Paul Kedrosky: Fun with Gmail and AutoHotkey

Latest Stories

Excel Wankers and Recession Averages
Sorry, New York is Closed. Check Back Later.
Catching Falling 2009 Earnings Estimate Knife
Survivorship Bias in Global Markets
Talking Positions on a Lazy-ish Retirement Portfolio

May 30, 2006

Fun with Gmail and AutoHotkey

The following Gmail/Firefox AutoHotkey hack was a byproduct of my in-flight boredom today, but I thought it might be useful to others. In essence, it remaps the right Alt key to load Mozilla Firefox (if it isn't already running), and then open a new Gmail Compose tab within which to write a new email message. Software prerequisites are Gmail Manager, AutoHotkey, and the Greasemonkey script Gmail macros.

; Use right-alt key to create new Gmail compose window in Firefox
RAlt::
SetTitleMatchMode, 2
IfWinExist Mozilla Firefox
    WinActivate
else {
    Run C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe
    WinWait Mozilla Firefox
    }
IfWinExist Gmail
    Send c
else
    {
    MouseMove, 50, 200
    MouseClick, right
    Send m
    Send {Right}
    Send {Down}
    Send {Enter}
    }
return