My cPanel has a text editor that allows multi-cursor functionality using Ctrl-Alt-Up, Ctrl-Alt-Down, Ctrl-Alt-Right, and Ctrl-Alt-Left. Unfortunately, Windows has default hotkeys for these key combinations that rotate the display on your screen. When I try to use these key combinations in the text editor, Windows hijacks them before they can get to the active window.
I first searched to see if there's any reasonably easy way to turn off specific Windows default hotkeys. My search only turned up results that turn off all hotkeys. I then decided to download AutoHotKeys and see if I could write a script to achieve what I was looking to do. Below are some examples; I'll stick with Ctrl-Alt-Right just to select one out of the four:
First block of code is the same in all 4 attempts:
#NoEnv
SendMode Input
SetWorkingDir %A_ScriptDir%
SetTitleMatchMode, 2 ;this and the next line should only perform the scripted
#IfWinActive Opera ;hotkey if the active window's title contains 'Opera'
Attempt 1: Hotkey correctly bypasses Windows default display-rotating action, and sends the keystrokes to the text editor in Opera. However, the text editor enters the string "ight" wherever the cursor is. There is no Ctrl-Alt-R hotkey in the text editor, and it must not be a Windows default hotkey either. So it sends Ctrl-Alt-R to Opera, which does nothing. Then it sends "ight" which is typed out. (This is the "most successful" of the 4 attempts, but definitely does not achieve the desired outcome):
^!Right::
Send, ^!Right
return
Attempt 2: Only differs from #1 with SendPlay instead of Send. The Hotkey again correctly bypasses Windows default display-rotating action. However, the text editor does not appear to do anything at all:
^!Right::
SendPlay, ^!Right
return
Attempt 3: Back to just Send, but now with curly braces around the second "Right". Now the hotkey doesn't even bypass Windows default display-rotating action (this truly boggles my mind because I would have thought that the result of Attempt #1 proves that the active Opera window was found and the keystroke Ctrl-Alt-Right is correctly being read by the ^!Right in the first line. I'm so confused why adding the curly braces in the 2nd line is negating these things that seem as if they should already have occurred):
^!Right::
Send, ^!{Right}
return
Attempt 4: Only differs from #3 with SendPlay instead of Send. The Hotkey again correctly bypasses Windows default display-rotating action. However, the text editor does not appear to do anything at all:
^!Right::
SendPlay, ^!{Right}
return
To summarize:
----------| Curly Braces | No Curly Braces |
----------|------------------|-----------------------------|
Send | Win Dflt Action | types "ight" in text editor |
SendPlay | no action | no action |
So here's the final question, based on this table, it would appear to me that Send is definitely the way to go. If (as Attempt 3 appears to indicate) the curly brace is causing the display-rotation, how do I send this keystroke to the active window without Windows hijacking it? Obviously, #IfWinActive Opera is working correctly when the curly braces aren't used. Perhaps there is another directive that prevents or bypasses Windows' default action entirely?
