The ATA Chronicle - May/June 2021 - 36

keys will be pressed (not
physically, but rather
programmatically). In
Word or in a CAT tool, for
example, this will send the
cursor to the beginning
of the current word if the
cursor is in the middle of a
word, or to the beginning
of the previous word if the
cursor is already at the
beginning of a word.

Sleep 200
This line tells the computer
to wait 200 milliseconds
before executing the next

Figure 3 Hotstring with Email Address

line. This is recommended
to provide enough time for

for the new changes to
take effect. To do this, go

always the last line in

to your system tray on

a hotkey script, and it

the bottom right corner of

indicates the end (i.e.,

your screen, find the green

where the script will stop).

icon with the white " H "
in it, right-click it, and
select Reload This Script.

Hotkeys
Now that you understand
the basics of creating a script
and loading it, it's time to
try something a bit more
advanced: hotkeys.
Hotkeys are sometimes
referred to as shortcut keys
because of their ability to
easily trigger an action
(such as launching a
program or keyboard
macro). Before we look at
an example, consider the
following AutoHotkey basics:
y	 ! is the Alt key.
y	 ^ is the Control key.
y	 + is the Shift key.
y	 The hotkey (key
combination) needs to be
followed by a pair of colons.

36

y	 The word Return is

y	 The word Send is a
command indicating that
keys will be pressed.
y	 Key names need to be

Since discovering
AutoHotkey, I've gone
from wishing there
was a way to speed
things up to actually
making it happen.

enclosed in curly brackets.
y	 The word Sleep is a
time. It's usually used to

Understanding the Script
!x::

give the computer time to

This is the hotkey (or

command indicating wait

complete a command before
moving to the next one.
With this information,
you'll be able to understand
the script below.

shortcut) that will be used
to trigger the sequence of
actions. You can select the
hotkeys you want to use. For
this example, I chose Alt+X,
but you can choose anything

!x::
Send ^{Left}
Sleep 200
Send +{Right}
Sleep 200
Send +{F3}
Sleep 200
Send {Right}
Return

you want. Notice the pair of

Don't worry if this still isn't
clear. Let's break it down.

The ATA Chronicle | May/June 2021

colons that designates this as

an action to be completed
before the next action is
started. In fact, if you ever
need to troubleshoot a
script, it's a good idea to
add wait times longer than
one second between lines so
you can see the actions play
out slowly.

Send +{Right}
This line will press Shift and
the Right arrow key, which
will cause one character to
be selected to the right of
the cursor.

Sleep 200
This tells the computer
to wait another 200
milliseconds before
executing the next line.

the hotkey. This is important

Send +{F3}

because, as I mentioned

This line will press Shift

earlier, the hotkey (key

and F3, which will cause

combination) needs to be

the selected character to

followed by a pair of colons.

change case.

Send ^{Left}

Sleep 200

This action means that

Wait another 200

the Control and Left arrow

milliseconds.
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