AutoHotkey Scripting

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 →

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 →

Drawing Lines on Screens with AutoHotkey (Graphics Tips)

Jack Dunning AutoHotkey, AutoHotkey GUIs, DllCall(), Function Libraries, Graphic Tools, Mouse Tricks, Timer, Tooltip Pop-ups , ,

Although a Little Tricky, You Can Add and Manipulate Windows Graphics on Your Computer Screen with AutoHotkey

In the blog “Capturing Computer Screen Measurements (An AutoHotkey Tool)“, I added a calibration method to an on-screen ruler for extracting distances from any image. It works well for capturing straight-line measurement from a computer display. However, when following the mouse cursor, it lacked a discernible tracking line between the start and stop points.

The green line anchors at the start point and moves with the mouse cursor.

With a search, I found an old post about how to generate a line on-screen. I copied the code and turned it into a function for displaying the green line shown in the image above.

Continue reading →

GUI Menu Bar “Save” Item Complications (Part Two: Finishing AutoHotkey GUI Scripts)

Jack Dunning AutoHotkey, FileSelectFile, GUI (Graphical User Interface) Pop-ups, Menu Bars, Windows scripting , ,

Most Menu Bars Include Both “Save” and “Save as…” Options in the File Menu—Each Requires Special Considerations

As I mentioned last time, the act of adding a menu bar to a GUI can force the rethinking of many routines in the script. This time the consideration of the Save option(s) compelled me to reconcile potential problems when attempting to run the Save routine in the expected manner. First, knowing the actions activated by the Save Hotstrings button in the InstantHotstring.ahk script provides an understanding of the items required in the GUI menu bar.

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 →