Marking "Find and Replace" checkboxes as checked.

Question

I am trying to write an Autohotkey 2.0 script that opens the "Find and Replace" window and marks two checkboxes as checked: WinActivate "Trados Studio - "
 WinWaitActive "Trados Studio - ", , 4
 Send("^f")
 WinWaitActive "Find and Replace", , 4
 ControlSetChecked 1, "&Match case", "Find and Replace"
 ControlSetChecked 1, "M&atch whole word", "Find and Replace"
 ControlSetChecked 1, "&Target", "Find and Replace" The first time when I run it, it works great. But second time the checkboxes get unchecked. Does anyone have an idea what could be the problem?

Paul · Answer

Andrus Lauringson 
 Untested (AI Solution) but... 
 ControlSetChecked "&Match case", 1, "Find and Replace"
ControlSetChecked "M&atch whole word", 1, "Find and Replace"
ControlSetChecked "&Target", 1, "Find and Replace" 
 In AutoHotkey v2.0, ControlSetChecked expects the control identifier first, then the checked state value, then the window title. By putting 1 first and the control name second, AutoHotkey is interpreting the control name as a non-numeric checked value, which causes it to toggle instead of explicitly setting the state.

Paul · Answer

Andrus Lauringson 
 ok - I played with this a bit this morning. The problems you have are these:

Chrome-Rendered UI : Trados Studio's Find and Replace dialog uses Chrome/Chromium rendering (Chrome_RenderWidgetHostHWND) rather than standard Windows controls.c This means AutoHotkey's standard control commands like ControlSetChecked cannot access or manipulate the checkboxes - they're rendered inside a web-like container that AutoHotkey sees as a single opaque element. 
 Persistent State Issue : Even if the controls were accessible, Trados Studio remembers checkbox states between uses. The original assumption was that ControlSetChecked 1 would set a checkbox to "checked", but in practice it was toggling the state. First run would check them, second run would uncheck them. 
 
 So after playing around a bit I think the most reliable solution for you is to use tab navigation because it simulates actual keyboard input that the Chrome-rendered interface can interpret. And using a Double Space technique ({Space}{Space}) ensures checkboxes always end up checked regardless of their initial state: 
 
 First space: Unchecks if currently checked (or checks if unchecked) 
 Second space: Always checks (since after first space it's definitely unchecked) 
 
 This approach bypasses both problems because it doesn't need direct control access, and it handles the persistent state issue by ensuring a consistent end state rather than toggling. 
 The script that seems to work for me is this: 
 ;------------------------------------------------------------------------------
; Set up find & replace with a couple of preset options
;------------------------------------------------------------------------------

WinActivate "Trados Studio - "
WinWaitActive "Trados Studio - ", , 4
Send("^f")
WinWaitActive "Find and Replace", , 4
Sleep(200)

; Navigate to Match case - uncheck then check
Send("{Tab 4}")
Send("{Space}{Space}") ; Two spaces: first unchecks (if checked), second checks

; Navigate to Match whole word - uncheck then check
Send("{Tab}")
Send("{Space}{Space}") ; Two spaces: first unchecks (if checked), second checks

Paul · Answer

Andrus Lauringson 
 I was quite intrigued by this exercise so I used AI to create a script that could capture everything AHK could pick up under a mouse position and copy it to my clipboard. Then tested a checked box and a non-checked box to see if anything there could be accessible. 
 Checked: 
 ========== WINDOW SPY CAPTURE ==========
Capture Time: 20250807105616

--- MOUSE POSITION ---
Screen: X: 25 Y: 178

--- WINDOW INFORMATION ---
Title: Find and Replace
Class: WindowsForms10.Window.8.app.0.ea119_r8_ad1
Process: SDLTradosStudio.exe
PID: 15872
ID: 266550

Window Position: X: 1043 Y: 131
Window Size: W: 283 H: 371

--- CONTROL UNDER MOUSE ---
ClassNN: 7475458
Text: &Match case
Control Pos (relative): X: 21 Y: 169
Control Size: W: 82 H: 17
Enabled: Yes
Visible: Yes
Checked: No
Style: 0x5601000B

--- PIXEL INFORMATION ---
Color at cursor: 0xFFFFFF (Hex: 0xFFFFFF)

--- ALL CONTROLS IN WINDOW ---
Total Controls: 23
1: WindowsForms10.SysTabControl32.app.0.ea119_r8_ad11
2: WindowsForms10.Window.8.app.0.ea119_r8_ad11 - Text: Find
3: WindowsForms10.Window.8.app.0.ea119_r8_ad12
4: WindowsForms10.Window.8.app.0.ea119_r8_ad13
5: WindowsForms10.STATIC.app.0.ea119_r8_ad11 - Text: &Find what:
6: WindowsForms10.Window.8.app.0.ea119_r8_ad14 - Text: Find &options
7: WindowsForms10.Window.8.app.0.ea119_r8_ad15
8: WindowsForms10.Window.8.app.0.ea119_r8_ad16
9: WindowsForms10.BUTTON.app.0.ea119_r8_ad11 - Text: &Match case
10: WindowsForms10.BUTTON.app.0.ea119_r8_ad12 - Text: M&atch whole word
11: WindowsForms10.COMBOBOX.app.0.ea119_r8_ad11 - Text: Wildcards
12: WindowsForms10.BUTTON.app.0.ea119_r8_ad13 - Text: &Use:
13: WindowsForms10.BUTTON.app.0.ea119_r8_ad14 - Text: Search u&p
14: WindowsForms10.COMBOBOX.app.0.ea119_r8_ad12 - Text: driven
15: Edit1 - Text: driven
16: WindowsForms10.STATIC.app.0.ea119_r8_ad12 - Text: &Look in:
17: WindowsForms10.COMBOBOX.app.0.ea119_r8_ad13 - Text: Current Document
18: WindowsForms10.Window.8.app.0.ea119_r8_ad17
19: WindowsForms10.BUTTON.app.0.ea119_r8_ad15 - Text: &Source
20: WindowsForms10.BUTTON.app.0.ea119_r8_ad16 - Text: &Target
... and 3 more controls

--- WINDOW TEXT (first 500 chars) ---
Find
&Find what:
Find &options
&Match case
M&atch whole word
Wildcards
&Use:
Search u&p
driven
driven
&Look in:
Current Document
&Source
&Target
Find &Next
&Close
&Help

--- SPECIAL DETECTIONS ---
⚠ .NET Windows Forms detected
⚠ Unusual numeric ClassNN detected - control may not be properly accessible 
 Unchecked: 
 ========== WINDOW SPY CAPTURE ==========
Capture Time: 20250807105543

--- MOUSE POSITION ---
Screen: X: 25 Y: 174

--- WINDOW INFORMATION ---
Title: Find and Replace
Class: WindowsForms10.Window.8.app.0.ea119_r8_ad1
Process: SDLTradosStudio.exe
PID: 15872
ID: 266550

Window Position: X: 1043 Y: 131
Window Size: W: 283 H: 371

--- CONTROL UNDER MOUSE ---
ClassNN: 7475458
Text: &Match case
Control Pos (relative): X: 21 Y: 169
Control Size: W: 82 H: 17
Enabled: Yes
Visible: Yes
Checked: No
Style: 0x5601000B

--- PIXEL INFORMATION ---
Color at cursor: 0xFFFFFF (Hex: 0xFFFFFF)

--- ALL CONTROLS IN WINDOW ---
Total Controls: 23
1: WindowsForms10.SysTabControl32.app.0.ea119_r8_ad11
2: WindowsForms10.Window.8.app.0.ea119_r8_ad11 - Text: Find
3: WindowsForms10.Window.8.app.0.ea119_r8_ad12
4: WindowsForms10.Window.8.app.0.ea119_r8_ad13
5: WindowsForms10.STATIC.app.0.ea119_r8_ad11 - Text: &Find what:
6: WindowsForms10.Window.8.app.0.ea119_r8_ad14 - Text: Find &options
7: WindowsForms10.Window.8.app.0.ea119_r8_ad15
8: WindowsForms10.Window.8.app.0.ea119_r8_ad16
9: WindowsForms10.BUTTON.app.0.ea119_r8_ad11 - Text: &Match case
10: WindowsForms10.BUTTON.app.0.ea119_r8_ad12 - Text: M&atch whole word
11: WindowsForms10.COMBOBOX.app.0.ea119_r8_ad11 - Text: Wildcards
12: WindowsForms10.BUTTON.app.0.ea119_r8_ad13 - Text: &Use:
13: WindowsForms10.BUTTON.app.0.ea119_r8_ad14 - Text: Search u&p
14: WindowsForms10.COMBOBOX.app.0.ea119_r8_ad12 - Text: driven
15: Edit1 - Text: driven
16: WindowsForms10.STATIC.app.0.ea119_r8_ad12 - Text: &Look in:
17: WindowsForms10.COMBOBOX.app.0.ea119_r8_ad13 - Text: Current Document
18: WindowsForms10.Window.8.app.0.ea119_r8_ad17
19: WindowsForms10.BUTTON.app.0.ea119_r8_ad15 - Text: &Source
20: WindowsForms10.BUTTON.app.0.ea119_r8_ad16 - Text: &Target
... and 3 more controls

--- WINDOW TEXT (first 500 chars) ---
Find
&Find what:
Find &options
&Match case
M&atch whole word
Wildcards
&Use:
Search u&p
driven
driven
&Look in:
Current Document
&Source
&Target
Find &Next
&Close
&Help

--- SPECIAL DETECTIONS ---
⚠ .NET Windows Forms detected
⚠ Unusual numeric ClassNN detected - control may not be properly accessible 
 Analysed the differences with AI: 
 The Control State Isn't Being Read Properly 
 Even though you can see the checkbox is checked visually, AutoHotkey's ControlGetChecked is returning "No" (unchecked). This explains everything: 
 
 Why ControlSetChecked appears to toggle : It's not actually reading the current state correctly, so it can't make intelligent decisions about whether to check or uncheck 
 Why the mysterious ClassNN 7475458 : There might be a rendering layer or wrapper control that's intercepting the actual checkbox state 
 Why Tab+Space works but control commands don't : The keyboard input goes through the proper UI layer, but the control commands are trying to interact with a control that isn't properly exposing its state 
 
 This is a classic symptom of: 
 
 Custom-drawn controls that don't properly implement Windows accessibility APIs 
 Overlay/wrapper controls that visually show checkboxes but don't expose standard checkbox properties 
 .NET Windows Forms controls that have custom rendering 
 
 Bottom line : The checkbox control exists ( WindowsForms10.BUTTON.app.0.ea119_r8_ad11 ) but it's not properly reporting its checked state to AutoHotkey. This makes it impossible to reliably use ControlGetChecked or ControlSetChecked - which is why the Tab navigation solution ended up being necessary.

Andrus Lauringson · Answer

Thank you for looking into this and for explaining the root cause, much appreciated! I reached to a bit similar conclusion deep into the night after trying all kinds of suggestions from AI. 
 But I noticed that although the state of the checkboxes is not available, the state of the button "Regular expressions" is. 
 So if the button "Regular expressions" is inactive, the script marks checkbox "Use", enters the search word into textbox and applies "Match case" and "Match whole words" functionality through regex search while ignoring the state of those checkboxes altogether (or just enters the regex search if the regex button is active): 
 word := "misSpelledWord"
ControlSetText("(?-i)\b" . word . "\b", "Edit1", "Find and Replace")
ControlGetEnabled("WindowsForms10.COMBOBOX.app.0.ea119_r9_ad11", "Find and Replace") || Send("!u")
Send("!n") 
 I needed that functionality because it is a part of a larger script which takes a word from a spellchecker's list and finds it in Trados. An exercise and a nightmare, now works like a charm though.

Trados Studio > 6. AutoHotKey

Marking "Find and Replace" checkboxes as checked.