AutoHotKey – An Easy To Learn Time Saving App

AutoHotKey – https://www.autohotkey.com/

What is it?

The website says:

AutoHotkey is a free, open-source scripting language for Windows that allows users to easily create small to complex scripts for all kinds of tasks such as: form fillers, auto-clicking, macros, etc.

My definition: The Swiss Army Knife of automating tasks you don’t want to do more than twice.

What do I use it for?

I use it to do easy things like:

::<hotkey_combination&gt;::<what I want to type&gt;
::eo::EnterpriseOne
::sn::ServiceNow
::iyh::If you have any questions{,} please let me know{.}

or more complicated things like:

Getting the 6 digit JDE Julian Date – [Ctrl]+[Shift]+j

^+j::
y := A_YYYY-1900
send %y%%A_YDay%
return

Getting the 9 digit JDE DateTime – [Ctrl]+[Shift]+k

^+k::
T = %A_Now%
T -= 19700101000000,seconds
T:=round(T/60)
send %T%
return

or one of the coolest things in my opinion:

Get my external IP Address from ident.me and return it with other text to request that it be whitelisted by our network team:

::wlip::
; Get a temporary file path
tempFile := A_Temp "\" DllCall("GetCurrentProcessId") ".txt" ; "

; Run the console program hidden, redirecting its output to
; the temp. file (with a program other than powershell.exe or cmd.exe,
; prepend %ComSpec% /c; use 2> to redirect error output), and wait for it to exit.
RunWait, powershell.exe -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -WindowStyle Hidden -noProfile (Invoke-WebRequest ident.me).Content > %tempFile%,, Hide

; Read the temp file into a variable and then delete it.
FileRead, content, %tempFile%
FileDelete, %tempFile%

; Trim the ip address
ip := Trim(content)
StringReplace,ip,ip,`r,,A
StringReplace,ip,ip,`n,,A

; Display the result.
send Please whitelist my IP Address (%ip%) for{Space}
return

I hope AutoHotKey makes your life easier. I know it does mine!

Author

Stewart Schatz

Career: Principal CNC Consultant for Syntax Systems Limited specializing Oracle JD Edwards EnterpriseOne and the technology that supports it. Side Hustle: Owner/Operator of E1Tips.com Location: Lancaster, PA USA  What I like to do: Invest in Family, Explore Technology, Lead Teams, Share Knowledge/Experience, Hunt, Hike, etc.

stewart@9rains.com

http://stewartschatz.com