How do I write and share a program on win 7 or 10

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In the good old days (I am in my 70s) I could write and run and share a basic program.
How do I do this today? I am not a programmer, I have programmed with the application Wintask. I retired as a Senior Software Quality Assurance Engineer.
There are millions of more computers in homes now and lots of creative people. Tell me how to write a program (in any language) and share it with others on a win 7 or 10 platforms. It needs to implement a GUI.

Always looking for a conversation so I may learn something new and then pass that on.

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Have a look at this article for a quick rundown of most of the free alternatives to WinTask.

IMO the two closest alternatives to WinTask‘s feature set are AutoHotKey and AutoIt. The two are very similar and both allow for the creation of GUI-driven scripts to automate Windows 7, 8.x and 10. Both allow the compilation of scripts into standalone executables.

I suggest you have a look at the feature sets of both AutoHotkey and AutoIt, explore their respective support forums and documentation then experiment with both to see which feels the most comfortable fit for you.

Although I started off using AutoIt many years ago, I now use AutoHotkey as a preference. (I also like the capabilities of PowerShell but find the syntax lengthy and confusing…  and – so far – its GUI capabilities are very poor by comparison IMO.)

In addition to the AutoHotkey support forums I also subscribe to Jack Dunning’s AutoHotkey blog (and have all his books) as I like the way he takes an area that interests him, picks it apart then explains simply and in detail what he’s doing and why. Scroll down his free downloadable scripts page to get an idea of what GUI’s he has created using AutoHotkey.

A Google query for youtube autohotkey tutorial will shows loads of results. Have a look too at Joe Glines’ the-Automator website, particularly his The ultimate list of AutoHotkey Resources.

Hope this helps…

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Well, that worked, but I was disappointed that it did not use “hello world” in the short example. My First Script, really? So now the fun starts. I was really very good with Wintask, my boss asked me to find an inexpensive test tool that I could use to test the Time of Flight Mass Spectrometer the company was developing. It had lots of GUI as that was how the scientists were able to try things and thus I made my tests work mostly from the GUI with some later exceptions. I was fortunite I had a mentor, a programmer, that was very sturn about documenting that you write. I learned that after I said I had made a test script, it worked, I was a success. But no, just working is not enough. It has to be “insert all the things good code must have”. I was allowed to take a year to master Wintask (it had horrible documentation and they claimed it was not intended for testing. That was back in 2005 or so. I proved them wrong and found myself writing my documentation. I would never make a good programmer as they have deliverables and code reviews. Too much pressure. My older versions of wintask just do not work on win 10, will not even click on the desktop or record a script. So now I have a new toy and will have to work it into my activity list. This includes photography and anime and video and writing. Thank you for helping me get started.

Always looking for a conversation so I may learn something new and then pass that on.

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WSbilla wrote:

My older versions of wintask just do not work on win 10, will not even click on the desktop or record a script.

Have you tried running wintask in compatibility mode?

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IMHO, don’t discount PowerShell. Yes, the learning curve is a bit steeper but on the other hand PowerShell is on EVERY Windows machine no additional software needed which is a big plus if you want to distribute programs. There are lots of videos and other resources to help you learn and assist in debugging. And as for GUI capabilities they are numerous as can be seen by several scripts I have posted here.

HTH

May the Forces of good computing be with you!

RG

PowerShell & VBA Rule!
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If I had been able to get a current copy of Wintask (comp) I would have been happy. The problem with any language that you are learning is you need a purpose for your code. AutoHotKey needs a proper editor that can at least check syntax, a nice feature of Wintask. Most of the things I could do (actually need to do) requires a language that I know.

I saw a list of AutoHotKey examples but that is not enough. Useful code examples need a problem to solve and a description of the process that results in the resulting code. Without that, you can not understand what theses short script examples are doing.

Code examples should be profusely documented. A newbie should be able to look at an example and know (because it is documented in the script) what everything is doing.

Sorry for the rant, I learned to program in Wintask on my own and it took a year. Fortunately, I was the only Software QA in the company and my boss ignored me. I still had to test new releases manually but that motivated me to figure out (the problem!) how to do it in Wintask. I also have a hardware background and that was useful as I was responsible for specifying and qualifying the PC that was in the instrument. I also had responsibility for documenting product installation.

Always looking for a conversation so I may learn something new and then pass that on.

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WSbilla wrote:

AutoHotKey needs a proper editor that can at least check syntax,

Try SciTe4AutoHotkey. A lot of people use it for creating/editing AHK scripts and it includes a GUI creator, a message box creator and a window info utility.

Hope this helps…

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WSbilla wrote:

Useful code examples need a problem to solve and a description of the process that results in the resulting code. Without that, you can not understand what theses short script examples are doing.

Code examples should be profusely documented. A newbie should be able to look at an example and know (because it is documented in the script) what everything is doing.

I’m not really surprised that there is a difference in script documenting between WinTask and AutoHotkey. Other than they are both automation software, IMO there is very little comparison between them.

WinTask apparently costs $500/yr… the Pro version probably a lot more.

The company no doubt has one or more code developers (and probably a documenter too, as coding and writing decent documentation usually requires different skillsets).

AutoHotkey is a free product currently developed mainly by a single enthusiast (Lexikos).

Perhaps, as per a previous post, take a look at Jack Dunning’s AutoHotkey blog. He’s another enthusiast and gives copious descriptions of what he’s doing and why.

Or perhaps try his two *free* AutoHotkey books – Why AutoHotkey? and AutoHotkey Tricks You Ought to Do with Windows (Sixth Edition), particularly Chapter 10 where he describes the different approaches of AutoHotkey vs AutoIt and why.

Hope this helps…

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Rick Corbett wrote:

WSbilla wrote:

AutoHotKey needs a proper editor that can at least check syntax,

Try SciTe4AutoHotkey. A lot of people use it for creating/editing AHK scripts and it includes a GUI creator, a message box creator and a window info utility.

Hope this helps…

It is an old program, that would concern me and the related forum seems not active, I did not look very deep so I could be wrong. Are there any active users of it here?

Always looking for a conversation so I may learn something new and then pass that on.

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I was a Wintask user before they sold the company and got very good support and that version of Wintask had horrible documentation. It appeared that their examples were written by developers who could not put on the “newbie hat”, every example they wrote was perfectly clear if you were an experienced Wintask developer. I could provide an example!

Always looking for a conversation so I may learn something new and then pass that on.

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WSbilla wrote:

It is an old program, that would concern me and the related forum seems not active, I did not look very deep so I could be wrong. Are there any active users of it here?

As you can see from the relatively few posts in the Developers forum here, AskWoody is not really a site readily associated with scripting… more about problems and threats re: Windows primarily.

If anywhere, AutoHotkey‘s Editors support forum would be my first port of call… although fincs (the author of SciTE4AutoHotkey) is apparently no longer active.

Whilst there you could check out AHKStudio… another AHK IDE which – I think – is still in development.

Hope this helps…

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It is sad that there is so much paranoia about windows. I was lucky that I had a 2.5 year employment in a UNIX environment. Perhaps when Microsoft sees the light we may have places like this that focus on productivity rather than doing eternal guard duty.

A number of my major applications have limits on what they can do because of some underlying windows functionality. Think about this, what if car manufacturers only tweaked the design of their cars and what you had today looked and worked a lot like the cars of the 50s but parts were upgraded. This is Windows. Why must I rant so much, sorry?

I am satisfied with the answers I got on this question. I think what I will focus on next is the functionality of this site. Is there a best place to list what I find that needs improvement?

 

Always looking for a conversation so I may learn something new and then pass that on.

1 user thanked author for this post.

doriel

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AskWoody is basic WordPress(blog)/bbPress(Lounge). Take a look at the functionality of those two applications first, and work from there.
Keep in mind, at the same time, a limited budget, no advertisement, free newletters (not free mailing), and the cost of website developers.

Woody is looking at a revamp of the facade to be more modern/navigable. Pass your ideas along to him – Woody at AskWoody.com
I’m sure he will welcome suggestions.

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I am sorry to interrupt your topic little bit. But this seems like just macro creating. Handling other applications. And I thought, that this is what Windows tries to ban these days. Windows wants to create separate containers for separate apps. Opening attachments inside sandbox. Etc.

The real programming is different.

I think the closest to what mr. @WSBilla wants is the powershell. But would you open file *.ps1 and run it as admin? In these paranoid times? I use powershell just for single commands. And I have to admit, that PS syntax is not nice to me.

Once again sorry for offtopic and thank you for information about tools mentioned in this topic!

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PKCano wrote:

AskWoody is basic WordPress(blog)/bbPress(Lounge). Take a look at the functionality of those two applications first, and work from there.
Keep in mind, at the same time, a limited budget, no advertisement, free newletters (not free mailing), and the cost of website developers.

Woody is looking at a revamp of the facade to be more modern/navigable. Pass your ideas along to him – Woody at AskWoody.com
I’m sure he will welcome suggestions.

Before I make suggestions I need to learn what process this site wants to support, one could call it a functional specification but they are seldom written for “free” stuff, and if they are seldom followed. Also, sometimes poor implementation of a good idea is hindered by the functionality of the chosen tool.

I am available to test new stuff here, just ask. I am in my mid 70s, have health issues but once a senior software quality assurance engineer you never stop seeing the imperfections in the product.

Always looking for a conversation so I may learn something new and then pass that on.

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