Parsing Data

Finding US Zip Codes (AutoHotkey RegEx Tips Part 1)

Jack Dunning AutoHotkey, Beginning, Parsing Data, Regular Expressions (RegEx), Windows scripting , , ,

Powerful Regular Expressions (RegEx) Perform Minor Computing Miracles—This Part 1 Uses Extracting US Zip Codes from Street Addresses to Introduce Regular Expressions as Merely a Set of Confusing Wildcards

In my last blog, “Parsing and Pasting One-Line Street Addresses (AutoHotkey Multi-Paste Trick)“, I added one-line street addresses to my MultiPaste.ahk script. That short AutoHotkey app uses a few Regular Expressions (RegEx) to identify and isolate key information:

  1. Cover 200Five-digit US zipcodes.
  2. UK postal codes.
  3. Remove excess tab characters in the results.
  4. Identify date formats.

I used RegEx functions for these problems because the basic string functions just didn’t offer the power needed without convoluted coding. RegEx provides fairly simple solutions (although possibly confounding to the neophyte).

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Parsing and Pasting One-Line Street Addresses (AutoHotkey Multi-Paste Trick)

Jack Dunning AutoHotkey, Clipboard Routine, Input Command (Hotstrings), Parsing Data, Regular Expressions (RegEx), Windows Clipboard, Windows scripting, Windows Utilities , , , ,

Another Pet Peeve…the Windows Copy-and-Paste Doesn’t Make It Easy to Insert Street Addresses and Postal Codes into Forms

I’ve noticed that many applications and Web pages list street addresses on just one line:

Jack Dunning, 1234 Main Street, Any Town, MI  90571

This makes sense and saves space when compared to a three or four-line address listing:

Jack Dunning
1234 Main Street
Any Town, MI  90571

However, when using the Windows Clipboard for a copy-and-paste operation, a person still needs to jump between the two windows a number of times—unless he or she uses a parse-and-paste tool such as MultiPaste.ahk. Continue reading →

Brute Force Data-Set Copy-and-Paste (AutoHotkey Clipboard Technique)

Jack Dunning Arrays, AutoHotkey, Clipboard Routine, Input Command (Hotstrings), Parsing Data, Regular Expressions (RegEx), Send Command, Windows Clipboard, Windows scripting , , , , , ,

I Prefer an Eloquent Solution for Data-Set Transfer Problems, But Sometimes It’s Just Easier to Build a Simple (and More Universal) Copy-and-Paste Tool

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I originally wrote the short script discussed in this blog to solve a single data transfer problem. Only after making the script functional did I realized that it could work in numerous different types of data-set transfer environments such as spreadsheets, Web tables, and many other information lists. This AutoHotkey script offers a little less tedious solution to common Windows cut-and-paste problems.

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If I need to copy a single section of text into another document, then the Windows Clipboard works find. However, whenever I want to do something more complicated such as moving that same text into multiple data fields or copying data from a table in a document (or on the Web) before transferring it, using the Windows Clipboard can turn into a real hassle. Continue reading →

AutoHotkey Script Speed Problems (Scripting Insights)

Jack Dunning AutoHotkey, DropDownList Control, GUI (Graphical User Interface) Pop-ups, Hotstrings, Loops, Parsing Data, Script Speed , ,

When Debugging AutoHotkey Script Speed Problems, Look at Loops First

A number of scripting techniques can cause apps to run slowly. These slowdowns might occur when running long loops, doing extensive searches, or making numerous hard drive reads and writes. But the primary culprit tends to hide within loops or redundant operations of any type. However, you may need to look deeper to find the real source of the problem.

Tip: If you like to keep numerous other programs open, then that alone can cause significant slowing as your computer shares processing time. For example, Google Chrome runs an independent process for each browser tab. Multiple Google Chrome tabs can put a heavy load on the CPU and memory causing delays in any other apps. To optimize time tests, minimize interference by closing all other programs.

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Loading Hotstrings into the InstantHotstring.ahk Script from Any AutoHotkey (.ahk) File

Jack Dunning Arrays, AutoHotkey, Data Files, FileSelectFile, GoSub Command, GUI (Graphical User Interface) Pop-ups, Hotstring() Function, Intermediate Level, Parsing Data, Regular Expressions (RegEx) , , ,

Reading Data from Saved .AHK Files Makes Loading Hotstrings into the InstantHotstring.ahk Script Easy

In the blog, “Use the FileSelectFile Command to Save Instant Hotstrings to an AutoHotkey File.” I discussed how to save a set of newly created InstantHotstring.ahk Hotstrings in .ahk files. The other half of the file storage problem involves reading those saved (or any other) Hotstring data files back into that same app. Using the tools already built into the script made writing the file loading code remarkably easy. The subroutine LoadHotstrings calls on the previously written subroutines SetOptions and AddHotstring. This saves replicating of code originally used in those subroutines.

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Limit the Number of Substrings Delivered by the StrSplit() Function (AutoHotkey Quick Tip)

Jack Dunning AutoHotkey, Hotstring() Function, Hotstrings, Parsing Data, Windows scripting , ,

A New Parameter in the AutoHotkey StrSplit() Function Makes Selective Parsing Possible

robotparse.pngAt the same time as when we saw the release of the new Hotstring() function and other added Hotstring features (AutoHotkey version 1.1.28.00 – February 11, 2018), the powers-that-be made a significant change to the StrSplit() function. I don’t know if the idea grew from the need to parse Hotstrings or just happened to coincide with that release of AutoHotkey.

I discovered the new power when I ran into trouble working with the InstantHotstring.ahk script while using a Web address as replacement text. This useful new StrSplit() parameter (MaxParts) might save you from adding more code when you need to limit the number of produced pieces of text. (Don’t believe it when they say, “Parts is parts!”)

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