[pygtk] catching all keyboard/mouse events

[Timo]

On 20-11-10 00:06, m.c.wilkins at massey.ac.nz wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Below is a question from Jan Martinek sent back in 2006.  I am trying
> to do the same thing, I haven't found anywhere on the web how to do
> it.
>
> The summary is I want to catch all mouse and/or keyboard events
> anywhere on the screen?  I tried what Jan did except assigned w with
>
> w = gtk.gdk.get_default_root_window()
This will return a gtk.gdk.Window, not a gtk.Window as in the example 
you posted.

http://library.gnome.org/devel/pygtk/stable/class-gdkwindow.html#function-gdk--get-default-root-window

> which worked fine, but the
>
> w.connect('motion-notify-event', wakeup)
>
> failed with a message along the lines of 'for gtk.gdk.Window unknown
> signal motion-notify-event' (sorry can't remember the exact message,
> and i'm away from my desktop).
A gtk.gdk.Window doesn't have this signal, check the docs for info: 
http://library.gnome.org/devel/pygtk/stable/class-gdkwindow.html

Maybe this post will help you a bit: 
http://www.mail-archive.com/pygtk@daa.com.au/msg19101.html

Cheers,
Timo

> I can't find what signals are valid for a gtk.gdk.Window.  And even if
> I could, I still need it to with the 'motion-notify-event'.
>
> Thanks for any clues!
>
> Matt
>
>> Hello,
>>
>> please, does anyone know how to catch all keyboard and mouse events
>> regardless of main window state? If I try this
>>
>> #!/usr/bin/env python
>> import gtk
>>
>> def wakeup(widget, event):
>>     print"Event number %d woke me up" % event.type
>>
>> w = gtk.Window()
>>
>> w.add_events(gtk.gdk.KEY_PRESS_MASK |
>>               gtk.gdk.POINTER_MOTION_MASK |
>>               gtk.gdk.BUTTON_PRESS_MASK |
>>               gtk.gdk.SCROLL_MASK)
>>
>> w.connect("motion-notify-event", wakeup)
>> w.connect("key-press-event", wakeup)
>> w.connect("button-press-event", wakeup)
>> w.connect("scroll-event", wakeup)
>>
>> w.show()
>>
>> gtk.main()
>>
>>
>> then it responds to keypresses only if the window is active. Mouse events
>> are catched only when the cursor is placed within the window.
>>
>> How can I catch all the events even when the window is
>> inactive/minimalized/hidden? Do you know any application that must be able
>> to do this? For example
>>
>> - applets measuring distance travelled by mouse cursor
>> - typing-break applications that notify the user that he typed for a long
>>    period of time a should have a rest.
>> - something that monitors user's activity/inactivity (various IM clients?)
>> - "xeyes" - eyes that always look at the mouse cursor
>> - keyloggers - malicious programs (if there are any) sniffing keystrokes
>>    (mainly passwords) and logging them into a file.
>> - ???
>>
>> I am looking for something written in pure GTK (no direct xlib calls) so
>> that I could learn from the source code.
>>
>> Thank you
>> Jan Martinek
>>
>>
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