HotKeySet & underline on compile

[llewxam]

I have written a great inventory management app for my shop (which I plan on posting in its entirety once finished for you guys), and one of the last things I wanted to do was set hotkeys for certain functions. Odd thing, when NOT compiled, I run the scrip and all underlined letters show up fine using & in the button captions. Once compiled though, the underscores do not show up, until I run a function that closes and reopens the GUI.....HUH??

Please have a quick look, maybe I should be putting my HotKeySet statements somewhere else, but I have moved them around and the same thing always happens....

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#include <EditConstants.au3>
#include <WindowsConstants.au3>
#include <StaticConstants.au3>
#Include <GUIListBox.au3>
#include <GUIConstantsEx.au3>
#include <file.au3>
#include <array.au3>
#include <StaticConstants.au3>
#Include <ScreenCapture.au3>

$GUI = GUICreate("Inventory Manager Beta 30 06/30/2009", 520, 450)
GUICtrlCreateLabel("&Items:", 3, 0, 32, 17)
$Items = GUICtrlCreateList("", 0, 16, 250, 383)
$Add_Item = GUICtrlCreateButton("&Add Item", 260, 16, 75, 25)
$Delete_Item = GUICtrlCreateButton("&Delete Item", 348, 16, 75, 25)
$Edit_Item = GUICtrlCreateButton("&Edit Item", 436, 16, 75, 25)
GUICtrlCreateLabel("Item Properties:", 260, 48, 77, 17)
GUICtrlCreateLabel("Brand:", 260, 64, 35, 17)
GUICtrlCreateLabel("Description:", 360, 64, 55, 17)
GUICtrlCreateLabel("UPC:", 260, 104, 58, 17)
GUICtrlCreateLabel("Price:", 260, 144, 35, 17)

$brand = GUICtrlCreateEdit("", 260, 80, 100, 21,$ES_READONLY)
$description = GUICtrlCreateEdit("", 360, 80, 150, 21,$ES_READONLY)
$upc = GUICtrlCreateInput("", 260, 120, 250, 21,$ES_READONLY)
$price = GUICtrlCreateInput("", 260, 160, 250, 21,$ES_READONLY)

$namesearchinput = GUICtrlCreateInput("", 2, 400, 121, 21)
$namesearchbutton = GUICtrlCreateButton("Search &Name", 1, 424, 122, 25, 0)
$upcsearchinput = GUICtrlCreateInput("", 129, 400, 121, 21)
$upcsearchbutton = GUICtrlCreateButton("Search &UPC", 128, 424, 122, 25, 0)

GUICtrlCreateGroup("", 280, 242, 205, 35)
$eightylabels=GUICtrlCreateRadio("80 Labels",405,250,70,25)
$thirtylabels=GUICtrlCreateRadio("30 Labels",295,250,70,25)
GUISetState()

GUICtrlSetState($thirtylabels,$GUI_CHECKED)
$golayout=GUICtrlCreateButton("Go to &Print Layout",325,216,115,25);396,200     216
GUICtrlCreateLabel("*Make sure your web browser's print settings are:",259,285,270,17)
GUICtrlCreateLabel("     Left and Right .25""",259,305,270,17)
GUICtrlCreateLabel("     Top .53""",259,320,270,17)
GUICtrlCreateLabel("     Bottom .4""",259,335,270,17)
GUICtrlCreateLabel("These margins are needed to preserve the layout",259,355,270,17)
$changesettings=GUICtrlCreateButton("Change XML Save Path",386,395,125,25)
$loadbackup=GUICtrlCreateButton("Load Backup Inventory",386,424,125,25)
$makebackup=GUICtrlCreateButton("Back Up Inventory Data",253,424,130,25)

HotKeySet("^a","_AddItem")
HotKeySet("^d","_DelItem")
HotKeySet("^e","_EditItem")
HotKeySet("^p","_LayoutManager")
HotKeySet("^n","_NameSearch")
HotKeySet("^u","_UpcSearch")
HotKeySet("^i","_FocusItems")
HotKeySet("{ENTER}")
GUISetState(@SW_SHOW, $GUI)



While 1
    Switch GUIGetMsg()
        
        Case - 3
            Exit


        Case $Add_Item;done!
            _AddItem()
            
            
        Case $Delete_Item;done!
            _DelItem()
            
            
        Case $Edit_Item;done!
            _EditItem()


        Case $namesearchbutton;done!
            _NameSearch()
            

        Case $upcsearchbutton;done!
            _UpcSearch()


        Case $golayout 
            _LayoutManager()


        Case $Items;done!
            _Items()


    EndSwitch
WEnd

Func _additem()
EndFunc
func _delitem()
EndFunc
func _edititem()
EndFunc
func _layoutmanager()
EndFunc
func _namesearch()
EndFunc
func _upcsearch()
EndFunc
func _focusitems()
EndFunc

Obviously I Stripped out all of the good stuff, just since this is a question on HotKeySet and not the functionality....

Thanks for any help!

Ian

[Melba23]

llewxam,

Both your script and the compiled .exe show the underscores for me - once I have pressed Alt, of course.

M23

[PsaltyDS]

I think you are confusing HotKeySet() with GuiSetAccelerators(), and since you want these associated with your GUI and not just anything on the desktop, you should try it with GuiSetAccelerators() instead.

[llewxam]

@Melba23:

Very interesting about Alt, I didn't realize that would set it off.... So my solution that I just tested - throw a " Send("{ALT}") " in there after GUISetState and compiled, bing. Thank you for your help again, this is the second time you had a good response for me.

@PsaltyDS:

Thanks for your suggestion as well, I'll check the help file on that and see what it is all about,m never came across that one yet...

Ian

[llewxam]

ggrrrrr, sorry to reopen this question, but I thought my " Send("{ALT}") " was a fix, but I guess the crack had me seeing things

Is there a reliable way to get around having to hit ALT to get the underscores to show up the first time? Melba23 said "once I have pressed Alt, of course" and the "of course" part has me a bit worried...... Like it is well known, and just the way it is.

Thanks for any advice

Ian

[Melba23]

llewxam,

I must say that I thought pressing 'Alt' to get the underscores was one of those "Windows things", like using 'Ctrl' for multiple selections.

However, a bit of Googling suggests that it is more complex. Word, for example, has the underscores visible all the time, so there must be something (no doubt in the registry) that turns them on/off for an application.

I did find the following which makes the underscores visible in everything on the machine:

In XP: "Control panel" -> "Appearance" -> "Effects" and unselect "Hide keyboard navigation indicators until I use the Alt key"

In Vista: "Control panel" -> "Ease of Access" -> "Ease of Access Center" -> "Make the keyboard easier to use" and select "Underline keyboard shortcuts and access keys"

Trust MS to make the 2 checkboxes work in the opposite sense! No doubt there is something in the registry as well, but I really dislike messing around in there - and anyway you might well annoy your users if you set their entire machine to "underscores visible". ;-)

I hope this explains a bit more about the matter, even if it does not really help much in the case of your specific application.

M23

[llewxam]

llewxam,

I must say that I thought pressing 'Alt' to get the underscores was one of those "Windows things", like using 'Ctrl' for multiple selections.

However, a bit of Googling suggests that it is more complex. Word, for example, has the underscores visible all the time, so there must be something (no doubt in the registry) that turns them on/off for an application.

I did find the following which makes the underscores visible in everything on the machine:

In XP: "Control panel" -> "Appearance" -> "Effects" and unselect "Hide keyboard navigation indicators until I use the Alt key"

In Vista: "Control panel" -> "Ease of Access" -> "Ease of Access Center" -> "Make the keyboard easier to use" and select "Underline keyboard shortcuts and access keys"

Trust MS to make the 2 checkboxes work in the opposite sense! No doubt there is something in the registry as well, but I really dislike messing around in there - and anyway you might well annoy your users if you set their entire machine to "underscores visible". ;-)

I hope this explains a bit more about the matter, even if it does not really help much in the case of your specific application.

M23

Dude, that's nuts! That does help explain a lot. I guess what I'll do is find the registry key(s) responsible and put an option to set the key(s) in my Change Settings tab, that way the user can choose if they want to set the flag or not......

Thanks again. Again.

Ian

[llewxam]

Incase anyone was curious and unable to find the right key, RegShot showed me where to go in HKEY_USERS, but since that would be a bad way to apply this kind of change on different machines due to the numbers (User IDs?) being different, you can set the value in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop "UserPreferencesMask". There is a document available at http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showto...rt=#entry578901 which describes the "bitmask", but not knowing what to do there, I just changed the value as M23 described above, and checked the result in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\. The default value is 9E3E0780, if changed to BE3E0780 the change is made after a reboot. So, in AutoIt that translated in to

RegDelete("HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop","UserPreferencesMask");remove old value
RegWrite("HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop","UserPreferencesMask","REG_Binary",Dec("80073EBE"))

Not quite sure why, but I had to reverse the order of the value, but it works so I'm happy. Hopefully this can help someone else.

As another suggestion, instead of doing a full restart, logging off and back in will apply the change as well, restarting explorer.exe wasn't enough. So, throwing a quick MsgBox asking if you want to restart after applying the change, followed by "Shutdown(0)" if answered Yes will save some time.

Ian

[llewxam]

Never one to leave good enough alone, I stumbled across this:

http://www.powerbasic.com/support/pbforums...amp;postcount=3

I tried monkeying around with SendMessage a bit but didn't have any success, attempt was more or less a direct copy::

Opt("WinTitleMatchMode", 4)
$hwnd = WinGetHandle('classname=Progman')
_SendMessage($hwnd, "WM_CHANGEUISTATE", "MakLng(UIS_CLEAR", "UISF_HIDEFOCUS Or UISF_HIDEACCEL")

Sorry to keep slogging through this, but this seems so much cleaner, and might be much more helpful in the long run to get figured out for everyone...but don't know the first thing about SendMessage and didn't learn how to do it with the time I had to put in.......

Thanks

Ian

[Melba23]

llewxam,

More Googling has thrown up the possibility that those apps which do display underscores permanently may well be using non-standard menus rather than the normal Windows ones that AutoIt uses.

I have been playing with WM_CHANGEUISTATE for some time on various windows, both from SciTE and from compiled exes with no luck - although that might be down to my coding! ;-0

So I think you are limited to the global windows "Appearance" registry key - if you are prepared to change the users entire setup for this one thing.

M23

P.S. Here is the code I was testing, by the way:

#include <SendMessage.au3>

Const $WM_CHANGEUISTATE = 0x127
Const $WM_UPDATEUISTATE = 0x128

$hGUI = GUICreate("Test", 500, 500)

$mFile_Menu = GUICtrlCreateMenu("&File")
$hLabel = GUICtrlCreateLabel("", 10, 10, 200, 20)

GUISetState()

$hWnd = WinGetHandle("Test", "")
ConsoleWrite($hWnd & @CRLF)

Sleep(5000)

GUICtrlSetData($hLabel, "Showing Underscores")
; wParam should be (high) UISF_HIDEACCEL (low) UIS_CLEAR because we want accels shown
; wParam =       (high) &H2         (low) 2  = 0x20002
_SendMessage($hWnd, $WM_CHANGEUISTATE, 0x20002, 0)
; Try UPDATE which should tell child windows to do the same
_SendMessage($hWnd, $WM_UPDATEUISTATE, 0x20002, 0)

Sleep(5000)

GUICtrlSetData($hLabel, "Hiding Underscores")
; wParam should be (high) UISF_HIDEACCEL (low) UIS_SET because we want accels hidden
; wParam =       (high) &H2         (low) 1  = 0x20001
_SendMessage($hWnd, $WM_CHANGEUISTATE, 0x20001, 0)
_SendMessage($hWnd, $WM_UPDATEUISTATE, 0x20001, 0)

Sleep(5000)

Exit

And here is the MSDN data for the message:

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SendMessage(
    (HWND) hWndControl,   // handle to destination control
    (UINT) WM_CHANGEUISTATE,      // message ID
    (WPARAM) wParam,      // = (WPARAM) () wParam;
    (LPARAM) lParam   // = (LPARAM) () lParam;

wParam
The low-order word specifies the action to be taken. This member can be one of the following values.

UIS_CLEAR
The UI state flags specified by the high-order word should be cleared.
UIS_INITIALIZE
The UI state flags specified by the high-order word should be changed based on the last input event. For more information, see Remarks.
UIS_SET
The UI state flags specified by the high-order word should be set.

The high-order word specifies which UI state elements are affected or the style of the control. This member can be one or more of the following values.

UISF_HIDEACCEL
Keyboard accelerators are hidden.
UISF_HIDEFOCUS
Focus indicators are hidden.
UISF_ACTIVE
Windows XP: A control should be drawn in the style used for active controls.

lParam
Not used. Must be set to 0


WM_CHANGEUISTATE = &H127
Enum WM_CHANGEUISTATE_low As Short
    UIS_CLEAR = 2
    UIS_INITIALIZE = 3
    UIS_SET = 1
End Enum
Enum WM_CHANGEUISTATE_high As Short
    UISF_HIDEACCEL = &H2
    UISF_HIDEFOCUS = &H1
    UISF_ACTIVE = 4
End Enum

[llewxam]

llewxam,

More Googling has thrown up the possibility that those apps which do display underscores permanently may well be using non-standard menus rather than the normal Windows ones that AutoIt uses.

I have been playing with WM_CHANGEUISTATE for some time on various windows, both from SciTE and from compiled exes with no luck - although that might be down to my coding! ;-0

So I think you are limited to the global windows "Appearance" registry key - if you are prepared to change the users entire setup for this one thing.

M23

P.S. Here is the code I was testing, by the way:

#include <SendMessage.au3>

Const $WM_CHANGEUISTATE = 0x127
Const $WM_UPDATEUISTATE = 0x128

$hGUI = GUICreate("Test", 500, 500)

$mFile_Menu = GUICtrlCreateMenu("&File")
$hLabel = GUICtrlCreateLabel("", 10, 10, 200, 20)

GUISetState()

$hWnd = WinGetHandle("Test", "")
ConsoleWrite($hWnd & @CRLF)

Sleep(5000)

GUICtrlSetData($hLabel, "Showing Underscores")
; wParam should be (high) UISF_HIDEACCEL (low) UIS_CLEAR because we want accels shown
; wParam =       (high) &H2         (low) 2  = 0x20002
_SendMessage($hWnd, $WM_CHANGEUISTATE, 0x20002, 0)
; Try UPDATE which should tell child windows to do the same
_SendMessage($hWnd, $WM_UPDATEUISTATE, 0x20002, 0)

Sleep(5000)

GUICtrlSetData($hLabel, "Hiding Underscores")
; wParam should be (high) UISF_HIDEACCEL (low) UIS_SET because we want accels hidden
; wParam =       (high) &H2         (low) 1  = 0x20001
_SendMessage($hWnd, $WM_CHANGEUISTATE, 0x20001, 0)
_SendMessage($hWnd, $WM_UPDATEUISTATE, 0x20001, 0)

Sleep(5000)

Exit

And here is the MSDN data for the message:

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SendMessage(
    (HWND) hWndControl,   // handle to destination control
    (UINT) WM_CHANGEUISTATE,      // message ID
    (WPARAM) wParam,      // = (WPARAM) () wParam;
    (LPARAM) lParam   // = (LPARAM) () lParam;

wParam
The low-order word specifies the action to be taken. This member can be one of the following values.

UIS_CLEAR
The UI state flags specified by the high-order word should be cleared.
UIS_INITIALIZE
The UI state flags specified by the high-order word should be changed based on the last input event. For more information, see Remarks.
UIS_SET
The UI state flags specified by the high-order word should be set.

The high-order word specifies which UI state elements are affected or the style of the control. This member can be one or more of the following values.

UISF_HIDEACCEL
Keyboard accelerators are hidden.
UISF_HIDEFOCUS
Focus indicators are hidden.
UISF_ACTIVE
Windows XP: A control should be drawn in the style used for active controls.

lParam
Not used. Must be set to 0


WM_CHANGEUISTATE = &H127
Enum WM_CHANGEUISTATE_low As Short
    UIS_CLEAR = 2
    UIS_INITIALIZE = 3
    UIS_SET = 1
End Enum
Enum WM_CHANGEUISTATE_high As Short
    UISF_HIDEACCEL = &H2
    UISF_HIDEFOCUS = &H1
    UISF_ACTIVE = 4
End Enum

Nope, your test didn't do it for me. For now I have 2 options available - either offer the user to change the setting for them and do a Windows Logoff which will apply the setting, or send ALT-p (or any accelerator not actually in use) and they wake up. Before I thought ALT alone was working but wasn't, but ALT-P definately does, but introduces a very slight pause in the app. Oh well, big deal, I'll probably just script things so:

If the setting is wrong, offer to fix it

if fixed, offer to log out

if neither, send ALT-P

Unless you can come up with the winning _SendMessage, I think this is the way for now....

Thanks again

Ian

[llewxam]

I think you are confusing HotKeySet() with GuiSetAccelerators(), and since you want these associated with your GUI and not just anything on the desktop, you should try it with GuiSetAccelerators() instead.

I switched from HotKeySet to GuiSetAccelerators as you suggested, thank you very much for the tip, I could have unintentionally caused quite a bit of chaos with HotKeySet!! But, it looks like I can not use Enter as an Accelerator, is that right? The following does not work with Accelerators, but did with HotKeys:

dim $accelkeys[2][2]=[["^g","_GenerateUPC"],["{ENTER}","_Go"]]
GUISetAccelerators($accelkeys)

Thanks

Ian

[PsaltyDS]

I switched from HotKeySet to GuiSetAccelerators as you suggested, thank you very much for the tip, I could have unintentionally caused quite a bit of chaos with HotKeySet!! But, it looks like I can not use Enter as an Accelerator, is that right? The following does not work with Accelerators, but did with HotKeys:

dim $accelkeys[2][2]=[["^g","_GenerateUPC"],["{ENTER}","_Go"]]
GUISetAccelerators($accelkeys)

Thanks

Ian

Yes, you can use ENTER, but the accelerator key is associated with a control ID, not directly to the function to be called:

#include <GuiConstantsEx.au3>

Opt("GuiOnEventMode", 1)

$hGUI = GUICreate("Test", 350, 300)
GUISetOnEvent($GUI_EVENT_CLOSE, "_Quit")
$ctrlGenUPC = GUICtrlCreateButton("Gen UPC", 50, 50, 100, 30)
GUICtrlSetOnEvent(-1, "_GenerateUPC")
$ctrlGo = GUICtrlCreateButton("GO", 200, 50, 100, 30); Hidden "GO" button
GUICtrlSetOnEvent(-1, "_GO")
GUICtrlSetState(-1, $GUI_HIDE)

GUISetState()

dim $accelkeys[2][2]=[["^g", $ctrlGenUPC], ["{ENTER}", $ctrlGo]]
GUISetAccelerators($accelkeys, $hGUI)

While 1
    Sleep(10)
WEnd

Func _Quit()
    Exit
EndFunc

Func _GenerateUPC()
    ConsoleWrite("_GenerateUPC()" & @LF)
EndFunc

Func _Go()
    ConsoleWrite("Go()" & @LF)
EndFunc

[llewxam]

Yes, you can use ENTER, but the accelerator key is associated with a control ID, not directly to the function to be called:

#include <GuiConstantsEx.au3>

Opt("GuiOnEventMode", 1)

$hGUI = GUICreate("Test", 350, 300)
GUISetOnEvent($GUI_EVENT_CLOSE, "_Quit")
$ctrlGenUPC = GUICtrlCreateButton("Gen UPC", 50, 50, 100, 30)
GUICtrlSetOnEvent(-1, "_GenerateUPC")
$ctrlGo = GUICtrlCreateButton("GO", 200, 50, 100, 30); Hidden "GO" button
GUICtrlSetOnEvent(-1, "_GO")
GUICtrlSetState(-1, $GUI_HIDE)

GUISetState()

dim $accelkeys[2][2]=[["^g", $ctrlGenUPC], ["{ENTER}", $ctrlGo]]
GUISetAccelerators($accelkeys, $hGUI)

While 1
    Sleep(10)
WEnd

Func _Quit()
    Exit
EndFunc

Func _GenerateUPC()
    ConsoleWrite("_GenerateUPC()" & @LF)
EndFunc

Func _Go()
    ConsoleWrite("Go()" & @LF)
EndFunc

SCHWEEEET, thanks! I hate it when I miss the obvious info in the help file, but I'm thankful that the forum users can keep me moving!

Thanks again

Ian