AutoHotKey tip for button clicking

Arms are up :D

I was trying to find a way to click a button in one of those panel windows you do not
wish to have open when flying VC. Using the Keyboard that is........
I think it is possible to do using calls of some kind but I find it very difficult.

So why not make the window transparent when the button press should occur.
The free app "AutoHotKey" can do just that, and in a very simple way

ex. the code line ....... "WinSet, Transparent, 200, Untitled - Notepad"
will make the window transparent.

But set the value to 1 (instead of 200) you cannot find the window at all :shock:
However I did a little testing, and it is possible still to make a mouse down event in the window.

So, the plan is to make this script for a button press that do not have a key shortcut and cannot be interfaced via fsfuipc or otherwise.

1. Open the Panel window and fix the size (can be done with AutoHotkey )

2. Pre-define all the clickspots that you want (xy-coordinates relative to the window itself, therefore the fixed size)

3. Add a keyboard shortcut to the clickspots

4. Make the window transparent

5. When a key is used, make the window front most before the mouse-xy-down.

6. Make FSX main window front again

I am not sure 5. and 6. are needed, but haven't tested.

re. Peter

Hi again.

Done a little more testing ;)
Hope it is not only me who can see the potential in this.
I beleive this is a way to keyboard interface every single button in all of the payware aircrafts that is unsupported. 8)8)

The following works flawless as an AutoHotKey script where the "Space button" presses a button on the panel named "Main Panel":

WinSet, Transparent, 1, Main Panel
winactivate, Main Panel
winmaximize, Main Panel
winmove, Main Panel,,10,0
Space::
winactivate, Main Panel
MouseClick, left, 523,1182
winactivate, Microsoft Flight Simulator X
mousemove, 1920,1200

Just reuse the bottom 5 lines for more buttons with different co-ordinates and shortcuts.


I found that the "Main Panel" had to be moved slightly out of screen in one side, hence the winmove. There was a blinking issue, but it disaperas by that operation
I tried to make the mouse invisible during the operation using the lst line, but that did not work.
It blinks one time and the disapears.
I can live with that, but maybe there is another solution.... I'll keep looking

Forgot to mention........ FSX has to be "not full screen mode" and the Panel "un-docked"
It is easy to remove the taskbar and menubar using a couple of lines more in the beginning of the script. Haven't got those right now but I have done that before.

Re. Peter

FSUIPC using the mouse macro will do this. (I beleive this is a way to keyboard interface every single button in all of the payware aircrafts that is unsupported). I have used this for the PIC ERJ-145 and PIC 737. Works for FS9 and FSX. Panel window doesn't have to open for the button to work.
Regards,
Brian

Hi Brian,

I am not sure you are right.
When I try fsuipc macro, in ex. PMDG J41 it cannot detect a button via the macro.
I have tried and it will not say that the macro is possible, so I guess it will not work.

Ok, I know that it is possible for that specific aircraft using a LUA script in fsuipc, but there are a lot
others where you do not have that option.

Correct me if I am wrong, I would prefer to do it directly.
But for now I think the other solution is fairly easy to work with and also the same thing to do for every interface.

Re Peter

There are some button clicks that the mouse macro won't map and I have no idea about PMDG stuff. I won't use their stuff because of all the problems trying to get it to work with cockpit building equipment. (I know, a lot of you builders use PMDG and have worked out the bugs, I just don't have the patience anymore.) I just thought the FSUIPC MM would help if you hadn't tried it for what you needed. Good luck finding a solution.
Regards,
Brian