Automate repetitive tasks using AHK

I have been a big supporter of automation where possible. I was reading about how “ActiveWords” was the best piece of software, and that is when I became aware of AutoHotKey, or AHK as it is fondly called. I learned more about AHK on LifeHacker

Considering that I came to AHK looking for ActiveWords replacement, it is no wonder that I use Hotstrings feature extensively. It would not be wrong if I said that is probably the only feature of AHK I use. So let me explain How I use AHK to automate lot of repeatative tasks, mostly related to typing same set of words lot of times.

It would not be out of place to here to mention texter, AHK based tool developed by LH team.

Expand Acronymns

I have created Hotstrings for regularly used acronyms. When I type them, AHK will automagically expand them. This has a huge benefit that I am free to use the acronyms when I type, but my readers aren’t left wondering about what it means. Some of the commonly used ones are YMMV, AFAIK, BTW etc.

SMS style typing:

SMS is used extensively in India, so I’ve seen new professionals – fresh out of college – are used to new SMS-lingo. But in professional communication, it is a complete no-no. AH to the rescue, add your SMS word to your Hotstrings list and let AH complete it. I personally don’t SMS or IM as much, but I have seen people use ‘ur’ a lot, when they mean your.

Pleasantries:

I also have Hotstrings for likes of Regards, Thanks etc.

Frequently used names :

I have Hotstrings like bg=Bill, lt=Linus, esr=Eric etc. I work a lot with my counterparts in Japan where you address people using -san. So it helps to have HotStrings like gt=Takei-san.

Authentications :

I’m too paranoid to allow the browser to remember my username and password, so this is my next best thing. For company internal websites, I need to enter something like domain\username. I’ve created a hotstring like d\u. This is replaced by domain\username by AHK

Are there any negatives of AHK ?

Well, these aren’t the cons in true sense of the word, but there are some practical problems I face. After extended use of AHK Hotstrings, one may see following side effects :

• May forget correct spellings
• Feel like crippled without AHK on guest PC

Do let me know in comments how you use AHK or texter in your daily lives to automate the repetitive tasks.

Note : Originally posted on the Kaizen Blog on October 31st, 2007

Can’t use AHK ? because you are  on Linux ?  Don’t worry, come back to check the review of similar tool on Linx

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