Month: March 2020

AutoHotkey Tip of the Week: Guidelines for AutoHotkey Function Libraries

Jack Dunning #Directives, AutoHotkey, Beginning, Function Libraries, Script Structure, Windows scripting , ,

When Using Function Libraries, You Don’t Need to Embed Your Functions into Each of Your AutoHotkey Scripts—But Sometimes Keeping Them Close Works Out Better

In the past two blogs, “Dynamic Regular Expressions (RegEx) for Math Calculating Hotstrings” and “The Eval() Function for Hotkey Math Calculations and Text Manipulation“, I highlighted two different powerful, auxiliary (not built-in) AutoHotkey functions: RegExHotstrings() and Eval(). Normally, you might embed a user-defined function inside your script but these two functions take up quite a few lines of code. Plus, you might want to use those same functions in a number of different scripts. Adding them to each script can get a little cumbersome—even when using the #Include directive.

Fortunately, when loading a script, if AutoHotkey doesn’t find a directly called function inside the script, it automatically searches the special Function Libraries. But, before you race to put all of your functions in one of those Libraries, you should consider a number of factors. Continue reading →

AutoHotkey Tip of the Week: The Eval() Function for Hotkey Math Calculations and Text Manipulation

Jack Dunning Arrays, AutoHotkey, Clipboard Routine, Cool Scripts, Eval() function, Functions, Hotstrings, Windows Clipboard, Windows scripting, Windows Utilities , , , ,

The Classic Eval() Function Solves Problems You Didn’t Even Know You Had by Calculating and Resolving AutoHotkey Functions and Expressions Found in Text Strings!

When I work on particular AutoHotkey solutions, often I find myself in the middle of a treasure hunt—picking up hidden gems along the way. Although operative for years, I didn’t know these valuable tools existed until I went searching for answers to a seemingly unrelated problem.

EvalfunctionMsgBox2For example, the simple question about capitalizing sentences led me to the RegExHotstrings() function discussed last time. As I dug deeper into the math-side of dynamic Hotstrings, I discovered the Eval() function. While many old AutoHotkey hands have employed the Eval() function for years, I didn’t understand its power until I used it in the investigation. (Even now the Eval() function does way more than I comprehend. I’ve only scratched the surface of its capabilities.) Continue reading →

AutoHotkey Tip of the Week: Dynamic Regular Expressions (RegEx) for Math Calculating Hotstrings

Jack Dunning Autocorrect, AutoHotkey, Cool Scripts, Functions, Hotstrings, Intermediate Level, Labels, Loops, Parsing Data, Regular Expressions (RegEx), Send Command, Windows scripting , , , ,

An AutoHotkey Classic, the Dynamic Hotstrings() Function Makes Instant RegEx Replacements Possible—Now, You Can Do Math with Your Hotstrings!

Anyone who reads my blog on a routine basis knows how I love Regular Expressions (RegEx). They make feasible all kinds of capabilities not practical by any other method. While not necessarily easy for a beginner to grasp, RegEx provides a mechanism for matching text when you don’t know exactly which characters you need (wildcards). (That’s why I wrote the book A Beginner’s Guide to Using Regular Expressions in AutoHotkey.) Although you may encounter a bit of a learning curve, RegEx gives you the ability to accomplish some pretty fancy tasks. This time I plan to demonstrate a couple of Hotstring techniques that might amaze you—they did me! Continue reading →

Quick Tip: Using the Sleep Command with Clipboard Routines

Jack Dunning AutoHotkey, Beginning, Clipboard Routine, Hotstrings, Send Command, Sleep Command, Windows scripting , , , , ,

Use the Sleep Command to Debug Intermittent Routines

tipsLast night, I received the following comment from Thom Blake about last week’s blog “Auto-Capitalize the First Letter of Sentences” prompting this Quick Tip about adding the Sleep command at critical points in certain types of AutoHotkey routines:

Jack

Great script but I seem to have a problem with the capitalize a word function. It only works intermittently. The message box says “No text selected!” when clearly there is.

Thanks, Thom!

This is a needed reminder about a common problem when using the Send command with the Clipboard routine. Sometimes, for whatever reason, certain commands execute before the completion of the last action. In this case, AutoHotkey attempts to copy text to the Windows Clipboard before the SendInput text selection action completes: Continue reading →

AutoHotkey Tip of the Week: Auto-Capitalize the First Letter of Sentences

Jack Dunning Autocorrect, AutoHotkey, Editing Tools, Hotstrings, Windows scripting , , , , ,

Some People Don’t Find It Easy to Shift to Uppercase While Capitalizing Words—AutoHotkey Allows Us to Stop Reaching for the Shift Key—at Least for New Sentences!

I received the following question from a reader:

Hello,

Is there a script to auto-capitalize the first word of a sentence. Or after a period?

Thanks.

*          *          *

Not everyone received an A in typing class—I didn’t. Plus, many people for a variety of reasons may find navigating a keyboard difficult. Where using the Shift key may be a simple inconvenience for some, people who are not blessed with full functioning fingers and/or hands encounter an arduous task. Even capitalizing the word “I” (“i think i will go”) can present a challenge. The primary goal of AutoHotkey is to make your Windows life easier. Continue reading →

Quick Tip: The Best Way to Paste with the AutoHotkey Send Command

Jack Dunning AutoHotkey, Clipboard Routine, Hotkeys, Send Command, Windows scripting, Windows shortcuts , , ,

When Using the Send Command to Paste from the Clipboard, a Simple Best Practice Can Make the Difference

tipsI’ve noticed that occasionally a couple of my Clipboard paste Hotkeys would cause a jump to the Bottom of the page in the WordPress editing window—a huge source of aggravation. Fortunately, I rarely used those Hotkeys. Then, while working on my blog for next week, I ran into the problem again in a simple capitalization Hotkey routine. This confused me since my standard uppercase, lowercase, and initial cap Hotkeys work just fine. The new Hotkey wasn’t that much different. I investigated. Continue reading →

AutoHotkey Tips of the Week: The ComObjCreate() Function for Web Page Downloads, E-Mail, and Text Audio

Jack Dunning AutoHotkey, Children's Educational Apps, ComObjCreate(), E-mail, Intermediate Level, Internet connection, Programming, Regular Expressions (RegEx), Windows scripting, Windows Speech , , , , , ,

While AutoHotkey Directly Supports Most Windows Features, the Flexibility of the ComObjCreate() Function Adds More Useful Capabilities—Especially for Capturing Web Data, Sending E-mail, and Reading Text Out-Loud

A number of my scripts use the ComObjCreate() function in various forms. Most of them I copied from the AutoHotkey Forums and modified for my own purposes. In this blog, I highlight the ComObjCreate() applications I use most, then offer a list of other forms of the function you may find useful.

How I Use ComObjCreate()

Synonym Page
The SynonymLookup.ahk script pulls replacement terms for the highlighted word “Page” from the Web.

While AutoHotkey supports many of these features in one form or another, directly accessing the COM (Component Object Model) might provide a solution you can get by no other method. I use the ComObjCreate() function in three ways:

  1. Collect data from Web pages (ComObjCreate(“WinHttp.WinHttpRequest.5.1”)).
  2. Send e-mail directly from an AutoHotkey script (ComObjCreate(“CDO.Message”))—no mail program required.
  3. Use the computer voice to read text (ComObjCreate(“SAPI.SpVoice”)).

While I haven’t found much additional information about the ComObjCreate() function posted on the new AutoHotkey forum, the old forum contains a useful COM Object reference list. You don’t need to know how they work—just how to use them. Continue reading →