[python-win32] Re: Help on using win32api.SendMessage to sendkeystrokes

[Roel Schroeven]

Mark Hammond wrote:
> PostMessage wants a Python integer object (or a long that could fit in an
> int).  In practice, that means sending a negative integer when you want the
> MSB set.
> 
> Sadly (IMO), in Python 2.4, all these bitwise operations have become more
> "pythonic" rather than like C.  Thus, in 2.3 and earlier:
> 
> 
>>>>1<<31
> 
> -2147483648
> 
> but 2.4+:
> 
> 
>>>>1<<31
> 
> 2147483648L
> 
> 
>>Would that be a bug in python's implementation of PostMessage,
>>or am i missing something?
> 
> 
> Many of the pywin32 functions work like this, and will not accept the new
> long value.  I beleive that can be fixed fairly easily - but changing the
> return values from these functions would open a can of worms.  I'm not sure
> of a clean solution.

One option seems to be to run the desired Python long value trough a
pack and unpack sequence to get the corresponding integer value:

from struct import *
 >>> unpack('=l', pack('=L', 0xC0000000))[0]
-1073741824

-- 
If I have been able to see further, it was only because I stood
on the shoulders of giants.  -- Isaac Newton

Roel Schroeven