Month: December 2018

Add Single-Key Shortcuts to QuickLinks App (AutoHotkey Quick Tip)

Jack Dunning AutoHotkey, Beginning, Menus, Windows shortcuts , , , ,

Reader Uses Menu Shortcut Keys to Speedup QuickLinks.ahk Action

Alan posted the following comment on Pressing GUI Buttons with a Single Keystroke (AutoHotkey Tip):

Hi, Jack,

Thanks for making such useful contributions to AHK.

I found QuickLinks to be useful but then was looking to make it even more helpful by having key shortcuts. I figured out how to do it! You can let others know if you can point out adding an ampersand in front of the letter of the folder or shortcut.

Thanks, 

Alan

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I’m gratified that a number of people are using and modifying the QuickLinks.ahk script. It’s evolved considerably since I first introduce the barebones version in the book Digging Deeper Into AutoHotkey. In AutoHotkey Applications, I added icons using the Menu,…,Icon, command. In my most recent Motley Assortment of AutoHotkey Tips, I modified the script to add a number of other features. More recently, I wrote a blog which highlighted changes increasing the power of the script by another reader, “Open and Print Files with the QuickLinks App (AutoHotkey Tip from a Reader)“. In all that time, I never thought to talk about using the single-key shortcut menu technique available in all Windows menus with the QuickLinks.ahk script. Continue reading →

Using the AutoHotkey Hotstring() Function to Disable/Enable Hotstrings

Jack Dunning Arrays, AutoHotkey, DropDownList Control, Emojis, GUI (Graphical User Interface) Pop-ups, Hotstring() Function, Hotstrings, If statements, Labels, Loops, Windows scripting , ,

While the Hotstring() Function Won’t Delete Hotstrings, It Can Toggle Them Off and On (Disable and Re-Enable)

Technically, once created, you can’t delete a Hotstring without exiting the script. However, you can disable and enable its function. When you disable a Hotstring using the Hotstring() function, it loses its power—similar to the effect of deleting it. But, since the disabled Hotstring still exists, you can bring it back to life by re-enabling it with the same Hotstring() function. Continue reading →

Create Instant Hotstrings Using the AutoHotkey Hotstring() Function

Jack Dunning AutoHotkey, AutoHotkey GUIs, DropDownList Control, GUI (Graphical User Interface) Pop-ups, Hotstring() Function, Hotstrings, Labels, Loops, Sorting Data, Windows scripting , ,

While Building Temporary Hotstrings Using the AutoHotkey Hotstring() Function, We Learn DropDownList GUI Control Techniques

In Section 12, “Instant Hotkey GUI and Menu Section” of my book Jack’s Motley Assortment of AutoHotkey Tips, I go through a number of different techniques for keeping track of impromptu Hotkeys created with the InstantHotkey.ahk script (e.g. two-deep variables, associative arrays, etc). I thought of using that script as a model for this new InstantHotsting.ahk script. However, I might offer more learning points about other aspects of AutoHotkey if I start over with a new approach to this slightly varied problem.

Continue reading →

New Flexible Hotstring Features Added to AutoHotkey

Jack Dunning AutoHotkey, Forcing Expressions, GoSub Command, Hotstrings, Labels, Windows scripting , , ,

Last February, AutoHotkey Release 1.1.28.00 Included Important New Hotstring Capabilities

A few months back while working on my latest book, Jack’s Motley Assortment of AutoHotkey Tips, I encountered a new x option for Hotstrings. The x option enables the running of functions and commands rather than replacing text. This new feature surprised me since, in the past, a one-line Hotstring would only do text replacement.

I immediately recognized that this approach to one-line action Hotstrings could immediately shorten a long list of function Hotstrings. However, closer scrutiny of the new AutoHotkey release revealed further (and possibly more important) new Hotstring functionality. In addition to the x option, the February AutoHotkey release includes:

  1. A new Hotstring() function which adds dynamic capabilities to Hotstrings.
  2. A new method for creating function Hotstrings by defining the function immediately after the Hotstring(s).

Continue reading →