Loops

Adding Folders and Files from Windows to AutoHotkey Menus

Jack Dunning AutoHotkey, BoundFunc Object, Clipboard Routine, FileSelectFile, Loops, Menus , , ,

After a Little Pondering, I Found Adding Windows File Explorer Structures to an Action Menu Simple

I was wrong when I contemplated using the BoundFunc Object to insert folder and file names into an AutoHotkey action menu. At the time, I thought that the AutoHotkey Menu command did not offer enough flexibility to handle the task on its own. Those concerns included:

  1. The limited number of built-in menu variables severely constrained the information available when clicking a menu item.
  2. Duplicate folder names found in any other folder or subfolder would cause a conflict.

Both of these problems have solutions, but I was afraid that I would need to resort to some complicated gymnastics.

Sometimes, we know too much for our own good. With a toolbox full of tricks, we often devise methods which—although they work—make the coding more complex. Then, rather than rethinking the problem, we dig a deeper hole. That’s how I started out with the rewrite of the barebones QuickLinks script. Rather than stripping the question down to the basics, I started looking for solutions to problems that don’t actually exist.

AHK_user dealt with the menu name problem in “QuickLinks (Menu by folder)” by deriving menu names from the full directory path. This ensured no duplicates for any of the submenus. I surmised that I would need to do something similar.

The script loads folders and subfolders into menus and submenus.

Then, it occurred to me, “Why not just use the folder full path as the menu name?” If it worked, I would not need any Regular Expression manipulation of the folder path and name, plus, I would avoid menu name duplication. I realized that I could also drop the BoundFunc Object for passing data. It all seemed too easy.

Continue reading →

Barebones AutoHotkey QuickLinks App

Jack Dunning AutoHotkey, BoundFunc Object, Deprecated Commands, Loops, Menus , ,

After Many Years, It’s Time to Take Another Look at the QuickLink.ahk Script

Since its early beginnings, the QuickLinks.ahk script (originally introduced as a replacement for the missing Windows 8 Start Menu in January 2013) has evolved both through this blog and others working through the AutoHotkey forum. It has grown in complexity which can make it a little difficult to modify for personal use. Recently, I took a closer look at the core of my version of QuickLinks.ahk and decided that the time has come for a rewrite—at least of the central code.

During the intervening years, I’ve learned a few things and feel I can build a cleaner more universal basic program—at least for the main routine. The same may apply to many of the added features. (Sometimes starting over makes the most sense.)

Continue reading →

Use ActiveX Control to Embed World Maps in AutoHotkey GUI

Jack Dunning ActiveX, Arrays, AutoHotkey, GUI (Graphical User Interface) Pop-ups, Link controls, Loops, Regular Expressions (RegEx) , ,

By Directly Loading a Map from OpenStreetMap.org into Your AutoHotkey Graphical User Interface (GUI) Pop-up Window, You Can Add Interactive Geographic Locations to All Your Apps

I have some good news and some bad news about using AutoHotkey tools to directly access Web data through the Internet. First the bad news. Since the AutoHotkey tools for downloading and reading Web pages use Internet Explore (built into Windows but no longer supported by Microsoft), Web providers can effectively block access by identifying that user browser. For the good news, you rarely need to use those sites blocking simple little personal apps such as my IPFind.ahk script. So many other sites support location data for IP addresses that I don’t have a problem keeping the script up and running.

For a quick glance at the geographic location of an IP address, insert an OpenStreetMap.org Web window into an AutoHotkey GUI. Hold the mouse cursor over a map and scroll in or out to zoom in or out.

Previously, I had repaired other issues caused by changes in the source Web page and converted the IPFind.ahk script to use a GUI window rather than a MsgBox command. This upgrade facilitated adding links to the app, see “Adding Web Links to the AutoHotkey IPFind.ahk Script,” as well as making the current insertion of interactive maps using the ActiveX GUI control possible. I fixed the IPFind.ahk script problems by switching to another source Web page and added an interactive map from OpenStreetMap.com.

Continue reading →

Adding Web Links to the AutoHotkey IPFind.ahk Script

Jack Dunning Arrays, AutoHotkey, GUI (Graphical User Interface) Pop-ups, Link controls, Loops, Regular Expressions (RegEx), Text Formatting, Web Pages , , , , ,

While Fixing the IPFind.ahk Script for Listing the Geographic Location of an IP Address, I Added Links for the IP Identification Site and OpenStreetMap

Occasionally, Web page scraping apps fail (or display strange results) due to changes in source page data formats. It usually only takes a few minutes to review the code and make the necessary RegEx adjustments to restore acceptable results. This time while repairing the IPFind.ahk script, I noticed that the Web page source code also offered IP longitude and latitude. I thought, “Why not add a map link to the display window for anyone curious about its geographic position?” The IP site (which I also added as a link) includes a map, but I wanted one with greater detail.

An IP address site can provide a great deal of information—including approximate longitude and latitude.

Note: I recently discussed the Link GUI control in “Turn Web Addresses into Hotlinks for the AHK File Peek Window.”

Continue reading →

Calculating Dates in AutoHotkey by Adding Years, Months, and/or Days

Jack Dunning AutoHotkey, Dates and Time, Format() Function, Loops ,

The HowLongYearsMonthsDays.ahk Script Calculates Time Spans—This New DateCalc() Function Yields New Dates Based on Adding or Subtracting Years, Months, or Days

Allan recently inspired me to write (and helped me debug) an AutoHotkey function for calculating new dates based on entering years, months, and/or days. While not long or involved, the function includes a couple of interesting techniques.

Note: I have no doubt that many others have written similar date-calculating functions in AutoHotkey. This merely represents my stab at it.

The lack of consistency in days between 12-month years (leap years) and the varying numbers of days in months underlies the basic date calculating problem. While AutoHotkey includes a special tool (EnvAdd) for determining new dates based upon adding days, hours, minutes, or seconds to any valid date-time stamp format, writing a more complete date finding function requires accounting for the year and month variables separately.

Continue reading →

AutoHotkey Speed Tips

Jack Dunning AutoHotkey, EditPaste command, GUI (Graphical User Interface) Pop-ups, If statements, Loops, Progress Bar, Script Speed, Switch/Case Command, Ternary Operator , , ,

A Collection of Techniques for Speeding Up Your AutoHotkey Scripts

I recently received the follow message from an AutoHotkey user perusing my blogs:

Jack, you can’t post false statements like this:

“However, the ternary does not provide better performance than the traditional If-Then-Else statement format.”

The ternary operator is inarguably faster than if/else and I encourage you to try this yourself.

I recently switched the core logic of my JSON parser from If/Else to ternary and saw an incredible speed increase. To the point where I only use If/If Else/Else statements when absolutely necessary (Ex: If I must have a loop in the middle of a check).

You can code entire blocks using nothing but ternary as long as you use proper parentheses, commas, and function calls.

There is a very well done AHK forum post that covers script optimizations and they report that ternary performs FORTY PERCENT FASTER than if/else statements.

Not sure if hyperlinks are allowed in these comments, so instead I’ll advise googling “AHK How to optimize the speed of a script as much as possible.” The first result should be the article in question. Pages 1 and 4 have tons of script speed gold in them.

I hope you’ll consider correcting/updating this article.

Groggy Otter

Comment on “AutoHotkey Toggles and the Ternary Operator”

I wrote that blog five years ago and I don’t know that I was talking about performance speed. I think I was referring to how the two expressions operate. In any case, I used a poor choice of words and have drawn a line through the comment.

Continue reading →

Peeking at Notes Inside Auto-Startup AHK Script Files (AutoHotkey Startup Control)

Jack Dunning Auto-startup, AutoHotkey, Loops, Menu, System Tray, Menus, MsgBox Techniques, Parsing Data, Regular Expressions (RegEx) , ,

We Can Track Numerous AutoHotkey Scripts Added to the Startup Folder, But Can We Remember How They All Work? Add a Peek Capability to the Auto-Startup Menu as an App Reminder

With so many different AutoHotkey scripts running, the problem of remembering how they all work arises. I may know that I have an app running but not recall the Hotkey combinations needed to access its features. Each new app creates a new set of memory challenges.

I could write one huge help message, but keeping it up-to-date turns into an unwieldy problem. I need a method for quickly peeking at an apps notes without forcing myself to open the .ahk file.

To accomplish this feat, the new ScriptNotes subroutine in the AutoStartupControl.ahk script must:

  1. Load the shortcut’s target file into a variable.
  2. Extract the script notes from that variable.
  3. Display the extracted notes in a pop-up MsgBox.
Continue reading →

Add Submenus to the Auto-Startup Menu to Increase Options (AutoHotkey Startup Control)

Jack Dunning Auto-startup, AutoHotkey, Loops, Menu, System Tray, Windows shortcuts , ,

Submenus Allow AutoHotkey Users to Add Features to Apps Without Needing More Screen Space

Last time in “Adding Startup Folder Shortcuts to a System Tray Menu,” I inserted the Startup folder shortcuts into a System Tray right-click menu. This gave me a method for quickly accessing an auto-load script even when it doesn’t display an icon in the System Tray.

A click of the menu item either opens the script (.ahk) in Notepad or opens the target folder for a compiled executable (.exe) file. While the original menu does the basic job of keeping track of the auto-startup scripts, it only executes one action—opening a script or folder. To expand the capabilities of the Startup Control, we need to add submenus.

Continue reading →

Adding Startup Folder Shortcuts to a System Tray Menu (AutoHotkey Startup Control)

Jack Dunning Auto-startup, AutoHotkey, Icons, Loops, Menu, System Tray, Windows shortcuts , ,

By Loading the Startup Folder Shortcuts into a Menu, We Can Access the Apps Even When No Icon Appears in the System Tray

Last time (“Collecting File Information from Windows Folders Using AutoHotkey“), I produced a simple MsgBox displaying the Windows shortcuts found in the Startup folder. When Windows launches, it reads and loads the programs or shortcut targets located in that folder. This provides AutoHotkey users an easy method for auto-loading their most-used scripts. However, the more scripts, the more clutter that appears in the System Tray in the form of AutoHotkey icons. You can reduce the crowding by adding the Menu,Tray,NoIcon command line to each script but then you need a technique for quickly reaching those hidden apps.

By inserting the shortcut names into a separate System Tray right-click context menu, you can both generate a list of shortcuts and provide quick access to the scripts. In this barebones AutoHotkey script, I create a menu that opens either the target script in Notepad (.ahk files) or the folder for the program (.exe files).

Continue reading →

Sending Multiple Saved Data Items to Documents and Forms in AutoHotkey (Temporary Hotkeys)

Jack Dunning #Directives, Arrays, AutoHotkey, Hotkeys, InputBox, Loops, MsgBox Techniques, Windows scripting , ,

Sometimes We Want Single-key Hotkeys to Work Only for Short Periods of Time

The press of a single key provides the easiest method for inserting data into an edit field or document. In AutoHotkey, you can activate any key as that quick action single-key with either a Hotkey or Hotstring. However, in the normal course of work, that technique renders that keyboard action useless for anything else. To get the convenience of one-key instant activation, we must activate that Hotkey when needed—only in specific circumstances and for short periods of time.

AutoHotkey offers a number of different methods for accomplishing this instant key action. Which we choose depends upon what we want to do. In this blog, I look at three different methods:

  1. Use the Hotkey command to temporarily turn Hotkeys on then off again.
  2. Use the #If directive to designate conditional Hotkeys.
  3. Temporarily pause the script after Hotkey activation, then deactivate Hotkeys upon resuming.

While each temporary Hotkey works in a similar manner—activating only when needed—each has its advantages and disadvantages.

Continue reading →