###############################
# HiLaunch version 2.0 #
###############################
How to use Download
Quick example: Adding your own program
Details: Adding your programs Appendix: Partial list of special keys
Tips How to send keystokes to other applications Feedback
Description
HiLaunch lets you define hotkeys (key combinations) to launch your programs
(including batch launching). In addition, HiLaunch also makes it possible for
you to automate tasks and processes by sending keystrokes to other applications.
Note that while there are many programs on the internet that allow you to set
hotkeys to run your programs, most of them do not provide a means of managing
the hotkeys you define: you have to memorize the hotkeys! HiLaunch however keeps
track of your programs and the hotkeys you define, so that a list is always
available at the press of the menu key (F7 by default), with your programs
arranged alphabetically. Also, in HiLaunch you can define hotkeys for almost
anything (urls, folders, files etc) in addition to executables! Another
important difference between HiLaunch and similar programs is that you can
choose just about any hotkey combinations e.g. Win+Enter, Ctrl+Spacebar and
all the function keys (except F12) etc
HiLaunch is small in size (<100kb) and does not modify your system in any way.
HiLaunch is easy to use. Just open the cfg file (see
below), fill in the path to your program, the menu you like to be displayed and
the hotkey combination that you want.
##################################################################################
PRESS THE HiLaunch MENU KEY (default is F7) TO VIEW THE HOTKEY COMBINATIONS.
###################################################################################
HOW TO USE THE PROGRAM
HiLaunch is a single executable. Place HiLaunch.exe anywhere on your computer. Double-Click on it and wait until you see a message telling you that HiLaunch is up and running. Note: A configuration file HiLaunch.cfg is created the first time you run HiLaunch. HiLaunch.cfg contains the settings of HiLaunch and you also add your programs by editing HiLaunch.cfg. You can open the file whenever HiLaunch is running by pressing Win+F7.
HOW TO ADD YOUR OWN PROGRAMS
Follow these simple steps in order to add your own programs to HiLaunch and assign hotkey combinations to them.
Open the HiLaunch.cfg file in a text editor (by pressing Win + F7).
Scroll down to section [userprog] and fill in your program and hotkey
combinations.
Example
Suppose you have a program chargrid.exe in a directory called utilities in the
program files directory of your computer and you want to be able to launch it by pressing
Ctrl+Alt+c. You could open the HiLaunch.cfg file, go to the section
[userprog] and fill in:
usermenu01="CharGrid"
userkey01="^!c"
userprog01="c:\program files\utilities\chargrid.exe"
(Note: ^ represents the Ctrl Key, ! represents the Alt Key. The keys are
automatically displayed in readable form when you call the menu. That is ^!c in
this example will be displayed as Ctrl + Alt + c. Click here
for a partial list of the keys and how they are represented.)
That is all! From now on to launch chargrid, all you have to do is press
Ctrl+Alt+c. Also when you press the menu key (F7), your program chagrid will be listed in a popup box as
Ctrl + Alt +c - CharGrid. Follow the same procedure
to add your other programs. Important: remember to save the cfg file and press
refresh (default refresh hotkey is Ctrl+r) after modification, for your
changes to register immediately.
Note: For setting the hotkeys (i.e. for assigning values to userkey00, userkey01, userkey02, userkey03, and so on) use
^ for Ctrl
! for Alt
# for the Win Logo Key
+ for the Shift Key
{ENTER} for the enter key
{ESC} for the escape key
{F1} to {F12} for the function keys
{NUMPAD0} to {NUMPAD9} for the numerical pad keys.
{TAB} for tab
{SPACE} is SPACE
Click here for a partial list of the keys.
The above description applies also to batch program launches. The difference is just that a single hotkey combination will launch up to
10 programs at the same time and the possibility to send text or keystrokes to
other applications. The programs and keys are set under section [userbat1] to
[userbat9] in the HiLaunch.cfg file. Delay is the number of seconds to pause after launching a program before launching the next program. The default value is 1 (i.e 1
second) but you can change it to any number e.g 3 or 0.6 or 0.75 or whatever positive integer or decimal number you like. WindowToExpect
is the title of the window to wait for. There are three window matching modes;
set the desired mode in the cfg file as value to WinTitleMatchMode under
[Options]. Mode 1 matches
partial titles from the start. In this mode a window titled Untitled -
Notepad would be matched by "Untitled - Notepad",
"Untitled", "Un", etc. Mode 2 (default) matches any
substring in the title. In this mode a window titled Untitled - Notepad
would be matched by "Untitled - Notepad", "Untitled",
"Notepad", "pad", etc. Mode 3 is the exact title match
mode.In this mode a window titled Untitled - Notepad would only
be matched by "Untitled - Notepad". TextOrKeyToSend contains the
keystrokes to send to the relevant application. Click here
for a partial list of the keys that you can send. WinWaitTimeout is the number
of minutes after which to stop waiting for the expected window and
continue with the script.
back to top
#################################################################
back to top
Sending keystrokes to other applications
HiLaunch is more than just a launcher! Let's take some examples on how to send keystrokes to other applications.
Example I: Open the HiLaunch.cfg file (e.g by pressing Win+F7 if HiLaunch is already running). Scroll down to section [userbat1]. Fill in the following:
[userbat1]
=========================================
GroupName="IUseIt"
hotkey="!u"
=========================================
ProgToRun1="notepad.exe"
WindowToExpect1="Untitled"
TextInWindow1=""
WinWaitTimeout1=2
TextOrKeyToSend1="I use HiLaunch."
Delay1=1
=========================================
=========================================
Leave the rest of the section [userbat1] untouched. Save the cfg file. Press refresh
(Ctrl+r). Wait until the message refreshed! pops up. Now press Alt+u
to test your script (because !u means Alt+u, see the APPENDIX). You will find that Notepad will be launched and
your message "I use HiLaunch." will be typed in. Note: do not use your keyboard or
mouse while this is going on. Press F7 (default) to see the updated menu. Note that to launch a program that is not integrated with
windows you must type the full path and not just the exe name. Click here
to see an example of how you can check your emails, but I suggest that you read
Example II first.
Example II
Let's expand the above example and send more text. Fill in everything exactly
as you see it below:
[userbat1]
=========================================
GroupName="IUseIt"
hotkey="!u"
=========================================
ProgToRun1="notepad.exe"
WindowToExpect1="Untitled"
TextInWindow1=""
WinWaitTimeout1=2
TextOrKeyToSend1="I use HiLaunch.{ENTER}"
Delay1=1
=========================================
=========================================
ProgToRun2=""
WindowToExpect2=""
TextInWindow2=""
WinWaitTimeout2=2
TextOrKeyToSend2="The time now is {F5}{ENTER}"
Delay2=1
=========================================
=========================================
ProgToRun3=""
WindowToExpect3=""
TextInWindow3=""
WinWaitTimeout3=2
TextOrKeyToSend3="Okay have a nice day{!}"
Delay3=5
=========================================
=========================================
ProgToRun4=""
WindowToExpect4=""
TextInWindow4=""
WinWaitTimeout4=2
TextOrKeyToSend4="!{F4}"
Delay4=1
=========================================
=========================================
ProgToRun5=""
WindowToExpect5=""
TextInWindow5=""
WinWaitTimeout5=2
TextOrKeyToSend5="n"
Delay5=1
=========================================
=========================================
Leave the rest of the section [userbat1] as it is. Save the file, exit HiLaunch
and start HiLaunch again. Wait until you get the welcome message "HiLaunch
is Up and Running". Now press Alt+u. Notepad will be launched,"I use
HiLaunch."
will be typed in, the enter key will be pressed, F5 will be pressed (you use F5
for time/date stamp in notepad), enter will be pressed, "Okay have a nice
day!" will be typed, there will be a 4 minutes pause, Alt+F4 will be
pressed so that you get the prompt to save your file, "n" (for no)
will be sent. Note: do not use your keyboard or mouse while this is going on.
Example III
Now let's check an email account at Yahoo! Suppose my username is HiLaunch and my password is kixhot and I would like to always check my Yahoo! account at the press of Ctrl+y. I would open HiLaunch.cfg in notepad and fill in the following.
[userbat2]
=========================================
GroupName="My Yahoo! Account"
hotkey="^y"
=========================================
ProgToRun1="http://mail.yahoo.com"
WindowToExpect1="Yahoo!"
TextInWindow1=""
WinWaitTimeout1=2
TextOrKeyToSend1="HiLaunch{TAB}kixhot{ENTER}"
Delay1=1
=========================================
=========================================
I would leave the rest of the section [userbat2] untouched, save the cfg file and press refresh (default refresh key is Ctrl+r). From now on, to check my Yahoo! account, all I have to do is press Ctrl+y, this will launch my browser, point it to Yahoo! mail, type in my username, press the tab key to move to the next field, type my password and then press enter and my Inbox will be opened. Try it yourself (but use your own username and password and not mine)! I am sure you can think of more complicated examples. Note that you can use the same hotkey to check many accounts, provided you fill them in under the same [userbat] section. In fact in each section you can check up to ten accounts. Note that you can do other things e.g. you can fill online forms, send your signature, launch several programs with one hotkey combination and send different keystrokes to different applications under the same [userbat] section etc. Just experiment a little to get used to HiLaunch. Note that there are nine [userbat] sections classified [userbat1] to [userbat9] and that the nine sections are independent of each other.
TIPS
If you think you have messed up the cfg file dont worry, just delete it. The next time you run
HiLaunch a new
cfg file will be created.
To update the hotkey changes you make in the cfg file (as well as changes in
options) press Refresh (Ctrl
+ r).
To release or unset the keys press Unset (Ctrl + Win + u). To restore them press Refresh (Ctrl + r).
The default hotkey for calling HiLaunch.cfg for editing is Win+F7 but you can change this in the
HiLaunch.cfg file.
If you want HiLaunch to load with windows at startup (recommended), change the
value of StartWithWindows in the [Options] section of the cfg file to 1 (the
default value is 0). This way HiLaunch will always star with windows and the hotkeys will always be available. Remember to
press refresh (Ctrl + r) after the change.
If you want a shortcut to HiLaunch on your desktop change the value of CreateDesktopShortcut to1 in the Options section. Press refresh (Ctrl+r) for the shortcut to be created immediately.
A Quich Help menu is displayed for about 10 seconds (or less if you click OK) everytime HiLaunch starts. If you dont want to see the Quick Help screen, just change the value of DisplayQuickHelp under Options section to 0.
By default HiLaunch places an icon in the system tray. If you would prefer this icon hidden, then open the cfg file (by pressing Win + F11) and change the value of hideicon to 1 in the [Options] section. The icon will not appear the next time you start HiLaunch.
You can hide the cfg file by setting the value of "hidecfgfile" to 1 in the [Options] section of the cfg file. To unhide, set the value to 0 (default). Remember to press refresh (Ctrl+r) for the change to take effect immediately.
Whether the HiLaunch icon is hidden or not you can exit HiLaunch with a hotkey (default is Win + q).
back to top
#################################################################
KNOWN ISSUES
The number of simultaneous hotkeys may not exceed 64.
###################################################################
LICENSE
HiLaunch is freeware. What you do with it is entirely up to you. Give copies to your friends and enemies and use for personal or commercial purposes!
Many thanks to Jonathan Bennett and his team (http://www.autoitscript.com/) for creating
AutoIt, the language of HiLaunch. If you have suggestions or comments or bug
reports, you can contact the author at <hotkicks@rushpost.com>.
###################################################################
DISCLAIMER
The author of HiLaunch can not be held responsible for any damage done to you or to your computer or computers as a result of using the program
HiLaunch. The author does not even guarantee that the program will work as described. You use the program entirely at your own risk.
back to top
APPENDIX
Partial list of special keys. Scroll down to see examples and note.
^ is the Ctrl Key
! is the Alt Key
# is the Win Logo Key
+ is the Shift Key
{ENTER} is the enter Key
{ESC} is the escape Key
{SPACE} is Spacebar
{F1} to {F12} are the function Keys
{NUMPAD0} to {NUMPAD9} are the numerical pad Keys.
{TAB} is tab
{BS} is BACKSPACE
{DEL} is DELETE
{BS} is BACKSPACE
{DEL} is DELETE
{HOME} is HOME
{END} is END
{INS} is INS
{PRINTSCREEN} is PRINTSCR
{UP} is arrow up
{DOWN} is arrow down
{LEFT} is arrow left
{RIGHT} is arrow right
{DEL 4}will press the delete key 4 times. Notice the space between DEL and 4.
{ENTER 2} will press the enter key 2 times. Notice the space between ENTER and
2.
{!} is !
{+} usually checks a checkbox
{-} usually unchecks a checkbox
{{} is {
Examples
I love HiLaunch{TAB} will send I love HiLaunch and press the Tab Key
I love HiLaunch{!} will send I love HiLaunch!
I love HiLaunch! will send I love HiLaunch and press the Alt key.
I love HiLaunch{ENTER 5} will send I love HiLaunch and press the Enter key five
times. Notice the space between ENTER and 5.
Note: To send ^,!,# and + , enclose them in curly braces, because when used by themselves they have special meanings in HiLaunch. For example {!} will send the exclamation symbol !, while ! used by itself without curly braces will press the Alt key; {^} will send the up caret symbol ^ while ^ by itself will send the Ctrl key; {#} will send the symbol # while # without braces will press the Windows Logo Key. To send the alphabets and numerals just type them as you normally would i.e. a is a, b is b, 1 is 1, 9 is 9, A is A, Z is Z etc.
Please send comments and suggesstions to <HotKicks@rushpost.com>