How to change/edit menu/submenu items in an external application

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I am trying to make an application that will edit the Menu item (with a submenu item) in the external application. I am currently carrying out tests on a notepad.

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What I have tried:

The commented part of the code is unfortunately not working...

C#

<pre>using System;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
using System.Windows.Forms;

namespace ChangeMenu
{
    public partial class Form1 : Form
    {
        public Form1()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
        }

        [DllImport("user32.dll")]
        public static extern IntPtr GetMenu(IntPtr hWnd);

        [DllImport("user32.dll")]
        public static extern IntPtr GetSubMenu(IntPtr hMenu, int nPos);

        [DllImport("user32.dll")]
        public static extern int GetMenuItemCount(IntPtr hMenu);

        [DllImport("user32.dll", SetLastError = true)]
        public static extern IntPtr FindWindowEx(IntPtr parentHandle, IntPtr childAfter, string className, string windowTitle);

        [DllImport("user32.dll")]
        public static extern bool DrawMenuBar(IntPtr hWnd);

        [DllImport("user32.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Auto, SetLastError = false)]
        internal static extern IntPtr SendMessage(IntPtr hWnd, uint Msg, IntPtr wParam, string lParam);

        private const int WM_GETTEXT = 0x000D;
        private const int WM_SETTEXT = 0x000C;

        private void Button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            foreach (Process proc in Process.GetProcesses())
            {
                if (proc.ProcessName.ToLower() == "notepad")
                {
                    var HMENU = GetMenu(proc.MainWindowHandle);
                    var count = GetMenuItemCount(HMENU);

                    //somehow change menu text
                    //var menu = FindWindowEx(HMENU, IntPtr.Zero, "File", null);
                    //SendMessage(menu, WM_SETTEXT, IntPtr.Zero, "New text1");

                    while (count > 0)
                    {
                        var HsubMENU = GetSubMenu(proc.MainWindowHandle, count);

                        //somehow change submenu text
                        //var submenu = FindWindowEx(HMENU, IntPtr.Zero, "Page Setup...", null);
                        //SendMessage(submenu, WM_SETTEXT, IntPtr.Zero, "New text2");

                        count--;
                    }

                    DrawMenuBar(proc.MainWindowHandle);
                    break;
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

Posted 11-Nov-19 8:58am

mateusz_lozo

Updated 9-Jan-20 4:46am

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Comments

Maciej Los 12-Nov-19 4:19am

Why? Is there any reason to change menu in an external application?

mateusz_lozo 12-Nov-19 7:32am

yes, I am preparing a translation of the program into another language - because in current form it is not useful for many users (the author of the program allowed me to make such a modification).

mateusz_lozo 14-Nov-19 6:06am

Hey Maciej Los, are you able to help me? I see that you are a very experienced programmer, please guide me how to achieve it ...

Maciej Los 14-Nov-19 6:23am

Sorry, but i can't.

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johannesnestler · Accepted Answer · 2020-01-09T04:46:00

Hi mateusz_lozo,

Your question is nearly two months old. I don't know if you are still interested in this, but I know how to do it.

You Need to use ModifyMenu and GetMenuItemID Windows-API Functions and call them per Interop.

Here you have an example that shows how to change notpads file menu:

C#

using System;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;

namespace ConsoleApp6
{
    class Program
    {
        [DllImport("user32.dll")]
        public static extern IntPtr GetMenu(IntPtr hWnd);

        [DllImport("user32.dll")]
        public static extern IntPtr GetSubMenu(IntPtr hMenu, int nPos);

        [DllImport("user32.dll")]
        public static extern int GetMenuItemCount(IntPtr hMenu);

        [DllImport("user32.dll")]
        static extern bool ModifyMenu(IntPtr hMnu, uint uPosition, uint uFlags,   IntPtr uIDNewItem, string lpNewItem);

        [DllImport("user32.dll")]
        static extern uint GetMenuItemID(IntPtr hMenu, int nPos);

        const uint MF_BYPOSITION = 0x00000400;

        static void ChangeText()
        {
            foreach (Process proc in Process.GetProcesses())
            {
                if (proc.ProcessName.ToLower() == "notepad")
                {
                    // Get the main menu handle of notepad
                    var hwndMenuMain = GetMenu(proc.MainWindowHandle);
                    // Get the file menu handle 
                    var hwndMenuFile = GetSubMenu(hwndMenuMain, 0);
                    uint menuItemIDFile = GetMenuItemID(hwndMenuFile, 0);

                    //change menu text
                    ModifyMenu(hwndMenuMain, 0, MF_BYPOSITION, (IntPtr)menuItemIDFile, "Test");

                    // Change sub-menus of file menu
                    var count = GetMenuItemCount(hwndMenuFile);
                    for (int i = 0; i < count; i++)
                    {
                        uint menuItemIDSub = GetMenuItemID(hwndMenuFile, i);

                        ModifyMenu(hwndMenuFile, (uint) i, MF_BYPOSITION, (IntPtr)menuItemIDSub, "SubMenu" + i);                        
                    }

                    break;
                }
            }
        }

        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            ChangeText();
            Console.ReadKey();
        }
    }
}

Enjoy!

Johannes