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March 2022 AutoHotkey Newsletter

AutoHotkey Newsletter

March 17th AutoHotkey Newsletter

Howdy %Name%,

Are you crushing it? Have you learned what AutoHotkey can do and, like me, just blown away?

I just realized that I hadn’t shared this video on YouTube (it’s from our Intermediate AHK Udemy course). For those of you new to AutoHotkey, it’s a great, high-level overview of what you can do with 🅰️utoHotkey 💪. If you’re not new, I’d love to know what you think I should have mentioned in it.

Why you should learn AutoHotkey: What can AHK do?

AutoHotkey is an amazing tool. There’s so many ways you can use it to save you time⏰. There definitely is an investment to learn to code however it is worth every minute you spend!

BTW- The other day I borrowed a meme and adapted it to this. I think of AutoHotkey people as “doers” not people that sit around and talk forever about how to do things. What do you think?

crriticTalkerAHKer

Now on with the show…


🅰️HKCon‼️

Are you interested in attending the first AutoHotkey conference? I was talking to Thom Beech from TABNation during one of our Free Friday office hours and we decided it would be great to put something together for this summer. You can learn a bit about our plan here.

AHKConshort

AHKCon this summer: the 1st AutoHotkey virtual convention!


The Lost files

A long time ago the AutoHotkey forum used AutoHotkey.net to store files. Unfortunately it was hacked and the community lost a lot of great resources. While much of it was gone, people put together a nice list of scripts that were lost. In case you’ve never seen it, I made a short video and uploaded them here. Please keep in mind, I didn’t test all of the scripts in here so “Buyer beware” 💀

The lost files: Huge archive of AutoHotkey files from AutoHotkey.net


mySQL / ODBC connection

Have you tried to work with a SQL database but needed to get your connection string? The trickiest part to it is that, once you configure the driver / string you don’t have to do it again (it’s a “one and done” setting). So it’s easy to forget how to do it. For that reason Isaias and I made ourselves a video to document where we were getting it from for the mySQL ODBC connection. BTW I have a SQL Playlist in case you’re wanting to learn more about AutoHotkey & SQL

Adding the ODBC connection string for mySQL for AutoHotkey


Producing AutoHotkey newsletter 📧

I have a popular playlist entitled What I automate with AutoHotkey where I document some amazing things I’ve done with AutoHotkey. I recently documented the creating of this newsletter.


Producing the AutoHotkey Newsletter


AutoHotkey Wordle with source code💡

I was watching this video by Spawnova and he was showing his example of hacking Wordle. Do you play wordle? You can get Shin’s Wordle source code here.


AutoHotKey - Wordle Game with Source


What you need to know about Version2️

A while back we had a great webinar on V2️. I asked Dimitri Geerts and Isaias Baez to join me in another discussion to better understand what to look out for in V2, some of the new features, and what is most likely to trip you up. There were some really interesting things mentioned at the very end of the video. Not trying to make you stick around for the full two hours but the last 15 minutes had some things that you’ll want to know!


Switching to AutoHotkey v2: What you need to know about Version 2 AHK


The-Automators’ PodcastAHK Podcast


What we’re reading 📚


AutoHotkey GURU 👨‍🏫 Interview:

Back in 2018 I chatted with JoeDF regarding how he got into, and uses, AutoHotkey. At times there were bandwidth issues but it was still a great call!

Examples of AutoHotkey / AutoHotkey expert: joedf


Productivity tips ⚡️

Listen to music that doesn’t have lyrics (or the lyrics are in another language). Personally I’ll often throw on Zydeco music which is usually very up-beat and “feels” like it’s in another language.


A spot of Humor 🤣

01189998819991197253 is a tad harder than 867-5309‼️


0


Quotable quotes 🗣️ 💭

  • People who enjoy meetings should not be in charge of anything. — Thomas Sowell
  • Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work. — Stephen King
  • Even Napoleon had his Watergate — Yogi Berra
  • Challenge your belief systems. It’s better to realize you’ve been wrong for years, than to stubbornly hold onto a delusion that holds you back. — John Carlton

Live AutoHotkey Support Tomorrow Live

Don’t forget on Friday’s you can get free AutoHotkey support on my YouTube channel. Or you can sign up for reminders and join the zoom room. 👍


Intro to AutoHotkey HotStrings with AutoHotkey Intermediate AutoHotkey GUIs are Easy with AutoHotkey Intro to DOS & AutoHotkey AutoHotkey FAQ AutoHotkey FAQ

The-Automator

Joe and staff

P.S. Special thanks to the following for purchasing multiple AutoHotkey Udemy courses this month!


March 10th AutoHotkey Newsletter

Howdy %Name%,

gasprices

No matter where you live, it’s impossible to not feel the effects of gas prices & inflation!  Current estimates have the rate of inflation in the US between 6-10%.  That’s crazy high however, given what’s going on in the world with Ukraine / Russia, I think it’s just the beginning of sky-rocketing prices.  Why?  Because nearly everything is delivered by vehicles!  These gas price increases are going to be driving up the prices very soon!

So why am I bitching about it in the 🅰️🇺t🇴🇭🇴tk🇪🇾 🇳ewsletter?  Because I 💯% believe the best way you can get a raise 💵is to BE WORTH MORE!  One of the best ways to be worth more is to invest in yourself!  People that learn AutoHotkey:

  • Get work done faster
  • Are more productive
  • Produce fewer errors
  • Provide more consistent work / deliverables
  • Are less likely to quit

Of course employers LOVE all the above! As a direct result they try and reward them.  The #1 way of doing such is to 💰 pay them more!  So commit to yourself today to find ways to be worth more!

Learning AutoHotkey is just one of many ways to improve yourself!  Of course the best part of this is where’s the risk?  If your employer doesn’t increase you’re pay you’re STILL WORTH MORE!

In case you missed the video I did ranting about being worth more, you can see it here; it’s one of my personal favorites!

Want to get a raise? Be worth it!- Investing in yourself is critical to succeeding!

Now on with the show…


Calculating time savings

A few years back I created this spreadsheet 📈 to help calculate savings /earnings by automating programs.  Do you ever try and calculate this? Also, do you think I should create a version of the spreadsheet in AutoHotkey?

Calculating Time and Money savings from automating a process


Regular ExpressionsSwiss%20army%20knife

I was amazed how many people that do some coding are not aware of Regular Expressions.   When I first became aware of them I thought they were neat but that I rarely had the need.  But the more programs I wrote, the more I realized parsing text is a very common task to have!  In this Intro to RegEx video I cover the basics.  You can see my RegEx playlist here.  I also highly recommend Jack Dunning’s book on RegEx.  I bought it years ago and it really helped me learn them quickly and easily.

RegEx-Intro to Regular Expressions in AutoHotkey | pattern matching is easy


AutoHotkey Commands verse Functions

Speaking of parsing text, the other day I released a video showing both the Command StringSplit and the function StrSplit().  It’s one of the things that often confuses people new to AutoHotkey so I talk through both and why I prefer functions over commands.

AutoHotkey example Command vs Function on String Split


MS Word Macro recorder and COM

I’ve recently made a few videos demonstrating using AHK & COM to automate MS Word.   In this video I didn’t have an example to borrow from so I showed how I used the built-in Word VBA macro recorder to generate the VBA code and then adapt it to AutoHotkey COM code.   COM is an amazing way to, programmatically, connect to and automate Word!

How to use MS Word macro recorder to write AutoHotkey code


Using AutoHotkey to auto-generate numbers & delimiters

I’m not in love with how the script was implemented, but I love the idea and that he’s made a video showing how you can easily generate numbers parsed by a character.   I’d make some tweaks to it but very cool to see others pushing out AutoHotkey examples!

AutoHotkey - AHK - GUI Number Iteration Tool


Selecting and saving a file path in an ini file

Getting user feedback is a great way to make a script more flexible. Here Thom, from TAB Nation, shows how you can easily get user feedback and save in an ini file.

AutoHotkey INI 6 - Let The User Pick File Paths and Save It


The-Automators’ PodcastAHK Podcast


What we’re reading 📚


AutoHotkey GURU 👨‍🏫 Interview: Ryan W.

In this AutoHotkey Expert interview I talk with a master Marketing guru that uses AutoHotkey among many other tools to automate his work.  Ryan’s a  super-bright and innovative guy that readily picks up any technology to solve his need.

Examples of AutoHotkey / AutoHotkey expert: Ryan Wells


Productivity tips  ⚡️

Everybody has a time of the day that we’re “on fire”.  A time when our brains are just kickin-butts and takin names.  Interestingly we’re all different as to when that time is but, I’m willing to bet, you know when your time is!

The tip for this week is to make sure, during that window of time, you do the most tasking/ difficult work you have.  Don’t do things you can “do in your sleep”.  For me, the time is about 1 hour after I wake up.   In the early afternoon I typically cool-off and then I handle things like replying to emails, etc.

When is your “take no prisoner” time?


A spot of Humor 🤣

Priceless!  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve used that key phrase…

The IT crowd - Truest moment about tech support


Quick Access Popup newsQAPbr

I learned a bit last week regarding how to add a “close this menu” option to Quick Access Popup.  Very easy way to make sure you don’t end up with a hung window.  Note, you’ll only need this if you’ve created a hotkey to open a submenu (which I highly recommend)

Adding a


Quotable quotes 🗣️ 💭

  • Absorb what is useful, reject what is useless, add what is specifically your own. — Bruce Lee
  • It’s amazing how much you can accomplish when you don’t care who gets the credit — Joe Glines
  • Do the hard jobs first. Easy jobs will take care of themselves. — Dale Camegie
  • You better cut the pizza in four pieces because I’m not hungry enough to eat six — Yogi Berra
  • Say “sorry” and “I love you” often and without self-consciousness — John Carlton

Live AutoHotkey Support TomorrowLive

Don’t forget on Friday’s you can get free AutoHotkey support on my YouTube channel.  Or you can sign up for reminders and join the zoom room.


Intro to AutoHotkey HotStrings with AutoHotkey Intermediate AutoHotkey GUIs are Easy with AutoHotkey Intro to DOS & AutoHotkey AutoHotkey FAQ AutoHotkey FAQ

The-Automator

Joe and staff

P.S.  Special thanks to the following for purchasing multiple AutoHotkey Udemy courses this month!

  • 3 Bonnie O.
  • 2 Greg S.
  • 2 Tom S.

March 3rd AutoHotkey Newsletter

Hi %Name%,

March is here and I’m looking forward to getting outside to take advantage of our new horseshoe pit and volleyball net.  😊

For the 🐎horseshoe pit I found a nice place that will get afternoon shade.  Unfortunately, the backstop for the first one got set up a bit off-angle which would put the other side a bit out in the Sun.  I could have left it but I knew, every time I’d be out there sweating, I’d be cursing myself for not doing it “right” the first time.  It reminds me why I learn to use API approaches (COM, Controls, Windows Messages) over Human approaches (Sending keystrokes or mouse clicks).  If you take a bit more time at the beginning you’ll be much happier with the results!  While API techniques are a bit more complex, they’re also much more reliable and faster than imitating a human.  If the overall concepts are confusing to you, RaptorX and I discuss it in this video.   Speaking of which, Isaias Baez (RaptorX) should be back starting next Monday!  😊


APIs compared to Human Interfaces: How do you use AutoHotkey?

You also might be interested in this video where I discuss 17 different techniques to automate programs with AutoHotkey.   The main point being, taking a little time to learn up front can really payout for the rest of your life!  Why not invest in yourself and make the rest of your life easier by learning AutoHotkey?


17 Ways to Automate Windows Programs | Learn all the approaches in AHK

Now on with the show…


What I’ve automated with AutoHotkey

The other day I was updating my AutoHotkey resources file that is in my Udemy Bonus Lectures and decided to document some of the process.  In the video I cover various things I do on a regular basis.  How I add tracking to the documents so I can tell what works (and what doesn’t).  I even show my MS Word script for search & replacing hyperlinks.


What I've automated with AutoHotkey: WordPress tracking, MS Word, more


Searching for Text across files 🔎

Are you sometimes looking for files with specific text in them?  Or want to search/replace text within multiple files?  GrepWin is a great FREE tool for doing just that!  I recorded a short video showing how easy it is to use .  I’ve used it for longer than I can remember and it’s saved my butt many times!


grepWin for Searching and Replacing Text within files: Must have tool!


API Calls, Fiddler, SMS Texting and more

I was talking with Denilson Padilla about using APIs, monitoring network traffic with Fiddler and other things.  Denilson is in Brazil and has a YouTube channel in Portuguese.  I think we’re going to have regular calls on Monday evening so look for more videos with us discussing various AutoHotkey things.   I’m considering letting others join the call (for a nominal fee).  If you’re interested in being a part of this, shoot me an email.


Discussing APIs, texting, and more with fellow AutoHotkey Youtuber


Automating Outlook emails

In our AHK Facebook group I’ve been seeing several questions about using AutoHotkey with Outlook.  I recently demonstrated how easy it is to get: Name, email, subject line, etc. but we also covered Outlook in this webinar which had several great examples.  Automating Outlook with COM is an amazing!


Outlook Email Object- Getting Name, email, Send date, etc.


The-Automators’ PodcastAHK Podcast


What we’re reading 📚


AutoHotkey GURU 👨‍🏫 Interview:  Tank

Back in 2018 I chatted with Charlie Simmons / Tank (AutoHotkey forum admin).  Tank’s got a long background in automation and used to travel around implementing Automation Anywhere.  We discuss using the DOM (Document Object Model) can greatly improve your web scraping ability (and make your code more reliable). He also gives some insights to the pricing and negatives with Automation Anywhere.


Examples of AutoHotkey |AutoHotkey Experts: Charlie Simmons /Tank


A spot of Humor 🤣 – Look I’m Superman!

I was looking for an old video and stumbled upon this gem which I made ~25 years ago when I was going to college to work in TV production.  The class requirement was to create a PSA (Public Service Announcement) that was exactly 30 seconds long.  In the video you’ll see me jumping off a roof. I’d put a couch down below but it was really hard to force myself to jump (and not land on my legs).  Sorry about the quality, I honestly didn’t think I had any copies of it so I’m glad I found this one!


Unplanned Parenthood- PSA from 1995


Quick Access Popup news
QAPbr

I had a “hung window” in Quick Access Popup the other day and asked Jean how to avoid this.  He gave me a tip and I quickly added a “close this window” to my submenu.  Very quick tip to avoid it!  Check out the video here.


Adding a


Quotable quotes 🗣️ 💭

  • People who enjoy meetings should not be in charge of anything. — Thomas Sowell
  • I will always hire a lazy person to do a hard job, because they will always find an easy way to do it — Bill Gates
  • A nickel ain’t worth a dime anymore — Yogi Berra 🤣(with inflation these days it’s very true!)
  • Lead by example, not big talk. In fact, shut up until you’ve earned the right to talk by honing your chops. — John Carlton

Live AutoHotkey Support Tomorrow

Live

Don’t forget on Friday’s you can get free AutoHotkey support on my YouTube channel.  Or you can sign up for reminders and join the zoom room.


Intro to AutoHotkey HotStrings with AutoHotkey Intermediate AutoHotkey GUIs are Easy with AutoHotkey Intro to DOS & AutoHotkey AutoHotkey FAQ AutoHotkey FAQ

The-Automator

Joe and staff

P.S. Special thanks to the following for purchasing multiple
AutoHotkey Udemy courses last month!

6 Peter E. 2 Marc P. 2 Ewelina W.
3 Sam B. 2 Malgorzata M. 2 Ewa N.
3 Carlos M. 2 Magdalena O. 2 Emilie H.
3 Łukasz G. 2 Magdalena F. 2 Doug B.
2 VCALD. 2 Maciej W. 2 Damian G.
2 Sylwia B. 2 Lidia D. 2 Claudia J.
2 Swen B. 2 Kosma W. 2 Charles O.
2 Sean M. 2 Kinga C. 2 Cezary K.
2 R. 2 Katarzyna U. 2 Cesar A.
2 Qun G. 2 Karolina S. 2 Bartosz B.
2 Przemysław M. 2 K. 2 B.
2 Piotr Pawel B. 2 Justyna K. 2 Annet S.
2 Paulina D. 2 Joanna R. 2 Anna C.
2 Natalia P. 2 J. 2 Anna B.
2 Monika B. 2 Izabela K. 2 Alicja C.
2 MateuszH. 2 Iwona S. 2 Aleksandra P.
2 Mateusz T. 2 Iwona P. 2 Agnieszka W.
2 Mateusz J. 2 G. 2 Abdulmalik A.

AutoHotkey Newsletter: December, 2021

AutoHotkey Newsletter

Here is the December AutoHotkey Newsletter!

December 30th, 2021

Howdy %Name%,

Well 2021 is on the way out and I’m excited and optimistic for 2022.  How about you?
Any plans to learn a new automation topic?
I need to dive deep into Classes.   I actually found around 4+ Hours of videos of Maestrith & Hellbent where Maestrith
was teaching us classes.  I’m going to see if I can edit them and clean them up decently enough to share.
If you didn’t see the intro to Classes tutorial that Jean Lalonde did for us, you should check it out! 👍  Make 2021 the year you really start investing in yourself.  I guarantee you this, you’ll never be disappointed you learned something that saves time & makes your life easier!

BTW- I did just hit a major goal.  I created my 1,000 AutoHotkey video‼️ 😃
That’s a LOT of videos!  I want to thank you for watching my videos.  I’ve learned a lot over the years and have been improving in my video
skills (but still have much to learn).
Animated Subscribe2
From what I can tell I have at least 3X the number of AutoHotkey videos as any other channel.u
Soon I hope to surpass HellBent with the total number of subscribers.  If you’re not a YouTube subscriber, please consider it.  I only mention a fraction of my videos in this newsletter.

hellbentHellbent said, when I pass him, he’ll start making more videos so, ironically, subscribing to me will get him back in the game.  😊


Developer’s corner

The Magic of ActiveX maestrith

Years ago I was on a call with Maestrith when HellBent joined and had a question about how to speed-up his GUI.
He was using a traditional GUI approach and, when he’d draw ~1,000 items, it was slowing way down.   Maestrith, on the fly, showed us how to
create an ActiveX GUI and then adapted HellBent’s GUI to make use of it.  The
audio quality is poor and the video is grainy however I think it was some AMAZING teachings!   Just remember, there was zero prep on this so
Maestrith was troubleshooting as he’s developing.  You can get the scripts here.
Also, this video was ~45 min.  I decided to make a short version talking
through the first script he developed which you can check out here.


The Magic of ActiveX & AutoHotkey: Maestrith adapts Hellbent's code


API Example: Append name & Address to phone number ☎️

In this quick walk through I show how handy Webservice APIs can be!   I used a service to look up phone numbers append demographic information about who (supposedly) owns it.  Of course this is just scratching the surface of APIs.  I
have a TON of examples and tutorials on our API page

.
API Tutorial: Append name & address to phone numbers with Data247

Our API webinar is top-notch! Be sure to check it out!


tabnationHelp Tab Nation  / How does AHK work in your games 🎮?

In this video, Thom, from Tab Nation,  asks for your help in learning how AutoHotkey works with various games.  You can use this source to understand how to use AutoHotkey with the games or comment on the video to help others!

AutoHotkey - How AHK Works With Different Games? You Tell me!


The-Automators’ Podcast


Quick Access Popup news

I’ve been doing some shorter Quick Access Popup tutorials.  In this tutorial Jean Lalonde and I show how easy it is to add icons (which really help you find what you’re looking for).  BTW we did a follow up video (not released yet) which shows how you can update your Windows folder icons (both manually and with qap).


Troubleshooting your Hotkeys & HotStrings

Temporarily raising your script to an Admin level is a quick/ easy way to troubleshoot your script.  It’s not a great permanent fix, but it’s a great first step to see if it is a problem.


What we’re reading 📚


Productivity tips  ⚡️

  • Version 1 is infinitely better than version none!
  • Learn to take short-naps! (Most days I take one-two 3 minute naps)
  • Do your most dreaded task first
  • Things that contribute to productivity often take more time than they save. Don’t sweat it!
  • Winners are NOT those who never fail but those who never quit.

A spot of Humor 🤣

space


Quotable quotes 🗣️ 💭

  • When someone tells me “no,” I just ask someone else. — Joe Glines
  • Simplicity boils down to two steps: Identify the essential. Eliminate the rest. ― Leo Babauta
  • My whole philosophy is working smarter and not harder. And making sure I’m using little effort and getting a huge effect. — Anthony Pettis

Intro to AutoHotkey HotStrings with AutoHotkey Intermediate AutoHotkey GUIs are Easy with AutoHotkey Intro to DOS & AutoHotkey AutoHotkey FAQ AutoHotkey FAQ

The-Automator

Joe and staff

P.S. Special thanks to the following for purchasing multipleAutoHotkey Udemy courses this month!

  • 🔥94 Julija K.🔥
  • 5 Osvaldo Kotaro T.
  • 3 Zachery B.
  • 3 Michael M.
  • 3 Kris S.
  • 3 Bastian B.
  • 2 Sergey P.
  • 2 Luís D.
  • 2 Kay M.
  • 2 K H.
  • 2 Juan R.
  • 2 Joe L.
  • 2 Jeff T.
  • 2 Daniel E.
  • 2 Arkadiusz Z.
  • 2 Apiphu P.
  • 2 Ajey G.

December 23rd, 2021

Howdy %Name%,

It seems hard to believe but Christmas is here🎄! I hope you’re able to spend time with the people you care about!

Last night I received a generous donation from Hojung out of Dublin. While the 💲 is much appreciated, his note about how, by watching my videos and using the-Automator he’s been learning AutoHotkey and using it to save a ton of time. Check out the amazing note!  These notes really make my day!

Hojungthankyounote





Udemy Courses

I also want to give a shout out to Julija K. who bought 47 licenses of both Intro to AutoHotkey & Intermediate AutoHotkey! I hope they help people save time! Julija, if you’re listening, I’m happy to plan a free Zoom call to give an intro to people. If anyone else is considering buying bulk licenses (more than 10), reach out to me directly and we can figure out a good approach that will save you 💵 and get people started saving time with AutoHotkey!

Free Access to FAQ2 Udemy course

AHK FAQ: When you start to code in AHK

I just checked and there’s a few (28 of the 100) coupons left available for free access to the Intro to FAQ2: What to know when you start to code in AutoHotkey. I recommend you grab it while you can! Currently the coupons are exclusive to subscribers like you %Name%. Next week I’ll post the code on my YouTube channel and social media. BTW are you subscribed to my YouTube channel? I recommend you subscribe as there is content there that I don’t share in the Newsletter.


Developer’s corner

Would you like a way to compare mic levels? While most tools provide a visual indicator of the levels, I wanted a more quantitative (numeric) approach. Check out this tool which will takes an average and provides you with a numeric comparison.

How to Compare Mic Levels before recording


How to use Discord to get AutoHotkey support👍

During our Friday AutoHotkey / QAP support hours Dillon DeRosa helped us understand how to use Discord to get AutoHotkey help. Discord is a great tool however, as you can see in the video, it is a bit complex. This walk through helps understand how, and where to post your AutoHotkey questions. The people on Discord are AMAZING!

Learn how to use Discord to get FREE AutoHotkey Help


AutoHotkey help & links to videos

Speaking of AutoHotkey help, have you tried our AHKHelp script that allows you to access AutoHotkey help in ANY editor? It also pulls up videos on your topic!

Pull up AutoHotkey documentation AND VIDEOS in ANY editor / IDE!

 


The-Automators’ Podcast

What we’re reading 📚

Productivity tips ⚡️

  • Always start on the thing you least want to do!
  • Break big projects into small tasks (and put them on your calendar)
  • Always work from a (physical) list (I find crossing things off VERY rewarding!)
  • Be decisive⚡️

A spot of Humor 🤣

uplifting


Quick Access Popup news

I’m making some shorter videos with Jean Lalonde, the author of Quick Access Popup. It’s an amazing tool that can greatly simplify your life! I highly recommend you give it a try! I probably launch it over 100 times a day! If you want to save time and be more organized, it’s a no-brainer!

Here you can get early access to a video where we show how you can <href=”https://youtu.be/oyLvMmOmeVA”>easily access mobile devices (and other special folders


How to easily access mobile devices & other special folders on Windows


Quotable quotes 🗣️ 💭

  • The thing about smart people is that they sound crazy to dumb people. — Steve Jobs
  • Productivity is never an accident. It is always the result of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning, and focused effort. — Paul J. Meyer
  • It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance. – Thomas Sowell


The-Automator

Joe and staff

P.S. Special thanks to the following for purchasing multipleAutoHotkey Udemy courses this month!

  • 🔥94 Julija K.🔥
  • 5 Osvaldo T.
  • 3 Zachery B.
  • 3 Michael M.
  • 3 Bastian B.
  • 2 Sergey P.
  • 2 Luís D.
  • 2 Kay M.
  • 2 K H.
  • 2 Juan R.
  • 2 Joe L.
  • 2 Jeff T.
  • 2 Daniel E.
  • 2 Apiphu P.
  • 2 Ajey G.

December 16th, 2021

Howdy %Name%,

Hard to believe 2021 is nearly wrapped up!  We had an amazing Christmas party 🥳at our new house.  The White elephant 🐘 gift exchange was a blast!

As I mentioned in this video, I launched a new AutoHotkey FAQ2 Udemy course and have 100 FREE coupons 😁 for newsletter subscribers.
You can learn more about the course and get the coupon here.   The course touches on many things that trip people up when they first start learning AutoHotkey.

New AutoHotkey Udemy course: FAQ #2 & how to get it for free!


AHK FAQ: Before you code in AHK

We also have the FREE FAQ1 course– what to know before you code which is free and has many great tools for coding in AutoHotkey.  Here are 8 scripts in that course (there are more but these are the main ones that will help nearly all people that code in AutoHotkey):

  1. AHKEditSwap– Allows you to easily change your default editor of AutoHotkey scripts
  2. AHKAddToStartup – Easily add AutoHotkey scripts (or any program) to the Windows startup process
  3. AHKScriptScan– Have a way to peek inside AutoHotkey files & highlight possible hacks
  4. AHKHelp– Have access to AutoHotkey help in ANY program.  It also searches YouTube for videos on your topic!
  5. AHKHotkeyStringLookup– Search your running scripts for Hotkeys & HotStrings.
  6. AHKScriptHub– Easily access, reload, edit, pause, suspend, or jump to folders of any running AutoHotkey script
  7. AHKToolkit– Speed-up your AutoHotkey code development
  8. AutomateMyTask – Easily find & click images (or controls). AmT writes your AutoHotkey syntax for you!

Free Live AutoHotkey & Quick Access Popup help Fridays

Did you know that from 10-11 on Friday’s Jean Lalonde and I hang out in Zoom (and on my YouTube channel) and offer people 🆓 AutoHotkey and Quick Access Popup help?
You can sign up to get reminders and join the zoom meeting here or just go to the live stream on my YouTube channel.

Robot working with Lady

We often have some very fun and interesting discussions while helping attendees.  Jean’s been showing some of the cool functionality of a new tool that will manipulate text in the clipboard as well as other gems of things he’s been working on.


Developer’s corner

Ever want to use AutoHotkey to record audio?  With the downloading of the 🐟 BASS.DLL file you can easily do it.  I tested it out and it was very solid and easy to use.

Recording Audio with AutoHotkey and BASS dll


Creating Bar Charts 📊

Sometimes you might have a little bit of data you want to graph.   The GDI library is amazing!  In this video I showed how someone wrote a wrapper to simplify creating of charts with AutoHotkey.  It’s much easier than you would think!

How to easily create Bar Charts with AutoHotkey and the GDI library


Intro to using Classes in AutoHotkey

Jean Lalonde re-wrote Quick Access Popup a few years back to leverage classes.   I asked him if he’d give me an Intro to Classes in AutoHotkey and he nailed it!  When you first learn AutoHotkey I think learning Functions is your best way to level-up.  After you’ve mastered functions learning Classes is a natural next step!  Why don’t you dive into it today?

Intro to Classes in AutoHotkey | Learn how and why to use Classes


The-Automators’ Podcast

What we’re reading 📚

A spot of Humor 🤣

the Automator 11

This is why I encourage you to ask qualifying questions to people doing work for you!  Sometimes you can’t afford the “cheap” solution?

cheaper

Quotable quotes 🗣️ 💭

  • It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up. — Babe Ruth
  • It is not enough to be busy, so are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about? – Henry David Thoreau
  • If you aren’t fired with enthusiasm, you will be fired with enthusiasm. —Vince Lombardi

The-Automator

Joe and staff

P.S.  Special thanks to the following for purchasing multipleAutoHotkey Udemy courses this month!

  • 5 Osvaldo T.
  • 3 Zachery B.
  • 3 Michael M.
  • 3 Bastian B.
  • 2 Sergey P.
  • 2 Luís D.
  • 2 Kay M.
  • 2 K H.
  • 2 Julija K.
  • 2 Juan R.
  • 2 Joe L.
  • 2 Daniel E.
  • 2 Apiphu P.
  • 2 Ajey G.

December 9, 2021

Howdy %Name%, are you ready for Winter❄️? I don’t mind the temperature change however I do miss the amount of the day that is light out 🌞.

What are you doing manually today that you could automate?

shouldautomatethis

Developer’s corner – Life support for IE

During one the Friday free AutoHotkey / Quick Access Popup support hours someone asked about automating IE in Windows 10 & Windows 11. I did some research and Windows 11 doesn’t come with IE installed however you can add it back. Later I’ll record a video how I used a Virtual Box to install Windows 11 and IE. Meanwhile, when I was testing IE mode of Edge in Windows 10 I noticed that the IWB2 Learner tool was able to identify elements on the page! I showed this to Tank and he mentioned the way I was connecting to it would break so he re-wrote my attempt with a much more robust approach. We can’t navigate to pages that don’t support IE, however this keeps IE on life-support 👩‍⚕️for the time being.

How to Automate IE from within Edge


AHKScriptHub

Do you have a lot of scripts running at a given time? Do some of them not have System Tray icons? Or do many use the same, green, AutoHotkey icon? AHKScriptHub is a great way to easily: Edit, Pause, Suspend, etc. of running scripts (even if they don’t have a tray icon!) I use this a lot as several of my scripts don’t have system tray icons and it allows me to edit to or just open the folder where it is located.

0


Free and paid AutoHotkey Udemy courses

Did you check out the FAQ part 1 free Udemy course? It’s for people that are VERY new to AutoHotkey! I particularly like that you can jump around and not work through every lesson. I also have a FAQ part 2 that was just released 🔥today🔥. The second part is paid but you can get discount here (please do use the coupon; you get savings and I make more of what you pay) Again, these courses are for people totally new to AutoHotkey.

Do you know anyone that would benefit from using AutoHotkey? Why not purchase any of my courses for them for a great Christmas gift🎅? %Name%, can you think of something that would pay out more? Let me know!


Automatically Search & Replace Clipboard content

I’m really liking this overall concept more and more. Why not have something constantly monitoring your clipboard? When it see specific content, have it tweak it to what you want? Jean Lalonde, author of Quick Access Popup, is creating a tool that will help with this however I demonstrate how easy it is to do programmatically in this video.

0


The-Automators’ PodcastAHK Podcast


What we’re reading 📚


A spot of Humor 🤣

I’m not sure how many smart devices I have in my home (probably at least 30) but, if this was a setting, I would definitely turn it on! LOL🤣

smartsarcasm


Quotable quotes 🗣️ 💭

  • Build your own dreams or someone else will hire you to build theirs. — Farrah Gray
  • The true price of anything you do is the amount of time you exchange for it. — Henry David
  • The person who says it’s not possible needs to get out of my way — Joe Glines

Intro to AutoHotkey HotStrings with AutoHotkey Intermediate AutoHotkey GUIs are Easy with AutoHotkey Intro to DOS & AutoHotkey AutoHotkey FAQ

The-Automator

Joe and staff

P.S. Special thanks to the following for purchasing multiple AutoHotkey Udemy courses this month!

  • 5 Osvaldo T.
  • 3 Zachery B.
  • 3 Michael M.
  • 3 Bastian B.
  • 2 Sergey P.
  • 2 Luís D.
  • 2 Kay M.
  • 2 K H.
  • 2 Daniel E.
  • 2 Apiphu P.
  • 2 Ajey G.

December 2, 2021

Howdy %Name%,

AHK FAQ: Before you code in AHK

Did you have a good Thanksgiving 🦃? I know it’s just a U.S. Holiday however it’s one I wish had a more global presence. It’s probably the least “commercialized” holiday and is still about family, friends and giving back. Speaking of which, did you check out our free AutoHotkey Udemy course? It’s meant for true noobs so it may not be a good fit for you however it’s a great one to pass along to someone that is considering using AutoHotkey. BTW, is it just me, or is the below meme one of the most basic, yet important, concepts to understand?

SpendOrInvest

Have you carved out time to learn AutoHotkey and invest in yourself?


Developer’s corner

Have you done much with Excel and AutoHotkey? I’ve automated an amazing amount of stuff with the two. Saved countless hours and created amazing reports at the click of a button! This week I released two videos automating Excel with AutoHotkey (which means I now have 52 tutorials of AutoHotkey & Excel. BTW- I also updated how I’m getting the current range (but haven’t made a video on it yet) however the updates are in my Excel Function library. The new way won’t use colored cells (which the old one did)

Excel Paths

The first video was how to get various paths from Excel. This can come in handy when you’re working with multiple files and/or want to have a script that will work on other computers.

0


Meta Data from Excel

Sometimes you’re wanting to learn more about given Excel files. This video shows many meta data fields that you can grab. If you have Excel files that have meta data, this could be really helpful to find specific files…

0


Window Snipping tool 📷

Are you using my Window Snipping tool with built-in OCR? It’s my most popular download! Being able to quickly grab screen clippings is amazing! The built-in Translations is also handy if you’re working with others around the globe. Personally I used it dozens of times a day. The OCR is fast and accurate but does require Windows 10+

0


Automate Skipping YouTube ads 🎥Robots Working

Years ago, before I created AutomateMyTask , I used FindText to automate skipping YouTube ads. It’s fairly accurate and easy to do with my version of the findtext Function.

0


The-Automators’ Podcast
AHK Podcast


What we’re reading 📚


A spot of Humor 🤣

I’d be lying if I said this wasn’t me…

leftover


Quotable quotes 🗣️ 💭

  • The true price of anything you do is the amount of time you exchange for it. — Henry David
  • Wealth is the product of man’s capacity to think. — Ayn Rand
  • Simplicity boils down to two steps: Identify the essential. Eliminate the rest. ― Leo Babauta

Intro to AutoHotkey HotStrings with AutoHotkey Intermediate AutoHotkey GUIs are Easy with AutoHotkey Intro to DOS & AutoHotkey AutoHotkey FAQ

The-Automator

Joe and staff

P.S. Special thanks to the following for purchasing multiple AutoHotkey Udemy courses in November!

  • 4 래곤 드
  • 4 Jason L.
  • 3 Walter V.
  • 3 Rodrigo F.
  • 3 Robert R.
  • 3 Richard Q.
  • 3 Raimondas L.
  • 3 Margaret H.
  • 3 Lars T.
  • 3 Joseph D.
  • 3 John L.
  • 3 Jeremy B.
  • 3 Fred F.
  • 3 Christopher S.
  • 2 Vicki J.
  • 2 Sharon M.
  • 2 Ray T.
  • 2 Raphael A.
  • 2 Nicolas J.
  • 2 Maik S.
  • 2 Kevin S.
  • 2 Kanishka S.
  • 2 Juhani R.
  • 2 Jeff T.
  • 2 Jackson L.
  • 2 Andreas H.
  • 2 Aditya P.
  • 2 Achim S.

 

AutoHotkey Webinar- 6/2021 Helping Users- API calls, ACC library & more!

AutoHotkey webinarThis AutoHotkey webinar was pretty amazing!
Video Hour 1: Helping others: Snagit, ACC library, Controls
Video Hour 2: GUIs, PID verse hwn ID, & more

Script Highlight:  Fiddler Everywhere Ripper / API Syntax writer

We also discussed Webservice APIs.  Our AHK Webinar on APIs is a great place to start

You also might want to download our API Syntax writer

We discussed the ACC library in this ahk webinar and demonstrated its usage in this AHK Webinar

When we were working through how to best solve Snaggit issue, I mentioned the 17 ways to automate windows  as well as AutomateMyTask

Extracting text from ResponseBody in API call

Working on an API call with a friend and we ran into a very weird error “No mapping for the Unicode character exists in the target multi-byte code page”.
I tried working through it but couldn’t figure it out so I asked Charlie Simmons (Tank from the AutoHotkey forum) to give me a hand. He worked through it after a bit of trial & error.

Turns out there was some sort of “illegal” character in the ResponseText field that the WinHTTP com object could not handle. You can get the script below, or download my updated API syntax writer.