Learning To Script with AutoIt V3

[gaucho14]

very nice guide for all newbs inclunding myself. thank you lot brettf!

[BrettF]

Not a problem. Hope it taught you heaps!

Keep on learning

Brett

[nEcoder]

Not a problem. Hope it taught you heaps!

Keep on learning

Brett

I am new to the community and was searching for the noob section and ran across this book. I guess this is the

exact book that I need to get started. Reading most of the threads and everything seem to go right over my head.

I was second guessing my decision to go this route, but now I believe I am on the right track.

Now to sit down and get to studying. I have not read the material yet, so I can't comment on how helpful it will

be for me. However, reading the other comments, I think that I will be able to start at a level that is comfortable.

I wanted to thank you for the material before I shut everything down for my study period .

Thanks Brett!

[beerslayer]

Hi, all - n00b here so please bear with me if this is already answered elsewhere.

I have AutoIt v3.3.6.0 on my PC running Vista. I'm trying to work through this tutorial and I've run into a significant issue in only the second example script. I must be the only person experiencing this problem, since I don't see any other reports of it, but I cannot imagine what I might be doing wrong.

The second example script reads (with comments removed to save space):

Run("notepad.exe") 
WinWaitActive("Untitled - Notepad") 
Send("This is some text.") 
WinClose("Untitled - Notepad") 
WinWaitActive("Notepad", "Do you want to save") 
Send("!n")

When I run this script exactly as shown here, it pauses indefinitely at the "Do you want to save" dialog and never proceeds past that point.

I believe the problem has something to do with matching the space character in the text string. If I change line 5 in the above script to read:

WinWaitActive("Notepad", "Do")

the script runs properly to completion.

But simply adding back a single space:

WinWaitActive("Notepad", "Do ")

causes it to pause indefinitely again.

Is it possible that some change has been introduced in version 3.3.6.0 that is now causing this script from your tutorial to fail? Or am I doing something boneheaded (quite possible)?

[BrettF]

@nEcoder- Thanks! I hope it is what you are looking for.

@Beer Slayer- Welcome to the forums!

It seems to be related to Windows 7/Vista, as the text of the window isn't the same

From what I could see, what you did only worked because the visible text of the window contained "Do&n't Save" and the like.

So my updated code looks like:

Run("notepad.exe")
WinWaitActive("Untitled - Notepad")
Send("This is some text.")
WinClose("Untitled - Notepad")
WinWaitActive("Notepad", "Do&n't Save")
Send("!n")

I'm not a 100% sure what I want to do now, as it is a minor error. But on the plus side it has given me an idea for another section. Thanks

Cheers,

Brett

[GEOSoft]

@nEcoder- Thanks! I hope it is what you are looking for.

@Beer Slayer- Welcome to the forums!

It seems to be related to Windows 7/Vista, as the text of the window isn't the same

From what I could see, what you did only worked because the visible text of the window contained "Do&n't Save" and the like.

So my updated code looks like:

Run("notepad.exe")
WinWaitActive("Untitled - Notepad")
Send("This is some text.")
WinClose("Untitled - Notepad")
WinWaitActive("Notepad", "Do&n't Save")
Send("!n")

I'm not a 100% sure what I want to do now, as it is a minor error. But on the plus side it has given me an idea for another section. Thanks

Cheers,

Brett

Brett, can you use Opt("Wintitlematchmode", 2) in there to solve that problem? I think that should alow it to work on all of the versions.

[BrettF]

Brett, can you use Opt("Wintitlematchmode", 2) in there to solve that problem? I think that should alow it to work on all of the versions.

Nothing if I do it that way. Grrrrr.

[GEOSoft]

Nothing if I do it that way. Grrrrr.

Must be the work of that drunk monkey.

[beerslayer]

Brett and all - thanks for the quick responses!

It seems to be related to Windows 7/Vista, as the text of the window isn't the same

Isn't the same as what? Does this exact same script work in Windows XP or Windows 7?

This particular example is identical to the one in AutoIt's own help file, and the dialog on my screen looks exactly the same (pixel for pixel) as the one shown in that help file (my own screenshot is below). The screenshot used in AutoIt's help file was obviously taken from a computer running Vista (or possibly Win7 - I don't know what the dialog looks like there). The script example in the help file is the same as the one you give in your tutorial, and of course both fail in the same manner.

This is the dialog in question on my computer:

I find myself wondering if it ever worked as described - if the folks who wrote the help file ever actually tried the script in question. Is the OS version even a factor?

From what I could see, what you did only worked because the visible text of the window contained "Do&n't Save" and the like.

Entirely possible. I don't know that the space was the problem, but it seemed logical given the results I got.

So my updated code looks like:

Run("notepad.exe")
WinWaitActive("Untitled - Notepad")
Send("This is some text.")
WinClose("Untitled - Notepad")
WinWaitActive("Notepad", "Do&n't Save")
Send("!n")

This does work - thanks! But I'm still concerned that some functionality may have been lost... does this imply that it's not possible to match the actual text in this dialog, but only the text of the buttons/controls?

Have we found a bug in AutoIt v3.3.6.0?

Edited April 1, 2010 by beerslayer

[AdmiralAlkex]

This does work - thanks! But I'm still concerned that some functionality may have been lost... does this imply that it's not possible to match the actual text in this dialog, but only the text of the buttons/controls?

Have we found a bug in AutoIt v3.3.6.0?

There's no bug. If you start Au3Info you would see that the text is simply not seen. Look further and you would notice the DirectUIHWND class, which doesn't work like a normal control.

Just work around it.

[beerslayer]

There's no bug. If you start Au3Info you would see that the text is simply not seen. Look further and you would notice the DirectUIHWND class, which doesn't work like a normal control.

Just work around it.

It seems odd to me that they would use this exact example, complete with a Vista/Win7 screenshot, in the tutorial in AutoIt's own help file when it clearly does not work.

At the very least, we've found a bug in the documentation (and in this tutorial) that really, really ought to be fixed ASAP. A tutorial, of all places, is a very bad place for such an oversight.

[EnderWiggin]

Learning To Script with AutoIt V3

Document was last updated 17 February 2010

This document is for you if you are interested in learning to script with AutoIt. Where possible, I will try to assume that you have no prior coding experience and I aim to teach you some good general coding habits, which will be beneficial should you decide to move on to other languages.

Download here

Learning to Script with AutoIt V3 (Last Updated 17 Feb 2010).zip(Previous Versions = 10152)

The download contains the tutorial, example AU3 files contained in the text, printable exercise question/answer sheet and more.

If you encounter any issues, with the text, please post them, but this is not a thread for requsting help or requesting scripts. Please do not PM me either. We have this wonderful support forum, so use it!

Original Document: Alex Peters (LxP)

http://yallara.cs.rmit.edu.au/~apeters/

Updated By: Brett Francis (BrettF)

http://signa5.com

Thank you for this. Really appreciate all the learning resources you guys have assembled.

[BrettF]

Thank you for this. Really appreciate all the learning resources you guys have assembled.

Not a problem. As it seems, happy 15,000 downloads.... yay!

[BrettF]

Oh wow... Almost hit 20250... I meant to give a cookie to the lucky 20,000...

[GEOSoft]

Well send it over here instead.

[wangnjj]

I think this is an error:

Page 50 : Func _MaxOfTwo($nNumber1, $nNumber2, ByRef $vReturn)

ElseIf $nNumber1 = $nNumber2 Then; Number 2 is greater

$vReturn = $nNumber1

I consider : $vReturn = $nNumber2

Is it correct?

[BrettF]

Hi wangnjj,

Apologies for my late reply, I have been very busy as of late.

I see I made a few slip ups there. Noted in my copy, and will release when I have the time.

Cheers!

Brett

[djstick]

i'm sorry for my newb question, maybe this is a really silly question. Is the tutorial in .PDF? cuz i can't open it with acrobat reader. thx in advance

[guinness]

i'm sorry for my newb question, maybe this is a really silly question. Is the tutorial in .PDF? cuz i can't open it with acrobat reader. thx in advance

The download is a ZIP file, but the main content is in PDF format.

[djstick]

ok, but something's wrong with the .pdf i extracted the .zip file but when i try to open it says the file is not suported :S pls can the uploader post a new link?