Month: February 2017

Why AutoHotkey for Chefs and Dieticians?

Jack Dunning AutoHotkey, Cool Scripts, Intermediate Level, Menu, System Tray, MsgBox Techniques, Tooltip Pop-ups , ,

cheeseburgerwhiteicon While You Don’t Often See Television Chefs Using Computers, AutoHotkey Offers Guidance When Cooking “Jack Stuffed Cheeseburgers” at Home

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While I came up with a pretty cool barebones recipe script for this AutoHotkey blog, I’m not sure how well computers and cooking mix. From what I’ve seen, professional chefs don’t have much time to mess with technology—except for possibly writing cookbooks—in which case, I would refer them to “Why AutoHotkey for Writers, Bloggers, and Editors?.”

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cheeseburgercartoon

Using a computer while cooking presents a challenging task. Although looking up a recipe on a smartphone works great, poking at the device with fingers covered in cookie dough proves impractical. Ideally, any kitchen machine is lightweight and stands upright on its own.

Although a little pricey, the Microsoft Surface Pro (or another less expensive Windows ultralight laptop computer) might do the job. Large enough to read the screen, yet easy to move around a cooking area, these computers help any budding chef or dietician who needs to check recipes—as long as no one dumps boiling water on the keyboard. For size and convenience, finding equipment more practical than a lightweight laptop proves difficult. Continue reading →

Change Script Features on the Fly with the Windows System Tray Icon Context Menu (AutoHotkey Tip)

Jack Dunning AutoHotkey, Cool Scripts, Intermediate Level, Menu, System Tray, Programming, Tooltip Pop-ups, Windows scripting , , , ,

Dynamically Switch the Actions of a Running AutoHotkey Script with a Simple Click of a System Tray Right-Click Menu Item

From Rick Corbett:

Hi, Jack,

Talking of “Adding Actions to Windows System Tray Icon Menu“, perhaps you would consider writing about using—for example—ToggleCheck, MenuItemName to amend a running script dynamically, i.e. change something (like toggling logging to a file versus a MsgBox), then reload.

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AutoHotkey Library Deal
AutoHotkey Library Deal

That’s an excellent question, Rick! Often, after loading a script,  we want to either turn features off and on or change how they function. Adding separate Hotkeys or rewriting scripts becomes wearisome. But, what if we could add a feature to the Windows System Tray Icon Context Menu (right-click) which either toggles an action on and off or completely changes how it works? AutoHotkey offers a straightforward way to get it done. Continue reading →

Why AutoHotkey for Grandparents?

Jack Dunning AutoHotkey, Children's Educational Apps, Cool Scripts, Hotkeys, INI Files, Intermediate Level, Windows scripting , , , , ,

Remember All Your Grand Kid’s Birthdays and Their Ages! There’s No Limit to the Number of Ways You Can Amuse Your Grandchildren with AutoHotkey, Plus It Gives Your Brain a Much Needed Workout!

If you only have one grandchild, then you probably won’t have much trouble recalling his or her birthday or age. In that case, you may not have much interest in the grandbotslittle AutoHotkey GrandKids.ahk script. However, AutoHotkey offers much more which can enrich your offspring’s offspring’s education and entertainment—including a one-line script which verbalizes out loud the letters and numbers on the computer keyboard. But more importantly, learning to write AutoHotkey scripts exercises your mind—something everyone needs.

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Some of the scripts in this blog may not make AutoHotkey look easy, but you’ll find the first steps to AutoHotkey literacy quite simple. For a comfortable startup, check out this Introduction to AutoHotkey.

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Continue reading →

Making Jack’s AutoHotkey Tips Easier to Find

Jack Dunning AutoHotkey

While WordPress Offers a Search Tool, Sometimes “A Motley Assortment of AutoHotkey Tips and Tricks” Page Works Better

Since my first blog in July of 2015, I’ve written over 80 articles—mostly about AutoHotkey. While many of them are part of a series listed under the “AutoHotkey Topics politicalrobotand Series” menu (in the top menu bar above), quite a few consist of random insights and techniques. Since these ideas don’t fit into a particular category, after a couple of months, the volume of new blogs I post on this site soon bury those insights.

I never know when inspiration will strike me. Usually, it’s when I’m looking for an alternative approach to a command or trying to solve a particular AutoHotkey problem. Sometimes, it takes a while for the importance of the technique to sink in, but once I experience the epiphany, I must write about it. Continue reading →

For Speed, Replace the Send Command with Control, EditPaste (AutoHotkey Tip)

Jack Dunning AutoHotkey, AutoHotkey GUIs, Intermediate Level, Windows Clipboard ,

The Control, EditPaste Command Adds Great Speed to Standard Text Insertion Routines—within Certain Limits

My work in the last blog on “Why AutoHotkey for Students?” hatched a couple of personal AutoHotkey epiphanies. After all these years of using and writing about AutoHotkey, I continue to readthemanualsurprise myself with new discoveries. If I had read every word of the documentation (and possessed the ability to remember it all), then I may have understood these insights long ago. However, the AutoHotkey documentation contains a wealth of information which takes a great deal of time to digest.

I can’t fault the online manual because it covers nearly everything. Yet, it doesn’t always point out which bits are the most useful. When I discover a command or technique which significantly improves the operation of a script, I call it a “Best Practice.” Otherwise, I tend to keep using the same old techniques until something causes me to dig a little deeper. Last week presented just such an opportunity.

The biggest problem introduced by discovering these little gems involves going back and testing their limitations, then replacing all my old code lines with the better technique. Continue reading →

Why AutoHotkey for Students?

Jack Dunning AutoHotkey, Beginning, Clipboard Routine, Cool Scripts, Editing Tools, Hotstrings, Menu, System Tray, Programming, Web Pages, Windows scripting , , ,

Ten Reasons Why Every Student Should Use the Free AutoHotkey Windows Tools! AutoHotkey Helps You So Much Academically That You’ll Think You’re Cheating! Plus, It’s Delicious Brain Food and Helps Get You a Job!

Using AutoHotkey should be mandatory for every student from high school on through college! Not merely because learning AutoHotkey invigorates the brain cells (which it does!), but robotsexismit makes all your Windows tasks so much easier that it seems unsporting. AutoHotkey takes the grunt work out academia making learning fun…almost.

(If you know a student who uses a Windows computer, then do him or her a favor by sending him or her a link to this article. If he or she doesn’t already know about AutoHotkey, he or she will thank you profusely.)

For those unfamiliar with the free open-source scripting language, AutoHotkey offers simple, yet powerful, commands for adding enhancements to any Windows computer. In addition to their simplicity, the little apps work in any Windows program or on any Web page. For a brief overview, see this “Introduction to AutoHotkey: A Review and Guide for Beginners.” Continue reading →