Programmatically invoke the touch keyboard

Question

OK, I've read...

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/apps/hh465404.aspx

which states that we can't programmatically invoke the touch keyboard, and I understand why, but I'm writing a kiosk app and I need control of when the keyboard appears.

Is there anyway I can force the keyboard to appear?

Will there be a way to force it to appear in Windows 8 Embedded?

Answer 1

Hi Laz,

We were not lying in the documentation!

As for embedded, you can go to this forum and post your questions: http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/wes8/threads

-Jeff

---

Jeff Sanders (MSFT)

Answer 2

Thanks Jeff - I'll ask on that forum.

I know it's not supported, but there is always a way!

Perhaps I could signal a desktop app for it to call InjectTouchInput or otherwise inject some mouse window messages.
I'd prefer not to have to go down such a route though.

Answer 3

The behavior of the touch keyboard has changed for RTM, and the documentation will be updated sometime in the future. The touch keyboard will appear as per the site you listed (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/apps/hh465404.aspx) but without requiring a user touch. A user touch is still potentially required if the user is also using a mouse or physical keyboard. Give it a shot :)

Thanks,
Anil

Answer 4

Thanks Anil - I'll give it a go, although the kiosk has a scanner that pretends it's a keyboard, so that may scupper it.