The Duality of Curly Brackets in Hotstrings (Beginning AutoHotkey Tips)

Curly Brackets {…} in Hotstrings Both Insert Special Features and Neuter Hotkey Modifying Characters—When Properly Used, They Add Flexibility to AutoHotkey Hotstrings

Sometimes you want to do more than simple text replacement with your AutoHotkey Hotstrings. The key to adding those special features lies with embedding either manual keys within curly brackets (i.e. {Left 5}) or adding Hotkey action directly (without curly brackets) such as CTRL+I (^i for italics) or CTRL+B (^b for bold). The fact that the curly brackets {…} behave in two different manners can cause confusion.

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Dealing with Hash Marks (#) in Hotstrings (AutoHotkey Quick Tip)

When Using the Pound Sign (#) in Hotstring Replacement Text, We Must Take Special Steps to Prevent It from Going Missing…I Mean Disappearing

Some would say that we should call the # character an octothorpe. Others insist upon using it in place of the pound weight (# not £). You’ll commonly find it used as the number sign—as in apartment #205 or #2 pencil. Editors use # to tell whomever to add space between two words. In some computer languages, the # sign precedes comments. In Web URLs, the # indicates a “jump to” link within the same page. On Twitter, people insert # to precede topic references as a hashtag (#jellybeans). (People often use the term “hashtag” to show off their technological smarts—#sarcasm.) In AutoHotkey, we use the # symbol as the Hotkey modifying character for the Windows key ().

Limit the Number of Substrings Delivered by the StrSplit() Function (AutoHotkey Quick Tip)

A New Parameter in the AutoHotkey StrSplit() Function Makes Selective Parsing Possible

At the same time as when we saw the release of the new Hotstring() function and other added Hotstring features (AutoHotkey version 1.1.28.00 – February 11, 2018), the powers-that-be made a significant change to the StrSplit() function. I don’t know if the idea grew from the need to parse Hotstrings or just happened to coincide with that release of AutoHotkey.

I discovered the new power when I ran into trouble working with the InstantHotstring.ahk script while using a Web address as replacement text. This useful new StrSplit() parameter (MaxParts) might save you from adding more code when you need to limit the number of produced pieces of text. (Don’t believe it when they say, “Parts is parts!”)

Use the FileSelectFile Command to Save Instant Hotstrings to an AutoHotkey File

After Taking the Time to Create Hotstrings with the InstantHotstring.ahk Script, It Only Makes Sense to Save the Code to an AutoHotkey File for Future Use

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This blog is part of a series of articles discussing how to create instant Hotstrings using the Hotstring() function.

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Ultimately, after writing and activating a number of Hotstrings with the InstantHotstrings.ahk script, we want to save them in an AutoHotkey file. That frees us from recreating the set of auto-replacements the next time we need them. Plus, rather than always loading the Hotstrings into the app, we can run the .ahk file directly with AutoHotkey.

Adding Italics to Hotstrings in Word Processing Software (AutoHotkey Quick Tip)

If You Work with a Word Processing Program (Local or Web-Based) Which Supports Control Characters for Special Formatting, Then, Possibly, You Can Add Auto-Italics (or Bold, Underline, Etc.) to Your Autohotkey Hotstrings

A little while back, I wrote the blog “Italicize Your Hotstring Replacements with this Input Command Ploy (AutoHotkey Tip)” which demonstrated tricks for adding special features for both the Input command and Hotstrings. While clever solutions (possibly too clever), I now realized that in many programs (and Web apps), there might exist a much easier solution—a “duh” moment.

Add Action to Your Hotstrings Using the New X Option (AutoHotkey Tip)

The Hotstring X Option Offers More Power by Running Commands, Functions, and Subroutines, Plus How to Temporarily Block External Hotstrings

In February of last year, the powers-that-be added a new Hotstring() function and a number of other Hotstring related features (See “New Flexible Hotstring Features Added to AutoHotkey.”) This major change added a host of new possibilities for creating and manipulating Hotstrings. The Hotstring() function acted as the impetus for my InstantHotstring.ahk script. In the process of writing that app, I developed a better understanding of how to enhance Hotstrings. Getting immediate feedback when implementing new replacements and options allowed me to quickly investigate many possibilities.

Beginning Hotstring Tricks for Expanding Acronyms (AutoHotkey Tips)

Hotstring Techniques for Expanding Abbreviations Only When You Need Them, Plus How to Sound British…Sort Of

One benefit I’ve discovered when using my InstantHotstring.ahk script includes quickly checking the effects of the various Hotstring options. Without re-editing and reloading an AutoHotkey script, I can test the assorted options and see how they modify the behavior of each Hotstring. This helps me understand how to solve some Hotstring problems.