AutoHotkey's official documentation lists two different sets of commands for sending simulated keyboard input to a window.
Send / SendRaw / SendInput / SendPlay / SendEvent
Sends simulated keystrokes and mouse clicks to the active window.
ControlSend / ControlSendRaw
Sends simulated keystrokes to a window or control.
What's the difference between Send and ControlSend?
Is there a reason to use one over the other?
Send/SendXXX commands send input to the active window. That is the window that currently has focus, usually by clicking it with your mouse, tabbing to it, or when a window sets focus to itself.
If your AHK script were to target a Notepad window that you have open, and you were to click on another window such as Chrome, your inputs would now be sent to Chrome.
On the flipside, using ControlSend/ControlSendXXX commands will send input to a specified window or control. A control might be a textbox, button, or similar interactive elements.
Here, the above example would still output to Notepad even if you switched focus to another window such as Chrome. The downside is that you must specify which control to send to.
Related
Automating a process that is being run on a RDP session, I have to use ControlSend, and not Send command in AutoHotKey.
The WindowSpy doesn't find any control on the MDI toolbar, and there are no shortkey to the menu item I want to access (Filter..). How may I open the toolbar and select the item?
I've tried
ControlSend, ahk_parent, {alt}, ahk_class FNWND3170 ;Open project folder in treeview
But with no success.
I've considered using AutoIT, but I don't think that would help as the AutoIt spy doesn't pick up the control either.
Sorry, but think of the RDP window (or even full screen) as an ever-evolving bitmap image. Your PC and autohotkey have no idea what is behind the picture. Can you run the ahk script in the remote pc itself? Keep in mind, the RDP client handles your mouseclicks and keyboard (and even voice) entirely by re-directing inputs, etc. So best bet is to do a mouse click in the appropriate spot by running a script from outside the window:
CoordMode, TargetType [, RelativeTo]
Click, 44, 55 ; Clicks the left mouse button once at coordinates 44, 55 (based on CoordMode).
Use the CoordMode "RelativeTo" flag to set to "Relative" so coordinates are relative to the active window. You may have to click twice, once to activate the RDP window and then to click at the mouse position.
See https://www.autohotkey.com/docs/commands/Click.htm and https://www.autohotkey.com/docs/commands/CoordMode.htm for info.
Hth,
I'm using notepad++ (v6.5.3) and I constantly have to change the size of the tab for viewing some results. Not that it's taking me a lot of time to do it manually everytime, but it would be great if I could optimize that.
Is there a way to do so? Would a macro be the solution, or are they just for typing stuff?
Thanks a lot!
Ok, there's an easy way how you can achieve this - I have tested it right now:
Install AutoHotKey (or start portable version which runs without installation)
In Windows 7 and above, ensure you launched AutoHotKey as Administrator (otherwise you get inconsistencies in its behavior) - if not sure, exit it and restart it as administrator
Right click Autohotkey tray icon and select Edit This Script
Import the macro below this list at the end of the AutoHotKey script file and save the file
Right click Autohotkey tray icon and select Reload This Script.
–– This was end of general steps, now let's go with your macro: ––
In N++, display Preferences window and press its Close button1 at the bottom (NOT at the top-right corner)
Now you can use shortcuts Win+F2 and Win+F3 to switch different tab sizes instantly
SendMode Input
DetectHiddenWindows, On
SetTitleMatchMode, RegEx
;--------------------------------- Hotkeys for Notepad++ only
#IfWinActive ahk_class Notepad\+\+
#F2::Send {F10}{Right 6}{Down}{Enter}{Tab 2}{Space}16{Enter}{Tab 3}{Space}
#F3::Send {F10}{Right 6}{Down}{Enter}{Tab 2}{Space}4{Enter}{Tab 3}{Space}
#IfWinActive
1) Important: N++ user experience provided in dialog boxes is absolutely terrible. There are no anchors where you can fix focus when using keyboard. Thus you always need to perform step 4 manually when leaving Preferences dialog box otherwise the macros would send keys into incorect window page OR at correct page but incorrect control. Preferences dialog window remembers selected page and control. Macros I created for you therefore assume that correct page is already listed and button Close was recently focused.
Good news is Notepad++ windows with this weird behavior are rare exception from general user experience. In other places in N++ (or in other apps) where user interface components (menus, dialogs etc.) always start from the same point you do not need any special precautions like the one in step 4.
Adjust the macros as you like:
you can create more of them
you can adjust the numbers "16" and "4" typed into tab size input box
you can change shortcut keys to something else
you can replace sending keys with sending mouse clicks at desired screen/window positions
you can achieve many other useful shortcuts in N++ and in all other apps – check AHK deeper!
I am working with a Help file as a Word 2007 document. I need to update the screenshots as I go through, so I'm trying to get AHK to select the 'Change Picture' option from the right click drop down menu when I press my key combination. I've got the code, and it works perfectly... the first time I use it. After that, I only see the right click menu flash and disappear. I suspect that the script from Send {Down 4} on is not executing because I can just barely see the 'Cut' option highlighted, but the selected image is not cut from the document, indicating that the Send {Enter} is also not being executed.
I cannot find anyone else who seems to be having this problem. If I manually reload my script, it works fine again, but only the once. Then it's back to flashing the drop down and nothing else. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm trying to get this process down to as few clicks as possible, but it's getting to the point where I'm wasting more time trying to solve my macro problems than I would just doing it the slow awkward way.
My script as it is now:
^!z::
Send +{F10}
Send {Down 4}
Send {Enter}
return
For clarification's sake:
When I remove everything following Send +{F10} and then use my hotkey, I get the right click menu displayed and not flashed, but again, only the first time I use it. After that, the menu goes back to flashing on the screen once. To compare, actually pressing Shift and {F10} displays the right click menu, and it does not disappear on lift.
If I move all three Send commands into one line to get Send +{F10} {Down 4} {Enter} The script executes the 'Cut' option from the right click menu, then moves the cursor down 4 lines and then sends the {Enter} keystroke. This set of actions works after the first use of the script, unlike previous instances.
In my copy of Word, the control key causes a secondary 'Layout Options' menu to pop up if there is an image selected. While I'm not sure why it's working for you the first time but not subsequently, when I test this at my end it works if I change two things:
Use mouseclick, right instead of Send +{F10}
Change the shortcut modifier from shift-ctrl to Win, i.e. set it to #z
You can try sending the keyboard shortcut instead of down command
SetBatchLines, 1
SetKeyDelay , 100 ; in miliseconds, keep increasing until your pc can hadle it
!x:: ; your hotkey in my case alt + x which is similar to ctrl + x for cutting text
Send +{F10}
Send {t} ; use the cut keyboard shortcut, for word should be 't'. if for some weird reason isn't change it
Send {Enter}
return
I've previously used AutoHotkey to send keystrokes and mouse clicks to automate interaction with GUIs and browsers. How do I send keystrokes and mouse clicks this time using Scala?
You can use java.awt.Robot.
val robot = new java.awt.Robot
robot.mouseMove(100,100) // Cursor will jump to the top left of your screen
Note that you have to enter text keycode by keycode (see java.awt.event.KeyEvent). This is pretty annoying, but you can write code to automate the pressing and releasing of keys. (You do need to release every key you press! It's emulating the keyboard....)
JNA + Windows API
I had to send input to a background window and it worked really well for me.
Can autohotkey capture nonstandard mouse buttons? I use a five-button mouse (Microsoft Wireless Laser Mouse 6000).
XButton1 and XButton2 according to the documentation on autohotkey.com.
The following URLs show how to have autohotkey log all keyboard and mouse events, and how to look at the log autohotkey generates of those events.
http://www.autohotkey.com/docs/commands/_InstallMouseHook.htm
http://www.autohotkey.com/docs/KeyList.htm#SpecialKeys (special keys section)
Based on this, you can find out about all mouse and keyboard events by creating an autohotkey script as such:
#InstallKeybdHook
#InstallMouseHook
Once you run the script, you can double click on the tray icon for that script, then go to View > Key History and Script Info (Ctrl K)
Based on this information, I figured out that my mouse driver is already redefining the extra mouse buttons to other keys. However, I can re-map those keys by going to Control Panel > Mouse, selecting the desired button, and using the "Macro..." option in the mouse configuration (this is a special configuration only for the Microsoft Wireless Laser Mouse 6000 v2). In the macro dialog, I can define keystrokes for those mouse buttons to send (only one per mouse button). Next, I can use AutoHotkey to watch for whatever keystrokes I have defined, and perform specific actions based on those keystrokes.
You need to capture the scancode of the key and then use that. You can find a script in 5th post of this thread, written by Skan, which will allow you to do this. Just run that and click on the GUI with the mouse button you wish to determine the scancode. Then use the scancode in place of the normal key when you create the hotkey.
There is also a built in method of retrieving keys which is documented at the bottom of this page under the heading "Special Keys". Essentially, AHK logs your key presses and automatically records the scancodes for you.
To use the scancode as a hotkey, you just do the following:
SC###:: ;Your code here
Where ### is replaced with the code of your key (or mouse button).