I use AutoHotkey for short-term automation of programs, helped by this entry for "when I save the Autohotkey config in notepad with ctrl+s, reload the script in AutoHotkey so it works immediately":
~^s::
WinGetActiveTitle, currentWinTitle
If InStr(currentWinTitle, "AutoHotkey.ahk - Notepad")
Reload
Return
Then entries which automate typical Windows keyboard actions, like this one below which triggers on alt+3 and moves around the fields on some specific GUI program which had no other automation support for what I was doing:
- have something mildly repetitive to do, notice how to do parts of it with keyboard only.
- right click AutoHotkey icon in taskbar, edit (opens Notepad).
- change some of these automations, alt+1, alt+2, alt+3, ...
- press ctrl+s to save and reload.
- switch back to the program and use the hotkey immediately to begin helping.
- repeat switching to AutoHotkey and the program, tweaking and adding more.
It's amenable to the kind of occasional task which has no easy proper automation, or is a one-off and isn't worth more time to do it through proper interfaces. Things like a vendor support telling you to "go through every affected record and toggle X field off and on again".
- have something mildly repetitive to do, notice how to do parts of it with keyboard only.
- right click AutoHotkey icon in taskbar, edit (opens Notepad).
- change some of these automations, alt+1, alt+2, alt+3, ...
- press ctrl+s to save and reload.
- switch back to the program and use the hotkey immediately to begin helping.
- repeat switching to AutoHotkey and the program, tweaking and adding more.
It's amenable to the kind of occasional task which has no easy proper automation, or is a one-off and isn't worth more time to do it through proper interfaces. Things like a vendor support telling you to "go through every affected record and toggle X field off and on again".