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#41

General Discussion / Re: Thinking of buying

Last post by Paul (Lead Developer) - May 18, 2026, 01:42:19 PM

Graham: Marketing is not my strong point, so perhaps I haven't explained the benefits clearly enough. I added the "Solutions" area in this forum to show that Toolbox is the answer for things that people are asking about online, and I will keep adding to it from time to time.

You're probably assuming that AlomWare Toolbox only does what you can see in its window. When you look deeper into the Settings (such as Tweaks) and the Automation steps, you'll realize that it's an absolute powerhouse of functionality that does so much for your PC. And this means you're not paying for separate multiple apps just to do what Toolbox does as one app. For example, why download Microsoft PowerToys (which installs over 1 GB of files all over your PC) just to keep windows on top, pick colors, and OCR text from the clipboard; when AlomWare Toolbox is a single portable exe file of less than 5 MB in size that does those plus a million other things?

If you think the app is expensive, it's because you haven't grasped all that it can do. It's not some cheap $1 toy but a fully capable Windows productivity suite, with its own built-in programming language. Is there something in particular you'd like to be able to do on your PC that you currently can't? Let me know and I'll see if I can cook up an automated action for it.

Here's some actual reviews from customers who've understood the benefits (scroll down to read them all): https://www.trustpilot.com/review/alomware.com

If price is your main issue, then don't forget PayPal has "Pay in 4" that might let you pay over 4 fortnightly instalments:

#42

General Discussion / Re: Thinking of buying

Last post by oblivion - May 18, 2026, 01:29:06 AM

It's a collection of gadgets and abilities that are useful on their own but as a joined set are close to untouchable.

Add to that rapid attention to bugfixes and new ideas from the developer, I decided it was worth paying for and haven't regretted it.

But if you're unconvinced, the free model is still pretty good.

#43

General Discussion / Thinking of buying

Last post by GrahamB - May 17, 2026, 09:11:26 PM

But it seems a bit expensive? Why so much?

#44

Solutions / How to disable the caps lock F...

Last post by Paul (Lead Developer) - May 17, 2026, 03:28:04 PM

Question: How to disable the caps lock FUNCTION but still have the caps lock button to use while gaming

"I would love for any type of assistance on getting the caps lock FUNTION to not work while still being able to use the cap lock as a button for gaming."

This person wants to use the Caps Lock key for gaming, but not to actually turn Caps Lock on when doing so. AlomWare Toolbox has a system tweak setting to do exactly that. Open Toolbox's "Settings" and navigate to "Tweaks for your PC > Keyboard > Freeze the Caps Lock key so that it always stays off" (as shown below). Done! Now whenever the Caps Lock key is now pressed, it turns off immediately again.

#45

Tips and Tricks / Re: [Tip] Make seeing another ...

Last post by oblivion - May 10, 2026, 01:36:53 AM

Oh, that's VERY cool.

#46

Tips and Tricks / [Tip] Make seeing another docu...

Last post by Paul (Lead Developer) - May 09, 2026, 12:24:02 PM

Sometimes you'll be working on a document but need to see something on another document for reference. Usually this involves tiling both windows side-by-side, or shrinking one down, or moving your work document back and forth with its title bar. The situation is made even worse if both documents need to be maximized, because you can't tile, shrink, or move them. Using Alt+Tab is possible, but flicking between them like that is inconvenient due to needing to release both keys between each window switch.

AlomWare Toolbox to the rescue! Here's an action (that comes as default with the app in the "Windows" group) that you simply assign a hotkey to. When you hold down the hotkey, your current work window drops temporarily to 10% transparency so you can see what's underneath it (that is, the other document being referenced). When you release the hotkey, your work window goes back to its original transparency level again. So unlike Alt+Tab, you just hold the hotkey down to view underneath your work document, and then let go to return to your work document.

Code Select Expand

(Start)
HOW TO USE: Copy from Start to End, and then paste into an action.
REFERENCE : See an example of pasting at alomware.com/paste.png
0001 Action: Comment "This action requires a hotkey to be used."
0002 Window: Assign active ""
0003 String: Assign "wint$"
0004 Window: Transparency "10"
0005 Wait: For action hotkey to be released ""
0006 Window: Transparency "string$"
(End)
Here's an animation showing pressing and releasing of the hotkey with AlomWare Toolbox's window. As you can see, the window's transparency has gone to 10% so you can see this forum topic underneath it. You can change the transparency level in step 4 of the action if you prefer.

#47

Tips and Tricks / Re: Quickie to help with actio...

Last post by Paul (Lead Developer) - May 09, 2026, 07:23:07 AM

Yes, this is handy. You can set as many hotkeys (or other triggers) as needed to show the app at a particular tab; and if its window isn't open, it'll auto-open as well.

#48

Tips and Tricks / Quickie to help with action de...

Last post by oblivion - May 08, 2026, 05:31:29 PM

Mostly, when I click the Toolbox icon in my notification area, it's because I want the Calendar. No worries, that's the default. [Calendar is set to my favourite in Toolbox settings]

But when I'm developing (stop laughing, Paul, I don't always scream for help!) my process is "mess with stuff in the Automation tab, close the Toolbox window, run the action I'm working on, notice what's broken, rinse and repeat." And for some reason, my brain expects me always to be back in the Automation tab, and I'm not. I could change the settings to reopen where I left it, I know, but that's not my preference.

So -- definitely the shortest action I've ever written. Memorable hotkey, what works for me might not be your idea of fun so choose your own. Script is:

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(Start)
HOW TO USE: Copy from Start to End, and then paste into an action.
REFERENCE : See an example of pasting at alomware.com/paste.png
0001 Toolbox: Show the tab named "Automation"
(End)
It Just Works.

#49

Help and Support / Re: IDs and using multiple use...

Last post by Paul (Lead Developer) - May 07, 2026, 11:41:15 PM

I've clearly misunderstood the use of the IDs for variable storage. Can you set me right, please?

String IDs are just a way of saving the string to disk with a name (the ID). You can later assign it back into the string, like this:

Code Select Expand

(Start)
HOW TO USE: Copy from Start to End, and then paste into an action.
REFERENCE : See an example of pasting at alomware.com/paste.png
0001 String: Assign from random number "1-6"
0002 String: Save as ID "dice"
0003 String: Clear ""
0004 String: Assign from ID "dice"
0005 Alert: Show a message "The saved string was: string$"
(End)
So, they're used for string permanence for when you might need to use the string's content again in future. They're not used as a string variable per se, but as a way to assign a string variable.

For your action, it's good if it's working for you. I personally might use the "data$" variable instead of "counter$" (below), but it's up to you.

Code Select Expand

(Start)
HOW TO USE: Copy from Start to End, and then paste into an action.
REFERENCE : See an example of pasting at [url="http://alomware.com/paste.png"]alomware.com/paste.png[/url]
0001 Action: Comment "Remove quote chevrons, rewrap then replace chevrons"
0002 Action: Abort if no clipboard text ""
0003 Alert: Ask for a choice "#Wrap to what width?~20~30~40~50~60~70"
0004 Data: Assign "alert$"
0005 Action: Do next step if "data$=blank$"
0006   Data: Assign "68"
0007 String: Assign from clipboard text ""
0008 String: Replace text "~>>=~"
0009 String: Replace text "~>=~"
0010 String: Replace text "~~=[para]"
0011 String: Replace text "~=space$"
0012 String: Replace text "[para]=~~"
0013 String: Word wrap at "data$"
0014 String: Replace text "~=~>space$"
0015 Clipboard: Assign text "string$"
0016 Action: Do this block if "clip$<>"""
0017   Wait: For milliseconds to pass "200"
0018   Keyboard: Paste ""
0019 Action: End of block ""
(End)

#50

Help and Support / IDs and using multiple user va...

Last post by oblivion - May 07, 2026, 09:57:13 PM

My current automation project is about rewrapping and requoting text-format emails. The detail doesn't much matter, but my query is if I can use an ID to capture the parameter I want to feed to the 

Code Select Expand

String: Word wrap at function.

So I tried to write my action so I could choose a right margin for the text when I invoked it. I collected a response, stored it in an ID I called margin, then after I'd finished getting the text ready to be rewrapped, fed the word wrap function the current string$ with the right margin set to my stored margin variable.

Code Select Expand

String: Word wrap at "margin"
And it didn't work. It dropped an error saying that my margin needed to be greater than zero and stopped.

I tried again, thinking maybe that "margin" might have needed to be "margin$".

Still nothing.

So I looked for an alternative way to hold a number for later use, remembered about 

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Counter: Assign "string$"[which is far from being its intended use but necessity is the mother of invention and all that]

so used counter$ to hold the collected right margin and All Is Now Well.

The current, working, form of the action is at the end.

So I've clearly misunderstood the use of the IDs for variable storage. Can you set me right, please?

And how should I have tackled this issue?

Code Select Expand

(Start)
HOW TO USE: Copy from Start to End, and then paste into an action.
REFERENCE : See an example of pasting at alomware.com/paste.png
0001 Action: Comment "Remove quote chevrons, rewrap then replace chevrons"
0002 Action: Abort if no clipboard text ""
0003 Alert: Ask for a choice "#Wrap to what width?~20~30~40~50~60~70"
0004 String: Assign "alert$"
0005 Action: Do next step if "string$=blank$"
0006   String: Assign "68"
0007 Counter: Assign "string$"
0008 String: Assign from clipboard text ""
0009 String: Replace text "~>>=~"
0010 String: Replace text "~>=~"
0011 String: Replace text "~~=[para]"
0012 String: Replace text "~=space$"
0013 String: Replace text "[para]=~~"
0014 String: Word wrap at "counter$"
0015 String: Replace text "~=~>space$"
0016 Clipboard: Assign text "string$"
0017 Action: Do this block if "clip$<>"""
0018   Wait: For milliseconds to pass "200"
0019   Keyboard: Paste ""
0020 Action: End of block ""
(End)