AutoHotKey Computer Productivity Book 0: AutoHotKey productivity, #0

By Max Drake

This is a simple compiled productivity tool that is built using AutoHotKey which is a windows only scripting program.

There are 2 ways you can use this book:

PART 1. THE SIMPLE WAY, download the compiled program, install it on your PC and go through the setup to stylize it for your own preferences, and just use it.

PART 2. THE MORE COMPLEX WAY OF LEARNING HOW AUTOHOTKEY SCRIPTS WORK and modifying the original scripts to suit your needs.

• Language: English
• Publisher: max drake
• Release date: Jun 18, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201732134

Max Drake

Max Drake is a registered New Zealand Architect originally from England & trained as a Draftsperson and travelled and worked as a designer in Europe USA, Asia, Australia & New Zealand. Taught at the Royal University of Phnom Penh, Cambodia as an Architecture Lecturer as a NZ Volunteer with VSA. A freelance designer working in Architecture, Building Services & Structures. Worked with the UN in East Timor as UNV and UN staff working on reconstruction & Mission support. VAST Blog on Visual Asset Strategic Tools about BIM, Revit and programming & data capture (https://cr8ive.tk/)

Book preview

AutoHotKey Computer Productivity Book 0

Let’s Build a Shareable Personal Productivity Script in AutoHotKey

MAX DRAKE

Copyright © 2022 by Max Drake.

All Right Reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of very brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Contents

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

DEDICATION

INTRODUCTION. PRODUCTIVITY TOOL

PART 1

CHAPTER 1. DOWNLOAD AND USE PROGRAM DIRECTLY

PART 2

CHAPTER 2. WHAT IS AUTOHOTKEY?

CHAPTER 3. BEGINNERS FIRST LOOK AT USING AHK

CHAPTER 4. PERSONAL TO GENERAL

CHAPTER 5. INI FILE

CHAPTER 6. HOTKEYS AND HOTKEY REPLACEMENTS BY USERS & HOTKEY CONTENT

CHAPTER 7. HOTSTRING CONTENT

CHAPTER 8. DATE & TIME

CHAPTER 9. HIDING DATA AND ENCRYPTION

CHAPTER 10. HELP FILES

CHAPTER 11. MENU TRAY

CHAPTER 12. GUI’S (Graphical User Interface)

APPENDIX 1. SETTING UP AHK ENVIRONMENT

APPENDIX 2. THE SCRIPTS

AFTERWORD

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I wish to thank the people on AutoHotKey Forum who have shared their knowledge & scripts to help others. Specifically, I’d like to mention Mehmet-demir and thank him for sharing Libcrypt.ahk

DEDICATION

I would like to dedicate this book to my elder brother Jeri who passed away recently. May he rest in peace.

INTRODUCTION. PRODUCTIVITY TOOL

This is a simple compiled productivity tool that is built using AutoHotKey which is a windows only scripting program.  There are 2 ways you can use this book:

PART 1. THE SIMPLE WAY, download the compiled program, install it on your PC and go through the setup to stylize it for your own preferences, and just use it.

PART 2. THE MORE COMPLEX WAY OF LEARNING HOW AUTOHOTKEY SCRIPTS WORK and modifying the original scripts to suit your needs.

The program

I‘ve created a productivity script that you can download and use after setting it up to your own preferences.

It has the following features:

6 user selectable Hotkeys

6 Encrypted text fields that can be assigned to the Hotkeys above

16 pre-set Text expansion HotStrings, a hotstring is you have an abbreviation such as  q1, and when you type q1 it deletes the q1 and replaces it with user selected text string. The pre-set hotstrings are q1 to q4, w1 to w4, a1 to a4 and s1 to s4.

5 Date/Time or Date or Time Keyboard Shortcuts t4 to t8., these trigger the current date or time in a specified format.

GUI dialogue boxes for ease of adding or changing any of the above elements. 

You can download the self-install file here:

Download Personal Productivity Script and associated files

If you would like to know more

I am writing a series of books on AutoHotKey for Productivity:

Book 1 How to create scripts for your own use

Book 2. How to Generalize the scripts to share with others

Book3. How to deploy scripts to share and sell.

Book 2 & 3 are still being written and will be completed shortly.

I hope you enjoy the program and find it useful,

Kind regards

Max Drake

PART 1

The easy method

CHAPTER 1. DOWNLOAD AND USE PROGRAM DIRECTLY

I would recommend that you install and run the program directly, even if you are going onto Part 2 to see how it was made and how you can adapt it to your own needs.

It will make you familiar with the results of the key actions and process so that you will have a better understanding of the scripts and file linking processes.

The Download File

(download from link on previous page)

It will be in Zip format.

You will need to unzip the MaxProductivitySetup.exe install file

Run the MaxProductivitySetup.exe install file

Then you will need to configure it to your preferences.

See links to YouTube Videos

YouTube vides on how to setup and use

I decided that the quickest way of getting you up and running is to link you to a YouTube Video showing setup.

If this is not sufficient then you may have to explore part 2 of the book

HOTSTRINGS

You can create 16 hotsrings of your own

A hotsring allows you to type an abbreviation (a Keyboard Shortcut) and this abbreviation is deleted and replaces by a string of text. For example, we can assign the email address [e-mail] to the abbreviation q1

If we type q1 in a