I have been testing autohotkey and I have found a way that depending on the program that is running, you can activate a certain keys functionality, but... how can I make a combination work in all programs except one?
To disable selected hotkeys or hotstrings automatically based on the type of window that is present, use #IfWinActive/Exist.
Check the documentation for more info https://www.autohotkey.com/docs/commands/_IfWinActive.htm
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I use auto-complete heavily...
When I invoke the auto-completion with tab key...
Powershell also includes any files from the current folder
or in the current path in the autocomplete list
How can I configure Powershell to ignore these files
(eg. auto-complete only with Powershell commands/functions)
There is no simple way to get the behavior you're looking for.
At best, you can define your own function named TabExpansion2 and either fully implement tab completion yourself (definitely not recommended) or filter the results returned from the default implementation of TabExpansion2.
I recall discussing this idea recently, I thought there might even be an open issue, but I didn't see it after a quick search here.
I don't know the exact history, but at one point we did implement the behavior you're wanting. It did break some tests, and I think some people preferred seeing effectively useless completions over no completions, perhaps it was reassuring that completions were still working.
At any rate, I think it's a reasonable feature request, I'd suggestion opening an issue if you can't find one.
I have a LibreOffice Calc document which needs to be downloaded by remote users. It uses macros - so they need to have macros enabled for it to work at all and there is no control over user machines.
To help with this I have a text message on the first tab telling them they need to enable macros and some instructions how. On document open I run a macro to remove this message - as long as they have macros enabled they never see it and all is well.
This solution works but is not perfect because:
It will trigger the save changes dialogue even if they did no changes.
It leaves the message removed if they save and pass the document directly to another user.
Just doesn't feel like a well-engineered solution
Is there a better way to accomplish showing this message only when macros are not enabled?
Recently I've been finding myself doing repetitive tasks. I would click button A, highlight text field A, type in some text, click an APPLY button, click on a drop-down box and select a specific option depending on the item I'm working with, select it and hit APPLY, then repeat this process only a couple hundred to thousand times.
So I thought maybe there's a way I could automate this? Macros then came to mind. However I've never wrote macros before so am not sure of several details such as
-what tools should I even work with?
-how do I determine which button to click?
-ideally, I would want to be able to read input from a text file to specify what should be typed in and which option should be selected from the dropdown list. Is this even possible? It seems like an operation that require some intelligence.
I am not picky on tools nor about cleanliness. I just want to be able to automate the process. It will be for personal use unless I find a convenient way such that others can use it as well.
Some details about the dropdown box: when the box is focused, I can hit the DOWN key to scroll from option to option. The items that I have to associate with these options are named exactly the same, so they appear in the same "index" order (meaning, the first item and first option appear at the top of the list, second item and second option appear after, thid item and third option...etc)
The placement of all of these fields can be fixed, so if I have to manually specify where on the screen I should be clicking, that is also a possibility.
Any idea where I should look?
If you're using Windows, AutoIt is a really nice tool.
It records actions (like a word/excel macro)
It offers a BASIC like language + API which is really easy to program (if you need to)
The API is pretty powerful
Check for Windows with a certain title
Automate klicks
...
You can "compile" your scripts into exe files so you can share your tools
It comes bundled with Scite (a nice text editor) + AutoIt syntax higlighting
But you can use any editor you want
It's well documented
It's Freeware
http://www.autoitscript.com/site/
On the Mac, there is Automator. Java has the Robot class in the basic library, to help with such automation. No doubt there are other similar tools.
I've never really used PowerShell before, and playing with it a bit, it looks like it uses cmd.exe's style of tab completion (fill in the first likely candidate, and then you can use tab to cycle through other alternatives). I'd much prefer the way e.g. bash works, where if there are multiple candidates, it shows a list of them.
Is there an easy way to turn this on, by any chance?
I have seen this implemented with an add-on called PowerTab (original post). For script editing there are some editors that support this sort of drop down Intellisense. Check out the free PowerGUI editor.
You want PSReadline: https://github.com/lzybkr/psreadline
It includes many completion and shell experiences you might expect from bash, etc.
I keep typing "t eh" instead of " the" which is, of course, annoying in the amount of time it takes me to correct myself.
The obvious answer is "Learn to type, noob!" or at least to type more slowly and/or more correctly. This error is frighteningly consistent so it appears I've trained my muscle memory for that pattern already.
But I'm wondering if it's possible to write a small, windows portable script or application that, when it detects the incorrect sequence, backspaces and corrects it automatically at a layer where it would apply to any keyboard input.
Does C# have access to that layer of the OS that intercepts keypresses systemwide?
Will I run into UAC issues with Vista?
Am I re-inventing the wheel (ie, are there open source tools I can modify or use out of the box)?
In DOS this sort of thing was quite easy and one could make TSRs (Terminate and Stay Resident) programs that would, for instance, give you a calculator onscreen with a special keypress. Not to mention the many, many practical joke programs based on this concept (dial "M" for monster!)...
I would, of course, never suggest such a utility could be used that way for co-workers...
-Adam
On windows you could use AutoHotKey. That allows you to create little scripts or macros to automate and correct things like mistypes.
One use was posted on lifehacker which took the common mistyped words and corrected them. It is at http://lifehacker.com/192506/download-of-the-day-universal-autocorrect
UPDATE Per Comment: This is Free software and windows only as far as I know.
The above script is just an example of what it can do. There are a slew of scripts available at AutoHotkeys Site
I suggest AutoHotKey. If you've never used it before, have a quick read of the tutorial: http://www.autohotkey.com/docs/Tutorial.htm
The feature you are looking for is called "hotstrings." http://www.autohotkey.com/docs/Hotstrings.htm
In your case, your script would look something like:
::teh::the
That's it! Add other things you want corrected on additional lines. AutoHotkey scripts can be compiled so you don't have to install AutoHotKey on all of your machines.
It's a very cool program. It's primary use (for making custom hotkeys) rocks! These scripts are system wide so you'll also probably want to make a hotkey to be able to turn them off too!
EDIT: In a comment, it was mentioned that he actually types "t eh" (with a space in it) and I wondered if something additional would be needed for it to work. I just tested it and it works fine. Just install autohotkey, and create a file with the .AHK extension. In that file put in the following line
::t eh::the
and save the file. Then double-click on the AHK file to load AutoHotKey with your script (you'll see a green square in your system tray to let you know it is running). It should work fine!
Yes, you can use pinvoke commands from C# to intercept the low-level os commands. I recommend you take a look at http://www.pinvoke.net. The coding isn't easy but it does work.
I suggest learning to type more slowly. I also suffer from "teh" and "ahve" in part due to autocorrect giving me the leniency. If you forced yourself to retrain then you would not be at a disadvantage when using someone else's machine.
Not to mention the unfortunate event when you need to write "t eh" and are being prevented by an overzealous 'corrector'.