AutoHotKey not working

Question

Hi, I use Studio 2019 and have just installed the AutoHotKey Manager plugin (and also the Microsoft program mentioned here: community.sdl.com/.../3171.ahk-plugin), but I cannot get it to work. I have added 2 scripts which I found on other Studio support pages:

#IfWinActive ahk_exe SDLTradosStudio.exe
;------------------------------------------------------------------------------
;Go to next segment
;------------------------------------------------------------------------------
^{Down}::
Send ^{PgDn}
Send {Down}
Send ^{PgUp}
return

and

#IfWinActive ahk_exe SDLTradosStudio.exe
;------------------------------------------------------------------------------
;Go to previous segment
;------------------------------------------------------------------------------
^{Up}::
Send ^{PgUp}
Send {Up}
Send ^{PgDn}
return

Their effect should be to enable Ctrl+Up/Down to move one segment up or down in a text (regardless of whether or not the segment is confirmed or not - for some reason, the default Ctrl+Up/Down keyboard shortcuts in Studio jumps to next/previous unconfirmed segment even though this does not seem to be the intended behaviour), but they do not work. I even disabled the default Ctrl+Up/Down shortcuts in Studio's settings in order to avoid conflicts, but this did not change anything. Can anyone help with this, please? Of course, if anyone can tell me how to get the "normal" Studio shortcuts for "Move to Next/Previous Segment" to do exactly this rather than moving to next/previous unconfirmed segment, that would be great, although I would also like to get AutoHotKey Manager to work!

Thanks a lot in advance.

Best regards,
Dennis

Paul · Accepted Answer

Hi Dennis Boffy 
 
I guess the first thing is to make sure you actually installed AutoHotkey itself? The plugin is just a way to help manage the scripts, but you still need to have the AutoHotkey application installed in the first place. May be a silly question, but thought I'd check the obvious first. 
 
The shortcuts can be whatever you like... they are currently these: 
 
!right:: 
 
That means Alt+right arrow key 
 
!left:: 
 
Alt+left arrow key 
 
This might be useful for you: 
 
 www.autohotkey.com/.../Tutorial.htm

Stepan Konev · Answer

Ok, just open an empty Notepad file, paste this and then save with ahk extension: #IfWinActive ahk_exe SDLTradosStudio.exe ;------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ;Go to next segment with Ctrl+Down ;------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ^Down:: Send ^{PgDn} Send {Down} Send ^{PgUp} return #IfWinActive ahk_exe SDLTradosStudio.exe ;------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ;Go to previous segment with Ctrl+Up ;------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ^Up:: Send ^{PgUp} Send {Up} Send ^{PgDn} return Just tried it myself. Works 
 P.S. Check if the resulting Notepad file icon turns to a green square with letter H inside, and if it appears in your tray in the right lower corner after your launching it by double clicking.

Nora Díaz · Answer

Hi Dennis, 
 
It sounds like there may be a misunderstanding about how AHK scripts work. I see that both Paul and Stepan have posted the steps you need to follow to make it work, so I'll just summarize them below. I apologize if any of this is too obvious, but this was the hardest part for me to understand when I was first learning AutoHotkey. Once I understood this, then it was easy to start creating and running scripts. 
 
To create/run AHK scripts: 
 
1. Download and install AutoHotkey ( www.autohotkey.com/.../) . Don't expect to see anything happen after you've installed the program. It runs in the background and simply allows you to run scripts, but it doesn't have an interface per se. 
 
2. Go to a folder in Windows Explorer where you want to save your scripts. Right-click on an empty space and select New - AutoHotkey script, give your script a name. This will create a file with the ahk extension, which will be empty, except for a few lines that are standard to any AutoHotkey script. 
 
3. Open the file you've just created in a simple text editor, such as Notepad or Notepad++. 
 
4. Paste Stepan's code below the last line in the file. 
 
5. Save and close the file. 
 
6. Find the file again in Windows Explorer and double-click it. This is the key step to actually launch the script so it will work. 
 
7. Check in your system tray to see that the script is active by looking for a green square icon with a white H in it. From this icon you can also reload or exit the script by right-clicking it and choosing the appropriate action. 
 
Once you've done this, use the hotkey combination to execute the action.The script remains active until either you exit it or you restart your computer, in which case you have to double-click the file again to launch the script once more.

Paul · Answer

Hello Dennis Boffy

Try these which I use all the time:

;------------------------------------------------------------------------------
; Move to next segment
;------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#IfWinActive SDL Trados Studio
!right::
Send, {ctrl down}{pgdn}{ctrl up}
Send, {down}
Send, {ctrl down}{pgup}{ctrl up}
Return
#IfWinActive

;------------------------------------------------------------------------------
; Move to previous segment
;------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#IfWinActive SDL Trados Studio
!left::
Send, {ctrl down}{pgup}{ctrl up}
Send, {up}
Send, {ctrl down}{pgup}{ctrl up}
Return
#IfWinActive

Seems odd... but never fails for me.

Paul Filkin | RWS Group

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Trados Studio > 6. AutoHotKey

AutoHotKey not working