Monitor flashing when running a Windows SendInput API - c

Well, I certainly should go to python since I did several functions of this type, keyboard event and mouse event, but decide to try to learn the windows api.
My goal is to know when button 1 of the mouse is pressed.
I created this file in a very beginner way, it returns in mouseData only 0.
The curious thing is that whenever I run it, it flashes my monitor at short intervals in blinks, but between 1 second with it off. Very strange that, execution is not viable.
Could someone help me understand and try to execute to see if it is only here.
Code:
int main()
{
DWORD mouseData = 0;
MOUSEINPUT tagMouse;
tagMouse.dx = 0;
tagMouse.dy = 0;
tagMouse.mouseData = mouseData;
tagMouse.dwFlags = MOUSEEVENTF_XDOWN;
tagMouse.dwExtraInfo = 0;
INPUT tagInput;
tagInput.type = INPUT_MOUSE;
tagInput.mi = tagMouse;
while (true) {
if (GetAsyncKeyState(VK_DELETE)) break;
SendInput(1, &tagInput, sizeof(INPUT));
printf("KEYWORD: %d\n", mouseData);
Sleep(500);
}
system("pause");
return 0;
}

I can reproduce your reported 'symptoms' - and the effect is really brutal!
Now, while I cannot offer a full explanation, I can offer a fix! You have an uninitialized field in your tagMouse structure (the time member, which is a time-stamp used by the system). Setting this to zero (which tells the system to generate its own time-stamp) fixes the problem. So, just add this line to your other initializer statements:
//...
tagMouse.dwExtraInfo = 0;
tagMouse.time = 0; // Adding this line fixes it!
//...
Note: I, too, would appreciate a fuller explanation; however, an uninitialized field, to me, smells like undefined behaviour! I have tried a variety of other values (i.e. not zero) for the time field but haven't yet found one that works.
The discussion here on devblogs may help. This quote seems relevant:
And who knows what sort of havoc that will create if a program checks
the timestamps and notices that they are either from the future or
have traveled back in time.

Related

Controlling a keypad with same I/O in C

i have a problem that i have been at for over a day now, and i can not solve this with my skills.
So the problem is as follows. I am trying to get an output from a 4x4 keypad, which would not be a problem but input and output are on the same pins. I know that the 74hc573 should keep the information after LE goes low, but i just can not figure out how to read output from 74hc541 without giving new information to the previous chip, because then the state changes again. At the moment i can only read the keys diagonally, because input and output match in that case.
The schematic of the whole circuit can be seen here:
and the problematic part here:
I have tried many different way in C to make it work, but the best I can do is diagonally from 1 to C because of the shared I/O.
Hope you guys can give a tip and help me understand this.
and my code, it is only the part that should take care of getting the output.
while(1)
{
for(i=0;i<4;i++)
{
P3_7=0;
P3_6=1;
in=((0b11110111>>i)&0b00001111);
//in=0b11110111;
*keypad=in;
*led=in;
P3_7=0;
P3_6=0;
*keypad=0x00;
P3_7=1;
out=*keypad;
P3_7 would be RD and P3_6 would be WR, havent given them proper defines yet
Modified code
while(1)
{
for(i=0;i<4;i++)
{
P3_7=0;
P3_6=1;
in=((0b11110111>>i)&0b00001111);
*keypad=in;
*led=*keypad;
vardelay(100);
P3_7=0;
P3_6=0;
*keypad=0xff;
P3_7=1;
out=(*keypad&0b00001111);
if (in==0b1101&&out==0b1101)
{
P3_7=1;
P3_6=1;
lcd_senddata('5');
}
else if(in==0b1110&&out==0b1101)
{
P3_7=1;
P3_6=1;
lcd_senddata('2');
}
When clicking '5' it prints both 5 and 2. And i am not sure why
The key is being able to control the LE pin. Latch Q1 on, then disable the LE. Scan A1-A4 to test buttons 1, 2, 3 and F. The state Q1-4 shouldn't change during the scan if LE is low. Then enable LE, switch to Q2, disable LE and scan the next row, and so on.
Turns out i was over thinking it, I had to simply write and read from the same address. That is all. a simple code like this, will work
if (*keypad=0b11111101)
{
out=*keypad;
if (out==0b11111110)
lcd_senddata('4');
else if (out==0b11111101)
lcd_senddata('5');
else if (out==0b11111011)
lcd_senddata('6');
else if (out==0b11110111)
lcd_senddata('E');

C: Segmentation fault and maybe GDB is lying to me

Here is a C function that segfaults:
void compileShaders(OGL_STATE_T *state) {
// First testing to see if I can access object properly. Correctly outputs:
// nsHandle: 6
state->nsHandle = 6;
printf("nsHandle: %d\n", state->nsHandle);
// Next testing if glCreateProgram() returns proper value. Correctly outputs:
// glCreateProgram: 1
printf("glCreateProgram: %d\n", glCreateProgram());
// Then the program segfaults on the following line according to gdb
state->nsHandle = glCreateProgram();
}
For the record state->nsHandle is of type GLuint and glCreateProgram() returns a GLuint so that shouldn't be my problem.
gdb says that my program segfaults on line 303 which is actually the comment line before that line. I don't know if that actually matters.
Is gdb lying to me? How do I debug this?
EDIT:
Turned off optimizations (-O3) and now it's working. If somebody could explain why that would be great though.
EDIT 2:
For the purpose of the comments, here's a watered down version of the important components:
typedef struct {
GLuint nsHandle;
} OGL_STATE_T;
int main (int argc, char *argv[]) {
OGL_STATE_T _state, *state=&_state;
compileShaders(state);
}
EDIT 3:
Here's a test I did:
int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
OGL_STATE_T _state, *state=&_state;
// Assign value and try to print it in other function
state->nsHandle = 5;
compileShaders(state);
}
void compileShaders(OGL_STATE_T *state) {
// Test to see if the first call to state is getting optimized out
// Correctly outputs:
// nsHandle (At entry): 5
printf("nsHandle (At entry): %d\n", state->nsHandle);
}
Not sure if that helps anything or if the compiler would actually optimize the value from the main function.
EDIT 4:
Printed out pointer address in main and compileShaders and everything matches. So I'm gonna assume it's segfaulting somewhere else and gdb is lying to me about which line is actually causing it.
This is going to be guesswork based on what you have, but with optimization on this line:
state->nsHandle = 6;
printf("nsHandle: %d\n", state->nsHandle);
is probably optimized to just
printf("nsHandle: 6\n");
So the first access to state is where the segfault is. With optimization on GDB can report odd line numbers for where the issue is because the running code may no longer map cleanly to source code lines as you can see from the example above.
As mentioned in the comments, state is almost certainly not initialized. Some other difference in the optimized code is causing it to point to an invalid memory area whereas the non-optimized code it's pointing somewhere valid.
This might happen if you're doing something with pointers directly that prevents the optimizer from 'seeing' that a given variable is used.
A sanity check would be useful to check that state != 0 but it'll not help if it's non-zero but invalid.
You'd need to post the calling code for anyone to tell you more. However, you asked how to debug it -- I would print (or use GDB to view) the value of state when that function is entered, I imagine it will be vastly different in optimized and non-optimized versions. Then track back to the function call to work out why that's the case.
EDIT
You posted the calling code -- that should be fine. Are you getting warnings when compiling (turn all the warnings on with -Wall). In any case my advice about printing the value of state in different scenarios still stands.
(removed comment about adding & since you edited the question again)
When you optimize your program, there is no more 1:1 mapping between source lines and emmitted code.
Typically, the compiler will reorder the code to be more efficient for your CPU, or will inline function call, etc...
This code is wrong:
*state=_state
It should be:
*state=&_state
Well, you edited your post, so ignore the above fix.
Check for the NULL condition before de-referencing the pointer or reading it. If the values you pass are NULL or if the values stored are NULL then you will hit segfault without performing any checks.
FYI: GDB Can't Lie !
I ended up starting a new thread with more relevant information and somebody found the answer. New thread is here:
GCC: Segmentation fault and debugging program that only crashes when optimized

Issues with LB_GETCURSEL

I am having some issues with lb_getcursel and what it returns (if it does even return anything)
heres my message handler...
case IDT_TESTLIST1:
if(HIWORD(wParam) == LBN_DBLCLK) {
int ret = 0;
double TimeOut = 60.0;
int Lng = 1;
unsigned char Param[255] = {0};
unsigned char Port1 = port1;
int iCurSel = SendDlgItemMessage(hwnd,IDT_TESTLIST1,LB_GETCURSEL,0.0);
ret = PSB30_Open(Port1,16);
ret = PSB30_SendOrder(Port1,test1[iCurSel].testNumber, &Param[0],&Lng,&TimeOut);
ret = PSB30_Close(Port1);
}
break;
I am using Visual Studio 2010 and whenever i run the program iCurSel doesn't look like it even gets assigned a value, defaults to 0, when i step into the case statement, not all variables are visible in the autos section, when i add a watch to iCurSel i get a CXX0017: Error message.
hwnd is the handle to my main window and is correct
any help would be appreciated
Cheers
i find it funny that none of my variables in the message are showing anything by hovering over them
That's because they don't exist. Your program cannot compile, it has an error. SendDlgItemMessage() takes 5 arguments, you pass 4. The last one got morphed into a floating point value by a typo.
Clearly you'll need to pay attention to compile error messages. And change a setting so this cannot happen again. Tools + Options, Projects and Solution, Build and Run. Change the "On Run, when build or deployment error occurs" setting to "Do not launch".

C programming. Why does 'this' code work but not 'that' code?

Hello I am studying for a test for an intro to C programming class and yesterday I was trying to write this program to print out the even prime numbers between 2 and whatever number the user enters and I spent about 2 hours trying to write it properly and eventually I did it. I have 2 pictures I uploaded below. One of which displays the correct code and the correct output. The other shows one of my first attempts at the problem which didn't work correctly, I went back and made it as similar to the working code as I could without directly copying and pasting everything.
unfortunately new users aren't allowed to post pictures hopefully these links below will work.
This fails, it doesn't print all numbers in range with natural square root:
for (i = 2; i <= x; i++)
{
//non relevant line
a = sqrt(i);
aa = a * a;
if (aa == i);
printf("%d ",i);
}
source: http://i.imgur.com/WGG6n.jpg
While this succeeds, and prints even numbers with natural sqaure root
for (i = 2; i <= x; i++)
{
a = sqrt(i);
aa = a * a;
if (aa == i && ((i/2) *2) == i)
printf("%d ", i);
}
source: http://i.imgur.com/Kpvpq.jpg
Hopefully you can see and read the screen shots I have here. I know that the 'incorrect code' picture does not have the (i/2)*2 == i part but I figured that it would still print just the odd and even numbers, it also has the code to calculate "sqrd" but that shouldn't affect the output. Please correct me if I'm wrong on that last part though.
And Yes I am using Dev-C++ which I've read is kinda crappy of a program but I initally did this on code::blocks and it did the same thing...
Please I would very much appreciate any advice or suggestions as to what I did wrong 2 hours prior to actually getting the darn code to work for me.
Thank you,
Adam
your code in 'that' includes:
if (aa == i);
// ^
printf(...);
[note the ; at the end of the if condition]
Thus, if aa == i - an empty statement happens, and the print always occures, because it is out of the scope of the if statement.
To avoid this issue in the future, you might want to use explicit scoping1 [using {, } after control flow statements] - at least during your first steps of programming the language.
1: spartan programmers will probably hate this statement
Such errors are common. I use "step Over", "Step Into", "Break Points" and "watch window" to debug my program. Using these options, you can execute your program line by line and keep track of the variables used in each line. This way, u'll know which line is not getting executed in the desired way.

I have a function with a lot of return points. Is there any way that I can make gdb show me which one is returning?

I have a function with an absurd number of return points, and I don't want to caveman each one, and I don't want to next through the function. Is there any way I can do something like finish, except have it stop on the return statement?
You can try reverse debugging to find out where function actually returns. Finish executing current frame, do reverse-step and then you should stop at just returned statement.
(gdb) fin
(gdb) reverse-step
There is already similar question
I think you're stuck setting breakpoints. I'd write a script to generate the list of breakpoint commands to run and paste them into gdb.
Sample script (in Python):
lines = open(filename, 'r').readlines()
break_lines = [line_num for line_num, line in enumerate(lines) if 'return' in line and
line_num > first and line_num <= last]
break_cmds = ['b %s:%d' % (filename, line_num) for line_num in break_lines]
print '\n'.join(break_cmds)
Set filename to the name of the file with the absurd function, first to the first line of the function (this is a quick script, not a C parser) and last to the number of the last line of the function. The output ought to be suitable for pasting into gdb.
Kind of a stretch, but the catch command can stop on many kinds of things (like forking, exiting, receiving a signal). You may be able to use catch catch (which breaks for exceptions) to do what you want in C++ if you wrap the function in try/finally. For that matter, if you break on a line inside the finally you can probably single-step through the return after that (although how much that will tell you about where it came from is highly dependent on optimization: common return cases are often folded by gcc).
How about taking this opportunity to break up what seems to be clearly a too-large function?
This question's come up before on SO. My answer from there:
Obviously you ought to refactor this function, but in C++ you can use this simple expedient to deal with this in five minutes:
class ReturnMarker
{
public:
ReturnMarker() {};
~ReturnMarker()
{
dummy += 1; //<-- put your breakpoint here
}
static int dummy;
}
int ReturnMarker::dummy = 0;
and then instance a single ReturnMarker at the top of your function. When it returns, that instance will go out of scope, and you'll hit the destructor.
void LongFunction()
{
ReturnMarker foo;
// ...
}

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