AutoHotkey: Automation and Hotkeys for Joystick/Mouse/Keyboard

[Chris Mallett]

RECENTLY-ADDED FEATURES
- Customize your joystick: Assign actions to buttons; use a joystick as a mouse.
- Configure up to five mouse buttons as hotkeys; combine them with other buttons or
keyboard keys to create more hotkeys.
- Define magic words that when typed trigger an action.
- Set up auto-replace, which expands abbreviations as you type them.
- Create popup menus that appear at the click of a mouse button or the press of a key.
- Change the tray icon or tooltip of a script while it's running.
- Customize the tray menu with your own menu items and submenus.
- Display simple tooltips and balloon tips.
- Discover which drive letters are present on a computer and information about each.
- Operate on window(s) by class name or unique ID number (in addition to title/text).
- Send messages to any window/control via PostMessage/SendMessage.
- Launch an app. under the credentials of a different user.
- Sort text from the clipboard or a file alphabetically or numerically.
- Define a subroutine that runs automatically when the script exits.
- Perform scripted actions in response to system shutdown or logoff.


AUTOHOTKEY OVERVIEW
Customize your keyboard, joystick, and mouse with an open source scripting language that
is backward compatible with AutoIt v2. It includes a quick-start tutorial, an automatic
script writer (macro recorder) that records your keystrokes and mouse clicks, and a
comprehensive help file filled with working examples.

In addition to its automation features described below, AutoHotkey excels at hotkeys, able
to make virtually *any* mouse/joystick button, keyboard key, or combination into a hotkey.
It can also individually disable or override Windows' own shortcut keys, such as Win+E and
Win+R. It may also help alleviate RSI; for example, it can create substitutes for Alt-Tab
using keys, mouse wheel, or buttons.


MAJOR AUTOMATION FEATURES
- Retrieve or change the volume, mute, and other settings of any soundcard.
- Remap keys and mouse/joystick buttons.
- Send keystrokes and mouse clicks to any window (without even needing to activate it).
- Launch programs, shortcuts, URLs, and documents.
- Activate, hide, close, or resize any window.
- Automate game actions by detecting pixel colors.
- Make any window transparent and/or always-on-top.
- Create custom tray icon menus.
- Monitor your system (e.g. close unwanted windows the moment they appear).
- Retrieve and change the clipboard's contents, even files copied from the Explorer.
- Perform any operation upon a set of files and folders that match a wildcard pattern.
- Read, write, and parse text files more easily than in most other languages.
- Work with the registry and INI files using the included interface commands.
- Display dialog boxes to interact with the user.
- Convert any script into an EXE that can be run on any computer.


MORE ABOUT HOTKEYS
Some of the easiest keys to reach on the keyboard are also the least often used. Make
these keys do something useful! For example, if you rarely use the right ALT key, put it
to work as a favorite hotkey.

Don't be limited to using only CTRL, ALT, SHIFT, and WIN as modifiers; you can combine any
two keys or mouse buttons to form a custom hotkey. For example, you can hold down Numpad0
and press Numpad1 to launch a hotkey; or hold down CapsLock and press another key, or
click a mouse button.

Make a keyboard key become a mouse button, or have an action repeated continuously while
you're holding down a key or mouse button.

Make your hotkeys context-sensitive: They can perform a different action depending on
which type of window is currently active.


HomePage: http://www.autohotkey.com

 

[John Fitzsimons]

On Sun, 13 Jun 2004 12:56:37 GMT, "Chris Mallett"

HomePage: http://www.autohotkey.com

That "Tutorial and Overview" page is already looking good. I really
look forward to it's completion.

Hope that there is going to be a "how to" for the 15 recently added
features as well as the existing stuff.

Regards, John.

 

[Arch]

That "Tutorial and Overview" page is already looking good. I really
look forward to it's completion.

Hope that there is going to be a "how to" for the 15 recently added
features as well as the existing stuff.

Thanks, I tried to follow your advice when doing the tutorial, and I
do plan to expand it.

I'm reposting the text of the original message because it doesn't
appear on either Google newsgroups or on my ISP's server. Anyone
who's seen it, please ignore.

RECENTLY-ADDED FEATURES
- Customize your joystick: Assign actions to buttons; use a joystick
as a mouse.
- Configure up to five mouse buttons as hotkeys; combine them with
other buttons or keyboard keys to create more hotkeys.
- Define magic words that when typed trigger an action.
- Set up auto-replace, which expands abbreviations as you type them.
- Create popup menus to appear at the click of a mouse button or press
of a key.
- Change the tray icon or tooltip of a script while it's running.
- Customize the tray menu with your own menu items and submenus.
- Display simple tooltips and balloon tips.
- Discover which drive letters are present and information about each.
- Operate on window(s) by class name or unique ID (in addition to
title/text).
- Send messages to any window/control via PostMessage/SendMessage.
- Launch an app. under the credentials of a different user.
- Sort text from the clipboard or a file alphabetically or
numerically.
- Define a subroutine that runs automatically when the script exits.
- Perform scripted actions in response to system shutdown or logoff.


AUTOHOTKEY OVERVIEW
Customize your keyboard, joystick, and mouse with an open source
scripting language that is backward compatible with AutoIt v2. It
includes a quick-start tutorial, an automatic script writer (macro
recorder) that records your keystrokes and mouse clicks, and a
comprehensive help file filled with working examples.

In addition to its automation features described below, AutoHotkey
excels at hotkeys, able to make virtually *any* mouse/joystick button,
keyboard key, or combination into a hotkey. It can also individually
disable or override Windows' own shortcut keys, such as Win+E and
Win+R. It may also help alleviate RSI; for example, it can create
substitutes for Alt-Tab using keys, mouse wheel, or buttons.


MAJOR AUTOMATION FEATURES
- Retrieve or change the volume, mute, and other settings of any
soundcard.
- Remap keys and mouse/joystick buttons.
- Send keystrokes and mouse clicks to any window (without even needing
to activate it).
- Launch programs, shortcuts, URLs, and documents.
- Activate, hide, close, or resize any window.
- Automate game actions by detecting pixel colors.
- Make any window transparent and/or always-on-top.
- Create custom tray icon menus.
- Monitor your system (e.g. close unwanted windows the moment they
appear).
- Retrieve/change the clipboard's contents, even files copied from the
Explorer.
- Perform any operation on a set of files/folders that match a
wildcard pattern.
- Read, write, and parse text files more easily than in most other
languages.
- Work with the registry and INI files using the included interface
commands.
- Display dialog boxes to interact with the user.
- Convert any script into an EXE that can be run on any computer.


MORE ABOUT HOTKEYS
Some of the easiest keys to reach on the keyboard are also the least
often used. Make these keys do something useful! For example, if you
rarely use the right ALT key, put it to work as a favorite hotkey.

Don't be limited to using only CTRL, ALT, SHIFT, and WIN as modifiers;
you can combine any two keys or mouse buttons to form a custom hotkey.
For example, you can hold down Numpad0 and press Numpad1 to launch a
hotkey; or hold down CapsLock and press another key, or click a mouse
button.

Make a keyboard key become a mouse button, or have an action repeated
continuously while you're holding down a key or mouse button.

Make your hotkeys context-sensitive: They can perform a different
action depending on which type of window is currently active.


HomePage: http://www.autohotkey.com