Author Topic: NANY 2018 Release: WHAT (Windows Hotkey Activator Tool) (Read 43,712 times)

skwire · « **on:** January 01, 2018, 07:19 AM »

NANY 2018 Entry Information

Application Name	WHAT (Window Hotkey Activator Tool)
Supported OSes	Windows 7 (Probably works, but not tested, on Windows XP/Vista/8/10)
Web Page	Website
Download Link	Download
Author	Jody Holmes (Skwire Empire)

Description
Assign hotkeys to activate/focus windows. This was a recent request by stisev on 2017-12-20; the original thread was here.

Screenshots

Usage
Installation
Download the zip file and extract its contents into a new folder. Run What.exe to start the application.

Notes

The window matching comprises the following criteria: process name, window title, and window class. You will almost certainly have to play around a bit with the text to get certain windows to activate and, even then, some may not. Furthermore, you do not need to use all three criterion for a given hotkey. Don't be afraid to experiment.
While the add/edit hotkey dialog is open, all hotkeys are disabled. They are enabled after you click the save button or close the add/edit hotkey dialog.
Checkboxes in the main list enable and disable individual hotkeys.
You can assign the same hotkey to multiple entries and it will activate all the windows in top-down order. You can easily change the order in the list.
Check out the Options menu for a few usability options.
The hotkey selection GUI is such that you can specify just about any combination of keys, mouse buttons, and modifiers. Go crazy.

Uninstallation
Exit the application and delete the folder you unzipped it to.

skwire · « **Reply #1 on:** January 01, 2018, 07:20 AM »

*reserved*

mouser · « **Reply #2 on:** January 01, 2018, 09:08 AM »

Looks great! can't wait to hear the response from the person who requested this.

antekgla · « **Reply #3 on:** January 01, 2018, 03:23 PM »

It is great!
Thanks skwire!!

dcsev · « **Reply #4 on:** January 02, 2018, 05:47 AM »

Quote from: mouser on January 01, 2018, 09:08 AM

Looks great! can't wait to hear the response from the person who requested this.

That would be me

I am going to test this out at work. I have a feeling Citrix windows are going to be a royal PITA, but this will be very useful. Expect feedback in hopefully less than a week.

PS: mouser-- so I ripped every video from alejandra's youtube channel (alejandra.tv) and watched all of them at 2x speed. I find myself to represent the pinnacle of humankind when it comes to organization so I am a critic. She definitely is organized and I learned a few minor things here and there, but overall I don't like her system as much. She organized for sure, but definitely cluttered. She organizes just to be organized. I think her system wouldn't work as well in a small apt. Roughly 70% of the stuff she did I have digitalized in my computer. Anyways thanks again for the recommendation. Was fun watching her. She seems a little neurotic, but at 2x she sounds batshit insane . haha!

tomos · « **Reply #5 on:** January 04, 2018, 09:53 PM »

off-topic: sounds like you should start a thread about what you'd recommend for getting organised / clearing clutter

Quote from: dcsev on January 02, 2018, 05:47 AM

PS: mouser-- so I ripped every video from alejandra's youtube channel (alejandra.tv) and watched all of them at 2x speed. I find myself to represent the pinnacle of humankind when it comes to organization so I am a critic. She definitely is organized and I learned a few minor things here and there, but overall I don't like her system as much. She organized for sure, but definitely cluttered. She organizes just to be organized. I think her system wouldn't work as well in a small apt. Roughly 70% of the stuff she did I have digitalized in my computer. Anyways thanks again for the recommendation. Was fun watching her. She seems a little neurotic, but at 2x she sounds batshit insane . haha!

tomos · « **Reply #6 on:** January 04, 2018, 10:04 PM »

Working well here skwire with the one window I tried it with (wraith's Plain Tasks)

skwire · « **Reply #7 on:** January 04, 2018, 10:58 PM »

Quote from: tomos on January 04, 2018, 10:04 PM

Working well here skwire with the one window I tried it with (wraith's Plain Tasks)

Good to hear. Thanks for the report.

israu · « **Reply #8 on:** January 11, 2018, 12:45 AM »

Great! l'm looking for this type software.

israu · « **Reply #9 on:** January 11, 2018, 07:46 AM »

For the item which don't have 'Title' content, it works not very well, it can't be switched most time.

Ath · « **Reply #10 on:** January 11, 2018, 08:02 AM »

Win+P is a Windows predefined hotkey, at least from Windows 8 and later (you seem to be on Windows 7 though), you might want to avoid confusion or try another hotkey to see if that might work better

mat2016 · « **Reply #11 on:** January 11, 2018, 10:51 PM »

Nice program, I took a different approach with Shortcuts Creator which allows users to generate short hotstrings to launch folders, documents, webpages or programs.

Users can drag files, programs or shortcuts to the main window and it will prompt for what letters they want to use to launch those items. The hotstrings are prefaced with a single letter which denotes what type of item is being launched: (f)olders, (r) programs, (w) web pages and (d) documents.

For exe, the hotstring code looks for an existing program window before launching and just makes it the active window if it exists.

Users can type the hotstring in the raw, which works in most places, or they can press both Shift keys to display a launcher window, just type in the string to launch the item. If you are in Excel or PowerPoint the code will recover text are typing into a cell or a slide. That was the best method I could come up with. That code is in the myshortcuts.ahk file.

I use it all the time at work to either launch an item or put that window on top.

Cheers

skwire · « **Reply #12 on:** January 12, 2018, 12:58 AM »

Quote from: israu on January 11, 2018, 07:46 AM

For the item which don't have 'Title' content, it works not very well, it can't be switched most time.

I'm working on some internal changes that might help with this. Stay tuned.

Quote from: mat2016 on January 11, 2018, 10:51 PM

Nice program, I took a different approach with Shortcuts Creator which allows users to generate short hotstrings to launch folders, documents, webpages or programs.

Thanks, mat2016. A few years ago, I wrote a program called Splat that has some similarities to your program. You can check it out here: http://skwire.dcmembers.com/fp/?page=splat

skwire · « **Reply #13 on:** January 29, 2018, 05:08 PM »

Website | Download v1.0.2 - 2018-01-26 + Added per hotkey "Always on Top" option. (Thanks, anandcoral) + Added per hotkey "Minimize if active" option. + Added "Duplicate hotkey" option. * Improved the window activation code. Windows in the system tray should now have a much better chance of being activated.

rjbull · « **Reply #14 on:** April 08, 2018, 09:49 PM »

WHAT was featured in the UK magazine Computeractive. Screenshot of relevant portion of PDF scan attached here - there doesn't seem to be a way to attach a file in a PM, email or via the forum using Quote?

skwire · « **Reply #15 on:** April 08, 2018, 10:25 PM »

Quote from: rjbull on April 08, 2018, 09:49 PM

WHAT was featured in the UK magazine Computeractive.

Very cool. Thanks for the heads up.

mouser · « **Reply #16 on:** April 13, 2018, 01:07 PM »

Always really fun when an app is written up in a real print magazine..

Jessse Green · « **Reply #17 on:** April 13, 2018, 06:41 PM »

If I have multiple windows of the same application there is no way to restore/bring to front all of them (ie. if you have a window on each monitor). It works great for single windows right now, however!!

skwire · « **Reply #18 on:** April 13, 2018, 06:58 PM »

Quote from: Jessse Green on April 13, 2018, 06:41 PM

If I have multiple windows of the same application there is no way to restore/bring to front all of them (ie. if you have a window on each monitor). It works great for single windows right now, however!!

Hmmm...I should be able to make it do this as well. However, I won't be able to get to this until later this week so, if I don't have something by next weekend, please feel free to remind me.

Jessse Green · « **Reply #19 on:** April 13, 2018, 07:02 PM »

Awesome! No rush!

It would also be cool if the "match by title" accepted regex or had a couple checkboxes... "match anywhere in title" and/or "match case"

KodeZwerg · « **Reply #20 on:** June 05, 2018, 11:56 PM »

Hello, i am new to this Forum, i tried your WHAT and would like to share a found bug with you.

Reproducable:
Open App, Click where Mouse Shape becomes a Cross to select a window.
Press Multiple times key "Escape" = Application closes but Cross-Shape stays.

Rest of it works good as far as i tested in 10 minutes!

rlaksana · « **Reply #21 on:** April 19, 2019, 04:24 PM »

Thank you for creating this just what I'm looking for.

Is it possible to request a feature where it will launch the application if the window doesn't exist?

note: wow my first post after joining in 2007.

rqqt · « **Reply #22 on:** April 28, 2019, 04:29 PM »

BTW, FYI, here's a FOSS alternative:

"Win32 console application for manipulating program windows."

https://ritchielawrence.github.io/cmdow/

rlaksana · « **Reply #23 on:** May 04, 2019, 03:13 AM »

Quote from: rqqt on April 28, 2019, 04:29 PM

BTW, FYI, here's a FOSS alternative:

"Win32 console application for manipulating program windows."

https://ritchielawrence.github.io/cmdow/

wow very powerful. thank you.

AJolly · « **Reply #24 on:** October 18, 2019, 11:17 PM »

Quote from: rlaksana on April 19, 2019, 04:24 PM

Is it possible to request a feature where it will launch the application if the window doesn't exist?

Agreed, this would be useful