Posts tagged AutoHotkey

DROE Tool Now Supports Outlook

Jan 21st

Posted by carl in Productivity

30 comments

I just posted an update to my Daily Record of Events (DROE) Tool, please check out the Downloads page. Version 0.3 adds some additional shortcuts for fast Outlook task and message creation, as well as easy creation of PigPog tasks. (Note that the Outlook shortcuts have only been tested on Outlook 2003). Version 0.3 also fixes an ugly bug that blocked the time/date stamp from working in Windows Vista.

Here are the details from the latest README file:

This is a configurable tool built using AutoHotkey. It gives you a handy shortcut to quickly open OneNote, jump to the top of your Daily Record of Events (DROE) page, insert a time stamp, and begin capturing thoughts before they slip out of your head. The tool replaces the standard Sidenote shortcut (Win-N) with the new function. You can still open OneNote in full/normal mode using Win-Shift-N. Note that the tool is a compiled executable, so you do not need AutoHotkey installed to use it.

In addition to the OneNote shortcuts, the DROE Tool also provides some handy Outlook shortcuts. You can now use CTRL-SHIFT-M and CTRL-SHIFT-K from anywhere to create a new Outlook Email Message or Task. These shortcuts already exist in Outlook, but this script will save you the trouble of having to switch applications and find Outlook before using the shortcut. You also have the option of having new tasks be created as “PigPog” tasks, as well as displaying the Outlook Categories dialog box every time so that you don’t forget to set a category. Note that these have only been tested in Outlook 2003, so all bets are off for Outlook 2007.

But wait, there’s more! With the DROE Tool you’ll also get:

  • The ability to paste without formatting (clipboard formatting stripper),
  • the ability to use the Mac-like shortcut (Alt-W) to close a window,
  • additional shortcuts for bullets and manual time stamps,
  • this set of Ginsu knives! (ok, not really)

Each of the features can be individually enabled or disabled through the INI file.

I hope you find it useful! I have many more updates & features planned, so stay tuned.

-Carl

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OneNote DROE AutoHotkey Tool

Dec 12th

Posted by carl in Productivity

61 comments

As promised in my previous post on “Bending OneNote and Outlook to Fit my GTD System“, here is the tool I use to drive my DROE (Daily Record of Events) in OneNote. This is a configurable tool built using AutoHotkey. Note that the tool is a compiled executable, so you do not need AutoHotkey installed to use it.

What the DROE tool does is give you a handy shortcut to quickly open OneNote, jump to the top of your Daily Record of Events (DROE) page, insert a time stamp, and begin capturing thoughts before they slip out of your head. The tool replaces the standard Sidenote shortcut (Win-N) with the new function. You can still open OneNote in full/normal mode using Win-Shift-N.

There are also some additional features included in >> READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY >>

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Introducing AutoHotkey

Mar 11th

Posted by carl in Productivity

3 comments

I just wanted to tell you about a terrific utility called AutoHotkey. From the web site,

“AutoHotkey is a free, open-source utility for Windows. With it, you can automate almost anything by sending keystrokes and mouse clicks. You can write a mouse or keyboard macro by hand or use the macro recorder. …Virtually any key, button, or combination can become a hotkey.”

One of the best things about AutoHotkey is that there is a huge active user community available. Just browsing the forum, there are lots of different scripts and examples. To get started, I would recommend downloading and running the installer, and then checking out the quick-start tutorial.

I use AutoHotkey to automate a lot of my frequent tasks: Creating an Outlook task and filling in some basic information, taking quick notes in a text file, searching and launching my bookmarks, and launching frequently used programs. In time, I’ll blog on all of these applications… I’ve already created a tag just for AutoHotkey! For now, here is a very simple example I use for stripping the formatting from text on the clipboard. What’s nice about this is you don’t have to think too hard to use it. Copy whatever you want to copy. When you go to paste, either use your normal CTRL-V to paste the full version, or use WIN-V to paste the text-only version. This is extremely handy when trying to paste things from web pages or even Word documents and not have to deal with >> READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY >>

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