Robot's keyPress() doesn't work as should

Question

I need help with Robot class in Java. I have the following code:

public static void main(String[] args) throws AWTException {
    Robot r = new Robot();
    r.delay(3000);
    r.keyPress(KeyEvent.VK_7);
    r.delay(5000);
    r.keyRelease(KeyEvent.VK_7);
}

From what I understand, this code has to press "7" and release it after 5 seconds. But it presses "7" and then releases it immediately. So, Robot class doesn't press and release after a while, but it fires the key once instead.

How do I make my Java application to hold a key for few seconds, then release?

Answer 1

So, after researching this topic closely, I have concluded that java.awt.Robot class just doesn't have the functionality to "hold" down the key.

The answer to a similar question ( Simulate a key held down in Java ), which recommended me to create a loop of constantly repeating keyPress events, didn't satisfy me, since I needed a real key-hold simulation.

I also tried using this library with no success:

Thread.sleep(3000);
Keyboard.sendKeyDown(KeyEvent.VK_7);
Thread.sleep(5000);
Keyboard.sendKeyUp(KeyEvent.VK_7);

Finally, I solved my issue via winKeyboard . But here's an important note :

I was developing a bot for a game, and was not trying to hold a key inside any text editor and see how it's continually filling the line with characters. If you'll try to test holding button within a text editor, it won't work, because text editors repeated key presses are working differently from normal keyboard events listeners in games. But it's a different topic.

Solution:

Keyboard keyboard = new Keyboard();

Thread.sleep(3000);
keyboard.winKeyPress(ScanCode.DIK_7);
Thread.sleep(5000);
keyboard.winKeyRelease(ScanCode.DIK_7);

Another thing to note is that sometimes, to make the bot work in games, you need to run your application as administrator, otherwise it might not work.