System/global variable??

[Allochthonous]

I have a script that copies text (a web address) out of a window and then pastes it into the Run box to open a web page. I want to be able to compare the contents of the clipboard to the contents of the clipboard of the previous execution, to verify they are not the same before opening the address. I need some place to store the URL at the end of each execution where it will stay until the next run.

Is this possible?

PK

[nitekram]

You can store it in a file and then read that file into a variable. Otherwise if the script does not close, you can save the URL in a temp variable to be used later for comparison.

[Allochthonous]

The script does close. That's why i can't save it in a temp variable.

I would prefer to have this be self contained in one file. Is saving the path in a file my only option to get it to be there for the next execution? Is there no Windows variable that can be set?

PK

[4ggr35510n]

There's a windows temp folder for files like that.

@TempDir

IniRead

IniWrite

[Allochthonous]

Could I see some sample code of how this is used?

[Danny35d]

I need some place to store the URL at the end of each execution where it will stay until the next run.

I would prefer to have this be self contained in one file.

Is this possible?

PK

Your script past a text into the Run box, then you can use RegRead() function. Your script can read this key 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RunMRU' and look at the value of MRUList. The first letter of MRUList value is the regkey for the last command use by the Run box.

[nitekram]

You can use a windows variable if you want, or the registry (but that is overkill)

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Displays, sets, or removes cmd.exe environment variables.

SET [variable=[string]]

  variable  Specifies the environment-variable name.
  string    Specifies a series of characters to assign to the variable.

Type SET without parameters to display the current environment variables.

If Command Extensions are enabled SET changes as follows:

SET command invoked with just a variable name, no equal sign or value
will display the value of all variables whose prefix matches the name
given to the SET command.  For example:

    SET P

would display all variables that begin with the letter 'P'

SET command will set the ERRORLEVEL to 1 if the variable name is not
found in the current environment.

SET command will not allow an equal sign to be part of the name of
a variable.

Two new switches have been added to the SET command:

    SET /A expression
    SET /P variable=[promptString]

The /A switch specifies that the string to the right of the equal sign
is a numerical expression that is evaluated.  The expression evaluator
is pretty simple and supports the following operations, in decreasing
order of precedence:

    ()                  - grouping
    ! ~ -               - unary operators
    * / %               - arithmetic operators
    + -                 - arithmetic operators
    << >>               - logical shift
    &                   - bitwise and
    ^                   - bitwise exclusive or
    |                   - bitwise or
    = *= /= %= += -=    - assignment
      &= ^= |= <<= >>=
    ,                   - expression separator

If you use any of the logical or modulus operators, you will need to
enclose the expression string in quotes.  Any non-numeric strings in the
expression are treated as environment variable names whose values are
converted to numbers before using them.  If an environment variable name
is specified but is not defined in the current environment, then a value
of zero is used.  This allows you to do arithmetic with environment
variable values without having to type all those % signs to get their
values.  If SET /A is executed from the command line outside of a
command script, then it displays the final value of the expression.  The
assignment operator requires an environment variable name to the left of
the assignment operator.  Numeric values are decimal numbers, unless
prefixed by 0x for hexadecimal numbers, and 0 for octal numbers.
So 0x12 is the same as 18 is the same as 022. Please note that the octal
notation can be confusing: 08 and 09 are not valid numbers because 8 and
9 are not valid octal digits.

The /P switch allows you to set the value of a variable to a line of input
entered by the user.  Displays the specified promptString before reading
the line of input.  The promptString can be empty.

Environment variable substitution has been enhanced as follows:

    %PATH:str1=str2%

would expand the PATH environment variable, substituting each occurrence
of "str1" in the expanded result with "str2".  "str2" can be the empty
string to effectively delete all occurrences of "str1" from the expanded
output.  "str1" can begin with an asterisk, in which case it will match
everything from the beginning of the expanded output to the first
occurrence of the remaining portion of str1.

May also specify substrings for an expansion.

    %PATH:~10,5%

would expand the PATH environment variable, and then use only the 5
characters that begin at the 11th (offset 10) character of the expanded
result.  If the length is not specified, then it defaults to the
remainder of the variable value.  If either number (offset or length) is
negative, then the number used is the length of the environment variable
value added to the offset or length specified.

    %PATH:~-10%

would extract the last 10 characters of the PATH variable.

    %PATH:~0,-2%

would extract all but the last 2 characters of the PATH variable.

Finally, support for delayed environment variable expansion has been
added.  This support is always disabled by default, but may be
enabled/disabled via the /V command line switch to CMD.EXE.  See CMD /?

Delayed environment variable expansion is useful for getting around
the limitations of the current expansion which happens when a line
of text is read, not when it is executed.  The following example
demonstrates the problem with immediate variable expansion:

    set VAR=before
    if "%VAR%" == "before" (
        set VAR=after
        if "%VAR%" == "after" @echo If you see this, it worked
    )

would never display the message, since the %VAR% in BOTH IF statements
is substituted when the first IF statement is read, since it logically
includes the body of the IF, which is a compound statement.  So the
IF inside the compound statement is really comparing "before" with
"after" which will never be equal.  Similarly, the following example
will not work as expected:

    set LIST=
    for %i in (*) do set LIST=%LIST% %i
    echo %LIST%

in that it will NOT build up a list of files in the current directory,
but instead will just set the LIST variable to the last file found.
Again, this is because the %LIST% is expanded just once when the
FOR statement is read, and at that time the LIST variable is empty.
So the actual FOR loop we are executing is:

    for %i in (*) do set LIST= %i

which just keeps setting LIST to the last file found.

Delayed environment variable expansion allows you to use a different
character (the exclamation mark) to expand environment variables at
execution time.  If delayed variable expansion is enabled, the above
examples could be written as follows to work as intended:

    set VAR=before
    if "%VAR%" == "before" (
        set VAR=after
        if "!VAR!" == "after" @echo If you see this, it worked
    )

    set LIST=
    for %i in (*) do set LIST=!LIST! %i
    echo %LIST%

If Command Extensions are enabled, then there are several dynamic
environment variables that can be expanded but which don't show up in
the list of variables displayed by SET.  These variable values are
computed dynamically each time the value of the variable is expanded.
If the user explicitly defines a variable with one of these names, then
that definition will override the dynamic one described below:

%CD% - expands to the current directory string.

%DATE% - expands to current date using same format as DATE command.

%TIME% - expands to current time using same format as TIME command.

%RANDOM% - expands to a random decimal number between 0 and 32767.

%ERRORLEVEL% - expands to the current ERRORLEVEL value

%CMDEXTVERSION% - expands to the current Command Processor Extensions
    version number.

%CMDCMDLINE% - expands to the original command line that invoked the
    Command Processor.

Edited September 23, 2010 by nitekram

[nitekram]

Function for script would be:

EnvSet

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Writes an environment variable.

EnvSet ( "envvariable" [, "value"] )

Parameters

envvariable Name of the environment variable to set.

value [optional] Value to set the environment variable to. If a value is not used the environment variable will be deleted.

Return Value

Success: Returns not 0.

Failure: Returns 0.

Remarks

A environment variable set in this way will only be accessible to programs that AutoIt spawns (Run, RunWait). Once AutoIt closes, the variables will cease to exist.

Related

EnvGet, EnvUpdate

Example

EnvSet("MYENV", "this is a test")

[GEOSoft]

$sIni = @ScriptDir & "\Settings.ini"
$sLastURL = IniRead($sIni, "Sites", "Last Viewed", "http:\autoitscript.com")
Local $sLink = ""
;;  In here is where you put your code for reading the page and then getting the link ($sLink).

If ShellExecute($sLink) Then
    $sLastUrl = $sLink
    IniWrite($sIni, "Sites", "last Viewed", $sLastUrl)
EndIf

Edit:

Forgot the code tages

Edited September 23, 2010 by GEOSoft

[Danny35d]

Like a mention on Post #6, you are using the Run box then you can read registry and found out what was the last command.

$MRUList = RegRead('HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RunMRU', 'MRUList')
$LastCommandRunBox = StringTrimRight(RegRead('HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RunMRU', StringLeft($MRUList, 1)), 2)

MsgBox(0, 'Run Box', $LastCommandRunBox)

[Allochthonous]

Danny, each URL starts with the same set of characters. There is no firm breaking point for when the characters become unique. I suppose I could compare the entire string.

It sounds like an evironmental variable will reset after the script runs, yes?

I think I've got it, but I would like you all to confirm. How do I post code like you did?

PK

[GEOSoft]

When you are making your post look for a button that resembles <> on the toolbar. select your code and click that button.

[GEOSoft]

Like a mention on Post #6, you are using the Run box then you can read registry and found out what was the last command.

$MRUList = RegRead('HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RunMRU', 'MRUList')
$LastCommandRunBox = StringTrimRight(RegRead('HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RunMRU', StringLeft($MRUList, 1)), 2)

MsgBox(0, 'Run Box', $LastCommandRunBox)

The way I understand it is, he wants to know the last URL visited from his script. reading the Registry won't work unless that URL happens to be the last thing he did. If he used Run to do anything else in the meantime then he's out of luck. You could also get the last URL visited out of the registry but again it's no good because if he visits a site from any place except his script then the information will be invalid. He has to store the info locally and then read it when he needs it. Edited September 23, 2010 by GEOSoft

[Allochthonous]

First off, thank you all for your help.

Here is what I have. It has not been tested.

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$bak = "" 
ClipPut("") ; clear the clipboard on each key press

$globalloc = @TempDir & "\urlpath.ini"
$lastrun = IniRead($globalloc,"Section1","URL", "FAIL")

If WinExists("Agent Desktop") THEN
    WinActivate("Agent Desktop")
    WinWaitActive("Agent Desktop")
    If WinActive("Agent Desktop") = 1 THEN
        Send("!{SPACE}x")
        WinWaitActive("Agent Desktop")
        $size = WinGetClientSize("Agent Desktop")
        IF ($size[0] > 900) AND ($size[1] > 600) THEN
            MouseClick("primary", 650, 500)
            Send("^a") ;select all
            Send("^c") ;copy
            $bak =  ClipGet() ;get contents of clipboard
            IF $bak <> $lastrun Then
                IF StringInStr($bak,"HTTP://") > 0 THEN
                    Send("#r") ;Start-Run
                    SEND("{DEL}") ;clear run box
                    Send("^v") ;paste
                    Send("{ENTER}") ;enter
                    IniDelete($globalloc,"Section1")
                    IniWrite($globalloc,"Section1","URL",$bak)
                ELSE 
                    MsgBox(4096, "Warning", "This is not valid URL.")
                ENDIf
            Else
                MsgBox(4096, "Warning", "This URL is a duplicate.")
            EndIf
        Else
            MsgBox(4096, "Warning", "Agent Desktop window is too small.")
        ENDIF
        ;ShellExecute("iexplore.exe",$bak, "C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer")
    Else    
        MsgBox(4096, "Warning", "Agent Desktop window is not active.")
    EndIf
Else
    MsgBox(4096, "Warning", "Agent Desktop window does not exist.")
EndIf

Edited September 23, 2010 by Allochthonous

[Allochthonous]

I tested the code above, and after changing

IF $bak <> $lastrun Then

to

IF StringInstr($bak,$lastrun) = 0 THEN

it seems to be working just fine.

Is there a way to programmatically clear the Run history?

PK

[Overkill]

You can use a windows variable if you want, or the registry (but that is overkill)

You rang?

I tested the code above, and after changing

IF $bak <> $lastrun Then

to

IF StringInstr($bak,$lastrun) = 0 THEN

it seems to be working just fine.

Is there a way to programmatically clear the Run history?

PK

Use the RegRead/RegDelete commands to check for and delete entries in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RunMRU

The key names used are MRUList and the letters a through z.

[Allochthonous]

Is there any way to clear the Run history without jacking with the registry? I don't think our IT folks would appreciate.