Month: May 2018

Open and Print Files with the QuickLinks App (AutoHotkey Tip from a Reader)

Jack Dunning AutoHotkey, Clipboard Routine, Menus, Printing, Windows scripting, Windows Utilities , , ,

Khanh Ngo Offers an Improvement to the QuickLinks.ahk Script Which Enables the Loading of Any Selected File with Your Favorite Program, Plus QuickLinks Can Now Print Files!

Recently I received the following message:

Hi, Jack,

Library Benefits

I just found your website when searching around for AHK tips and found your QuickLinks—very impressive, with minimal coding needed.

I’m currently making good use of it and added a small improvement to QL_MenuHandler that I think you might appreciate too:

When executing a shortcut, send currently selected files as an argument to that program. Basically, open the selected file with the QuickLinks program.

This is quite convenient when opening a text or image editor.

Let me know what you think.

Khanh

After reviewing the changes to the QuickLinks.ahk script, I saw that with the short piece of code, Khanh had greatly expanded the possibilities. What started out as a tool for quickly opening favorite programs and Web pages turned into a method for opening any file with those same preferred applications. I immediately incorporated the new code in the current download. Continue reading →

Italicize Your Hotstring Replacements with this Input Command Ploy (AutoHotkey Tip)

Jack Dunning AutoHotkey, Data Files, Hotstrings, Input Command (Hotstrings), Intermediate Level, Send Command, Windows scripting , ,

A Maneuver That Opts for Italic Output by Tricking the AutoHotkey Input Command, Plus a Tip for Creating Italic Hotstrings

In the past few blogs, I’ve explored using a data table to drive an AutoHotkey application featuring the enigmatic Input command. The article “Input Command Creates Temporary Hotstrings from Data Table (AutoHotkey INI File Technique)” demonstrates how to initiate access to a data table using the Input command. Following up, “More Hotstring Tricks Using the Input Command and a Data Table (AutoHotkey Legal Lingo Tips)” gives us an alternative menu generated from the data table when no match occurs in the Input command. With a simple modification of the AutoHotkey Input command, we add an option for converting the Latin legal terms into italics for particular word processors.

Blog Update, January 25, 2019: If your word processing software supports control key toggles such as CTRL+I for italics then you may want to take a look at “Adding Italics to Hotstrings in Word Processing Software (AutoHotkey Quick Tip).”

Continue reading →

More Hotstring Tricks Using the Input Command and a Data Table (AutoHotkey Legal Lingo Tips)

Jack Dunning AutoHotkey, Data Files, Hotstrings, INI Files, Input Command (Hotstrings), Loops, Menus, Windows scripting , , , ,

The AutoHotkey Input Command Makes It Easy to Use the LegalInput.ini Data Table in Multiple Ways

A few weeks back I demonstrated how to build an INI data table for driving AutoHotkey scripts. I used the INI file format (LegalInput.ini) because it includes one index for quickly looking up records. In the file, I created four-character codes for accessing records which include the English legal definition, the Latin term, and a description (if any).

Legal Input Lex Scripta

While essential to the AutoHotkey feature discussed last time, you’ll find the INI file structure incidental to the technique discussed in this blog. You can use an INI file either for its index or as a standard data table with no special capabilities. As demonstrated in this piece, you’ll find a number of different ways to take advantage of a data table—without requiring an INI file. An INI file gives you a convenient means for quickly accessing data, but (especially for short files) you’ll discover numerous other methods for extracting the information you want. Continue reading →

ShareASale Account Canceled

Jack Dunning AutoHotkey

I’ve canceled my ShareASale account for ComputorEdge E-Books. In the almost two years I’ve used it, the service (even with hundreds of affiliates) has generated zero sales. (AutoHotkey may be too much of a niche market.) If you signed up as an affiliate, I’m sorry, but the links will soon no longer work. I suggest that you remove them from your site.

It was worth a shot, but the monthly cost to continue does not make sense (cents?).

 

Waiting for a Web Page to Load into a Browser (AutoHotkey Tips)

Jack Dunning AutoHotkey, Internet connection, MsgBox Techniques, Web Pages, Windows Automation, Windows scripting , , ,

A Look at Techniques for Ensuring a Web Page Fully Loads Before Continuing an AutoHotkey Script

When writing an AutoHotkey script which uses the Web, I rarely open a browser anymore. I either download the source code to a file (URLDownLoadToFile command) or a variable (Example: Download text to a variable technique). That means I don’t need to wait for a Web page to load into a browser—although as expressed earlier similar issues exist.

Web Page Load MsgBoxOne of the most common reasons for requiring a fully loaded Web page involves AutoHotkey auto-logon scripts which insert usernames and passwords before continuing. If the page download hesitates, the script outruns the Web process and sends the data to an empty browser window. Most of the Web download problems brought to my attention by AutoHotkey users relate to auto-login scripts. Continue reading →