HotScript:
Historical Changes

TODO

add description for all functions

Fixed conflict for Move mouse 1px. The HotKey Alt-Win-ARROW was already used by Stretch to edge. The new HotKey for moving the mouse is Alt + Shift + Win.

Merged Quick Resolution into the Resize window menu. which key was used by QR???

major bug fixed in hotString() which was preventing creating HotKeys for single keys (like F1-F12, etc). some single keys still cannot have a standalone HotKey defined (list them!)

Version 1.201811xx.1

HotKeys

This version changes existing functionality of HotScript, mostly around HotKeys that were specific to HotScript itself.

Please read the change history for this version carefully to understand how these changes affect your usage of HotScript.

Because of the quanity of changes/fixes/etc., they are not listed in any particular order. After 15+ months of development on this version, there are approximately 650 separate modifications (including ?? new features) to the source code!

This release will likely be the last substantial version for quite sometime. There will still be releases for any bugs, but don't expect any new major functionality.

I have started work on the next generation of HotScript, which will deliver greater flexibility, simpler ease of use, enhanced capabilities, and some long-awaited features.

Added HotKey Alt + Win + R which shows a Resize window menu. All window resizing functions are available via this new menu. This purpose for this new menu is to help people who found it difficult to remember which HotKeys are associated with the various window resizing options of HotScript.

Added new HotKeys to shift a window up/down/left/right. The default number of pixels is defined in HotScriptDefault.ini with the shiftWindowPixels variable and is set to 50 pixels. This value may be copied into HotScriptUser.ini and set to any other integer value greater than zero. The new HotKeys are:

Shift + WheelDown - Shift the current window down 50 pixels

Shift + WheelUp - Shift the current window down 50 pixels

Alt + Shift + WheelUp - Shift the current window left 50 pixels

Alt + Shift + WheelDown - Shift the current window right 50 pixels

Changed the "Resize to grid" HotKeys that used the NumPad number keys to no longer be specific to just the NumPad. Now any HotKey that uses a number for window resizing can use either the NumPad or the traditional number keys. This was done because some keyboard (such as laptops) do not have a NumPad available. As a result, the following new HotKeys are defined:

Win + 1 - Same as Win + NumPad1

Win + 2 - Same as Win + NumPad2

Win + 3 - Same as Win + NumPad3

Win + 4 - Same as Win + NumPad4

Win + 5 - Same as Win + NumPad5

Win + 6 - Same as Win + NumPad6

Win + 7 - Same as Win + NumPad7

Win + 8 - Same as Win + NumPad8

Win + 9 - Same as Win + NumPad9

All other HotKeys that used NumPad for resizing have been eliminated and are available on the Resize window menu.

This is a significant change to existing functionality of HotScript.

Changed meaning of HotKey Win + F12. It used to quit HotScript, but now it displays the HotScript menu. The feature for quitting HotScript is now on the HotScript menu.

Changed behavior of Win + H to be both a toggle as well as retaining its existing behavior. Pressing it once will now toggle the help screen on and off. Pressing and holding the keys will work as they did before - when released the help screen will be hidden.

Functionality for several HotKeys has been moved to the new HotScript menu accessible via Win + F12. The following HotKeys were removed:

Win + 1 for running AutoHotkey help file

Win + 2 for reloading HotScript

Win + 3 for editing HotScript.ahk

Win + 4 for editing HotScriptKeys.ahk

Win + 5 for editing HotScriptStrings.ahk

Win + 6 for editing HotScriptVariables.ahk

Win + 7 for editing HotScriptFunctions.ahk

Win + 8 for editing HotScriptUser.ini

Win + 9 for editing HotScriptDefault.ini

Win + 0 for launching the HotScript home page in the default browser

Win + ` for launching DebugView (used for debugging HotScript)

Alt + Win + F12 for running a HotScript internal function

Ctrl + Win + F12 for viewing the value of a HotScript internal variable

Alt + Win + H for running Windows Explorer in the HotScript folder

Ctrl + Win + H would toggle the help screen on and off. This feature has not combined with the existing Win + H HotKey and is not available with the HotScript menu.

Functionality for several HotKeys has been moved to the new Resize window menu accessible via Alt + Win + R. The following HotKeys were removed:

Ctrl + Win + NumPad0

Ctrl + Win + NumPadInsert

Ctrl + Win + NumPad4

Ctrl + Win + NumPadLeft

Ctrl + Win + NumPad7

Ctrl + Win + NumPadHome

Alt + Win + NumPad1

Alt + Win + NumPadEnd

Alt + Win + NumPad2

Alt + Win + NumPadDown

Alt + Win + NumPad4

Alt + Win + NumPadLeft

Alt + Win + NumPad5

Alt + Win + NumPadClear

Alt + Win + NumPad7

Alt + Win + NumPadHome

Alt + Win + NumPad8

Alt + Win + NumPadUp

Ctrl + Win + NumPad1

Ctrl + Win + NumPadEnd

Ctrl + Win + NumPad2

Ctrl + Win + NumPadDown

Ctrl + Win + NumPad3

Ctrl + Win + NumPadPgDn

Ctrl + Win + NumPad4

Ctrl + Win + NumPadLeft

Ctrl + Win + NumPad5

Ctrl + Win + NumPadClear

Ctrl + Win + NumPad6

Ctrl + Win + NumPadRight

Win + F1

Win + F2

Win + F3

Win + F4

Alt + Win + F1

Alt + Win + F2

Alt + Win + F3

Alt + Win + F4

Ctrl + Win + F1

Ctrl + Win + F2

Ctrl + Win + F3

Ctrl + Win + F4

Shift + Win + F1

Shift + Win + F2

Shift + Win + F3

Shift + Win + F4

Win + F5

Win + F6

Win + F7

Win + F8

Alt + Win + F5

Alt + Win + F6

Alt + Win + F7

Alt + Win + F8

Ctrl + Win + F5

Ctrl + Win + F6

Ctrl + Win + F7

Ctrl + Win + F8

Shift + Win + F5

Shift + Win + F6

Shift + Win + F7

Shift + Win + F8

Win + F9

Win + F10

Win + F11

Alt + Win + F9

Alt + Win + F10

Alt + Win + F11

Ctrl + Win + F9

Ctrl + Win + F10

Ctrl + Win + F11

Ctrl + Win + F12

Shift + Win + F10

Shift + Win + F11

Shift + Win + F12

Fixed an issue when pasting text containing line ending into a DOS windows there would be extra blank lines in between.

HotStrings

Added HotString @+- to generate the plus-minus sign ± character.

Functions

Added the following functions:

checkVersionsForce -

findWindow -

hkHotScriptHomePage() - Launches the HotScript homepage in the default browser

hkHotScriptMenu() - Displays the HotScript menu

hkWindowShiftWindowDown() -

hkWindowShiftWindowLeft() -

hkWindowShiftWindowRight() -

hkWindowShiftWindowUp() -

isActive() -

getMenuColor() -

getMenuColorName() -

moveMouseForMonitor() -

resizeTo1x2_01()

resizeTo1x2_02()

resizeTo1x3_01()

resizeTo1x3_02()

resizeTo1x3_03()

resizeTo1x4_01()

resizeTo1x4_02()

resizeTo1x4_03()

resizeTo1x4_04()

resizeTo2x1_01()

resizeTo2x1_02()

resizeTo2x2_01()

resizeTo2x2_02()

resizeTo2x2_03()

resizeTo2x2_04()

resizeTo2x3_01()

resizeTo2x3_02()

resizeTo2x3_03()

resizeTo2x3_04()

resizeTo2x3_05()

resizeTo2x3_06()

resizeTo2x4_01()

resizeTo2x4_02()

resizeTo2x4_03()

resizeTo2x4_04()

resizeTo2x4_05()

resizeTo2x4_06()

resizeTo2x4_07()

resizeTo2x4_08()

resizeTo3x1_01()

resizeTo3x1_02()

resizeTo3x1_03()

resizeTo3x2_01()

resizeTo3x2_02()

resizeTo3x2_03()

resizeTo3x2_04()

resizeTo3x2_05()

resizeTo3x2_06()

resizeTo3x3_01()

resizeTo3x3_02()

resizeTo3x3_03()

resizeTo3x3_04()

resizeTo3x3_05()

resizeTo3x3_06()

resizeTo3x3_07()

resizeTo3x3_08()

resizeTo3x3_09()

resizeTo3x4_01()

resizeTo3x4_02()

resizeTo3x4_03()

resizeTo3x4_04()

resizeTo3x4_05()

resizeTo3x4_06()

resizeTo3x4_07()

resizeTo3x4_08()

resizeTo3x4_09()

resizeTo3x4_10()

resizeTo3x4_11()

resizeTo3x4_12()

resizeTo4x1_01()

resizeTo4x1_02()

resizeTo4x1_03()

resizeTo4x1_04()

resizeTo4x2_01()

resizeTo4x2_02()

resizeTo4x2_03()

resizeTo4x2_04()

resizeTo4x2_05()

resizeTo4x2_06()

resizeTo4x2_07()

resizeTo4x2_08()

resizeTo4x3_01()

resizeTo4x3_02()

resizeTo4x3_03()

resizeTo4x3_04()

resizeTo4x3_05()

resizeTo4x3_06()

resizeTo4x3_07()

resizeTo4x3_08()

resizeTo4x3_09()

resizeTo4x3_10()

resizeTo4x3_11()

resizeTo4x3_12()

resizeTo4x4_01()

resizeTo4x4_02()

resizeTo4x4_03()

resizeTo4x4_04()

resizeTo4x4_05()

resizeTo4x4_06()

resizeTo4x4_07()

resizeTo4x4_08()

resizeTo4x4_09()

resizeTo4x4_10()

resizeTo4x4_11()

resizeTo4x4_12()

resizeTo4x4_13()

resizeTo4x4_14()

resizeTo4x4_15()

resizeTo4x4_16()

resizeToHeight()

resizeToWidth()

runChat()

runForum()

runHistory()

runHotScriptFolder()

runWindowSpy()

selfSuspend()

shiftWindow() -

Added a parameter to centerMouse() to disable the small mouse animation the occurs after centering the mouse.

Changed showQuickHelp() to toggle on and off when Win + H is pressed as well as to only display the help screen while the keys are pressed, then hiding the help screen when the keys are released.

Changed runDos() to better filter out windows that mimic ConsoleWindowClass which will prevent activating currently running DOS windows that are not active.

Changed several functions to no longer be affected by the change made in version 1.20170813.1 that added a 250ms delay for window operations. These caused unnecessary slowness and these functions did not need the delay:

centerWindow()

extractLocationAndResize()

moveToEdge()

moveToMonitor()

moveToNextPrevMonitor()

resizeWindow()

stretchToEdge()

Changed extractLocationAndResize() to move a window instead of resizing it if ScrollLock is turned on. This effects all of the "resize to grid" HotKeys as well as the applicable entries within the Resize window menu.

Improved reliability of isActiveDos() to filter out hidden windows. This is seen by some applications like the Dell Apntex.exe and Intel esrv.exe applications that register themselves as ConsoleWindowClass.

Added the position values of a window to the information returned by showWindowInfo(). Now the values to top, bottom, left, and right will be displayed.

The dialog window displayed by showWindowInfo() will no longer have the minimize or maximize buttons on it.

Changed selfReload() to be more selective about silently reloading. This should only occur when the parameter is actually false instead of just being present.

Renamed moveWindow() to moveWindowNextPrevMonitor() so that its meaning is more clear.

Changed the HotScript tray menu color to be the same as the other menu colors (FFFFDD).

Changed hkWindowResizeToAnchor() to no longer try to handle resizing a window to max height or max width. The reliability of it was not at the level I would expect. This is now available via the Resize window menu HotKey Ctrl + Win + R.

Changed menuBuilder() to no longer add a separator line and &Cancel menu entries to every menu. If you want these, you will need to add them.

Changed menuBuilder() to inherit menuHandler options. With this change, you can specify a top-level handler, then further down within a menu a new handler can be specified where all entries below it that do not have their own handler will use the closest one specified to it.

Changed menuBuilder() to allow menu entries to be more than simple text. It is now possible to define a sub-menu or menu entry to have its own icon. Sub-menus can now override the default (built-in) color. A handler can be defined for each menu entry instead of relying on a shared/generic handler. Menu entries can also be disabled at the time of definition. All of these new options are being used by the new Resize window menu via the HotKey Alt + Win + R. To explore the possibilities for your own menus, refer to the hkWindowResizeWindowMenu() function.

Removed the options for runIcon and warnIcon within menuBuilder(). With the new functionality of being able to specify a custom icon and handler per entry, this no longer has as much meaning as it once did.

Due to many HotKeys having been removed in this version, the following functions are no longer needed and have been removed:

hkHotScriptAutoHotkeyHelp()

hkHotScriptExit()

hkHotScriptHome()

hkHotScriptFolder()

hkHotScriptQuickHelp()

hkHotScriptQuickHelpToggle()

hkHotScriptReload()

hkWindowResize()

hkWindowResizeTo1x2_01()

hkWindowResizeTo1x2_02()

hkWindowResizeTo1x3_01()

hkWindowResizeTo1x3_02()

hkWindowResizeTo1x3_03()

hkWindowResizeTo1x4_01()

hkWindowResizeTo1x4_02()

hkWindowResizeTo1x4_03()

hkWindowResizeTo1x4_04()

hkWindowResizeTo2x1_01()

hkWindowResizeTo2x1_02()

hkWindowResizeTo2x2_01()

hkWindowResizeTo2x2_02()

hkWindowResizeTo2x2_03()

hkWindowResizeTo2x2_04()

hkWindowResizeTo2x3_01()

hkWindowResizeTo2x3_02()

hkWindowResizeTo2x3_03()

hkWindowResizeTo2x3_04()

hkWindowResizeTo2x3_05()

hkWindowResizeTo2x3_06()

hkWindowResizeTo2x4_01()

hkWindowResizeTo2x4_02()

hkWindowResizeTo2x4_03()

hkWindowResizeTo2x4_04()

hkWindowResizeTo2x4_05()

hkWindowResizeTo2x4_06()

hkWindowResizeTo2x4_07()

hkWindowResizeTo2x4_08()

hkWindowResizeTo3x1_01()

hkWindowResizeTo3x1_02()

hkWindowResizeTo3x1_03()

hkWindowResizeTo3x2_01()

hkWindowResizeTo3x2_02()

hkWindowResizeTo3x2_03()

hkWindowResizeTo3x2_04()

hkWindowResizeTo3x2_05()

hkWindowResizeTo3x2_06()

hkWindowResizeTo3x4_01()

hkWindowResizeTo3x4_02()

hkWindowResizeTo3x4_03()

hkWindowResizeTo3x4_04()

hkWindowResizeTo3x4_05()

hkWindowResizeTo3x4_06()

hkWindowResizeTo3x4_07()

hkWindowResizeTo3x4_08()

hkWindowResizeTo3x4_09()

hkWindowResizeTo3x4_10()

hkWindowResizeTo3x4_11()

hkWindowResizeTo3x4_12()

hkWindowResizeTo4x1_01()

hkWindowResizeTo4x1_02()

hkWindowResizeTo4x1_03()

hkWindowResizeTo4x1_04()

hkWindowResizeTo4x2_01()

hkWindowResizeTo4x2_02()

hkWindowResizeTo4x2_03()

hkWindowResizeTo4x2_04()

hkWindowResizeTo4x2_05()

hkWindowResizeTo4x2_06()

hkWindowResizeTo4x2_07()

hkWindowResizeTo4x2_08()

hkWindowResizeTo4x3_01()

hkWindowResizeTo4x3_02()

hkWindowResizeTo4x3_03()

hkWindowResizeTo4x3_04()

hkWindowResizeTo4x3_05()

hkWindowResizeTo4x3_06()

hkWindowResizeTo4x3_07()

hkWindowResizeTo4x3_08()

hkWindowResizeTo4x3_09()

hkWindowResizeTo4x3_10()

hkWindowResizeTo4x3_11()

hkWindowResizeTo4x3_12()

hkWindowResizeTo4x4_01()

hkWindowResizeTo4x4_02()

hkWindowResizeTo4x4_03()

hkWindowResizeTo4x4_04()

hkWindowResizeTo4x4_05()

hkWindowResizeTo4x4_06()

hkWindowResizeTo4x4_07()

hkWindowResizeTo4x4_08()

hkWindowResizeTo4x4_09()

hkWindowResizeTo4x4_10()

hkWindowResizeTo4x4_11()

hkWindowResizeTo4x4_12()

hkWindowResizeTo4x4_13()

hkWindowResizeTo4x4_14()

hkWindowResizeTo4x4_15()

hkWindowResizeTo4x4_16()

hkWindowResizeToHeight()

hkWindowResizeToWidth()

runQuickResolution()

Fixed issue with menuBuilder where it would not properly destroy sub-menus once the menu was closed. This could be seen if a sub-menu has separator lines in it. Each subsequent time a menu would be displayed, the number of separator lines a sub-menu would be increased.

Removed some debug information from repeatStr() where it would be displayed if the number of times to repeat was greater than 500.

Miscellaneous

Minor adjustment (for consistency) in the names of keys used for HotKey definitions. This should have no impact on functionality.

With the removal of several HotKeys specific to HotScript, this resulted in a minor redesign of the help screen.

Version 1.20170813.2

Miscellaneous

Fixed the URL to the change log file (this file).

Version 1.20170813.1

HotKeys

Added HotKey Win + Esc to toggle the Windows Desktop. If no applications have been launched or activated while viewing the Desktop, pressing the HotKey again will restore all windows to their previous state.

Added HotKey Win + U to convert the highlighted text or the text contents from the Windows Clipboard into a shortened URL. The original text must be a valid URL. If no matching text is selected or on the Window Clipboard, a dialog will be displayed prompting for the input. Once the shortened URL has been generated, a dialog will display showing the original URL and the shortened URL (as clickable links). There is a button to copy the shortened URL to the Windows Clipboard.

Added DOS mouse HotKey Back button to move up one directory level. It is the same as the existing HotKeys of Alt + Up and Alt + . but accessible via a mouse button.

Added DOS HotKey Ctrl + . to run Explorer for the current folder.

Changed the output of DOS HotKey Alt + R from cd\ to cd \.

Removed two entries (Jira and Confluence) from Quick Lookup Win + Q that were not applicable to most users.

Fixed Back and Forward mouse buttons not working as they used to in EditPad Pro. This was caused by the new mouse HotKeys added in 1.20170425.1. This is a temporary fix that uses an aggregate function to check for various active windows and executing the correct action. The long-term solution is to add support for multiple HotKeys to share the key(s) but yet have different conditions upon which they will be triggered. For now, this solution will suffice.

HotStrings

The ending character after typing a fraction is now preserved.

Some ending characters, specifically ! # ^ + { }, were not being rendered for several built-in HotStrings. This was caused by a change from version 1.20170626.1.

Variables

Added several global variables for use with Windows API calls:

WM_COMMAND

WM_HSCROLL

WM_VSCROLL

WS_CHILD

WS_DISABLED

WS_EX_APPWINDOW

WS_EX_CONTROLPARENT

WS_EX_TOOLWINDOW

WS_POPUP

WS_VISIBLE

Functions

Added the following functions:

addQuickLookup() - Adds a new action to the HotKey Win + Q for Quick Lookup

getEndChar() - returns the last character typed that triggered a HotString

isActiveRdp() - returns true if the active window is Windows Remote Desktop, otherwise false

isActiveSsh() - returns true if the active window is an SSH DOS-like client (currently Putty and Kitty), otherwise false

isWin10() - returns true if the operating system is Windows 10, otherwise false

shortenUrl() - returns a shortened URL for the specified text

Changed hotString() to capture the last character typed (in the same way as A_EndChar). It is accessible by calling getEndChar() or in the variable hs.vars.endChar.

Changed hotString() to be smarter about how to render HotStrings. With the change to hotString() made in version 1.20170626.1, the new method simulated typing each character which allowed for embedding keystrokes within the text, but this was much slower. In versions previous to 1.20170626.1, all text was pasted and was much faster, but did not allow keystrokes to be embedded. Now, HotScript will decide which method to use depending upon the contents of the string to be rendered. For strings that do not have embedded keystrokes, the faster paste method will be used. When keystrokes are embedded, the slower method must be used, but this typically is only used for shorter strings anyway. Strings starting with {RAW} will use the paste method after removing the {RAW} prefix.

Improved handling within getSelectedText() for DOS windows. Any selected text within the DOS window should be properly detected and returned, whereas this was previously ignored for all DOS windows. This makes it far easier to select a path or some text and use the Win + G HotKey.

Removed some unnecessary code and variables from ask().

Reverted change to ClipWait() from version 1.20170614.1, so it now uses a 0.1 second delay. Certain HotKeys and HotStrings were taking too long to execute with 2 seconds.

Removed a small (unnecessary) wait within pasteText().

Changed pasteText() to allow it to paste text within SSH apps.

Fixed an issue in hkMiscCenterMouseWindow() when triggered within an RDP session and HotScript was running both locally and remotely. The function would get executed first remotely then locally, causing the cursor to be centered on the screen instead of the window. The fix is to detect if the local window is an RDP session and also maximized. If so, then no action is run on the local instance, allowing the remote instance to properly handle moving the cursor to be centered within the remote window.

Fixed issue with pasteText() not working for SSH applications like Putty.

Miscellaneous

Added window group for SSH apps (SshGroup). Currently only Putty and Kitty are defined.

Added window group for Remote Desktop apps (RdpGroup). Currently only Microsoft Remote Desktop is defined.

Changed the delay for window functions from 0ms to 250ms. This should help with some applications not getting focused when launched via HotKey or with focusing application windows in general.

Moved some definitions for Windows API calls from being local variables to global.

Changed all Windows API calls from SendMessage to PostMessage.

Renamed changes.txt to changes.md (this file).

Refactored the historical changes (this file) to be more visually readable when viewed through GitHub.

With the change to hotString() made in version 1.20170626.1, for simple text replacement strings, be aware that the following characters are treated as being special: ! # ^ + { }

If any of these characters appear anywhere within the string, they will not be included in the output by default. There are a few ways to control how these characters will be handled. Below are a few examples:
hotString("test1", "a+bc{left}d!#^{}")
hotString("test2", "{raw}a+bc{left}d!#^{}")
hotString("test3", "a+bc{left}d{!}{#}{^}{{}{}}")
test1 will act upon and interpret special characters. The output would be: aBdc

test2 will treat the string literally because it starts with {raw}. The output would be: a+bc{left}d!#^{}

test3 allows for both interpretation and literal strings. The output would be: aBd!#^{}c

To allow for both interpretation as well as literal strings, any of the special characters must be escaped by surrounding that character with open and close curly brackets {}, even the open or close curly brackets themselves. For example: {!} {#} {^} {+} {{} {}}

Version 1.20170705.1

HotKeys

Added HotKeys to resize (stretch) a window to an edge of the monitor. This greatly adds to the customizable nature of resizing to a grid. With this new feature, it is possible to move a window somewhere within the grid and then resize it in one direction taking up the remainder of the height or width.

Alt + Win + Up - Expand the current window to the top edge of the screen

Alt + Win + Left - Expand the current window to the left edge of the screen

Alt + Win + Right - Expand the current window to the right edge of the screen

Alt + Win + Down - Expand the current window to the bottom edge of the screen

When using Quick Resolution (Ctrl + Win + R), width and height values are now saved/populated when invoking it again. This allows for easily changing just one of the previously entered values without needing to enter both. The saved value is only during run-time. If HotScript is reloaded, the values will not be retained.

Functions

Modified getWindowInfo() to no longer require an hWnd parameter. It will now default to the active window if no parameter is specified.

Minor changes for Windows 10 adjustments when resizing windows into a grid or to an edge. If the Windows taskbar is at the bottom (the default), then moving a window to the bottom of the monitor would cause the resize area for that window to be inaccessible.

Fixed issue with not properly saving/restoring the CoordModeMouse value.

Miscellaneous

Minor code cleanup for consistency.

1.20170626.1

HotStrings

Added DOS HotString rd which will append /s .

Functions

Modified hotKeyAction() to be able to support AutoHotkey-style named keys. This allows hotString() definitions to also use the named keys. An example is:
hotString("@test", "Line 1{Enter 2}Line 3{Enter 2}Line{Tab 4}5{Enter}")

Version 1.20170614.1

Functions

Added the following functions:

showWindow() - makes a window visible that was previously hidden

sortByValue() - sorts an object or associative array by its values rather than by its keys

If the specified window cannot be found, showWindowInfo() will no longer display a dialog, because it just contained blank values anyway, which is not helpful.

Increased the timeout of ClipWait() to 2 seconds. This may help with some computers having issues with copy/paste functions.

Changed Run() to wait (up to 2 seconds) for the program to become active before returning.

Modified arrangeToGrid() to take an additional parameter to indicate if windows should be sorted alphabetically by the window title.

Modified arrangeToGrid() to allow for the first parameter (winMatch) to be an array containing hWnd values or an object containing window title(s) as a key and hWnd value(s) to be assigned to each key. This allows for passing in already known hWnd values. One use for this could be writing a custom function to launch several applications, saving the hWnd values into an array and passing them into arrangeToGrid().

Miscellaneous

As part of the DosGroup, any window created by Dell's Apntex.exe will now be ignored. This application identifies itself as a ConsoleWindowClass which should be restricted to DOS-like windows. It was causing things like the Win + D HotKey needing to be pressed twice, so now it is ignored.

Minor code cleanup for consistency.

Version 1.20170606.1

Functions

Added the following functions:

arrangeToGrid() - arranges windows to a grid

moveToMonitor() - moves a window to the specified monitor

Renamed moveToMonitor() to moveWindow().

Added an additional parameter to pad() to allow the padding character to be specified.

Miscellaneous

Minor code cleanup for consistency.

To use arrangeToGrid() function, a HotKey will need to be created. This function takes three parameters: winMatch, dimension and sortByTitle

winMatch is any legal syntax for "WinTitle". See the AutoHotkey help for WinTitle. HotScript uses the "RegEx" mode of searching for WinTitle values.

dimension is in the format of CxR (Columns and Rows) with a minimum of 1 and maximum of 4 Any value less than 1 will be set to 1. Any value greater than 4 will be set to 4. Any values not conforming to the format of CxR will result in an exception being thrown.

sortByTitle is optional and defaults to true. When true, any windows found will be arranged by according to how each of their titles would be sorted (ascending only). When false, any windows found will be arranged according to the z-order of each window. The z-order may be influenced by clicking on each of the windows to be arranged in the reverse order of how you would like them to be arranged. This is because the last window touched is the first to be acted upon.

Typically, this function would be used to arrange a group of similar windows, such as Notepad. Below is some sample code that would arrange all instance of Notepad in a 3x2 grid across all monitors, if necessary.

First, define a HotKey (put this in HotScriptKeys.ahk):
hotKey("^#n", "arrangeNotepad")
Next, create the function (put this in HotScriptFunctions.ahk):
arrangeNotepad() {
    arrangeToGrid("ahk_exe i)Notepad.exe", "3x2")
}
arrangeToGrid() will start arranging windows on the first monitor. If more windows are found than will fit the specified grid, if other monitors are attached, they will also be used. If the number of windows found exceeds all available grid positions for all monitors, the remaining windows will not be moved/resized and will remain exactly as they were.

The placement of the windows within the grid will be from top-to-bottom and left-to-right, starting with the monitor that Windows identifies as being the primary.

Version 1.20170525.1

HotKeys

Added the following HotKeys for DOS:

Ctrl + Down - Scroll the screen down one line

Ctrl + Up - Scroll the screen up one line

Moved the following HotKeys out of the "Action Keys" section:

Win + A (Toggle always-on-top) to the "Window Keys" section

Ctrl + Win + A (Toggle click-through) to the "Window Keys" section

Alt + Apps (Toggle desktop icons) to the "Miscellaneous Keys" section

Removed the following HotKeys for DOS (these were duplicates of Ctrl + PgUp and Ctrl + PgDn):

Alt + PgDn (Scroll down one page)

Shift + PgDn (Scroll down one page)

Alt + PgUp (Scroll up one page)

Shift + PgUp (Scroll up one page)

Version 1.20170425.1

HotStrings

Changed rcX#- and rsXYZ~#- to properly capture the typed number.

Functions

Added mouse HotKey Back button for going up one folder level while in Explorer.

Added mouse HotKey Forward button for going to the previous folder while in Explorer.

Added the following functions:

containsEol() - return true if the specified string contains an end-of-line character (Windows/DOS, Unix or Mac), otherwise false

getHwndForPid() - returns the hWnd for the specified process ID

group() - convenience function to generate an "ahk_group" string

isActiveExplorer() - returns true if the active window is Windows Explorer, otherwise false

Miscellaneous

Code refactoring using the new functions.

Minor code cleanup for consistency.

Fixed issue with Shift + Win + NumPad7/8/9 keys being triggered as though they were Shift + Win + NumPad4/5/6 even though the actual keys were never defined as a HotKey. This seems to be a limitation of AutoHotkey itself. Because of this issue, it will be difficult to assign user-defined HotKeys to these particular combinations.

Fixed issue with using Win + G when the active window is a DOS window and a process was running. The process would be terminated because HotScript tries to determine any selected text by issuing a Ctrl + C.

Version 1.20170405.1

HotStrings

Changed the order of repeat character from rc#-X to rcX#- which types more naturally.

Changed the order of repeat string from rs#-XYZ to rsXYZ~#- which types more naturally.

Functions

Added the following functions:

getSelfHwnd()

Added optimizations to repeatStr() that allow it to run faster and more efficiently when the repeat count of the string is greater than 10.

Miscellaneous

Added safety checking for auto-updates of both AutoHotkey and HotScript which should prevent future errors from occurring, which at times would leave HotScript not fully functional. If HotScript detects there is something wrong with the update of either, a window will be displayed indicating the issue and a request to post a message to the forum (so it is brought to our attention and can be fixed).

Modified some URLs from "http" to "https".

Minor code cleanup for consistency.

Fixed an issue with auto-updating AutoHotkey, which was caused by a change to their website.

Version 1.20170328.1

HotKeys

Added mouse HotKey Ctrl + Win + Left button to center the mouse pointer on the current screen.

Added mouse HotKey Shift + Win + Left button to center the mouse pointer on the current screen.

Changed Ctrl + Shift + Space to be Ctrl + Alt + Space for deleting blank lines.

Changed Ctrl + Shift + Backspace to be Ctrl + Alt + Backspace for sending End, Backspace, and Down.

Changed Ctrl + Shift + End to be Alt + End for sending Up, End, and Delete.

HotStrings

Added HotString rc#-X to repeat a character any number of times. The HotString trigger breaks down as follows:
rc  -->  repeat character
#   -->  any positive number 1..9999999
-   -->  any symbol or white-space separator (see below for valid choices)
X   -->  the letter to be repeated
It is necessary to have some type of separator between the number and the character because the character itself may be a number and there would be no way to distinguish between the number of times to repeat and the actual character to repeat.

Valid Separators
symbols    :  `~!@#$%^&*()-_=+[]{};:'",.<>/?
white-space:  Space, Tab, or Enter
Note: when repeating values above 1 million times, it will take longer to produce the string, which depends on the speed of your computer -- be patient.

Added HotString rs#-XYZ~ to repeat a string any number of times. The HotString trigger breaks down as follows:
rs  -->  repeat string
#   -->  any positive number 1..9999999
-   -->  any symbol or white-space separator (see above for valid choices)
XYZ -->  the string to be repeated (may contain any characters, except ~)
~   -->  To signal the end of the string, the ~ character was chosen
It is necessary to have some type of separator between the number and the start of the string because the string itself may start with a number and there would be no way to distinguish between the number of times to repeat and the first character of the string.

It is not possible to paste any text into this HotString.

Note: when repeating values, that larger the string, the longer it will take to produce the final string, which depends on the speed of your computer -- be patient. Also, it is easy to run out of memory trying to repeat a large string many times.

For HotStrings in DOS, they were not getting properly reset when ESC was pressed which would result in the HotString not being executed when it should.

Functions

Added the following functions: hsRepeatString() - Associated with built-in HotString rs#-XYZ~ runCapture() - Runs a DOS command, captures the output and returns it

Modified isProcessSuspended() to hopefully execute slightly faster.

Modified runTarget() to more often be successful in activating the newly launched application. The PID for the launched application will now be returned by the function.

Miscellaneous

Added additional information to help screen to differentiate when to scroll the mouse wheel and when to tilt the mouse wheel. Open-ended arrows are used to indicate mouse wheel activity, whereas closed-ended arrows represent keys to be pressed.

Modified the URL for Google Image Quick Lookup from http://images.google.com/images?q=@selection@ to https://www.google.com/search?q=@selection@&tbm=isch.

Modified all Google/YouTube URLs for Quick Lookup to use https.

Corrected the arrows on the help screen for scrolling left/right Ctrl + WheelUp and Ctrl + WheelDown. The previous arrows were pointing in the wrong direction.

Adjusted some of the colors of the help screen.

Minor code cleanup for consistency.

Version 1.20170305.1

Miscellaneous

Added tray menu option for launching the HotScript live chat in the default browser.

Version 1.20170304.1

Miscellaneous

Added tray menu option for launching the HotScript forums in the default browser.

Version 1.20170303.2

Functions

Fixed issue with centerMouse() not calculating correct center when using multiple monitors.

Version 1.20170303.1

HotKeys

Added HotKey Ctrl + CapsLock to center the mouse pointer on the current screen.

Added HotKey Shift + CapsLock to center the mouse pointer in the current window.

Functions

Added the following functions:

centerMouse() - centers the mouse either on the screen or within a window

hkMiscCenterMouseScreen() - Associated with built-in HotKey Ctrl + CapsLock

hkMiscCenterMouseWindow() - Associated with built-in HotKey Shift + CapsLock

Modified the function signature of MouseClickDrag() and MouseMove() to use relative as a boolean flag instead of R.

Fixed very minor typo in showWindowInfo().

Version 1.20170302.1

HotKeys

Added HotKey Ctrl + Shift + Delete to delete text to the start of the line. This also works in DOS.

Added HotKey Ctrl + Shift + Backspace to delete the last character on a line and move the cursor down one line.

Added HotKey Ctrl + Shift + End to join lines of text by sending Up + End + Delete. This works if the cursor is on the first line, last line, or any place within text. Pressing the HotKey repeatedly will eventually join all lines.

Modified Ctrl + Delete when used in Microsoft Word to be one character less, which is necessary to avoid deleting a paragraph marker. It should still function as expected even if the current line does not have a paragraph marker.

Removed Ctrl + Delete from "DOS Keys" of help screen. It still works the same, but was redundant to the same entry in "Text Keys".

Functions

Added the following functions:

hkTextDeleteToSol() - Associated with HotKey Ctrl + Shift + Delete

hkTextEndBackspaceDown() - Associated with HotKey Ctrl + Shift + Backspace

hkTextUpEndDelete() - Associated with HotKey Ctrl + Shift + End

Removed hkDosDeleteToEol() and moved the functionality into hkTextDeleteToEol().

Miscellaneous

Added window group for Microsoft Word (MSWordGroup) and for Microsoft Excel (MSExcelGroup).

Moved some sections around on the help screen to allow for future entries on some of the more popular/active sections.

Version 1.20170226.1

HotKeys

Added HotKey Ctrl + Alt + M to uppercase MySQL keywords and functions for any selected text.

Functions

Added the following functions:

upperCaseMySql() - For the selected text, any MySQL keywords are converted to uppercase

upperCaseSqlWords() - shared function for upperCaseMySql() and upperCaseOracle()

Refactored the common parts of upperCaseOracle() into upperCaseSqlWords().

Miscellaneous

Added configuration option mySqlTransformRemainderToLower which will set to lowercase any text that was selected that is not a MySQL keyword or function.

Version 1.20170225.1

Miscellaneous

Corrected issue with hotString() where some regex-based HotStrings were not working properly.

Version 1.20170206.3

HotKeys

Added HotKey Ctrl + Alt + . to delete white-space at the end of each line of text that is selected. If no text is selected, all text will automatically become selected, then white-space will be deleted.

Added HotKey Ctrl + Shift + Space to delete all blanks lines from text that is selected. If no text is selected, all text will automatically become selected, then blank lines will be deleted.

Functions

Added the necessary support functions for resizing windows to 1x4, 2x4, 4x1 and 4x2.

Miscellaneous

Corrected the dimension calculations associated with 2x4 and 4x2.

Fixed bug introduced in 1.20170205.1 where anything relying on isActiveDos() would not function properly. This was most noticeable with HotStrings not working in DOS.

Fixed bug introduced in 1.20170119.1 where many of the window resizing HotKeys would not move/resize the window, but would instead paste the name of the function related to the HotKey.

Fixed a very old bug where typing the trigger of a HotString that ends with a Tab character, HotScript would go into an infinite loop of holding down the Shift and Left keys. This has been changed to ignore the HotString (only when it ends in a Tab character and only when in a DOS window). It seems far more likely the intent from the user would be filename/directory completion.

Version 1.20170205.1

Functions

Added the following functions:

deepCopy() - creates a deep copy of an object or array

equals() - used to check two variables for equality

equalsIgnoreCase() - used to check two variables for equality, ignoring case for strings

getHwnd() - gets the handle of a window

getWindowInfo() - gets information for a window

merge() - merges an object or array with the specified values

mergeArray() - merges an array with the specified values

mergeObject() - merges an object with the specified values

isWindowVisible() - returns true if the specified window is visible

toHex() - converts an integer value into its equivalent hex value

Added window resizing dimensions: 1x4, 2x4, 4x1 and 4x2. There is not a HotKey for these because there are no remaining good combinations to be used. There is however a feature in the works to allow for easily choosing screens dimensions which will free up most of the HotKeys currently used by window resizing/positioning. Stay tuned! You may create a HotKey for any of these new options.

Added much more information to showWindowInfo().

Renamed getActiveMonitor() to getMonitorForWindow().

Modified contains() to handle arrays and objects. This also affects containsIgnoreCase().

Fixed a minor formatting bug with toString().

Miscellaneous

Refined the help screen to combine similar HotKeys to use less space. Improved consistency for HotKeys that have more than one combination. Better use of colors. The more complex HotKeys should be easier to understand. It is just a quick help screen and not meant to be full documentation.

Some internal refactoring for consistency and reliability.

Version 1.20170119.1

HotKeys

New HotKeys for wrapping text in symbols. Previous only a few symbols were supported: [] {} () <> ' ". Now all symbols from the US keyboard are supported: `` ~ ! @ # $ % ^ & * () - _ = + [] {} \ | ; : ' " <> , . / ?. The HotKeys are Ctrl + Win + SYMBOL for wrapping all of the selected text (or just the current line if no text is selected), or Ctrl + Alt + Win + SYMBOL for wrapping each individual line. As a result the previously defined HotKeys for wrapping text have been changed.

Added HotKey Ctrl + Alt + Insert as an additional HotKey for "Copy Append". The existing HotKey of Ctrl + Alt + C still works. The reason for the new one is for long-time users of DOS where we learned Ctrl + Insert (copy) and Shift + Insert (paste). Some habits cannot be changed! FYI - these legacy HotKeys are still supported by Windows (thankfully).

Changed HotKey for escaping text for AHK from Ctrl + Shift + ` to Ctrl + Alt + `.

HotStrings

Added HotString @bullet to generate a bullet character.

Added HotString @club to generate a club character.

Added HotString @copy to generate a Copyright character.

Added HotString @diam to generate a diamond character.

Added HotString @ellip to generate a ellipsis character.

Added HotString @heart to generate a heart character.

Added HotString @mdash to generate a MDash character.

Added HotString @ndash to generate a NDash character.

Added HotString @reg to generate a Registered character.

Added HotString @spade to generate a spade character.

Added HotString @tm to generate a Trademark character.

Added HotString @uniXXXX to generate the Unicode character represented by the hex value XXXX.

Functions

Consolidated functionality of several "one-off" functions into hkTransformWrap(). This function now handles all traditional symbols that have keys on a standard US keyboard.

Removed obsolete functions:

hkTransformWrapEachInBrackets()

hkTransformWrapEachInCurlys()

hkTransformWrapEachInParenthesis()

hkTransformWrapEachInDoubleQuotes()

hkTransformWrapEachInSingleQuotes()

hkTransformWrapEachInTags()

hkTransformWrapInBrackets()

hkTransformWrapInCurlys()

hkTransformWrapInParenthesis()

hkTransformWrapInDoubleQuotes()

hkTransformWrapInSingleQuotes()

hkTransformWrapInTags()

Fixed a bug with output() that would cause any thread that called it to stop working.

Fixed a bug with runFunction() and showVariable() that would (rarely) cause the buttons displayed on the dialog to be in the wrong location or the wrong size.

Miscellaneous

Refined the help screen to show better information (color, symbols, etc) using less space. As a result, the help screen is now a little smaller, allowing it to fit onto laptop displays (1366x768) without being cut off.

Modified the configuration for HotKeys that have more than one HotKey associated to it. The entries were written as hkWindowLeft-1 and hkWindowLeft-2, but are now written as hkWindowLeft-01 and hkWindowLeft-02 to allow them to be sorted properly in the HotScriptDefault.ini file.

Minor code cleanup.

Version 1.20170110.1

Miscellaneous

Added tray menu option for checking for a new version of HotScript. This is different than the automated daily check because it will always compare the current version against the latest version even if the automated check has already run for the day. The automated check runs once once per day.

Version 1.20170109.1

HotKeys

Added HotKey Alt + Win + F12 to run an internal function. This is primarily for debugging your own functions but may have other uses. It is still experimental and does not (yet) support parameters.

Functions

Added the following functions:

output() - Displays the specified string in a window

runFunction() - Executes a function by name (does not yet support parameters)

Changed message() to return the name of button that was clicked, which eliminates the need to use IfMsgBox.

Fixed an issue with centerControls() being unable to detect windows whose title contains certain symbols. This would cause the controls to be incorrect displayed in the dialog.

Version 1.20161229.1

Functions

Added support to menuBuilder() for menus to automatically include an icon if the corresponding function name is defined. A different icon can show for when the function is defined as well as for when it is not. Within the primary menu object, use the runIcon and warnIcon boolean flags to enable displaying the icons.

Fixed a minor cosmetic issue in menuBuilder() where the primary menu color would increment by one for each time the menu was shown instead of always showing the first defined color.

Version 1.20161228.1

HotStrings

Fixed the comment header for Perl and SQL to use the correct indentation.

Functions

Added the following functions:

isArray() - returns true if the specified value is an array

isEmpty() - returns true if an empty string or empty object/array

menuBuilder() - takes an object parameter describing the menu to be built and creates it

menuHandler() - companion to menuBuilder(), it handles all actions of the menu dynamically calling functions

toSafeName() - used by menuBuilder() to generate dynamic, yet safe, function names for each menu item

Modified toString() to use the correct brackets for the object type, when applicable: [] for array, {} for objects and <> for all other objects. Note: empty arrays cannot be properly detected and will show as empty objects.

Miscellaneous

Add a constant hs.const.MENU_COLORS for menu colors. There are seven pre-defined colors:

yellow (FFFEE3)

blue (D7DEEF)

red (FFE2E3)

green (D9F4DC)

purple (E4D6EF)

cyan (D2EAEC)

orange (FFE3D1)

Modified the creation of HotScriptFunctions.ahk, HotScriptKeys.ahk, HotScriptStrings.ahk, and HotScriptVariables.ahk to use correct Windows line ending characters (CRLF) instead of Unix/Linux line-endings (LF).

Version 1.20161014.1

HotKeys

Modified the behavior of checkVersions(), because as of version 1.1.24.02, AutoHotkey has changed the filename of their installation file. This was causing HotScript to fail when it detected a new version of AutoHotkey to be installed. Previously, new versions of AutoHotkey were named like AutoHotkey112401_Install.exe but is now available as AutoHotkey_1.1.24.02_setup.exe. For existing users of HotScript, the best solution for now is to manually download and install the new version of AutoHotkey and then manually install the new version of HotScript. While this should only affect a small number of users, it is inconvenient. This should no longer happen regardless of the name of the AutoHotkey installation. Further verification checks are being done to validate that any new version of AutoHotkey that is downloaded is a valid file.

Changed action for DOS HotKey Alt + Up (or Alt + .) to run cd .. instead of cd... Linux/Unix wants the space between the d and . whereas DOS did not care. This is helpful for DOS windows running SSH (like Putty) to access a Linux/Unix server.

Added some additional checking with Delete Word Ctrl-D to determine is Microsoft's Visual Studio Code is the active Window. If so, need to treat it differently because Ctrl + C, from getSelectedText(), will copy the entire line if there is no selection. This is a temporary workaround until a better solution can be found.

Functions

Renamed findOrRunByExe() to findAndRun().

Moved error logic from hkActionWindowsSnip() to findAndRun().

Removed unnecessary functions:

StringLower()

StringUpper()

Miscellaneous

Made a minor change to the help screen for to indicate that no additional modifier key is required for "Row 1" on HotKeys that resize the window to 3x4, 4x3 and 4x4.

Version 1.20160711.1

HotKeys

Restored original functionality of Alt + Down within Windows Explorer. Previously it was trying to execute the functionality for "Move line down", but this made no sense in Explorer.

Restored original functionality of Alt + Up within Windows Explorer. Previously it was trying to execute the functionality for "Move line up", but this made no sense in Explorer.

Restored original functionality of Ctrl + Shift + E within Windows Explorer. Previously it was trying to execute the functionality for "Encrypt text", but this made no sense in Explorer.

Restored original functionality of Ctrl + Shift + N within Windows Explorer. Previously it was trying to execute the functionality for "Auto-Number (1)", but this made no sense in Explorer.

Functions

Modified message() to accept title, options and timeout. These have default values, so no changes are required for existing usages.

Fixed issue with auto-update not working correctly.

Miscellaneous

Modified to run with admin privileges because of a few small writes to the registry. This eliminates the need to modify the shortcut to allow access.

The Windows link (shortcut) file to auto-run HotScript will now only be created if it does not exist instead of every time HotScript is executed or reloaded.

Modified the URL pointing to GitHub from release to master. This should have no effect as both branches were kept in sync. Eventually release will be phased out and a new beta branch may be available for anyone interested in using the latest and greatest development version (which is what I use everyday). This will be an opt-in setting eventually.

Modified the help screen from Level 1-4 to read Row 1-4 to help clarify the meaning as the optional modifier keys for resizing 3x4, 4x3 and 4x4.

Removed some old, commented out code.

Added missing reference to "$" in the documentation within HotScriptKeys.ahk.

Fixed minor issue in the documentation within HotScriptKeys.ahk that incorrectly referred to HotStrings.

Version 1.20160710.1

HotKeys

Added window resizing dimensions: 1x3, 2x3, 3x1, 3x2, 3x4, 4x3, and 4x4.

Added window resizing options for resizing to max height or max width. With multiple monitors, these functions will toggle between resizing between the current monitor and all monitors. The HotKeys are Shift + Win + Left + Right for resizing to max width and Shift + Win + Up + Down for resizing to max height. It is necessary to press both arrow keys SIMULTANEOUSLY or this HotKey will not be triggered. This is different than the existing HotKeys resizing to 2x2, where you may press Shift + Win + ARROW1 then ARROW2 separately (but still holding the others).

Added HotKey Ctrl + MouseWheelUp and Ctrl + MouseWheelDown to scroll horizontally left/right, respectively.

Added HotKey Ctrl + D to delete from the current cursor position to the next word. It is important to note that different applications treat Ctrl + Shift + Right somewhat differently. As much as possible, consistency was implemented to overcome this. To see some of the differences between applications, see the comments in hkTextDeleteWord().

Fixed issue with Ctrl + Delete where it was not issuing the correct keystrokes to delete the text.

Functions

Added the following functions:

extractLocationAndResize() - Responsible for moving and resizing windows to a grid position

getSelf() - returns the name of the function; increase the number to identify further up the call chain

getStackTrace() - generates a stack-trace message

horizontalScroll() - scrolls a window left or right horizontally

isActiveCalculator() - returns true if the active window is Windows Calculator

isWord() - returns true if the specified string contains only word characters (letters, digits, and underscores)

Modified getVarType() to better distinguish between a string and a function.

Modified runTarget() to wait for the application for 1 second instead of indefinitely.

Renamed isCalculatorNotActive() to isNotActiveCalculator().

Modified toString() to more accurately display the name of a function.

Removed resizeTo(). It was replaced with extractLocationAndResize().

Fixed a small bug in toString() where labels were not being processed correctly.

Miscellaneous

Modified wait time of ClipWait() from 0.5 seconds to 0.05 seconds. This increases the speed of several operations like swapping selection with the clipboard, appending to the clipboard, getting the selected text and pasting text. These same operations are used by other functions as well as some HotKeys.

Throughout HotScript, when searching for named applications, they are no longer case-sensitive.

The help screen is now created (internally) only once instead of every time it is displayed.

The help screen will now be displayed on the active monitor instead of only the primary monitor.

Minor code cleanup and changes for consistency.

Added HotKey Ctrl + Delete (Delete to end-of-line) to the help screen. This HotKey had been implemented for quite a while, but was erroneously omitted from the help screen.

Version 1.20160619.1

Miscellaneous

After upgrading to a new version of HotScript, a dialog will be displayed asking if the list of changes should be displayed. This is only applicable if enableVersionCheck is set to true. This will take effect for versions later than this one.

Added brief (2 second) notification that HotScript is being upgraded to a new version. This is only applicable if enableAutoUpdate is set to true. This will take effect for versions later than this one.

Fixed issue broken in 1.20160618.1 where user configuration values would be incorrectly removed from HotScriptUser.ini.

Version 1.20160618.1

HotKeys

Added HotKey Win + / to display information about the current window.

All HotKeys are now defined using hotKey() instead of the manner expected by AHK.

Miscellaneous

Added 768x1024 and custom options to the Quick Resolution menu.

Fixed issue with Alt + Shift + , and Alt + Shift + . not working.

Miscellaneous

Modified auto-update to download to a temporary filename instead of HotScript.ahk and to test the integrity of the file. This was necessary because occasionally GitHub may be unavailable and the downloaded file would actually be GitHub's HTML error page.

Added configuration value to save the last date that a new version was checked for. This allows HotScript to now only search for a new version once per day instead of every reload.

Increased MaxHotkeysPerInterval (currently every 2 seconds) from 200 to 500.

Refactored the code for creating the help screen to only generate the content once, which should allow the screen to not only be displayed faster, but also may fix the issue with the help screen randomly appearing as blank.

Miscellaneous code cleanup.

Removed obsolete configuration values for inputBoxFieldFont and inputBoxOptions.

Fixed issue with enableHsVariables not being saved properly.

Fixed issue with some configuration values being saved to HotScriptUser.ini when they should not.

Functions

Added the following functions:

centerControls() -

clipboardAppend() - Copies or cuts the selected text to any text already on the Windows clipboard

debugVar() - Shows a global variable's value

hotKey() - Dynamically registers a HotKey

showWindowInfo() - Shows information about the specified window; used by HotKey Win + /

Refactored ask() to support multi-line input as well as regular or monospace font.

Refactored registerHotkey() into hotKey(), with better support for conditions and parameters.

Modified centerWindow() to be able to specify the monitor number for which to center the window.

Modified checkVersions() only execute once per day.

Added an options parameter to FileRead().

Added a parameter to resizeWindow() to indicate if the window should be centered after resizing it.

Refactored toString() to eliminate the depth restriction for objects and to indicate if a value is a function or label.

Removed the wrapper function StringReplace(), because AHK has a built-in function called StrReplace().

Removed old migration code for version 1.20131211.2.

Removed isWindow().

Removed resizeToResolution(). It was redundant to resizeWindow().

Fixed issue with getIndent1() sometimes returning an empty string. It now will always return some value.

Version 1.20160406.3

Miscellaneous

Fixed issue with endless loop restarting/updating. The version file was updated but the internal version was not, so HotScript thought there was always a newer version to be downloaded.

Version 1.20160406.2

Miscellaneous

Added a constant hs.const.INDENT for a default indent of 4 spaces.

Functions

Modified getIndent() to check if the active window is a DOS window. If so, it will use the new default constant value of 4 spaces, otherwise it will try to determine the indent level from the active window.

Version 1.20160406.1

HotKeys

Added HotKey Ctrl + Alt + Shift + A to sort the selected text as case-sensitive in ascending order.

Added HotKey Ctrl + Alt + Shift + D to sort the selected text as case-sensitive in descending order.

Changed HotKey Ctrl + Shift + A to (sort the selected text in ascending order) to be as case-insensitive.

Changed HotKey Ctrl + Shift + D to (sort the selected text in descending order) to be as case-insensitive.

HotStrings

Changed the auto-correct HotString of [a-z]L to now be restricted to a word boundary, so that typing values such as StrLen will no longer cause the HotString to be triggered.

Miscellaneous

Added missing HTML tag thead to HotString help screen.

Minor code cleanup.

Functions

Added the following functions:

compareStrAscNoCase() - compares two strings in ascending order as case-insensitive

Numerous minor refinements to several of the hsXxxYyy() functions to produce better output, especially within editors that have varying degrees of sophistication (or a complete lack of, such as Notepad).

Modified getIndent() to handle different editors, producing a much more reliable determination of the current indentation level.

Fixed issue with hsCodeFunction(), used by the func( HotString, not replacing func with function.

Fixed issue with hsCommentHeaderPerl() and hsCommentHeaderSql() leaving the cursor on the wrong line.

Fixed getIndent() where if the start of a line contained more than only white-space, the wrong indent value was being used.

Version 1.20160404.1

HotKeys

The HotKey Win + Pause was incorrectly wrapped by the enableHkMisc variable. If this variable was disabled, the Win + Pause HotKey (which pauses HotScript) would not be enabled. This is the only HotKey that is hard-coded and cannot be user-modified. While the Win + Pause HotKey could be overridden by some other function, it is not (currently) possible to reassign HotScript's pause function to another key combination due to the restrictions of AHK's Suspend command.

HotStrings

Changed the auto-correct HotString of cL to now include all drive letters (a-z).

Variables

Added replaceMode to the hs.const object.

Made the $ variable to be truly global. This variable is populated by hotString() when using regular expression HotStrings. Do NOT use this variable name for your own values.

Functions

Added the following functions:

getIndent() - Returns the amount of white-space indentation for the current line

getIndent1() - Returns one indentation level of white-space; typically used with the value from getIndent()

hsCodeBlock() - Used to complete for(, if(, and while( HotStrings

hsCodeElseIf() - Used to complete elif HotString

hsCodeFunction() - Used to complete func( HotString

hsCodeIfElse() - Used to complete ifel HotString

hsCodeStringFormat() - Used to complete sf. HotString

hsCodeSwitch() - Used to complete switch( HotString

hsCodeSysOut() - Used to complete sysout HotString

hsCommentHeaderHtml() - Used to complete chh HotString

hsCommentHeaderJava() - Used to complete chj HotString

hsCommentHeaderPerl() - Used to complete chp HotString

hsCommentHeaderSql() - Used to complete chs HotString

hsHtmlA() - Used to complete <a HotString

hsHtmlComment() - Used to complete <!- HotString

hsHtmlHeader() - Used to complete <h(1-6) HotString

hsHtmlHtml() - Used to complete <html HotString

hsHtmlInput() - Used to complete <input HotString

hsHtmlLink() - Used to complete <link HotString

hsHtmlList() - Used to complete <ol and <ul HotStrings

hsHtmlOptGroup() - Used to complete <optg HotString

hsHtmlSelect() - Used to complete <select HotString

hsHtmlSource() - Used to complete <source HotString

hsHtmlStyle() - Used to complete <style HotString

hsHtmlTable() - Used to complete <table HotString

hsHtmlTagAbbr() - Used to complete <but, <cap, <field, <foot, <opti, and <sum HotStrings

hsHtmlTagBlock() - Used to complete <block, <body, <div, <form, <header, <hgroup, <script, <section, <tbody, <tfoot, and <thead HotStrings

hsHtmlTagFor() - Used to complete <label HotString

hsHtmlTagNoEndChar() - Used to complete <b, <head, <i, <li, <p, <q, <th, and <u HotStrings

hsHtmlTagSimple() - Used to complete <big, <code, <del, <em, <legend, <pre, <small, <span, <strong, <sub, <sup, td, and <title HotStrings

hsHtmlTagSrc() - Used to complete <iframe and <img HotStrings

hsHtmlTextarea() - Used to complete <texta HotString

hsHtmlTr() - Used to complete <tr HotString

hsJiraCode() - Used to complete {code, {java, {js, {sql and {xml HotStrings

hsJiraColor() - Used to complete {color HotString

hsJiraNoFormat() - Used to complete {nof HotString

hsJiraPanel() - Used to complete {bpan {gpan, {pan, {rpan and {ypan HotStrings

hsJiraQuote() - Used to complete {quo HotString

hsJiraSpecialPanel() - Used to complete {info, {note, {tip and {warn HotStrings

hsJiraTable() - Used to complete {table HotString

Swapped position of clear and condition in the function definition of hotString().

Renamed hsBackInX() to hsAliasBackInX().

Renamed sendJiraCode() to hsJiraCode().

Renamed sendJiraPanel() to hsJiraPanel().

Renamed sendJiraSpecialPanel() to hsJiraSpecialPanel().

Renamed templateJiraTable() to hsJiraTable().

Minor change to prepended text in debug().

Removed obsolete function hkToStr().

Miscellaneous

Added a link on the help screen to open the HotScript home page in the default browser.

Added an option on the tray icon to display the help screen.

Refactored all internal HotStrings to use hotString() instead of the mechanism used by AHK. This will help with some future changes as well as reducing the amount of code. It should now be possible to define any HotString using hotString(), which can have much more flexibility than offered by AHK. I strongly recommend converting your existing user-defined HotStrings to use this new method. When using hotString(), addHotString() no longer needs to be called to update the metrics.

Rearranged the help screen for HotStrings.

Trying to fix a bug when showing the help screen. Randomly the screen will show without the text displayed. If you click and drag with the mouse, the text will show. Still working on this issue, but it seems better.

Version 1.20160326.1

HotKeys

Added HotKey Ctrl + Alt + C to copy/append text to the clipboard. This does NOT work for files.

Added HotKey Ctrl + Alt + V to swap the currently selected text into the clipboard, replacing the selected text with the previous contents of the clipboard.

Added HotKey Ctrl + Alt + X to cut/append text to the clipboard. This does NOT work for files.

Added HotKey Ctrl + Win + ARROW to move the current window to the edge of the screen, without resizing it.

Added HotKey Win + M to run Character Map.

Added HotKey Alt + Win + H to run Windows Explorer in the HotScript folder.

Added HotKey Alt + Win + S to run Windows Explorer in the Startup folder.

Added HotKey Win + ` to run DebugView.

Modified the HotKeys for dragging the mouse from Ctrl + Win + ARROW to Ctrl + Alt + Win + ARROW to avoid collision with the new "Move to Edge" HotKeys.

Moved the HotKey definitions for dragging the mouse into the appropriate section Miscellaneous.

Changed HotKey for "Toggle Minimized" from Win + M to Ctrl + Win + M.

Changed HotKey Win + V (Preview Clipboard) to indicate if the data is complex and therefore cannot be previewed.

Added back previous error checking when running Snipping Tool via Win + PrintScreen for Windows 2008 but also added checking for Windows 2012.

Deleted the hkCustom HotKey section (and configuration setting), moving the only remaining entry into the hkText section.

HotStrings

Added HotString @dob to use the variable MY_DOB.

Added HotString @pw to use the variable MY_PASSWORD. The value is encrypted using the same function as Ctrl + Shift + E and will be unencrypted when this HotString is used.

Added HotString @w to use the variable MY_WORK_EMAIL.

Added HotStrings for the following fractions: 1/6, 1/5, 2/8, 2/6, 2/5, 2/4, 3/6, 4/8, 3/5, 4/6, 6/8, 4/5, and 5/6. Some fractions may be reduced are will therefore use the reduced fraction, for example: 4/8 will return the fraction for 1/2.

Changed trigger for fractions to start with some type of separator (3 1/2 instead of 31/2).

Changed several HotStrings (@addr, @ip, @me, @sig) to be case-sensitive.

Changed how fraction HotStrings are defined; they now use hotString().

Changed how date and time HotStrings are defined; they now use hotString().

Variables

Added global variable MY_DOB.

Added global variable MY_PASSWORD.

Added global variable MY_WORK_EMAIL.

Added configuration setting enableHsVariables for enabling/disabling HotStrings for HotScript MY_xxxxxx variables.

Any MY_xxxxxx variables (in HotScriptVariables.ahk) will now be automatically added with a default value if they are missing. This means that there is no longer a need to manually edit this file to add new variables that will be supported in future versions of HotScript, but this file will still need to be edited by the user to provide the appropriate real values to be used.

Functions

Added the following functions:

getActiveProcessID() - Returns the PID for the active process

getActiveProcessName() - Returns the name for the active process

getDateString() - Returns the current date in the format of MM/DD/YYYY

getDayString() - Returns the name for the current day of the week

getDddString() - Returns the three-letter abbreviation for the current day of the week

getDtmsString() - Returns getDtsString() + _ + getTmsString()

getDtsString() - Returns the current date stamp in the format of YYYYMMDD

getMmmString() - Returns the three-letter abbreviation for the current month

getMonthString() - Returns the name for the current month

getNowString() - Returns getDateString() + at + getTimeString()

getTimeString() - Returns the current time in the format of HH:MM:SS (24-hour)

getTmsString() - Returns the current time stamp in the format of HHMMSS (24-hour)

isActiveDos() - Returns true if the active window is part of DOSGroup

isCalculatorNotActive() - Return true if the active window is not Windows Calculator

moveToEdge() - Moves a window to either the top, bottom, left, or right edge of the screen

pad() - Adds padding to either the left or right side of a string value

parseTemplate() - Replaces tokens with actual values within a template

Added support for user-defined initialization function called userInit(). Because of how AutoHotkey works, do not define HotKeys or HotStrings within the userInit() function. These should be placed in HotScriptKeys.ahk or HotScriptStrings.ahk. Failure to do so will almost certainly cause significant parts of HotScript to stop functioning.

Modified toBool() to return true if the value is a number and greater than zero.

Modified hotString() to use any return value from a named function as the replacement text.

Renamed showDebugVar() to showVariable().

Improved output of showVariable().

Improved output of toString().

Enhanced output of templateHtml().

Modified resizeTo() for Windows 10. This affects all window movement HotKeys. Windows 10 puts transparent borders around non-maximized windows along the left, right and bottom of a window. When these windows line up next to each other, "gaps" appear which show whatever is underneath the windows. I found this quite annoying, so the math was changed for Windows 10 to accommodate these gaps. The coordinates are adjusted as follows: X +6, Y +1, Width +16, Height +9.

Miscellaneous

Added "Historical changes" to the HotScript tray menu.

Huge refactor of the help screen! To switch between tabs with keyboard use Ctrl + PgUp or Ctrl + PgDn. Press ESC to close.

Changed configuration setting for enableAutoUpdate from false to true.

Added #32770 (Open/Save dialog) as a member of the ExplorerGroup.

Version 1.20151030.2

HotStrings

Fixed issue with the bi## HotString not displaying the ##.

Version 1.20151030.1

HotKeys

Added HotKey Ctrl + Alt + D to create a folder (directory) in Explorer or on the desktop.

Added HotKey Ctrl + Alt + F to create a file in Explorer or on the desktop.

Added HotKey Alt + Win + D to open a DOS window to the current path in Explorer, if it is the active Window.

Functions

Added the following functions:

createNewInExplorer() - Creates either a new file or directory within Windows Explorer

createNewOnDesktop() - Creates either a new file or directory on the Windows Desktop

getExplorerPath() - Returns the current path being viewed within Windows Explorer

getUniqueNewName() - Given a base name, will return a guaranteed unique file or directory name (prevents duplicates)

selectInExplorer() - Selects item(s) within Windows Explorer

selectOnDesktop() - Selects item(s) on the Windows Desktop

Miscellaneous

Improved the ability to launch Explorer via Win-X. Now it will activate an existing window, if it exists but is not focused. The default starting location will be the root of the SystemDrive (as defined by Windows) instead of C:\.

Modified runDos() to accept a path, which will be the active directory when DOS is executed.

Increased sleep time from 100ms to 250ms when launching an application to allow more time for the window to exist. This may help with certain issues where the application is launched, but is not activated (focused).

Version 1.20151027.1

HotStrings

Added HotString @me to use the variable MY_NAME

Added HotString @sig to use the variable MY_SIGNATURE

Added HotString #/#% which divides two numbers and returns the result as a percent

Added HotString #%# which returns the percentage of the first number in relation to the second number

Added HotString lmk.

Added HotString vg.

Internal changes to @ip to allow it to be easily overridden with a custom function

Added a . to the end of some of the aliases on the help screen to signify that an ending character is needed

Variables

Added global variable MY_NAME.

Added global variable MY_SIGNATURE.

Functions

Minor change within hotString() to call addHotString() only if any conditional function returns true

Minor renaming of variables and optimization within hotString()

Removed GetKeyState() because it now conflicts with AutoHotkey's internal function with the same name

Removed getHotKeySections() because it was an obsolete function from a very old version

Miscellaneous

Added missing HotString @# to the help screen

Minor internal changes to how the headers of the HotScript-*.ahk files are written

Added additional information to the headers of HotScript-Strings.ahk to include dynamic HotStrings

Version 1.20151018.1

HotKeys

Added HotKey Win+0 to launch the HotScript homepage.

Added smarter control to Win+G to allow running of files/directories (if they exist) or UNC paths.

Swapped Win+6 and Win+8 to allow Win+8 and Win+9 to be next grouped together.

HotStrings

Added HotString @# to use the variable MY_PHONE.

Fixed a known limitation of being unable to use a tab as an ending character to a dynamic HotString. This was only an issue for HotStrings that would be replaced (rather than just appending text). Because some editors can be configured to insert (a variable number of) spaces instead of a tab, it was not easily knowable how much backspacing was required in order to erase the trigger string. While this is now slightly slower than normal (only when using a tab), it is working correctly. The reason for it being slower is that the text entered must be selected one character at a time until the start of the trigger can be found.

Variables

Added global variable MY_PHONE.

Functions

Added the following functions:

isDirectory() - Returns true if the specified string is a directory

isFile() - Returns true if the specified string is a file

isUNC() - Returns true if the specified string is a UNC path

Fixed issue with ask() returning any value entered even if the user closed dialog, click cancel or pressed Escape.

Miscellaneous

Added menu item to launch the HotScript homepage from the system tray icon.

Added configuration flag to disabling auto-updates (auto-update is on by default - may be disabled via enableAutoUpdate in HotScriptUser.ini).

Added ability to create an auto-startup link (may be disabled via enableAutoStart in HotScriptUser.ini).

Added status (enabled or suspended) to system tray icon tool-tip.

After upgrading the version of AutoHotkey, the downloaded installer will be deleted.

Removed warning message about being unable to obtain version information if an internet connection is not available at startup.

Removed unwanted menu items from the system tray icon.

Made changes that may have finally corrected intermittent issues with pasting text to a DOS window.

Version 1.20150910.2

Miscellaneous

When pasting text to DOS that was created using a continuation section, the EOL needs to be converted to CRLF.

Version 1.20150910.1

Miscellaneous

Increased delay to select the last known window when restoring previously minimized windows (via Win+M).

Fixed issue with pasting large text in a DOS window. There is no longer a size limit.

Version 1.20150907.4

Miscellaneous

Fixed issue with auto-update getting wrongly disabled.

Version 1.20150907.3

HotKeys

Added HotKey Win+M for toggling windows minimized/restored.

Added HotKeys Ctrl+Home and Ctrl-End for scrolling to top or bottom of a DOS window.

Improved scrolling within a DOS window for PgUp and PgDn functionality. It now scrolls exactly one page regardless of the actual size of the window.

Version 1.20150907.1

HotStrings

Added HotString @@ to use the variable MY_EMAIL.

Added HotString @addr to use the variable MY_ADDRESS.

Started preparation of changing HotStrings from internally hard-coded to be user configurable. This means HotStrings may now be defined via a regular expression (regex), which adds tremendous power and flexibility. While it can also mean slightly more work to setup very complex HotStrings, many more things can be achieved. This functionality is only in the beginning stages - much more work needs to be done here.

Variables

Added global variable MY_EMAIL. Added global variable MY_ADDRESS.

Functions

Added the following functions:

getVarType() - returns the type for the specified variable (Function, Label, Number, Object, or String)

urlToVar() - returns the result of an HTTP request

Miscellaneous

Added version checking and simple updating (at startup/reload) for both AutoHotkey and HotScript. A prompt is shown to the user with the current/new versions and asks for permission to download/install the new version(s).

Added new configuration setting enableVersionCheck to disable version checking.

Added window marker ፨ for Pinned, which is a feature that may be implemented in a future release.

Changed several window marker symbols:

(Always-on-top) from † to ᛂ

(Click-through) from ‡ to ᚾ

(Transparent) from ± to ≡

A warning message (about instability) is now displayed when pasting large amounts of text (> 4K) into a DOS window

Fixed a small error on the quick help screen - Resize to NE and Resize to NW were reversed.

Version 1.20150821.2

Early Development

Changes in versions from 1.20131211.2 through 1.20150821.2 were not maintained separately and are listed below as belonging to a single version.

HotKeys

Added HotKey Ctrl + Win + R for quickly resizing the active window to popular or custom sizes.

Added Hotkey Ctrl + Shift + Up to duplicate the current line.

Added HotKey Win + T to toggle the window transparency to 50%.

Added HotKey Ctrl + Win + A to toggle click-through for the active window.

Added DOS HotKey Alt + Up to go parent directory, which is the same as the existing HotKey Alt + ..

Added DOS HotKey Ctrl + Delete to delete to end-of-line.

Added DOS HotKey Ctrl + PgDn to scroll window down. Alt + PgDn and Shift + PgDn also work.

Added DOS HotKey Ctrl + PgUp to scroll window up. Alt + PgUp and Shift + PgUp also work.

Added DOS HotKey Ctrl + V to paste text (for Windows versions previous to 10).

Added HotKey Ctrl + Shift + ` to escape text for use within continuation sections.

Added DECODE and STDDEV keywords to the HotKey Ctrl + Shift + O for transforming Oracle keywords to upper case.

Added 467 more keywords to the HotKey Ctrl + Shift + O for transforming Oracle keywords to upper case.

Wrapping transformations now toggle, meaning they either add or remove the symbols to be wrapped.

Wrapping transformations now have an option for wrapping each line of selected text

Changed HotKey for Ctrl + Shift + [ that used to wrap in {} to now wrapping in [].

Removed the following HotKeys:

Alt + Shift + ,

Ctrl + Shift + B

Ctrl + Shift + P

Ctrl + Shift + Q

Removed certain HotKeys that are fairly specialized and of little interest to the typical users of HotScript

Win + F (Run FileLocator Pro)

Win + P (Run Perforce)

Win + R (Run RegexBuddy)

HotStrings

Added common fractions 1/8, 1/4, 1/3, 3/8, 1/2, 5/8, 2/3, 3/4, 7/8. Typing one of these HotStrings will produce the actual fraction symbol. The window in which this is types must support UTF-8 characters or else some of the fraction symbols will be displayed as a box.

Added HotString @ip that will produce the first IP address used by the computer.

Changed HTML and XML HotStrings containing attributes to use ' instead of ".

Fixed HotStrings not working in a DOS window (paste vs SendInput).

Functions

Added the following functions:

arrayToList() - converts an array of items into a delimited list

debug() - creates logging statements during development (requires DebugView from Microsoft)

escapeText() - can work both as a function returning a value or for selected text

getVar() - returns the value of the specified global variable (supports values nested within objects)

Added a 2nd (optional) parameter to pasteText() for how long to delay.

Added a 3rd (optional) parameter to sendText() for how long to delay.

Added a 4th (optional) parameter to pasteTemplate() for how long to delay.

Changed pasteTemplate() to adjust the EOL character to Windows CRLF.

Miscellaneous

Added support for user-defined functions via the new file HotScriptFunctions.ahk.

Added support for user-defined variables via the new file HotScriptVariables.ahk.

Added several new selections within Quick Lookup Win + Q:

Thesaurus

Urban Dictionary

Google Translate

Google Maps

Added ArrayList class to be able to add key/value pairs to an array, but have the items stay in the order in which they are inserted. AutoHotkey's array will always sort entries by the key.

Added the version of AutoHotkey to HotScript's tray icon title.

At startup, the following registry settings will be changed:

the default editor for AutoHotkey script files is changed to the configured editor

the taskbar grouping of AutoHotkey scripts is turned off, to allow each script to display its own icon

Added the History section to the wiki.

Changed the quick help screen to hide information for disabled sections.

Improved the ability to properly detect the presence (or lack of) DOS windows.

Changed automatic updating of monitor information (number, resolution, placement) from 2 minutes to 30 seconds.

Version 1.20131211.1

Early Development

Changes were not recorded for versions 1.20130514.1 through 1.20131211.1.

Files

changes.md

Latest commit

History

changes.md

File metadata and controls

HotScript:Historical Changes

TODO

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HotScript:
Historical Changes