Want InputBox running in background

[swin4ort]

I want to start and leave running a minimized AutoIt InputBox program.

Users of a legacy app would (whenever necessary) maximize or alt-tab to the AutoIt program and enter an abbreviation such as USA (or any other abbreviation in a list).

The AutoIt program would then:

- convert eg "USA" to "United States of America"

- Send the expanded value for the abbreviation to the legacy application

- minimize itself again (or leave focus on the legacy app).

Whenever the user needed to expand another abbreviation; he would repeat the process.

My AutoIt program does everything except minimize the background AutoIt program.

The minimize function is greyed out when I check options with alt-spacebar.

Any ideas on how to run my AutoIt program as a helper to an existing application in this way?

Thanks

[scriptkitty]

try this out:

hotkeyset("{pause}","fillIn")
While 1
    sleep(10)
    tooltip("press pause for popup",0,0)
Wend





Func fillin()
    $title=WinGetTitle("","")
    tooltip("")
    $answer = InputBox("Question", "What word", "USA")
      If $answer="USA" Then $answer="United States of America"
  winactivate($title)
  send($answer,1)
EndFunc

instead of alt+tab, it uses the pause key, also records what window you were in when you hit pause, and sends that window your fix. You can set up an array of substitutions or maybe have it read a file.

Edited October 25, 2004 by scriptkitty

[JSThePatriot]

You beat me and even did a better code good job scriptkitty

JS

[swin4ort]

Thanks - elegant and works like a charm. swin4ort

Is there any way to make the tooltip continuously occupy the empty middle of the Windows bluebar in the legacy application that uses the AutoIt program?

[scriptkitty]

Not sure what you mean by empty bluebar. You can have the tooltip continously move to shoq in your active window title bar.

hotkeyset("{pause}","fillIn")
While 1
   sleep(10)
$pos=WinGetPos ( "","" )
   tooltip("press pause for popup",$pos[0]+100,$pos[1]+3); active window sticky
Wend

Func fillin()
   $title=WinGetTitle("","")
   tooltip("")
   $answer = InputBox("Question", "What word", "USA")
     If $answer="USA" Then $answer="United States of America"
 winactivate($title)
 send($answer,1)
EndFunc

[normeus]

THANK YOU scriptkitty, I will use your code.

p.s. Autoit3 is making me a lazy fat guy,...and I love it.

[swin4ort]

Thanks again - a little tweaking of the pos coordinates and the tooltip appears next to the last menu item in the row below the active menu and adds the missing function in a convenient location.

Sorry for all the additional questions, but...

Is there any way to make the tooltip background transparent so it will blend in with the underlying menu bar?

[scriptkitty]

I think it might be a built in function of windows, I am not sure.

You can change the color of the tool tip in the display settings. Control Panel>Display> Etc>Etc

I don't know of a way to make it transparent. You can make it the same color of the normal window title bar though.

[swin4ort]

Looks perfect with a grey tooltip background - my AutoIt helper program now looks like it was part of the original application - Many thanks for all your help.

[scriptkitty]

You can also have it show the tip only if the window is visable, or is active, etc.