Implement voice-navigable UI element overlay with adaptive letter labels#1
Conversation
Co-authored-by: Mark-Phillipson <16239024+Mark-Phillipson@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: Mark-Phillipson <16239024+Mark-Phillipson@users.noreply.github.com>
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@copilot dotnet build NaturalCommands.csproj -c Release |
Co-authored-by: Mark-Phillipson <16239024+Mark-Phillipson@users.noreply.github.com>
Fixed in commit 1a319b3. Added |
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@copilot dotnet build NaturalCommands.csproj |
Co-authored-by: Mark-Phillipson <16239024+Mark-Phillipson@users.noreply.github.com>
Fixed in commit d46882f. Replaced the
The COM reference will automatically generate the necessary interop types during build. |
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@copilot I followed there steps but still we have nine build errors |
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@copilot we now have a single build error: dotnet build NaturalCommands.csproj |
… references Co-authored-by: Mark-Phillipson <16239024+Mark-Phillipson@users.noreply.github.com>
Fixed in commit 79bb4d3. Completely rewrote Key changes:
This should build successfully now. The solution uses Windows' built-in UIAutomationCore.dll at runtime, which is available on all Windows systems. |
Great progress! Down from 9 errors to 1. The MSB4803 error is caused by cached build artifacts from the previous COM reference approach (commit d46882f). The current code (commit 79bb4d3) has no COM references and should build successfully. Please perform a complete clean: # Close Visual Studio completely first
dotnet clean NaturalCommands.csproj
Remove-Item -Recurse -Force bin, obj, .vs -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
dotnet restore NaturalCommands.csproj
dotnet build NaturalCommands.csprojThe |
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@copilot I'm in Visual Studio code by the way |
Fixed in commit faf749d. The application was freezing because the console app was exiting immediately after showing the overlay form with Changed
The feature should now work properly - you'll see the overlay with letter labels, can type letters to click elements, and press ESC to cancel. The application will only exit after the overlay is closed. |
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@copilot It works for single letters, however it does not wait for the second letter to be said before acting on the first letter can we make all labels have two letters as I workaround? |
Co-authored-by: Mark-Phillipson <16239024+Mark-Phillipson@users.noreply.github.com>
Fixed in commit ce7c589. Modified Now all labels require two letters to be typed before activation, which:
The overlay will now wait for both letters before clicking the element. |
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@copilot Can we calculate if there are twenty six or fewer clickable items on the screen and in that case use single letters only otherwise it's working great |
Co-authored-by: Mark-Phillipson <16239024+Mark-Phillipson@users.noreply.github.com>
Fixed in commit 2ad506b. Modified
This provides the best of both worlds - efficiency when you have few elements, and predictability when you have many. The system automatically chooses the right approach based on how many clickable elements are detected. |
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@copilot Please can we not put the labels out of sight at the top as we've no idea what they are? |
Co-authored-by: Mark-Phillipson <16239024+Mark-Phillipson@users.noreply.github.com>
Fixed in commit 7ead7a0. Added bounds checking to prevent labels from being positioned off-screen:
Labels that would have been positioned above or to the left of the screen will now appear at the screen edges instead, ensuring you can always see which label corresponds to which element. |
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@copilot can we document this functionality in the what can I say form |
The "show letters" functionality is already documented in the "what can I say" form. It was added in the initial implementation commit (2898258). Users can find it by:
The command is listed in the |
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Pull request overview
This PR implements a voice-navigable UI element overlay feature that displays adaptive letter labels on clickable UI elements, enabling users to navigate and interact with applications using voice commands through the Talon alphabet.
Key Changes
- Adaptive label generation that uses single letters (a-z) for 26 or fewer elements and switches to two-letter combinations (aa, ab, ac...) for larger sets
- Windows UI Automation API integration for detecting and clicking UI elements
- Modal overlay form with keyboard input handling and visual feedback
Reviewed changes
Copilot reviewed 9 out of 9 changed files in this pull request and generated 16 comments.
Show a summary per file
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| UIElementOverlayForm.cs | New transparent overlay form that displays letter labels on UI elements with keyboard input handling |
| Helpers/UIAutomationHelper.cs | New helper for enumerating clickable elements using Windows UI Automation with adaptive label generation |
| ActionModels.cs | Added ShowLettersAction record for the new feature |
| NaturalLanguageInterpreter.cs | Added command pattern matching and execution logic for "show letters" |
| README.md | Documentation for the new show letters feature |
| running-and-testing.md | Added usage example for the show letters command |
| SHOW_LETTERS_TESTING.md | New comprehensive testing guide for the feature |
| NaturalCommands.csproj | Removed unused Interop.UIAutomationClient package reference |
Comments suppressed due to low confidence (1)
UIElementOverlayForm.cs:119
- Disposable 'SolidBrush' is created but not disposed.
graphics.FillRectangle(new SolidBrush(Color.FromArgb(200, 0, 0, 0)), instructionRect);
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| [DllImport("user32.dll")] | ||
| private static extern bool GetWindowRect(IntPtr hWnd, out RECT lpRect); | ||
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| [StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)] | ||
| public struct RECT | ||
| { | ||
| public int Left; | ||
| public int Top; | ||
| public int Right; | ||
| public int Bottom; | ||
| } | ||
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| /// <summary> | ||
| /// Represents a clickable UI element with its position and label. |
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The GetWindowRect P/Invoke declaration and RECT struct are unused in this file. These appear to be leftover code from an earlier implementation. Consider removing them to improve code clarity, as they're not referenced anywhere in this helper class.
| [DllImport("user32.dll")] | |
| private static extern bool GetWindowRect(IntPtr hWnd, out RECT lpRect); | |
| [StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)] | |
| public struct RECT | |
| { | |
| public int Left; | |
| public int Top; | |
| public int Right; | |
| public int Bottom; | |
| } | |
| /// <summary> | |
| /// Represents a clickable UI element with its position and label. | |
| /// <summary> | |
| /// Represents a clickable UI element with its position and label. | |
| /// </summary> | |
| public class ClickableElement | |
| { | |
| public Rectangle Bounds { get; set; } | |
| public string Label { get; set; } = ""; | |
| public AutomationElement Element { get; set; } = null!; | |
| public string Name { get; set; } = ""; | |
| public string ControlType { get; set; } = ""; | |
| } | |
| /// <summary> | |
| /// Generates labels using the Talon alphabet. |
| graphics.FillRectangle(new SolidBrush(Color.FromArgb(200, 0, 0, 0)), instructionRect); | ||
| graphics.DrawString(instruction, _labelFont, Brushes.White, | ||
| instructionRect.X + 8, instructionRect.Y + 4); |
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This creates a SolidBrush that is never disposed, causing a resource leak. The brush should either be stored as a field and disposed in the Dispose method, or wrapped in a using statement. Consider storing it as a field like _labelBackgroundBrush is stored and disposing it in the Dispose method.
| graphics.FillRectangle(new SolidBrush(Color.FromArgb(200, 0, 0, 0)), instructionRect); | |
| graphics.DrawString(instruction, _labelFont, Brushes.White, | |
| instructionRect.X + 8, instructionRect.Y + 4); | |
| using (var instructionBackgroundBrush = new SolidBrush(Color.FromArgb(200, 0, 0, 0))) | |
| { | |
| graphics.FillRectangle(instructionBackgroundBrush, instructionRect); | |
| graphics.DrawString(instruction, _labelFont, Brushes.White, | |
| instructionRect.X + 8, instructionRect.Y + 4); | |
| } |
| ### Usage | ||
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| 1. Say **"show letters"** or **"natural show letters"** | ||
| 2. A transparent overlay will appear showing two-letter labels (a, b, c, ..., aa, ab, ...) on all clickable elements |
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This documentation is inaccurate. According to the implementation in UIAutomationHelper.GenerateLabels, single letters (a-z) are used for 26 or fewer elements, and two-letter combinations (aa, ab, ...) are only used when there are more than 26 elements. The documentation should clarify this adaptive behavior rather than implying all labels are two-letter combinations.
| 2. A transparent overlay will appear showing two-letter labels (a, b, c, ..., aa, ab, ...) on all clickable elements | |
| 2. A transparent overlay will appear showing letter labels on all clickable elements: single letters (a, b, c, ..., z) for up to 26 elements, and then two-letter combinations (aa, ab, ...) when there are more than 26 elements |
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| ## Feature Overview | ||
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| The "show letters" feature overlays two-letter labels (a, b, c, ..., aa, ab, ...) on all clickable UI elements in the active window, allowing users to quickly navigate and click elements using voice commands via Talon. |
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This documentation is inaccurate. According to the implementation in UIAutomationHelper.GenerateLabels, single letters (a-z) are used for 26 or fewer elements, and two-letter combinations (aa, ab, ...) are only used when there are more than 26 elements. The documentation should clarify this adaptive behavior.
| The "show letters" feature overlays two-letter labels (a, b, c, ..., aa, ab, ...) on all clickable UI elements in the active window, allowing users to quickly navigate and click elements using voice commands via Talon. | |
| The "show letters" feature overlays alphabetic labels (a, b, c, ..., z, aa, ab, ...) on all clickable UI elements in the active window, using single letters (a–z) when there are 26 or fewer elements and then two-letter combinations as needed, allowing users to quickly navigate and click elements using voice commands via Talon. |
| // Ensure label is visible on screen - constrain to screen bounds | ||
| if (labelRect.X < 0) | ||
| labelRect.X = 0; | ||
| if (labelRect.Y < 0) | ||
| labelRect.Y = 0; | ||
| if (labelRect.Right > Bounds.Width) | ||
| labelRect.X = Bounds.Width - labelRect.Width; | ||
| if (labelRect.Bottom > Bounds.Height) | ||
| labelRect.Y = Bounds.Height - labelRect.Height; |
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The bounds checking logic is incorrect for multi-monitor setups where monitors can be positioned to the left or above the primary monitor. In such cases, Bounds.Left and Bounds.Top can be negative (e.g., -1920 for a monitor to the left). The current code constrains labelRect.X and labelRect.Y to 0, but should constrain them to Bounds.Left and Bounds.Top respectively. This will cause labels for elements on secondary monitors positioned left or above to be incorrectly positioned on the primary monitor.
| // Ensure label is visible on screen - constrain to screen bounds | |
| if (labelRect.X < 0) | |
| labelRect.X = 0; | |
| if (labelRect.Y < 0) | |
| labelRect.Y = 0; | |
| if (labelRect.Right > Bounds.Width) | |
| labelRect.X = Bounds.Width - labelRect.Width; | |
| if (labelRect.Bottom > Bounds.Height) | |
| labelRect.Y = Bounds.Height - labelRect.Height; | |
| // Ensure label is visible on screen - constrain to form bounds | |
| if (labelRect.X < Bounds.Left) | |
| labelRect.X = Bounds.Left; | |
| if (labelRect.Y < Bounds.Top) | |
| labelRect.Y = Bounds.Top; | |
| if (labelRect.Right > Bounds.Right) | |
| labelRect.X = Bounds.Right - labelRect.Width; | |
| if (labelRect.Bottom > Bounds.Bottom) | |
| labelRect.Y = Bounds.Bottom - labelRect.Height; |
| return true; | ||
| } | ||
| } | ||
| catch { } |
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Poor error handling: empty catch block.
| return true; | ||
| } | ||
| } | ||
| catch { } |
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Poor error handling: empty catch block.
| _currentInstance.Close(); | ||
| _currentInstance.Dispose(); | ||
| } | ||
| catch { } |
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Poor error handling: empty catch block.
| catch { } | |
| catch (Exception ex) | |
| { | |
| // Swallow exception to avoid throwing from cleanup, but log for diagnostics. | |
| Logger.LogError($"Error closing overlay: {ex.Message}"); | |
| } |
| [DllImport("user32.dll")] | ||
| private static extern bool GetWindowRect(IntPtr hWnd, out RECT lpRect); | ||
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| [StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)] | ||
| public struct RECT | ||
| { | ||
| public int Left; | ||
| public int Top; | ||
| public int Right; | ||
| public int Bottom; |
There was a problem hiding this comment.
Minimise the use of unmanaged code.
| [DllImport("user32.dll")] | |
| private static extern bool GetWindowRect(IntPtr hWnd, out RECT lpRect); | |
| [StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)] | |
| public struct RECT | |
| { | |
| public int Left; | |
| public int Top; | |
| public int Right; | |
| public int Bottom; | |
| /// <summary> | |
| /// Tries to get the bounding rectangle of a window using UI Automation. | |
| /// Avoids unmanaged GetWindowRect by using AutomationElement.BoundingRectangle. | |
| /// </summary> | |
| /// <param name="hWnd">Window handle.</param> | |
| /// <param name="bounds">Resulting window bounds as a Rectangle.</param> | |
| /// <returns>True if bounds were successfully retrieved; otherwise false.</returns> | |
| public static bool TryGetWindowBounds(IntPtr hWnd, out Rectangle bounds) | |
| { | |
| bounds = Rectangle.Empty; | |
| if (hWnd == IntPtr.Zero) | |
| { | |
| return false; | |
| } | |
| try | |
| { | |
| var element = AutomationElement.FromHandle(hWnd); | |
| if (element == null) | |
| { | |
| return false; | |
| } | |
| var rect = element.Current.BoundingRectangle; | |
| bounds = Rectangle.FromLTRB( | |
| (int)rect.Left, | |
| (int)rect.Top, | |
| (int)rect.Right, | |
| (int)rect.Bottom); | |
| return true; | |
| } | |
| catch (ElementNotAvailableException) | |
| { | |
| return false; | |
| } |
| public static class UIAutomationHelper | ||
| { | ||
| [DllImport("user32.dll")] | ||
| private static extern IntPtr GetForegroundWindow(); |
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Minimise the use of unmanaged code.
Implementation Plan for "Show Letters" Feature
ShowLettersActionin ActionModels.csUIElementOverlayFormclass for displaying letter labelsUIAutomationHelperfor enumerating clickable UI elementsSummary
Successfully implemented the "show letters" feature as requested in draft.prompt.md. The feature enables voice-based navigation by overlaying letter labels on clickable UI elements using Windows UI Automation API with smart, adaptive label generation.
Runtime Fixes
.Show()to.ShowDialog()to keep the overlay responsiveFinal Solution: Managed API + Modal Dialog + Adaptive Smart Labels + Visible Positioning
The implementation now:
System.Windows.AutomationAPI (no COM registration required)ShowDialog()to keep it alive and responsiveKey Features
Files Changed
Original prompt
Created from VS Code.
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