me - e.g.: what to google for. So far my google research only came up with some apps/dlls/code that do that for you and some scripting stuff and I'm not exactly searching for that. I want to do all the work myself so I can learn from it.

It seems like you basically want to control other applications.
There are roughly 2 ways to do this on windows
1 - Use the low level windows API to blindly fire keyboard and mouse events at your target application.
The basic way this works is using the Win32 SendInput method, but there's a ton of other work you have to do to find window handles, etc, etc
2 - Use a higher level UI automation API to interact with the application in a more structured manner.
The best (well, newest anyway) way to do this is using the Microsoft UI Automation API which shipped in windows vista and 7 (it's available on XP as well). Here's the MSDN starter page for it.
We use the microsoft UI automation API at my job for automated UI testing of our apps, and it's not too bad. Beware though, that no matter how you chose to solve this problem, it is fraught with peril, and whether or not it works at all depends on the target application.
Good luck

Not quite the same domain as what you're looking for, BUT this series of blog posts will tell you what you need to know (and some other cool stuff).
http://www.codingthewheel.com/archives/how-i-built-a-working-poker-bot

If you really want to learn everything from scratch, then you should use C++ and native WIN32 API functions.
If you want to play a bit with C#, then you should look the pinvoke.net site and Managed Windows API project.
What you'll surely need is the Spy++ tool.

http://pinvoke.net/ seems to be the website you are looking for. The site explains how to use Windows API functions in higher level languages. Search on pinvoke for any of the functions I've listed below and it gives you the code necessary to be able to use these functions in your application.
You'll likely want to use the FindWindow function to find the window in which you're interested.
You'll need the process ID, so use GetWindowThreadProcessId to grab it.
Next, you'll need to use OpenProcess allow for reading of the process's memory.
Afterwards, you'll want to use ReadProcessMemory to read into the process's memory to see what happening with it.
Lastly, you'll want to use the PostMessage function to send key presses to the window handle.
Welcome to the wonderful world of Windows API programming.

Check out Autohotkey. This is the fastest way to do what you want.

developing Outlook Add in

How can i developed a plugin like the sales report or my links? i already developed a addin, but it goes to the menu. How can i insert it like that?
http://www.add-in-express.com/images/2007/adx-vsto/outlook/outlook-regions.gif

Well, the screenshot you linked is already from a site that tells you one way to do it...
ADX is an amazing component set that's worth every single penny (also check their discounts page)!
I guess I should add that I am not affiliated with Add-in-Express. I am just a happy user of their product and was a bit surprised that you linked to their site yet asked exactly for what they're offering. They even have extensive video tutorials on how to create Outlook form regions.
Maybe you should rephrase your question? Maybe you want to know how to achieve that same effect without using ADX?

Just found the way to do this. This two websites help a lot to accomplish that.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa338197%28office.12%29.aspx
http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/vsto/thread/b72b048f-f439-4417-970a-fea57a8b2bec

You need to developed Com Addin using Addin Express. I have done similar thing. You can subscribe either standard version of Pro version of Addin Express
https://www.add-in-express.com/add-in-net/index.php

Adding a help window to an application - C#

I've already searched on SO to see if there has been a similar question but I haven't found anything so far.
I'm looking to add a help window to my application, similar to the ones found in many other applications (Example below):
As you can see the help window allows you to give plenty of instructions for particular functions of an application, as well as the ability to print it off for future reference.
How would I go about adding this to my application?

The screenshot you posted is based on Windows Help. There is an SDK available from Microsoft to generate this.
In addition, there are many commercial products that dramatically simplify help creation, such as Adobe's Robohelp.

You can also look for a CHM editors / builders.

Look into the HelpProvider class.

You're looking for MDI Forms. Printing, menu bars, etc, are done the same as any basic winforms application.

Windows 7 Jump-List (Windows Forms, C#)

Does anybody know how to customize the Windows Jump-List feature related to my own application in C#? I know it can be done, but I cannot find anything C#/Windows7 related on MSDN yet. The only info related to W7 and C# I can find so far is just compatibility junk which I've already read.
Thanks all
Baeltazor

You can do this with the Windows API Code Pack
There is a sample in Samples\Shell\TaskbarDemo\CS which shows you how to customise the Jump List and icon.

How to learn Silverlight fast?

I need to make Silverlight application. I'm going to need server side, which I'm going to make with C#. What could be best way to learn to make simple application with Silverlight + C#? Here are few questions that I need to know... Btw. I have Visual Studio 2008 Pro and MS Expression Studio 3.
1) How can I make objects in silverlight?
2) How can I program actions/user inetractions?
3) How can I connect to server side with silverlight?

As a starting point, have a look at the many resources available on http://silverlight.net, e.g videos, quickstarts and so on.
Also check out the reference documentation in MSDN, it also has a getting started section.

I would try this: Getting Started with Silverlight Dev by Tim Heuer

Here is a great set that walks you through creating an entire app by Scott Guthrie. I think the below link to a set of articles gives a great overview of how to use xaml, binding, layout, etc in Silverlight. A great place to start because it gives you a feeling for what you can do in a somewhat practical application and you should be able to get through them rather quickly.
Silverlight End To End Tutorial

Silverlight book from Manning: "Hello! Silverlight". Hello! Silverlight is a fast-paced, entertaining introduction to Silverlight. Authors Bill Reiss and Dave Campbell guide you hands-on from your first Hello World example through the techniques you'll use to add life to your web applications.
You can download it as PDF at manning.com:
http://manning.com/reiss/

I would go to Brad Abrams Blog and follow his 16 some part tutorial. By the time you are done with that you will have a pretty good grasp on interacting with a server.
Brad Abrams

You will find very easy to understable examples of silverlight at Silverlight.net.