python inputs on windows optimized ? ( and xbox guide button possible to detect ? )

Question

In Short : any suggestion on how to listen to Xbox guide button ? or any suggestion on how to make "inputs" more optimized and faster for low-end PCs ?

hey. I had been looking for a way to make screenshots on windows easier. for now the only built-in function is win+prtsc , which is hard to press during a game when using a controller. I also happen to be good at programming, but i'm not familiar with input libraries on python...

so I used "pyautogui" library to simulate pressing win+prtSc , and used "pynput" library to listen to the button "/" on keyboard to do a screenshot ( well, a cheating screenshot. windows is taking screenshot and im just simulating the pressing of "win+prtSc" , so I named my script "screenshit" ).

so far so good.

it's not very hard to press "/" button for every screenshot. but to extend it, I wanted to use my controller to take the screenshot. but problem is pynput does not support gamepad controllers ! so I used another library called "inputs". this one does support a gamepad controller. however it uses at least 30% of CPU usage for working... which is BAD! here's the code to detect START ( the usual Map button ) with "inputs" library :

while 1:
    events = get_gamepad()
    if events:
        print(events[0].code)
        if events[0].code == 'START' :
            ScreenShot()

I'm guessing 'get_gamepad()' is not optimized enough... but if im wrong or using it wrong, please guide me!

So , another thing that I would like to use would be the center/guide/xbox button. this button : xbox center button

but neither "inputs" nor "pynput" libraries seem to be listen to this button...

any suggestion on how to listen to this button ?

or

any suggestion on how to make "inputs" more optimized and faster for low-end PCs ?

Answer 1

solution :

I googled for some hours and finally found a solution to use Xbox360's guide button to take screenshot by virtually pressing win+PrtSc together. then also playing a little capture.wav sound to play whenever taking it.

so the code is :

// compile using :
// g++ prtScX.cpp -lwinmm
    
    
#define WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN
#include <iostream>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <windows.h>
#include <mmsystem.h>
#pragma comment(lib, "winmm.lib")

static const int guide_button_value = 0x0400;

/* the secret function outputs a different struct than the official GetState. */
typedef struct
{
    unsigned long eventCount;
    WORD wButtons;
    BYTE bLeftTrigger;
    BYTE bRightTrigger;
    SHORT sThumbLX;
    SHORT sThumbLY;
    SHORT sThumbRX;
    SHORT sThumbRY;
} XINPUT_GAMEPAD_SECRET;

// returns 0 on success, 1167 on not connected. Might be others.
int(__stdcall *secret_get_gamepad)(int, XINPUT_GAMEPAD_SECRET *); // function pointer to secret (guide compatible) getstate */
void Screenshot();

int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
    TCHAR xinput_dll_path[MAX_PATH];
    GetSystemDirectory(xinput_dll_path, sizeof(xinput_dll_path));
    strcat(xinput_dll_path, "\\xinput1_3.dll");
    HINSTANCE xinput_dll = LoadLibrary(xinput_dll_path);
    secret_get_gamepad = (int(__stdcall *)(int, XINPUT_GAMEPAD_SECRET *))GetProcAddress(xinput_dll, (LPCSTR)100); // load ordinal 100

    XINPUT_GAMEPAD_SECRET pad1;
        
    printf("listening to keys now...\n");

    if (secret_get_gamepad(0, &pad1) != 0)
    {
        printf("Error, make sure your player 1 pad is connected.\n");
        return -1;
    }

    for (;;) // forever
    {
        secret_get_gamepad(0, &pad1);
        if (pad1.wButtons & guide_button_value)
        {
            printf("Guide button is down.\n");
            Screenshot();
            Sleep(500);
        }
        Sleep(33);
    }

    // you should probably clean up by unloading the DLL.
    return 0;
}

void Screenshot()
{
    // WIN KEY
    
    // ...
    INPUT win_in;
    // ...
    // Set up a generic keyboard event.
    win_in.type = INPUT_KEYBOARD;
    win_in.ki.wScan = 0; // hardware scan code for key
    win_in.ki.time = 0;
    win_in.ki.dwExtraInfo = 0;

    // Press the "A" key
    win_in.ki.wVk = VK_LWIN;  // virtual-key code for the "win" key
    
    // PRTSC KEY
    
    INPUT prtcs_in;
    
    // Set up a generic keyboard event.
    prtcs_in.type = INPUT_KEYBOARD;
    prtcs_in.ki.wScan = 0; // hardware scan code for key
    prtcs_in.ki.time = 0;
    prtcs_in.ki.dwExtraInfo = 0;

    // Press the "A" key
    prtcs_in.ki.wVk = VK_SNAPSHOT;  // virtual-key code for the "PrtSc" key
    
    
    
    // actually hitting 
    
    win_in.ki.dwFlags = WM_KEYDOWN; // key press down
    SendInput(1, &win_in, sizeof(INPUT));
    
    prtcs_in.ki.dwFlags = 0; // key press down
    SendInput(1, &prtcs_in, sizeof(INPUT));
    
    win_in.ki.dwFlags = WM_KEYUP; // key press up
    SendInput(1, &win_in, sizeof(INPUT));
    
    PlaySound(TEXT("capture.wav"), NULL, SND_FILENAME | SND_ASYNC);
    
    
}

to work, it needs a "capture.wav" sound in the same directory as this script.

thanks to : link1 link2 link3 link4 link5