.. _9-Sending-Keystokes-to-Windows:

9. Sending Keystrokes to Windows
==============================================================================
HotkeyNet provides several ways to send keystrokes to windows. Each way has advantages and disadvantages.

**SendWin**

:ref:`SendWin` is the recommended way to send keystrokes. It sends every keystroke correctly and never fails. Programs treat SendWin's keystrokes exactly like real ones.

If :ref:`Sendwin` is so great, why do you need any other methods? Because Sendwin can only send to the foreground window. That's the window in front of all the others.

If you use :ref:`SendWin` on a background window, HotkeyNet moves the window to the front as if you alt-tabbed and then it sends the keystrokes. This works perfectly well, but it's a little slow because alt-tabbing takes time. (You can put the windows back in their original order with Restore.)

The bottom line:

    - If you are sending to a foreground window, use SendWin because it works perfectly.
    - If you are sending to a background window and you don't mind a short delay while SendWin alt-tabs the window to the foreground, use SendWin because it delivers every keystroke correctly and never fails.
    - If you want to send to a background window while it stays in the background, see the next page.

**SendFocusWin**

    :ref:`SendFocusWin` is another method for sending keystrokes to the foreground window. It's exactly the same as :ref:`SendWin` except that it sends keystrokes to the window that has the focus (the window that would receive keystrokes if you typed them at the keyboard). In contrast, :ref:`SendWin` delivers keystrokes to a particular window that you specify by name. :ref:`SendFocusWin` never moves windows to the foreground because the focus window is already there.