Trying to recognize Fn + V on my keyboard - autohotkey

I hate that when I'm using my laptop on its own I often type FN+v when I mean to paste. So I decided to solve my problem with AHK. I installed a keyboard hook in my main script,and used that to extract the fn keys value, 163. My initial test worked, but adding the & to make it a modifier does not. What am I overlooking?
So this doesn't work
SC163 & v::
MsgBox, %A_ThisHotkey% was pressed.
return
but this did work
SC163::
MsgBox, %A_ThisHotkey% was pressed.
return

When you hit the FN key, it might be remapping the "v" to something else (like "Media_Play_Pause" button) in the keyboard driver. Therefore the key code wouldn't be SC163 & v but something like SC159.
The Special Keys section for mentions a method to get the Scan code:
Ensure that at least one script is running that is using the keyboard hook. You can tell if a script has the keyboard hook by opening its main window and selecting "View->Key history" from the menu bar.
Double-click that script's tray icon to open its main window.
Press one of the "mystery keys" on your keyboard.
Select the menu item "View->Key history"
Scroll down to the bottom of the page. Somewhere near the bottom are the key-down and key-up events for your key. NOTE: Some keys do not generate events and thus will not be visible here. If this is the case, you cannot directly make that particular key a hotkey because your keyboard driver or hardware handles it at a level too low for AutoHotkey to access. For possible solutions, see Special Keys.
If your key is detectable, make a note of the 3-digit hexadecimal value in the second column of the list (e.g. 159).

Related

Unable to utilize numpad as my keyboard trigger

I am trying to change media using Autohotkey. I want to utilize Left Shift (<+) + LWin (<#) + Numpad8. Here is my code below but it does not work. I am having issues trying to utilize my Numpad8 to change music. I already know I can use the regular numbers on top of my keyboard but I would like to utilize my numpad instead. Please advise, thanks.
<+<#NumPad8::
Send {Media_Next}
return
From the Numpad Section of the docs, they mention:
If NumLock is OFF but Shift is pressed, the system temporarily releases Shift and acts as though NumLock is ON.
This appears to also be applicable vice versa, as holding Shift while Numlock is on before clicking NumPad8 instead appears to send NumpadUp instead of Shift+Numpad8.
We can work around this by creating a Hotkey to activate when Win+NumpadUp[+ any other modifier keys (such as Shift)] is pressed, and then check ourselves whether Shift and Numlock are active. If they are, then we Send the Media key.
Current Code:
*#NumPadUp::
if(GetKeyState("NumLock", "T") and GetKeyState("Shift", "P"))
Send {Media_Next}
return
However, if we hold down Win+Shift while repeatedly pressing the key, it appears to revert back from NumpadUp to Numpad8. In order to account for this, we can reuse the body of the previous Hotkey in a new Hotkey that activates when *#NumPad8 is used.
Final Code:
*#NumPadUp::
*#NumPad8::
if(GetKeyState("NumLock", "T") and GetKeyState("Shift", "P"))
Send {Media_Next}
return
Edit: Thank you #samthecodingman for bringing up an optimization that I missed- code has been edited to include this

Having problem with using Virtual keyboard code in Autohot Key

From the error I explained in my previous question It turns out I should use Virtual Keyboard code for the keys that I face error.
I want to use virtual code for hotkey +' (Which is pressing Shift and ' at the same time) and for the key ; (semi-column) (more specifically I want to use hotkey +' to click on a coordinate and the key ; to click on other coordinate) but I have problem writing the code. I found list of Virtual Keys here but unfortunately I don't know how to use them to write code.
Edit:
For pressing semi-column (;) I tried this key:
[vkBA27]::
Click,885,234
return
But It says it is invalid hotkey.
From the AutoHotkey documentation:
If your keyboard or mouse has a key not listed above, you might still be able to make it a hotkey by using the following steps:
Ensure that at least one script is running that is using the keyboard hook. You can tell if a script has the keyboard hook by opening its main window and selecting "View->Key history" from the menu bar.
Double-click that script's tray icon to open its main window.
Press one of the "mystery keys" on your keyboard.
Select the menu item "View->Key history"
Scroll down to the bottom of the page. Somewhere near the bottom are the key-down and key-up events for your key. NOTE: Some keys do not generate events and thus will not be visible here. If this is the case, you cannot directly make that particular key a hotkey because your keyboard driver or hardware handles it at a level too low for AutoHotkey to access. For possible solutions, see further below.
If your key is detectable, make a note of the 3-digit hexadecimal value in the second column of the list (e.g. 159).
To define this key as a hotkey, follow this example:
SC159:: ; Replace 159 with your key's value.
MsgBox, %A_ThisHotkey% was pressed.
return
Interpreting the example above, we know that the format for a hotkey declaration using a virtual key is:
SC<Hex code>::
<Your code here>
Return
I can only assume "SC" stands for "Scan Code". Using the steps above, I can see that the scan code (the documentation refers to it as the "3-digit hexadecimal value") for ; is 027, and the scan code for ' is 028. This allows me to construct your hotkey definitions like so:
SC027::
<Your code for ; here>
+SC028::
<Your code for SHIFT+' here>

Re-enable right-Ctrl when using Canadian Multilingual Standard keyboard for my AutoHotkey function?

I have an Autohotkey function that lets me switch between tabs with "Control + left/right" as well as closing tabs (Ctrl-down) and going into the search bar (Ctrl-up). It helps me save clicks and use the mouse less.
However, I use the Canadian Multilingual Standard keyboard to type accents (éèçà) in French for some of my classes and this keyboard DISABLES the right control key (the one right beside my keyboard buttons) which is the most convenient to use with my right hand only.
Here is a source documenting this: http://archives.miloush.net/michkap/archive/2013/04/08/10409187.html
Is there any way I can override this? I very rarely use the letter œ for because I can just use ALT + 0156 instead.
Here is the very simple code for my hotkey!
^Left::SendInput, ^{PGUP}
^Right::SendInput, ^{PGDN}
^Up::SendInput, !d
^Down::SendInput, ^w
Using SciTE4AutoHotkey tool, on my UK hardware keyboard right ctrl is detected as expected (RControl)
When I switch to French (Canada) Canadian Multilingual keyboard,
the right ctrl key is not found, also Virtual Key is different: DF
(SC means scan code and VK means virtual key)
so if you remap, it should solve the problem
~SC11D::RControl
After remapping: not found is replaced by RControl with each keypress.
Even if above remapping does not work for your case, it is a matter of finding which key corresponds to relevant scan code and then you can remap it.
Double click on your ahk script on the taskbar, and then
View > Key history and script info (Ctrl + K) by pressing key and refresh(F5) you can see respective keyboard scan codes.

Callback for Menu to list Submenu items in Matlab GUI

I created the Menu for my Matlab GUI which is "File" under which sub menus are Open, Save & Exit.
When i clicked on the File Menu, it will list down the sub menu items Open, Save & Exit.
I want to assign a shortcut key for this file menu instead of clicking the file menu when i press the "Alt+F" it has the show the list down of sub menu items. I dont want to use the shortcut option provided by the Guide, i want to hard code that shortcut Key.
I have coded for the combination of the key detection (Alt+F) but which function/call back has to be used for the listing down of the sub menu items ?
https://ece.uwaterloo.ca/~nnikvand/Coderep/gui%20examples/GUI.pdf
page 37
MATLAB menus support accelerator keys and keyboard mnemonics. Accelerator keys are "CTRL+key" combinations that cause a menu item to be executed without opening the menu first.
For example, the accelerator key "0" might be assigned to the File/Open
menu item. In that case, the keyboard combination CTRL+o will cause the File/Open callback function to be executed.
A few CRTL+key combinations are reserved for the use of the host operating system.
These combinations differ between PC and UNIX systems; consult the MATLAB online documentation to determine which combinations are legal for your type of computer. Accelerator keys are defined by setting the Accelerator property in a uimenu object.
Keyboard mnemonics are single letters that can be pressed to cause a menu item to execute once the menu is open. The keyboard mnemonic letter for a given menu item is underlined. For top-level menus, the keyboard mnemonic is executed by pressing ALT plus the mnemonic key at the same time. Once the top-level menu is open, simply pressing the mnemonic key will cause a menu item to execute. Figure 1.29 illustrates the use of keyboard mnemonics. The File menu is opened with the keys ALT+f, and once it is opened, the Exit menu item can be executed by simply typing "x".
Keyboard mnemonics are defined by placing the ampersand character (&) before the desired mnemonic letter in the Label property. The ampersand will not be displayed, but the following letter will be underlined, and it will act as a mnemonic key. For example, the Label property of the Exit menu item in Figure 1.29 is 'E&xit'.

autohotkey does not exist in current keyboard layout - solution examples

I have written a python script for my co-workers, and then created an autohotkey script to run it every time someone presses Ctrl+LShift+Y. Looks something like this:
^+y::Run helper.py
The python script is fine, but the ahk script doesn't work on all the computers. Sometimes it works fine, and sometimes you get this error:
^+y does not exist in current keyboard layout
Now, searching the web this seems to be a problem with multi-language keyboards (we're using both Hebrew and English), because different languages means a different layouts (I guess?). I also found someone explaining that to solve this you need to use scan codes instead of the usual ^ and + and so on (I'd link to it but I cannot seem to find it now).
This all vaguely makes sense to me on a theoretical level, but when I want to realize it with actual code, I don't really know what to do. To me it seems as if this topic is hardly discussed (with the few exceptions being lacking in examples or hard to understand), so I'd love an answer that would include the following:
some simple way of determining the scan code for a key. This should preferably be a pythonic solution (and just out of curiosity, I'd love to know how to do this with linux as well). This is probably the easier part (but I think is an inherent part of a complete answer).
This is the important part: examples of how you implement that scan code in an autohotkey script, including edge-cases (if there are any).
Question 1
As you want to use the key with autohotkey, it makes sense to use autohotkey detect the key in the first place. Obviously this method works only on windows where autohotkey is running.
Write a Autohotkey script with this line and run it.
#InstallKeybdHook
Press the key you want to examine.
Open the script menu by right clicking the icon of the script in the right lower corner of your screen.
Select OPEN, then from the Menu "View / Key history and script info"
There is a line for each keypress.
First column is the VK (Virtual key) code, next is the scancode.
For example for CAPSLOCK the VK is 14 and the Scancode 03a
Question 2:
#InstallKeybdHook
VK14::
msgbox, you pressed capslock!
return
OR
#InstallKeybdHook
SC03a::
msgbox, you pressed capslock!
return
both work.
Note that you can combine two keys into a hotkey by combining them with & (but not 3)
#InstallKeybdHook
RShift & SC03a::
msgbox, you pressed Rshift capslock!
return
You can modify a Scancode with + and ^
#InstallKeybdHook
^+SC02C::
msgbox, you pressed Ctrl Shift and Y(maybe)!
return
Further info about this is on the page "List of Keys, Mouse Buttons, and Joystick Controls" of the autohotkey help file that comes with the default installation.