🚀 LNCHR

Heavily inspired by plul's AutoHotKey Launcher and PowerToys Run; this is my version of a quick launcher, compatible with AHK v2.

The gist

Re-map CapsLock to open a GUI with a single textbox that runs shortcuts mapped to text that you type in. A semantic way of activating shortcuts, opening files or folders, or searching the net (who has the time to remember a millionCTRL+WIN+XYZs? I'd rather spend that time coding!). You have the power to create shortcuts as desired, for example: set pai to MS Paint, scr to run an arbitrary script, or con to press WIN+K 'cause you can't remember the key-press.

For your consideration

Unfortunately I don't have the time to well-document this. I think the code is somewhat approachable, though. If you want to re-map double pressing of CapsLock, it should be self-explanatory, for example. All I ask in return for your use of this script is that you share any ideas that you have (or have already implemented) 🙂.

How-to

• Run LNCHR-Main.ahk
• Press CapsLock to activate.
• Type in your command (no need to hit Enter)
• Some commands put the GUI in query mode, where you can enter additional text (pressing Enter is then required to submit). For example, to search Google or Spotify, first type g␣, followed by the search words of your choice with an Enter.
• Double-press CapsLock to activate a function of your choice (I prefer to map this to a key-press that opens PowerToys Run)
• Escape to exit from any state and close the GUI
• Use (Ctrl|Shift|Alt)+CapsLock to toggle Caps Lock instead
• While in the GUI, remap keys like Tab or Win for other shortcuts (eg. I map Win to open iPython terminal)

Query

• The GUI has essentially two on-sates. One is main, where commands are typed without pressing Enter. The other is query, where the submitted text is pushed a pre-defined function of your choosing
• Entered text in the query mode is remembered and stored in LNCHR-Memory.ini, and can be browsed through the up and down arrow keys, or is auto-completed
• If you want to delete the memory for a query type, go to that query, type and submit clr

Some features

• Built-in Calculator that uses mathjs, with memory and programmable functions (stored in LNCHR-CalcEqns.txt)
• Quickly run commands with simple text replacements (eg. Google Search, Everything Search)
• Outlook search
• LNCHR-CommandsGeneator.xlsm: a Microsoft Excel macro-enabled spreadsheet that is used to generate the LNCHR-Commands.ahk file an a HELP-Commands.txt file for quick-help and tooltip suggestions. If you will not be using this tool, I recommend setting lngui_props.show_commands_tips := False in LNCHR-Main.ahk. See the Help tab on the Excel file for guidance.
• Note: the briefcase icon is there because I have a flag that signals if I am using my work or home computer. You can try to leverage this for an independent instance on a remote desktop, for example, or make computer-specific commands.

Examples

Open my documents with doc

Open MS Paint with pai

Enable calculator mode with c␣. Or press ↑ or ↓ to navigate through calculator history. Hot tip: you can perform array math: [1,2,3]^2. You can store expressions like phi = 1.618 and functions like E(m) = m*(3e8)^2 Type ? and hit enter to open and edit your saved expressions, and mem to view the memory.

Search Outlook with o␣. Put an ! in the query as a shortcut to hasattachments:yes. Notice the hints and auto-complete.

Compose an e-mail with com

Manage your commands with the provided Excel file. Mapped to a xl. Open this file, enable macros, and hit ctrl+l here to generate LNCHR-Commands.ahk There are different types of commands which make templating the code much easier. See the Help tab for more details.