Is AutoIt a good fit for what I want to do?

[Jambon28]

Hi everyone,

 

First of all, thank you for having me onboard, that's my first message here, and I'm not sure I'm posting in the correct section so, I apology if this is  not the correct section.

Here is an explanation of what I try to do:

I find myself changing my display settings several times a day, so I'm currently looking for a way to record these actions in a kind of macro-command.
The idea is to record what I'm doing in an executable file so that all I have to do is execute the file to have all the actions automatically done in one step, instead of doing them manually one by one.

Basically the actions I'm taking and I'd like to record in my macro-command are:
_ I right click on the desktop
_ I choose "Display settings"
_  I choose "Multiple displays", and I change from "Show only on 1" to "Extend these displays" (or vice versa)

Can you please tell me if AutoIt would be a good fit for this purpose, and what would be the steps to take in order to achieve my goal?

I have very basic coding skills (I did a bit of Python) and I first want to know is AutoIt is able to do this or not before I even try to use it.

Thanks a lot in advance!

 

[Earthshine]

Sure it should be able to do that but it is interesting that you change your settings multiple times a day. I find that puzzling. You’re going to want to search for UI automation in the FAQ 31 area

[Danp2]

I haven't researched this, but I imagine that it is possible to complete these actions without resorting to scripting the GUI. Maybe a registry edit or a setting you can toggle using an existing command line utility.

[Earthshine]

yeah, go with that instead of UI Automation if you can. from what I have seen in google search UIAutomation looks like the way

Edited August 6, 2021 by Earthshine

[seadoggie01]

1 hour ago, Earthshine said:

it is interesting that you change your settings multiple times a day

I actually used to do this as well. I have two computers and two monitors. In the morning I switch to my work computer by moving the cords from my personal computer. Windows politely remembers your last screen setup, but if you don't plug them in simultaneously then it's two changes.

DisplaySwitch.exe is what you're looking for from what I can tell. It won't let you select your primary display, but you can choose how your second screens are used.

DISPLAYSWITCH - Windows CMD - SS64.com

If you do want to change your primary display at the same time, I think UI Automation or some 3rd party apps are required. StackOverflow is failing me by providing the same answer repeatedly

Edit: This will jump you directly to the display settings screen

rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL desk.cpl

Edited August 6, 2021 by seadoggie01

[Nine]

That code could give you a head start...

[Earthshine]

Yeah I found this utility from that thread

https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/control_my_monitor.html

 

You can control it via the command line so you could do it in AutoIT very easily

Edited August 6, 2021 by Earthshine

[Jambon28]

Thanks a lot @Earthshine, it works like a  charm!
I now use MultiMonitorTool.exe to enable/disable monitors and on Nirsoft website I also found this very handy utility: soundvolumeview-x64

I use it to quickly swap my sound output device.

Thanks a lot to all of you guys, what an awesome community!

[Nine]

For those who may be interested, just made an example script using the same API as the tool mentioned by @Earthshine, but without any external software...

 

[Nine]

 Just noticed there is a small bug in nirsoft tool.  In the VCP string of capabilities of my primary monitor, there is no space between one capability and the next :

Quote

(vcp(02 04 05 08 10 12 14(01 05 06 08 0B) 16 18 1A 60(01 03)6C 6E 70 C8 9B 9D 9F 9C A0 9EB0 B6 DF)prot(monitor)type(LCD)cmds(01 02 03 07 0C F3)mccs_ver(2.1)asset_eep(64)mpu_ver(V2.00)model(SA240Y bid)mswhql(1))

Nirsoft omits the 6C capability !  Funny...

[argumentum]

On 8/8/2021 at 4:10 AM, Jambon28 said:

I also found this very handy utility: soundvolumeview-x64

😛