AutoHotkey apps for testing

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dmg
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AutoHotkey apps for testing

#1 Post by dmg »

These apps are works in progress. They are portable/stealth and open source. I present them here in order to gain input from the PortableFreeware community. Please play around with them and let me know what you think. Any comments or suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Key Catcher is a simple keyboard and mouse logging utility:

V-Key rests in the system tray and lets you raise, lower and mute your system volume via hotkey:

Lock State displays the status of your Num Lock ,Caps Lock and Scroll Lock keys:

Home site:
http://crzyinc.weebly.com/index.html
Last edited by dmg on Sun Mar 27, 2011 6:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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webfork
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Re: AutoHotkey apps for testing

#2 Post by webfork »

dmg wrote:Lock State displays the status of your Num Lock ,Caps Lock and Scroll Lock keys
I'm curious about Lock State. Can you post a screenshot?

Also, what's the license / code status of these programs?

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dmg
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Re: AutoHotkey apps for testing

#3 Post by dmg »

The far left icon represents Lock State, the tool tip is also shown. This is just the default icon set. The zip file includes several alternative sets and making your own is not difficult.

Image

It is not released under any specific license, though terms of use are listed in the readme and at the top of the source script.

I am not sure what you mean by code status. Can you clarify?

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Re: AutoHotkey apps for testing

#4 Post by webfork »

That is a really cool idea.
dmg wrote:It is not released under any specific license, though terms of use are listed in the readme and at the top of the source script.

I am not sure what you mean by code status. Can you clarify?
I like open code and open licenses.

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Re: AutoHotkey apps for testing

#5 Post by dmg »

I thank you for the compliment. I looked at several existing licenses but did not entirely agree with any of them. I thought, at least for now, that a general statement of usage conditions would be enough. :)

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Re: AutoHotkey apps for testing

#6 Post by dmg »

Anybody have any thoughts? Anybody at all? Even one person would be great.

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Re: AutoHotkey apps for testing

#7 Post by dmg »

Still hoping for a comment or two. Anybody? :?
http://crzyinc.weebly.com/index.html

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ChemZ
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Re: AutoHotkey apps for testing

#8 Post by ChemZ »

Probably not worth mentioning but...

...when I first tried out Lock State, it wouldn't keep up with the button presses. I managed to get the Caps Lock 'off' while the program was showing 'on'. Fooled around with it a bit more then everything smoothly, couldn't do it again.

How about a better way to change icon sets? Instead of having to overwrite the old ones, just pick a new one from the list somewhere.

...how come the space-bar isn't logged in Key Catcher? Almost all other keys are there, but no space-bar :?:

Also, are you planning to keep opening the readme file when clicking on 'about'? It doesn't feel right... coming back the way it does... :lol:

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Re: AutoHotkey apps for testing

#9 Post by dmg »

ChemZ wrote:Fooled around with it a bit more then everything smoothly, couldn't do it again.
Do you mean it only happened the one time, and that you couldn't get it to do it again? When it happened were you just hitting the caps lock key really fast, or was anything else involved?
ChemZ wrote:How about a better way to change icon sets? Instead of having to overwrite the old ones, just pick a new one from the list somewhere.
I agree entirely. At some point I will try to implement this in any app which has multiple icons to choose from, which at this point would just be Lock State but we will see. :D
ChemZ wrote:...how come the space-bar isn't logged in Key Catcher? Almost all other keys are there, but no space-bar
Well, technically it is. If you look at the log you will see that Space is written to the file as a literal space between the words. I agree it isn't ideal, but there are other issues with key Catcher which are more serious.

With Key Catcher I tried to make the log file easier to read by keeping the sentence structure as natural as possible. This creates some logistical issues but overall I think it is nicer than the standard:

a - 6:15pm
b - 6:15pm
c - 6:16pm
etc...
ChemZ wrote:Also, are you planning to keep opening the readme file when clicking on 'about'?
Yes that is a bit odd compared to how most apps behave. I could change it to a message box I suppose. I will think about it.
ChemZ wrote:It doesn't feel right... coming back the way it does...
What do you mean by "coming back"?

Thank you for your comments. :lol:

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ChemZ
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Re: AutoHotkey apps for testing

#10 Post by ChemZ »

Do you mean it only happened the one time, and that you couldn't get it to do it again? When it happened were you just hitting the caps lock key really fast, or was anything else involved?
Just the caps lock and I wasn't hitting it fast or anything. Noticed there was a slight delay between button press and tray icon change. But it only happened first time, never again. No biggie.
What do you mean by "coming back"?
Usually I don't keep the readme files or I rename them. I deleted it, clicked 'about', it comes back.... kinda like a zombie readme file.

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Re: AutoHotkey apps for testing

#11 Post by dmg »

ChemZ wrote:Just the caps lock and I wasn't hitting it fast or anything. Noticed there was a slight delay between button press and tray icon change. But it only happened first time, never again. No biggie.
I see. It sounds like it wasn't quite finished loading and was a few seconds behind in responding to the key press. I will look at speeding up the script a little.
ChemZ wrote:Usually I don't keep the readme files or I rename them. I deleted it, clicked 'about', it comes back.... kinda like a zombie readme file.
:lol: Sorry about that. Since the readme.txt file is tied to the About menu item I had to make sure the readme would always be there when that menu item is called. Otherwise it would throw up an error message. I know I could have it check if the file exists instead but this suited my purpose better at the time.

Thanks for your comments. It has been a little slow getting people to look at these apps. :?

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Re: AutoHotkey apps for testing

#12 Post by ChemZ »

Thanks for your comments. It has been a little slow getting people to look at these apps.
Yeah I noticed the community isn't very active here, except for a few regulars... wonder why that is :?:

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Re: AutoHotkey apps for testing

#13 Post by guinness »

Just been busy with my own coding projects! But I tested these on Windows 7 x64 without any problem.
Lock State >> Nice little application, I would prefer a MsgBox or a small GUI using an Edit box as opening a txt file will write to the Registry.
Key Catcher >> This trapped the mouse but not any keyboard input, I don't know whether its a x64 problem or something else.

As you know from helping you in the past, I'm not an expert in AHK so my Help is only limited to advice, whereas I would love to provide code.

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Re: AutoHotkey apps for testing

#14 Post by dmg »

guinness wrote:Just been busy with my own coding projects!
Sorry, I didn't mean to sound like I was complaining. I know you and the other members have lives outside this site. :D Your URL filter app looks great. Unfortunately I only use Firefox so... :|
guinness wrote:As you know from helping you in the past, I'm not an expert in AHK so my Help is only limited to advice, whereas I would love to provide code.
First of all, I remember your advise being very helpful at times so don't sell yourself short. Second... Umm, I forgot the second thing. :shock:
guinness wrote:I would prefer a MsgBox or a small GUI using an Edit box as opening a txt file will write to the Registry.
If you mean the help option should be a msgbox, I think I agree, and I am adding it to my to do list.

I don't know what is going on with key Catcher. I don't remember anything in the code that should necessarily have a problem with Win 7, X64 or otherwise.

Thank you kindly for the feedback. 8)

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Re: AutoHotkey apps for testing

#15 Post by guinness »

Your URL filter app looks great. Unfortunately I only use Firefox so...
When I release it you will get an idea of my About box :D

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