Is there a way to make multiple windows "active" at one time? in Windows?

Question

Let's say a program that I created, an on-screen keyboard. I want to make it active so that it can receive my keyboard inputs, even while another program such as Google Chrome, or Notepad.exe is receiving my keyboard inputs as well. I mainly want my keyboard to run like "Nohboard" I am having trouble because once I get my keyboard looking and working like I want it, whenever I open another window, my keyboard will not work as long as "Windows 7" is focused on the "notepad.exe" for example. The reason I am making this is to monitor my keystrokes on-screen using my own software. I am trying to design my keyboard with gm studio 1.4 but without having the ability to make multiple windows active at once, my keyboard becomes useless everytime I click away from the keyboard program that I can create. Is there any workarounds that can be used? Maybe a 3rd party script created by another program to allow my program's window to be "active" and receive keyboard keystroke inputs while another program is also active and receiving keyboard keystroke inputs? Thanks in advance for anyone who can think of a solution that would be at all helpful.

Space::
SetTitleMatchMode, 2
ControlSend, , {Space Down}, Typing Lessons
ControlSend, , {Space Down}, kb
Keywait, Space
ControlSend, , {Space Up}, kb
ControlSend, , {Space Up}, Typing Lessons
Return

One thing that I've just figured out how to do, with autohotkey scripts is send keys to multiple programs. Is there a way to send it to the "last active window" and the "current active window" using autohotkey?

Answer 1

On a Windows System it is not possible to activate Multiple Windows at the same Time.

Only One Window can be Active. (Focused)

But there are two Ways that can help to Solved your Problem.

1 - You can for example your Onscreen Keyboard Window, to let ignore/disable Focus that Keyboard Window. (No Focus) (No activate + +E0x08000000)

Try This Ahk Script.

Note: This is a onscreen Keys Strip from F1 to F12

Example1.ahk

Gui, +LastFound +AlwaysOnTop +ToolWindow -Caption +Border +E0x08000000
Gui, Font, s07, Arial
Loop, 12
Gui, Add, Button, % "x" 5+(A_Index-1)*60 " y5 w60 h25 vF" A_Index " gButton", F%A_Index%
Gui, Show, y0 w730 h35 NoActivate
Return

Button:
    SendInput, % "{" A_GuiControl "}"
Return

GuiClose:
    ExitApp
Return

~esc::exitapp

2 - Or You can Use a 3rd party script,

note : run these 2 Scripts together. (KeypressValueToREG + ShowKeypressValue)

The First one is a Large Script but you can do many things, It Will Put All your Mouse and Keyboard Movements into Only One Windows Registry Key.

The Power of this KeypressValueToREG script is, you can run it in the background, and then you can use it in other Applications or other Languages Visual Studio/Visual Basic/c++/Python/Autohotkey/? They only need to Acces/Read that One Registry Key.

KeypressValueToREG.ahk

;KeypressValueToREG.ahk comes from KeypressOSD.ahk that was Created by Author RaptorX
; Open this Script in Wordpad and For Changelog look to the Bottom of the script. 
;This code works with a getkeyname from a Dllcall (See Bottom Script- by Lexikos)
;you can press the esc key to exit.

#SingleInstance force
#NoEnv
SetBatchLines, -1
ListLines, Off

; Settings
    global TransN                := 200      ; 0~255
    global ShowSingleKey         := True
    global ShowMouseButton       := True
    global ShowSingleModifierKey := True
    global ShowModifierKeyCount  := true
    global ShowStickyModKeyCount := false
    global DisplayTime           := 2000     ; In milliseconds
    global GuiPosition           := "Bottom" ; Top or Bottom
    global FontSize              := 50
    global GuiHeight             := 115

CreateGUI()
CreateHotkey()
return

OnKeyPressed:
    try {
        key := GetKeyStr()
        ShowHotkey(key)
        SetTimer, HideGUI, % -1 * DisplayTime
    }
return

OnKeyUp:
return

_OnKeyUp:
    tickcount_start := A_TickCount
return


CreateGUI() {
    global

    Gui, +AlwaysOnTop -Caption +Owner +LastFound +E0x20
    Gui, Margin, 0, 0
    Gui, Color, Black
    Gui, Font, cWhite s%FontSize% bold, Arial
    Gui, Add, Text, vHotkeyText Center y20

    WinSet, Transparent, %TransN%
}

CreateHotkey() {
    Loop, 95
    {
        k := Chr(A_Index + 31)
        k := (k = " ") ? "Space" : k

        Hotkey, % "~*" k, OnKeyPressed
        Hotkey, % "~*" k " Up", _OnKeyUp
    }

    Loop, 24 ; F1-F24
    {
        Hotkey, % "~*F" A_Index, OnKeyPressed
        Hotkey, % "~*F" A_Index " Up", _OnKeyUp
    }

    Loop, 10 ; Numpad0 - Numpad9
    {
        Hotkey, % "~*Numpad" A_Index - 1, OnKeyPressed
        Hotkey, % "~*Numpad" A_Index - 1 " Up", _OnKeyUp
    }

    Otherkeys := "WheelDown|WheelUp|WheelLeft|WheelRight|XButton1|XButton2|Browser_Forward|Browser_Back|Browser_Refresh|Browser_Stop|Browser_Search|Browser_Favorites|Browser_Home|Volume_Mute|Volume_Down|Volume_Up|Media_Next|Media_Prev|Media_Stop|Media_Play_Pause|Launch_Mail|Launch_Media|Launch_App1|Launch_App2|Help|Sleep|PrintScreen|CtrlBreak|Break|AppsKey|NumpadDot|NumpadDiv|NumpadMult|NumpadAdd|NumpadSub|NumpadEnter|Tab|Enter|Esc|BackSpace"
               . "|Del|Insert|Home|End|PgUp|PgDn|Up|Down|Left|Right|ScrollLock|CapsLock|NumLock|Pause|sc145|sc146|sc046|sc123"
    Loop, parse, Otherkeys, |
    {
        Hotkey, % "~*" A_LoopField, OnKeyPressed
        Hotkey, % "~*" A_LoopField " Up", _OnKeyUp
    }

    If ShowMouseButton {
        Loop, Parse, % "LButton|MButton|RButton", |
            Hotkey, % "~*" A_LoopField, OnKeyPressed
    }

    for i, mod in ["Ctrl", "Shift", "Alt"] {
        Hotkey, % "~*" mod, OnKeyPressed
        Hotkey, % "~*" mod " Up", OnKeyUp
    }
    for i, mod in ["LWin", "RWin"]
        Hotkey, % "~*" mod, OnKeyPressed
}

ShowHotkey(HotkeyStr) {
    WinGetPos, ActWin_X, ActWin_Y, ActWin_W, ActWin_H, A
    if !ActWin_W
        throw

    text_w := (ActWin_W > A_ScreenWidth) ? A_ScreenWidth : ActWin_W

    ;remove this gui codeline if you want only to Write the Value to Windows registry
    ;GuiControl,     , HotkeyText, %HotkeyStr%
    ;GuiControl,     , HotkeyText, %HotkeyStr%

    RegWrite, REG_SZ, HKEY_CURRENT_USER,software\GetKeypressValue,KeypressValue,%HotkeyStr%

    ;remove this gui codeline if you want only to Write the Value to Windows registry
    ;GuiControl, Move, HotkeyText, w%text_w% Center
    ;GuiControl, Move, HotkeyText, w%text_w% Center

    if (GuiPosition = "Top")
        gui_y := ActWin_Y
    else
        gui_y := (ActWin_Y+ActWin_H) - 115 - 50

    ;remove this gui codeline if you want only to Write the Value to Windows registry
    ;Gui, Show, NoActivate x%ActWin_X% y%gui_y% h%GuiHeight% w%text_w%
    ;Gui, Show, NoActivate x%ActWin_X% y%gui_y% h%GuiHeight% w%text_w%
}

GetKeyStr() {
    static modifiers := ["Ctrl", "Shift", "Alt", "LWin", "RWin"]
    static repeatCount := 1

    for i, mod in modifiers {
        if GetKeyState(mod)
            prefix .= mod " + "
    }

    if (!prefix && !ShowSingleKey)
        throw

    key := SubStr(A_ThisHotkey, 3)

    if (key ~= "i)^(Ctrl|Shift|Alt|LWin|RWin)$") {
        if !ShowSingleModifierKey {
            throw
        }
        key := ""
        prefix := RTrim(prefix, "+ ")

        if ShowModifierKeyCount {
            if !InStr(prefix, "+") && IsDoubleClickEx() {
                if (A_ThisHotKey != A_PriorHotKey) || ShowStickyModKeyCount {
                    if (++repeatCount > 1) {
                        prefix .= " ( * " repeatCount " )"
                    }
                } else {
                    repeatCount := 0
                }
            } else {
                repeatCount := 1
            }
        }
    } else {
        if ( StrLen(key) = 1 ) {
            key := GetKeyChar(key, "A")
        } else if ( SubStr(key, 1, 2) = "sc" ) {
            key := SpecialSC(key)
        } else if (key = "LButton") && IsDoubleClick() {
            key := "Double-Click"
        }
        _key := (key = "Double-Click") ? "LButton" : key

        static pre_prefix, pre_key, keyCount := 1
        global tickcount_start
        if (prefix && pre_prefix) && (A_TickCount-tickcount_start < 300) {
            if (prefix != pre_prefix) {
                result := pre_prefix pre_key ", " prefix key
            } else {
                keyCount := (key=pre_key) ? (keyCount+1) : 1
                key := (keyCount>2) ? (key " (" keyCount ")") : (pre_key ", " key)
            }
        } else {
            keyCount := 1
        }

        pre_prefix := prefix
        pre_key := _key

        repeatCount := 1
    }
    return result ? result : prefix . key
}

SpecialSC(sc) {
    static k := {sc046: "ScrollLock", sc145: "NumLock", sc146: "Pause", sc123: "Genius LuxeMate Scroll"}
    return k[sc]
}

; by Lexikos - https://autohotkey.com/board/topic/110808-getkeyname-for-other-languages/#entry682236
GetKeyChar(Key, WinTitle:=0) {
    thread := WinTitle=0 ? 0
        : DllCall("GetWindowThreadProcessId", "ptr", WinExist(WinTitle), "ptr", 0)
    hkl := DllCall("GetKeyboardLayout", "uint", thread, "ptr")
    vk := GetKeyVK(Key), sc := GetKeySC(Key)
    VarSetCapacity(state, 256, 0)
    VarSetCapacity(char, 4, 0)
    n := DllCall("ToUnicodeEx", "uint", vk, "uint", sc
        , "ptr", &state, "ptr", &char, "int", 2, "uint", 0, "ptr", hkl)
    return StrGet(&char, n, "utf-16")
}

IsDoubleClick(MSec = 300) {
    Return (A_ThisHotKey = A_PriorHotKey) && (A_TimeSincePriorHotkey < MSec)
}

IsDoubleClickEx(MSec = 300) {
    preHotkey := RegExReplace(A_PriorHotkey, "i) Up$")
    Return (A_ThisHotKey = preHotkey) && (A_TimeSincePriorHotkey < MSec)
}

HideGUI() {
    Gui, Hide
}

~esc::exitapp    
;---------------------------------------------
; ChangeLog : v2.22 (2017-02-25) - Now pressing the same combination keys continuously more than 2 times,
;                                  for example press Ctrl+V 3 times, will displayed as "Ctrl + v (3)"
;             v2.21 (2017-02-24) - Fixed LWin/RWin not poping up start menu
;             v2.20 (2017-02-24) - Added displaying continuous-pressed combination keys.
;                                  e.g.: With CTRL key held down, pressing K and U continuously will shown as "Ctrl + k, u"
;             v2.10 (2017-01-22) - Added ShowStickyModKeyCount option
;             v2.09 (2017-01-22) - Added ShowModifierKeyCount option
;             v2.08 (2017-01-19) - Fixed a bug
;             v2.07 (2017-01-19) - Added ShowSingleModifierKey option (default is True)
;             v2.06 (2016-11-23) - Added more keys. Thanks to SashaChernykh.
;             v2.05 (2016-10-01) - Fixed not detecting "Ctrl + ScrollLock/NumLock/Pause". Thanks to lexikos.
;             v2.04 (2016-10-01) - Added NumpadDot and AppsKey
;             v2.03 (2016-09-17) - Added displaying "Double-Click" of the left mouse button.
;             v2.02 (2016-09-16) - Added displaying mouse button, and 3 settings (ShowMouseButton, FontSize, GuiHeight)
;             v2.01 (2016-09-11) - Display non english keyboard layout characters when combine with modifer keys.
;             v2.00 (2016-09-01) - Removed the "Fade out" effect because of its buggy.
;                                - Added support for non english keyboard layout.
;                                - Added GuiPosition setting.
;             v1.00 (2013-10-11) - First release.
;--------------------------------------------

And the Second One it will Show Visual On your Desktop Screen All your Mouse and Keyboard Movements, You can Change this Script a little bit and then make your own keyboard that can show Visual all your keyboard Movements,

and if you use the trick from Example1.ahk then you can make a Professional Onscreen Keyboard Without focus the Window.

ShowKeypressValue.ahk

#SingleInstance force
Gui, +AlwaysOnTop -MaximizeBox ; -Caption +Resize -MinimizeBox +Disabled -SysMenu -Owner +OwnDialogs
Gui, Add, Text, center y10 h50 w300 vVar,  %KeypressValue%
Gui, Color, White
Gui, show
size=20
Gui, Font, s%size%
GuiControl, Font, var

;run KeypressValueToREG.ahk - together with ShowKeypressValue.ahk
;The Features Are:
; - It will Show On your Screen, [All your Mouse Movements] and [All Keyboard Shortcuts Movement]
; - You can Make Scripts, that can do actions with MultiClicks on All Keyboard Shortcuts Clicks, How Cool Is that. 

loop
{
RegRead, KeypressValue, HKEY_CURRENT_USER,software\GetKeypressValue,KeypressValue ; read KeypressValue
sleep 50
GuiControl,, var, %KeypressValue%



if (KeypressValue="Alt ( * 2 )") ;use this for [1x=Alt][2x=Alt ( * 2 )][3x=Alt ( * 3 )] [and many more]
{
;Here you can put any AHK CODE 
msgbox you did click Alt 2x Times
}

if (KeypressValue="Alt ( * 3 )") ;use this for [1x=Alt][2x=Alt ( * 2 )][3x=Alt ( * 3 )] [and many more]
{
;Here you can put any AHK CODE 
msgbox you did click Alt 3x Times
}


} ;End Loop

~esc::exitapp

Answer 2

Try this .

#NoEnv
#SingleInstance Force
SetWorkingDir %A_ScriptDir%
#InstallKeybdHook
#UseHook

; Add the keys you want send to the last active window in this array:
Keys := ["a","b","c","1","2","3","space",",",".","-","_","F3"]  ; ... 
for each, key in Keys
    Hotkey, %key%, send_key_to_last_active_window, on

SetTimer get_last_active_window, 300 ; you can decrease this period (number of milliseconds that pass before the timer is executed)
return

send_key_to_last_active_window:
    Send, {%A_ThisHotkey%}
    ; WinGetTitle, Title, ahk_id %LastActive_ID%
    ; WinGetClass, Class, ahk_id %LastActive_ID%
    ; ToolTip, last_active_window=%Title% ahk_class %Class%,,, 2
    ; If Class in Notepad,WordPadClass ; if the last active window is Notepad or WordPad
        ControlSend,, {%A_ThisHotkey%}, ahk_id %LastActive_ID%
return

    get_last_active_window:
WinGet, CurrentActive_ID, ID, A
If (CurrentActive_ID != NewActive_ID)
{
    LastActive_ID = %NewActive_ID%
    NewActive_ID := CurrentActive_ID
    ; WinGetTitle, NewActiveTitle,  ahk_id %NewActive_ID%   
    ; WinGetTitle, LastActiveTitle,  ahk_id %LastActive_ID%
    SetTimer get_last_active_window, off
    ; CoordMode, ToolTip, Screen
    ; ToolTip, Current active window:`nTitle: %NewActiveTitle%`nID: %NewActive_ID%`n`nLast active window:`nTitle: %LastActiveTitle%`nID: %LastActive_ID%, 0, 0, 1
    WinWaitNotActive, ahk_id %NewActive_ID% 
    SetTimer get_last_active_window, on
}
return

See For-Loop, Hotkey and SetTimer in the documentation.