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See Comments by AutoHotkey Book Readers

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E-Books for Making Your Journey into AutoHotkey Scripting Easier

“Every programmer has moments where he or she achieves a breakthrough and their code actually works. Their first impulse is to tell someone…anyone, ‘Look what I just did!’ Alas, often there is no one to show their accomplishment. At least, no one who either understands or cares about their success. Maybe that’s why I write about my AutoHotkey journeys. I need to tell someone when (ironically?) some code I wrote does what it’s supposed to do.”

“I think my primary goal is to entice other people into learning AutoHotkey. Not just because it’s a powerful, simple Windows utility language, nor because writing working scripts is extremely satisfying (and fun), but I want more people using and understanding AutoHotkey so that I can tell them whenever I manage to eke out a minor AutoHotkey achievement.”

“Although a number of ideas in my books could be useful to experienced programmers, the bulk of my work aims at novices who want to learn the ins and outs of AutoHotkey scripts. If you already know how to write scripts, then these books may only act as a source of ideas. For the knowledgeable coder, the basic AutoHotkey commands and features are available on the Web at AutoHotkey.com and you can teach the language to yourself—as I did.”

“However, I do admit that I often refer back to my own books while writing this AutoHotkey blog, because, not even I can remember everything that I wrote.”

— Jack Dunning

New Book! Jack’s Motley Assortment
of AutoHotkey Tips

A Living Book

This first edition of my new book Jack’s Motley Assortment of AutoHotkey Tips includes more than 80 chapters of AutoHotkey tips, tricks, and techniques. But, that only reflects the starting point for this Living book. Every six months to a year, I will add 30 or more new chapters based upon my current explorations of AutoHotkey. If you purchase this book, you will get all of these new editions free. You only need to buy this book once.

To review the “Table of Contexts” and “Index”, see this Motley Tips page.

Miscellaneous AutoHotkey Tips

Jack’s Motley Assortment of AutoHotkey Tips contains a wide variety of techniques for both beginning and more advanced users (e.g. Regular Expressions (RegEx) and Web scraping). Many of the techniques in this book come from currently unpublished articles. I’ve done my best to bring a semblance of order to the chapters and group them into sections based upon common themes. Some appear in order based upon application or type of AutoHotkey techniques (e.g. Clipboard usage, window manipulation) while others explore specific commands (e.g. the WinSet command).

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New to AutoHotkey? See “Introduction to AutoHotkey: A Review and Guide for Beginners.”

If you don’t know which AutoHotkey e-books to get or which reading format is best for you, you can get all the books in all three formats in one Mega Library Bundle. This bundle includes each of Jack’s ten AutoHotkey books in all three digital formats: EPUB format (iPad, Nook, Kobo, etc.), the MOBI format (Amazon Kindle) and the Adobe PDF format for printing on letter size paper and putting in a notebook for easy review and note taking when away from your computer or other reading device.

Tip: When you buy one of Jack’s AutoHotkey Libraries, you get Library Membership automatically. As Jack updates the books in your library for upcoming changes in AutoHotkey, you get them all free! Plus, you get a substantial discount on any new AutoHotkey books released. See Jack’s AutoHotkey E-Book Library Membership for more details.

Special Deal for Old ComputorEdge E-Books AutoHotkey Book Customers!

These books act as a great resource for learning or as references for the free AutoHotkey software—absolutely the best free Windows utility software ever! You can create powerful tools for Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10.

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AutoHotkey Starter Library Bundle—$19.95

If you’re just starting out, but don’t want to commit to the entire library, this bundle gives you the boost you need. Get these beginning books in all three formats in one Starter Deal!

This bundle includes each of Jack’s beginning AutoHotkey books in all three digital formats: EPUB format (iPad, Nook, Kobo, etc.), the MOBI format (Amazon Kindle) and the Adobe PDF format for printing on letter size paper and putting in a notebook for easy review and notetaking when away from your computer or other reading device.

These are great books for learning how to use the free AutoHotkey software—absolutely the best free Windows utility software ever! Create power tools for Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10.

Current List of AutoHotkey Starter Library Bundle Books:

Why AutoHotkey? How Free AutoHotkey Adds Power to Your Windows PC and Provides You Important Brain Food! ($2.97 Value)
Jack’s New Beginner’s Guide to AutoHotkey (2018) ($6.99 Value)
AutoHotkey Tricks You Ought To Do With Windows! ($2.97 Value)
Beginning AutoHotkey Hotstrings: A Practical Guide for Creative AutoCorrection, Text Expansion, and Text Replacement ($5.99 Value)
Digging Deeper Into AutoHotkey ($8.99 Value)
Beginning Tips for Writing AutoHotkey Scripts ($7.99 Value)

While included in the AutoHotkey Mega Library Bundle, you can add on Jack’s Motley Assortment of AutoHotkeyTips three-format bundle at a greatly reduced price to either the Starter Bundle or Intermediate Bundle by adding the Motley Tips three-format bundle to your shopping cart (along with your selected bundle) and entering the discount code “MOTLEY” at check out.

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AutoHotkey Intermediate Library Bundle—$19.95

Don’t Know Which AutoHotkey E-Book to Get or Which E-Book Format is Best for You? Get Jack’s Intermediate Level Books in All Three Formats in One Mega-Deal!

This bundle includes each of Jack’s three AutoHotkey books in all three digital formats, plus the AutoHotkey Tricks book with indexes from all books: EPUB format (iPad, Nook, Kobo, etc.), the MOBI format (Amazon Kindle) and the Adobe PDF format for printing on letter size paper and putting in a notebook for easy review and notetaking when away from your computer or other reading device.

Great Books for Learning (or as References for) the Free AutoHotkey Software — Absolutely the Best Free Windows Utility Software Ever! Create Power Tools for Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10.

Current List of AutoHotkey Intermediate Library Bundle Books:

AutoHotkey Tricks You Ought To Do With Windows! ($2.97 Value)
AutoHotkey Hotkeys: Tips, Tricks, Techniques, and Best Practices for Automating Your Windows Computers with Hotkey Combinations ($8.99 Value)
AutoHotkey Applications: Ideas and Tips for Writing Practical AutoHotkey Scripts ($12.99 Value)
A Beginner’s Guide to Using Regular Expressions in AutoHotkey ($6.99 Value)

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AutoHotkey Essentials Library Bundle—$34.95

If you want the combined Starter and Intermediate AutoHotkey Bundles at an even better price, you can get all those books in all three formats in the AutoHotkey Essentials Library Bundle. This bundle includes the AutoHotkey books in the first two bundles in all three digital formats: EPUB format (iPad, Nook, Kobo, etc.), the MOBI format (Amazon Kindle) and the Adobe PDF format for printing on letter size paper and putting in a notebook for easy review and notetaking when away from your computer or other reading device.

These books act as a great resource for learning or as references for the free AutoHotkey software—absolutely the best free Windows utility software ever! You can create power tools for Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10.

Current List of AutoHotkey Essentials Library Bundle Books:

Why AutoHotkey? How Free AutoHotkey Adds Power to Your Windows PC and Provides You Important Brain Food! ($2.97 Value)
Jack’s New Beginner’s Guide to AutoHotkey (2018) ($6.99 Value)
AutoHotkey Tricks You Ought To Do With Windows! ($2.97 Value)
Beginning AutoHotkey Hotstrings: A Practical Guide for Creative AutoCorrection, Text Expansion, and Text Replacement ($5.99 Value)
Digging Deeper Into AutoHotkey ($8.99 Value)
Beginning Tips for Writing AutoHotkey Scripts ($7.99 Value)
AutoHotkey Hotkeys: Tips, Tricks, Techniques, and Best Practices for Automating Your Windows Computers with Hotkey Combinations ($8.99 Value)
AutoHotkey Applications: Ideas and Tips for Writing Practical AutoHotkey Scripts ($12.99 Value)
A Beginner’s Guide to Using Regular Expressions in AutoHotkey ($6.99 Value)

While included in the AutoHotkey Mega Library Bundle, you can add on Jack’s Motley Assortment of AutoHotkeyTips three-format bundle at a greatly reduced price to the AutoHotkey Essentials Library Bundle by adding the Motley Tips three-format bundle to your shopping cart (along with your selected bundle) and entering the discount code “MOTLEY” at check out—or just purchase the Mega Library Bundle at for the same total price.

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AutoHotkey Mega Library Bundle—$49.95

If you don’t know which AutoHotkey e-books to get or which reading format is best for you, you can get all the books in all three formats in one Mega Library Bundle. This bundle includes each of Jack’s ten AutoHotkey books in all three digital formats: EPUB format (iPad, Nook, Kobo, etc.), the MOBI format (Amazon Kindle) and the Adobe PDF format for printing on letter size paper and putting in a notebook for easy review and notetaking when away from your computer or other reading device.

Current List of AutoHotkey Mega Library Bundle Books:

Why AutoHotkey? How Free AutoHotkey Adds Power to Your Windows PC and Provides You Important Brain Food! ($2.97 Value)
Jack’s New Beginner’s Guide to AutoHotkey (2018) ($6.99 Value)
AutoHotkey Tricks You Ought To Do With Windows! ($2.97 Value)
Beginning AutoHotkey Hotstrings: A Practical Guide for Creative AutoCorrection, Text Expansion, and Text Replacement ($5.99 Value)
Digging Deeper Into AutoHotkey ($8.99 Value)
Beginning Tips for Writing AutoHotkey Scripts ($7.99 Value)
AutoHotkey Hotkeys: Tips, Tricks, Techniques, and Best Practices for Automating Your Windows Computers with Hotkey Combinations ($8.99 Value)
AutoHotkey Applications: Ideas and Tips for Writing Practical AutoHotkey Scripts ($12.99 Value)
A Beginner’s Guide to Using Regular Expressions in AutoHotkey ($6.99 Value)
Jack’s Motley Assortment of AutoHotkey Tips ($27.99 Value)

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Completely rewritten for 2018, Jack’s New Beginner’s Guide to AutoHotkey includes many new tips, plus examples of the coming AutoHotkey version 2.0 code. The e-book replaces the original book. You can find it available in e-book format from Amazon (and other formats—EPUB and PDF (plus Amazon compatible format)— at the ComputorEdgeBooks Web site linked below). Jack’s New Beginner’s Guide to AutoHotkey, Absolutely the Best Free Windows Utility Software Ever!: Create Power Tools for Windows (preferred, EPUB format for iPad, Android, and computers; MOBI for Amazon Kindle; and PDF for printing) offers a gentle approach to learning AutoHotkey. (Not available from Amazon.)

For more details about A Beginner’s Guide to AutoHotkey (Table of Contents and the entire book index), click here!

Building Power Tools for Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 10, AutoHotkey is the most powerful, flexible, free Windows utility software available. Anyone can instantly add more of the functions that they want in all of their Windows programs, whether installed on their computer or while working on the Web. AutoHotkey has a universality not found in any other Windows utility—free or paid.

Originally based on the series of articles in ComputorEdge, Jack takes you through his learning experience as he explores writing simple AutoHotkey scripts for adding repetitive text in any program or on the Web, running programs with special hotkeys or gadgets, manipulating the size and screen location of windows, making any window always-on-top, copying and moving files, and much more. Each chapter builds on the previous chapters.

For an EPUB (iPad, NOOK, etc.) version of A Beginner’s Guide to AutoHotkey click here!

For a PDF version for printing on letter size paper for inclusion in a standard notebook of A Beginner’s Guide to AutoHotkey click here!

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Jack’s second AutoHotkey book, Digging Deeper Into AutoHotkey (preferred, EPUB format for iPad, Android, and computers; MOBI for Amazon Kindle; and PDF for printing) is comprised of updated, reorganized and indexed columns from ComputorEdge is now available. Since the columns were not all written in a linear fashion, the book has been reorganized and broken up into parts by topic. The book is not for the complete beginner since it builds on the information in A Beginner’s Guide to AutoHotkey.

For more details about Digging Deeper into AutoHotkey (Table of Contents and the entire book index), click here!

However, if a person is reasonably computer literate, they could go directly to this book for ideas and techniques without the first book. (Also available from Amazon for the Kindle and Kindle software on other devices.)

For an EPUB (iPad, NOOK, etc.) version of Digging Deeper into AutoHotkey click here!

For a PDF version for printing on letter size paper for inclusion in a standard notebook of Digging Deeper into AutoHotkey click here!

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Jack’s third AutoHotkey book AutoHotkey Applications (preferred, EPUB format for iPad, Android, and computers; MOBI for Amazon Kindle; and PDF for printing) is an intermediate level book of ideas and applications based primarily on the AutoHotkey GUI command. The book emphasizes practical applications. The book is not for the complete beginner since it builds on the information in the other two books. However, if a person is reasonably computer literate, they could go directly to this book for ideas and techniques without the other books. There is an extensive index to the ideas and techniques covered in the back of the book. (Find AutoHotkey Applications exclusively at ComputorEdge E-Books! It is no longer available on Amazon. Use the MOBI format e-book for the Amazon Kindle.)

For more details about AutoHotkey Applications (Table of Contents and the entire book index), click here!

For an EPUB (iPad, NOOK, etc.) version of AutoHotkey Applications click here!

For a PDF version for printing on letter size paper for inclusion in a standard notebook of AutoHotkey Applications click here!

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As a convenience for people who don’t want to dig through the Web for individual tips, but would like to learn some cool AutoHotkey Hotstring tricks, the e-book Beginning AutoHotkey Hotstrings is now available on the ComputorEdge E-Books site and through Amazon. If e-books are not your thing, then it might be worth your time to peruse some of the blogs included in this book and linked at “Beginning AutoHotkey Hotstring Techniques” found under the “AutoHotkey Topics and Series” tab in the top menu bar. They just might inspire your next AutoHotkey script.

Beginning Hotstrings explores the potential of the basic AutoHotkey Hotstring option and how they can aid anyone who uses word processors, text editors, or Web input fields on Windows computers. It’s surprising how this one small area of AutoHotkey can add power to your computer through Hotstring menus and the enigmatic Input command.

For more details about Beginning AutoHotkey Hotstrings (Table of Contents and the entire book index), click here!

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In the course of writing the individual chapters for AutoHotkey Hotkey Techniques, Jack experienced a number of personal epiphanies. “A few ‘Best Practices’ slowly materialized as I worked with central commands. The power of #IfWin directives opened my eyes as I searched for practical examples. The usefulness of keyboard Scan Codes versus Virtual keys became apparent once I understood how they work. Plus, the book writing process sparked insight into making any AutoHotkey command more powerful with forced expressions (%) and the ternary operator.”

The book starts at a beginning level (Chapter One), but it quickly builds upon that basic Hotkey structure to introduce more advanced techniques—including detailed discussions of the unique Hotkey command. “Writing this book turned into a voyage of discovery. I merely followed where the AutoHotkey commands and features led me.” The book is now available at the ComputorEdge E-Books site (in three formats: EPUB, MOBI for Kindle, and PDF for viewing and printing) and through Amazon.

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I wrote Beginning Tips for Writing AutoHotkey Script not as a tutorial, but as a guide to understanding how AutoHotkey processes scripts and how you can better design applications. For many new AutoHotkey users, the actions AutoHotkey takes when loading a script appear enigmatic causing unpredictable results. While initially many features may not seem to add up, AutoHotkey reads a script in a way that makes total sense—once you comprehend it. You’ll find understanding how AutoHotkey gets things done critical to writing and debugging robust scripts.

Rather than a plethora of programming tips, I offer a framework for viewing AutoHotkey scripts and the script writing process. If you understand everything in this book, then you’ll find writing and debugging AutoHotkey scripts much easier. I include “Best Practices” which make your AutoHotkey life much easier—especially if you plan to later integrate them with other scripts while maintaining their standalone capability. While I include numerous snippets of code in the book, they offer either basic level examples or insight into how AutoHotkey works. (This book is also available at Amazon.com)

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This Beginner’s Guide to Using Regular Expressions in AutoHotkey is not a beginning level AutoHotkey book, but an introduction to using Regular Expressions in AutoHotkey (or most other programming languages). To get the most from this book you should already have a basic understanding of AutoHotkey (or another programming language). Regular Expressions (RegEx) are a powerful way to search and alter documents without the limitations of most of the standard matching functions. At first, the use of RegEx can be confusing and mysterious. This book clears up the confusion with easy analogies for understanding how RegEx works and examples of practical AutoHotkey applications. “Regular Expressions in AutoHotkey” will take you to the next level in AutoHotkey scripting while adding more flexibility and power to your Windows apps. (This book is also available at Amazon.com)