Right now, the massive book of motley AutoHotkey tips consumes the vast majority of my time. Therefore, I have less blogging time. However, I don’t want my lack of blogs to make anyone think I sit idle. In the course of the current task at hand, I’ve accumulated even more topics which I need to blog about: Continue reading
As I played around with the EmojiMenu.ahk script from my last blog, I tested highlighting an emoji as a search key. I inserted the unicorn emoji (🦄) into a document, highlighted it, then hit CTRL+ALT+E. To my pleasant surprise, it worked! As shown on the right, AutoHotkey searched the EmojiInsert.ahk Hotstring file, located the emoji character for a unicorn, then inserted it into the pop-up menu. (I added the ::!fantasy::🦄 Hotstring—which doesn’t appear in the original EmojiInsert.ahk Hotstring file—after posting the file.)
A few weeks back I demonstrated how to build an INI data table for driving AutoHotkey scripts. I used the INI file format (LegalInput.ini) because it includes one index for quickly looking up records. In the file, I created four-character codes for accessing records which include the English legal definition, the Latin term, and a description (if any).
While essential to the AutoHotkey feature discussed last time, you’ll find the INI file structure incidental to the technique discussed in this blog. You can use an INI file either for its index or as a standard data table with no special capabilities. As demonstrated in this piece, you’ll find a number of different ways to take advantage of a data table—without requiring an INI file. An INI file gives you a convenient means for quickly accessing data, but (especially for short files) you’ll discover numerous other methods for extracting the information you want. Continue reading
In the last blog, I introduced a simple AutoHotkey app I call PictureSounds.ahk. When the user clicks on an image, AutoHotkey seeks the name of the sound file in an INI lookup table, then plays it. The script uses the image file name as the INI file Key. After loading a series of images, the script plays a different sound for each image. (It even plays videos!)
Using the INI file as a lookup table saved me from writing a different subroutine (or at least If condition) for each Picture control in the GUI window. Now, I show how to use that same data file to write the command code lines for adding the images to the pop-up files. Continue reading
I’ve made the new e-book Why AutoHotkey? available exclusively on Amazon and you can get the book free. It’s not that you need the book since most of its contents can be found right here on the Why AutoHotkey? page. I’ve produced this book for people who don’t know about or use AutoHotkey. As you are already accessing this blog, you’re likely well aware of AutoHotkey. My goal with this new book is to reach the AutoHotkey unaware. I’m guessing the Amazon is loaded with those types of Windows users.
I plan to make the book free more times, but Amazon only allows me to give it aways five times in a three-month period. (I would always make it free if they would let me.) Don’t worry if you miss this one. I’ll announce in this blog whenever I schedule another free book day. (Sign-up to follow the blog at the upper right of this page if you want notification whenever a new blog comes out.)
I know…I’ve expressed my disdain for the way Amazon treats independent writers, but they have such a huge reach, it would be silly for me to completely ignore them. (I still prefer people buy from ComputorEdge E-Books, but everyone must have an option.) This new compilation book should help the uninitiated to understand how much power AutoHotkey can bring to their Windows PC.
The varied computer situations of educators present a particular problem for AutoHotkey use. AutoHotkey works only on Windows computers. Fortunately, 90% of the desktop and laptop computers currently in use run Microsoft Windows. On the downside for teachers, they may or may not 
have access to Windows machines in the classroom. Plus, even if students have a computer available at home, not all of them are Windows PC. This makes it difficult to create consistent computer-dependent lesson plans covering everyone in the class.
Noting the difficulties with applying a Windows-based program to schooling, I forge on with the possibilities for those instructors in a position to take advantage of AutoHotkey. Continue reading
If you only have one grandchild, then you probably won’t have much trouble recalling his or her birthday or age. In that case, you may not have much interest in the 
little AutoHotkey GrandKids.ahk script. However, AutoHotkey offers much more which can enrich your offspring’s offspring’s education and entertainment—including a one-line script which verbalizes out loud the letters and numbers on the computer keyboard. But more importantly, learning to write AutoHotkey scripts exercises your mind—something everyone needs.
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Some of the scripts in this blog may not make AutoHotkey look easy, but you’ll find the first steps to AutoHotkey literacy quite simple. For a comfortable startup, check out this Introduction to AutoHotkey.
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Using AutoHotkey should be mandatory for every student from high school on through college! Not merely because learning AutoHotkey invigorates the brain cells (which it does!), but 
it makes all your Windows tasks so much easier that it seems unsporting. AutoHotkey takes the grunt work out academia making learning fun…almost.
(If you know a student who uses a Windows computer, then do him or her a favor by sending him or her a link to this article. If he or she doesn’t already know about AutoHotkey, he or she will thank you profusely.)
For those unfamiliar with the free open-source scripting language, AutoHotkey offers simple, yet powerful, commands for adding enhancements to any Windows computer. In addition to their simplicity, the little apps work in any Windows program or on any Web page. For a brief overview, see this “Introduction to AutoHotkey: A Review and Guide for Beginners.” Continue reading
Okay…I’m not a poet. My mind doesn’t work that way. But that doesn’t mean I can’t see how AutoHotkey might be useful to people who craft the English (or any other) language. Even so, I 
occasionally enjoy writing a short rhyming couplet. (I know…constructing rhyming poems has become cliché—at least for real poets.)
In this blog, I offer a couple of AutoHotkey scripts for assisting and inspiring(?) budding wordsmiths. The first includes a set of over 500 Hotstrings for inserting “the most beautiful words in the English language.” The second script draws upon the Web to create a pop-up menu of rhymes. Even if you never intend to write a poem, you might find these AutoHotkey techniques interesting and/or useful. Continue reading
Whether you’re a noobie to AutoHotkey scripts or an advanced programmer, of all my books, AutoHotkey Hotkeys may be the most important for new little-known tricks and useful ideas. It’s not that the other books don’t cover significant features of AutoHotkey, but this book includes some of the most practical tips for adding power to your scripts. I didn’t plan it that way. Continue reading
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