AutoIt (pronounced aw-toe-it)[2] is a freeware automation language for Microsoft Windows. In its earliest release, the software was primarily intended to create automation scripts (sometimes called macros) for Microsoft Windows programs[3] but has since grown to include enhancements in both programming language design and overall functionality.
With the release of Version 3, the syntax of AutoIt has been restructured to be more like the BASIC family of languages. It is a third-generation programming language using a classical data model, using a variant data type that can store several types of data, including arrays. It is compatible with Windows 95, 98, ME, NT4, 2000, XP, 2003, Vista and Windows 7 (however, support for operating systems older than Windows 2000 was discontinued with the release of v3.3.0).
An AutoIt automation script can be compiled into a compressed, stand-alone executable which can be run on computers that do not have the AutoIt interpreter installed. A wide range of function libraries (known as UDFs, or "User Defined Functions")[4] are also included as standard or are available from the website to add specialized functionality. AutoIt is also distributed with an IDE based on the free SciTE editor. The compiler and help text are fully integrated and provide a de facto standard environment for developers using AutoIt.
Features
- Scripting language with BASIC-like structure for Windows Desktop Environment.
- Add-on libraries and modules for specific applications.
- On-line support forum for AutoIt users and developers.
- Supports TCP and UDP protocols.
- Supports COM (component object modelling) objects.
- Call functions in Win32 DLLs.
- Run console applications and access the standard streams.
- Include files in the compiled file to be extracted when run.
- Create GUI interfaces, including message and input boxes.
- Play sounds, pause, resume, stop, seek, get the current position of the sound and get the length of the sound.
- Simulate mouse movements.
- Manipulate windows and processes.
- Automate sending user input and keystrokes to applications, as well as to individual controls within an application.
- Scripts can be compiled into standalone executables.
- Unicode support from version 3.2.4.0.
- 64-bit code support from version 3.2.10.0.
- Supports regular expressions.
- Works with Windows Vista's User Account Control.
- Object oriented design through a library[5]
Limitations
- AutoIt is single threaded which makes asynchronous programming, concurrency and parallelism (e.g. communications applications) extremely difficult.
(This can be worked around through the use of such things as multiple processes, Component Object Model, etc., but it would be much less onerous if a multithreading API was provided for use within the language itself or its libraries.)
- AutoIt applications sometimes get a false positive report from virus scanners using heuristics, because the application is a self extracting executable.
Usage
AutoIt can be used to produce utility software for Microsoft Windows and automate common tasks, such as website monitoring, network monitoring, disk defragging and backup. It is also used to simulate application users, whereby an application is driven by an AutoIt script in place of manual application control during software testing. It is also commonly used for developing computer game bots, for automating in-game tasks, although the AutoIt community will not provide support for such automation.
Examples
Hello world
; Displays "Hello, world!" in a MsgBox and exits.MsgBox(0, "Title", "Hello, world!")Exit
Find Average
;Finds the average of numbers specified by a user.;The numbers must be delimited by commas.#NoTrayIcon#include <GUIConstantsEx.au3>#include <Array.au3> ;region---------------GUI------------ -----------$form = GUICreate("Average Finder", 300, 100)$label = GUICtrlCreateLabel("Enter the numbers to be averaged separated by commas", 19, 0)$textbox = GUICtrlCreateInput("", 20, 20, 220)$label1 = GUICtrlCreateLabel("=", 245, 20, 30, 20)$ansLabel = GUICtrlCreateLabel("", 255, 20, 50, 20)$button = GUICtrlCreateButton("Find Average", 100, 40)GUISetState();endregion---------------END GUI----------------------- While 1 $msg = GUIGetMsg() Switch $msg Case $GUI_EVENT_CLOSE Exit Case $button $answer = _findAvg(GUICtrlRead($textbox)) If $answer Then GUICtrlSetData($ansLabel,$answer) Else GUICtrlSetData($ansLabel,"Error. Malformed input.") EndIf EndSwitchWEnd Func _findAvg($nums) Local $sData Local $ans ;Clean up input -----------------> $chk = StringRight($nums, 5) If $chk = "," Then $nums = StringTrimRight($nums, 1) If StringInStr($nums, ",") < 1 Then Return False EndIf ;----------------------------------&g t; $sData = StringSplit($nums, ",") $ans = 0 For $i = 1 To $sData[0] $ans += $sData[$i] Next $ans = $ans / $sData[0] Return floor($ans)EndFunc ;==>_findAvg History
- December 1998 - Idea of C program that should send keystrokes
- January 1999 - First AutoIt Version (1.0)
- August 1999 - AutoIt v2 and AutoItX
- September 1999 - First AutoIt version with Compiler
- December 2002 - AutoIt v3 (Public Beta)
- February 2004 - AutoIt v3 (Stable)
- September 2006 - Auto3Lib started
- November 2007 - AutoIt v3.2.10.0 released, Auto3Lib incorporated into AutoIt v3
- May 2008 - AutoIt v3.2.12.0 released, incorporating added GUI functionality
- December 2008 - AutoIt (and AutoItX) v3.3.0.0 released
- December 2009 - AutoIt v3.3.2.0 released
- January 2010 - AutoIt v3.3.4.0 released
- March 2010 - AutoIt v3.3.6.0 released
- April 2010 - AutoIt v3.3.6.1 released
- December 2011 - AutoIt v3.3.8.0 released
- January 2012 - AutoIt v3.3.8.1 released
The developers of AutoIt originally released the source code under the GPL license but the practice was discontinued beginning with version 3.2.0 in August 2006. Some of the code from version 3.1 was used to create a fork by the AutoHotkey project,[6] where now the community is continuing to develop the code as GPL.
See also
References
External links
BASIC programming language |
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| | | Classic | - Altair BASIC
- Applesoft BASIC
- Atari BASIC
- Atari Microsoft BASIC
- Atari ST BASIC
- BASIC A+
- BASIC Programming
- BASIC XE
- BASIC XL
- Color BASIC
- Commodore BASIC
- Dartmouth BASIC
- Family BASIC
- G-BASIC
- GFA BASIC
- GW-BASIC
- HP BASIC for OpenVMS
- IBM BASIC
- Integer BASIC
- Locomotive BASIC
- Mallard BASIC
- Microsoft BASIC
- MSX BASIC
- ScriptBasic
- Sinclair BASIC
- Southampton BASIC System
- STOS BASIC
- TI BASIC (TI 99/4A)
- TI-BASIC (calculators)
- Tiny BASIC
- Turbo-Basic XL
- UBASIC
- Vilnius BASIC
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| | | Procedure-oriented | |
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| | | With object extensions | |
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| | | For mobile devices | |
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| | | Microsoft | |
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