Window Detective

Designing a simple interface for an application is not all fun and games, even if it just looks like piling up some menus and stitching a few elements together. All comes down to how well the code is written, with each element requiring different values to be able to properly behave in multiple situations. This is where applications like Window Detective come in handy, letting you analyze every minor change happening in any of the active windows on your desktop.

Just so you don't feel overwhelmed by the abundance of details, numerical values and codes gathered from different window activities, the application sports a simple and intuitive design. You can arrange panels as you see fit, with one of them displaying a list of all detected targets, while the other is dedicated to attributes. In case the set of features tickles your fancy, there's also the portable edition to try out.

A fair amount of methods can be used to pick the target. Through a drop-down menu, you can select whether to view window hierarchy for desktop elements or running processes. An easier method is to press and hold the “pick window” button that highlights your selection in the list when releasing over the window of interest.

Program names are displayed along with icon so you know what to look for, each holding corresponding elements, such as every button, menu and class it holds. The application is capable to displaying various details and info which appear well-organized next to the browser.

Attributes like text, handle, parent, owner, dimensions, position, size, styles, scrolls, props and window classes can be analyzed, with the possibility to save all data to file. This greatly comes in handy for programming and quickly importing data to create a custom interface.

Bottom line is that Window Detective is a lightweight but powerful application with which you can view what makes an interface of processes and windows respond to your interactions. Real-time updates on the list of elements make sure you gather all needed details, with options to save to file for a proper experience.