How to programmatically click a button in WPF?

Question

Since there\'s no button.PerformClick() method in WPF, is there a way to click a WPF button programmatically?

Answer 1

if you want to call click event:

SomeButton.RaiseEvent(new RoutedEventArgs(Button.ClickEvent));

And if you want the button looks like it is pressed:

typeof(Button).GetMethod("set_IsPressed", BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.NonPublic).Invoke(SomeButton, new object[] { true });

and unpressed after that:

typeof(Button).GetMethod("set_IsPressed", BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.NonPublic).Invoke(SomeButton, new object[] { false });

or use the ToggleButton

Answer 2

WPF takes a slightly different approach than WinForms here. Instead of having the automation of a object built into the API, they have a separate class for each object that is responsible for automating it. In this case you need the ButtonAutomationPeer to accomplish this task.

ButtonAutomationPeer peer = new ButtonAutomationPeer(someButton);
IInvokeProvider invokeProv = peer.GetPattern(PatternInterface.Invoke) as IInvokeProvider;
invokeProv.Invoke();

Here is a blog post on the subject.

Note: IInvokeProvider interface is defined in the UIAutomationProvider assembly.

Answer 3

The problem with the Automation API solution is, that it required a reference to the Framework assembly UIAutomationProvider as project/package dependency.

An alternative is to emulate the behaviour. In the following there is my extended solution which also condiders the MVVM-pattern with its bound commands - implemented as extension method:

public static class ButtonExtensions
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Performs a click on the button.<br/>
    /// This is the WPF-equivalent of the Windows Forms method "<see cref="M:System.Windows.Forms.Button.PerformClick" />".
    /// <para>This simulates the same behaviours as the button was clicked by the user by keyboard or mouse:<br />
    /// 1. The raising the ClickEvent.<br />
    /// 2.1. Checking that the bound command can be executed, calling <see cref="ICommand.CanExecute" />, if a command is bound.<br />
    /// 2.2. If command can be executed, then the <see cref="ICommand.Execute(object)" /> will be called and the optional bound parameter is p
    /// </para>
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="sourceButton">The source button.</param>
    /// <exception cref="ArgumentNullException">sourceButton</exception>
    public static void PerformClick(this Button sourceButton)
    {
        // Check parameters
        if (sourceButton == null)
            throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(sourceButton));

        // 1.) Raise the Click-event
        sourceButton.RaiseEvent(new RoutedEventArgs(System.Windows.Controls.Primitives.ButtonBase.ClickEvent));

        // 2.) Execute the command, if bound and can be executed
        ICommand boundCommand = sourceButton.Command;
        if (boundCommand != null)
        {
            object parameter = sourceButton.CommandParameter;
            if (boundCommand.CanExecute(parameter) == true)
                boundCommand.Execute(parameter);
        }
    }
}

Answer 4

this.PowerButton.RaiseEvent(new RoutedEventArgs(Button.ClickEvent));

Answer 5

As Greg D said, I think that an alternative to Automation to click a button using the MVVM pattern (click event raised and command executed) is to call the OnClick method using reflection:

typeof(System.Windows.Controls.Primitives.ButtonBase).GetMethod("OnClick", BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.NonPublic).Invoke(button, new object[0]);

Answer 6

When using the MVVM Command pattern for Button function (recommended practice), a simple way to trigger the effect of the Button is as follows:

someButton.Command.Execute(someButton.CommandParameter);

This will use the Command object which the button triggers and pass the CommandParameter defined by the XAML.