Send Command

Automating Web Pages with AutoHotkey

Jack Dunning AutoHotkey, Automation, Mouse Tricks, Send Command, Sleep Command, Window Spy, Windows Automation , ,

When Automating Tasks, Browser Web Pages Present Special Problems

Due to the nature of the Internet and the function of Web browsers, AutoHotkey users encounter particular issues when automating Web pages. AutoHotkey GUIs (Graphical User Interfaces) and many older Windows programs allow direct access to controls for automation. Newer apps tend to use ribbon menus which usually include accessible Alt+key shortcuts. However, Web browsers contain built-in protections which insulate users and make controlling operations more opaque. The average Web surfer only has access to what appears on the screen. Getting to the inner workings of Web browsers requires special tools.

After receiving a request from a Web browser, the Web server sends code consisting of HTML and JavaScript to that Web browser. The Web browser interprets the code and sends the results to the computer screen in the form of text, images, links, and controls. The Web browser sends back any user actions requiring server action.
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Track Graphic Line Measurement Segments Using AutoHotkey Arrays

Jack Dunning Arrays, AutoHotkey, Graphic Editing Tools, Graphic Tools, Hotkeys, Intermediate Level, Loops, Send Command, Windows scripting , , ,

When Refreshing the MouseMeasure.ahk Invisible GUI Graphics Layer, AutoHotkey Uses a Simple Array of Associative Arrays to Track the Data

In my last blog (“Measure Multiple Line Segments with an AutoHotkey On-Screen Ruler“), I introduced multi-segment lines for estimating distances of non-linear routes. When refreshing the graphics to animate the moving line, all previously fixed segments need redrawing. Objects-based arrays provide the best method for tracking and regenerating these lines.

Each leg of the journey corresponds to a simple array element containing an associative array of data. The white box displays the key:value data saved in MyArray[4].

The difference between pseudo-arrays, simple arrays, and associative arrays can get confusing. For the novice AutoHotkey scriptwriter, unfamiliar Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) notation can make understanding the code even more difficult—especially if you attempt to learn OOP from online documentation.

You may think you need to choose between the traditional AutoHotkey syntax and OOP coding, but you don’t! AutoHotkey allows you to mix-and-match most OOP and classic AutoHotkey syntax—as long as you understand how they integrate.

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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 →

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 Tip of the Week: AutoHotkey Hotstring Menus for Text Replacement Options

Jack Dunning %Var%, AutoHotkey, Hotstrings, Menus, Parsing Data, Send Command , , ,

Put Hard-to-Remember AutoHotkey Hotstring Replacements in a Menu

Beginning AutoHotkey Hotstrings 200px

Light Bulb!

This tip expands on Chapter Eight of my book Beginning AutoHotkey Hotstrings, “Make Your Own Text AutoCorrect Hotstring Pop-up Menus with AutoHotkey” and Chapter Nine, “How to Turn AutoHotkey Hotstring AutoCorrect Pop-up Menus into a Function.” You can use these techniques in your AutoHotkey scripts to make the selection of similar Hotstrings easier to remember by selecting from a menu. Continue reading →

AutoHotkey Tip of the Week: Add Temporary Hotkeys to MsgBox Windows—September 23, 2019

Jack Dunning #Directives, AutoHotkey, Forcing Expressions, Hotkeys, MsgBox Techniques, Send Command, Windows scripting, Windows Utilities , ,

Isolate Hotkeys to Only Operate for an Open or Active Window

In the Weekly Tip, “IfWinActive Versus #IfWinActive“, I recommended isolating Hotkeys to specific windows. This time I offer a practical example.

hotkeycover200For more information, see “Chapter Two: Block Windows Shortcuts with AutoHotkey” and “Chapter Three: AutoHotkey #Directives for Context-Sensitive Hotkeys—#IfWinActive” of the book AutoHotkey Hotkey Tips, Tricks, and Techniques.

The #IfWinExist directive offers a number of advantages when creating temporary Hotkeys:

  1. The Hotkeys activate only when AutoHotkey opens the controlling window.
  2. If other conflicting Hotkeys exist, the temporary Hotkeys take precedence as long as the window exists.
  3. After closing the controlling window, the Hotkeys deactivate minimizing interference with other possible Hotkeys or shortcuts.

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AutoHotkey Tip of the Week: Auto-Swap Transposed Letters—September 9, 2019

Jack Dunning AutoHotkey, Clipboard Routine, Hotkeys, Regular Expressions (RegEx), Send Command, Windows Clipboard, Windows scripting , , , ,

Tip: Fix Reversed Letter Typos with this Simple Hotkey Trick

SwapLetters
Place the cursor between two letters and hit the Alt+R Hotkey combination. The letters reverse positions.

Light Bulb!I use this Hotkey whenever my mild dyslexia kicks in and leaves me with swapped letters. My AutoHotkey AutoCorrect.ahk script may catch many such errors but many more make it on to my computer screen. I could have written a Hotkey routine which swapped pre-selected (highlighted) letters, but, rather than taking the time to select the characters by dragging the mouse across them, I wanted to merely place the cursor between the two errant letters.

This use of the Send command makes it incredibly easy to transpose any two letters. Simply place the cursor between them and hit ALT+R (as shown in the figure.)

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Pasting Date Parts into Forms (AutoHotkey RegEx Tips Part 4)

Jack Dunning AutoHotkey, Dates and Time, Forcing Expressions, Parsing Data, Regular Expressions (RegEx), Send Command, Window Spy , , ,

In Most Data Fields, You’ll Find It Simple to Paste Text or Numbers, But Inserting a Parsed Date Often Requires Extra Steps—Plus How to Change Date Paste Action Based on the Active Window Title

In the first three blogs of this RegEx series, I used Regular Expressions (RegEx) to identify and parse data prior to any paste operations. In this blog, I use a RegEx to identify and parse dates during the multi-part date paste operation. I use the previously introduced \d wild card (any numeric digit zero through nine) and the optional match modifier (the question mark ?), plus, I introduced how to create a selection list of possible matches by using a range of options (in this case, a forward slash, a dash, or a dot [/\-.] as date separators).

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Cover 200When working with forms, dates often use three separate data entry fields—one for the month, one for the day, and one for the year. (In the UK, they swap it around to day/month/year.) In some forms, you need to enter a forward slash (/) to jump to the next entry item. Sometimes the form automatically jumps to the next field after entering two digits. In many Web pages, you need to tab between each data entry area. Sometimes, sending the entire copied date as a single string works.

Since I wrote the MultiPaste.ahk script to respond to a particular personal finance program, I set it up to Send the date delimited with slashes. If you want to do something similar for a different software package or Web page, then you may need to tailor the script. This blog shows you how to do that. 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 →