I want Spy++ but I don't have Visual Studio

Question

I only have SQL Server 2008 Client tools. I would like to use Spy++, but of course, it only comes with the Visual Studio installation.

Is there a good replacement for Spy++ that I can use?

Answer 1

Winspector has been more helpful. Not sure why their site is down right now, but there are a lot of other places to download it.

Answer 2

The free download for windows SDK includes UISpy... is that close enough?

Answer 3

There is WinSpy++ by James Brown at Catch22.net

However, the software downloaded from the site as of today (Jan 2023) gets blocked by smartscreen and malware filters. It also only works for 32bit apps if you ignore all that and install anyway.

Answer 4

Visual UI Automation Verify

With the Visual UIA Verify, you can quickly find and select any UI element anywhere on the desktop. Based on the specific control type and the supported control patterns, UIA Verify provides the built-in test scenarios prioritized for the particular UI element. Developers can add additional test scenarios by adding the code to the UIA Test Library. The tool can output the test results or the summary in various forms. Visual UIA Verify can output test details in HTML.

Answer 5

I think WinSpy++ looks like the best bet, especially since it ships with source and is compatible with Vista (Win7 too presumably).

However, the first clone I'd run across was WinID. No source and claims not to support Vista, but it may do some things WinSpy++ doesn't...like extracting icons and fonts ("Capture Shot").

Note: tried to post this as a comment and not an answer, but the link wouldn't work.

Answer 6

A very decent effort to revive the beloved but defunct winspector is window detective : http://windowdetective.sourceforge.net/

Answer 7

Visual Studio 2013 now has a community edition. See the Q&A on that page to see if you can use it.

Spy++ is included in the community edition. I had to launch the "Developer Command Prompt for VS2013" and then run the spyxx.exe executable from that command prompt. Searching for "spy++" or "spyxx" in the "Search programs and files" entry box on the (Windows 7) start menu didn't find it.

Answer 8

I just used Windows Detective. Worth taking a look:

http://windowdetective.sourceforge.net/

Answer 9

just download from:

http://mdb-blog.blogspot.com/2010/11/microsoft-spy-or-spyxx-for-download.html

it contains versions:

• 7.0
• 8.0
• 10.0
• 11.00
• and 14.00 (latest)

Answer 10

Try using HWndSpy.
Source code is here.