A simple Autohotkey use case you can start using in your application right away:
Filling in an entire form with predefined values.

The Use Case

The Form

Considering the following login form (Html version)

The Script

The Autohotkey script:

:*:lma::admin@mega-app.com{tab}my_super_secret_pwd{tab}{space}{tab}{enter}

Type lma (Short for Login Mega App?) while the cursor is in the email input to fill in the form and submit it.

Autohotkey installation

• Download and install Autohotkey (Pick Autohotkey 1.1)
• Create a file with the extension ahk
• Paste the Autohotkey code from above in the file
• Double click your newly created file to activate the hotstring
• Press lma while the cursor is in the email input on the test page

To start with Windows

To start your Autohotkey script with Windows put a file shortcut in your startup folder.

To get to this directory:

• Press Windows + E
• Press Control + L
• Type shell:startup
• Press Enter

Usually something like:

C:\Users\your_user_name\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

With your_user_name: $env:USERNAME (PS1) or %USERNAME% (CMD)

More info

The Script Explained

; `*` means the hotstring will expand as soon as it is typed in
; It can be omitted so the hotstring will only expand when followed by an `EndChars`
; The part between the double :: is the key sequence that will trigger the hotstring
::lma::

; Send some text
SendInput admin@mega-app.com

; Send special characters
SendInput {tab}{tab}{space}{tab}{enter}
return

Using a hotkey instead

The same could also be triggered by pressing Control + Windows + L for example

^#l::
SendInput admin@mega-app.com{tab}my_super_secret_pwd{tab}{space}{tab}{enter}
return

See the blog post on hotkeys for more hotkey info and possibilities.

Context sensitive

When testing an application, I tend to use a different browser for each user profile so that I do not have to logout/login all the time. We could even check the value of document.title and use different credentials for different applications.

; Type loginAdv to activate the hotstring
:*:loginAdv::
WinGetTitle, title, A

; These logins work only in Chrome
#IfWinActive, ahk_class Chrome_WidgetWin
    IfInString, title, ProjectDocumentTitle1
        SendInput admin{tab}pwd{enter}
    Else IfInString, title, ProjectDocumentTitle2
        SendInput superuser{tab}pwd{enter}
    Else
        SendInput root{tab}pwd{enter}
#IfWinActive

; Firefox
#IfWinActive, ahk_class MozillaWindowClass
    IfInString, title, ProjectDocumentTitle1
        SendInput client{tab}pwd{enter}
    Else IfInString, title, ProjectDocumentTitle2
        SendInput clerk{tab}pwd{enter}
    Else
        SendInput guest{tab}pwd{enter}
#IfWinActive
Return