Loop in AutoHotkey (AHK)

Loop in AHK is used for repeating one or more lines of code a specific number of times or until certain conditions are met. It is a handy tool for performing repetitive tasks automatically, like iterating through all the elements in an array or looping through a list of files in a folder.

Here's an overview of how to use Loop in AHK:

Basic Syntax

The basic syntax of a Loop statement in AHK is:

Loop, n
{
    ; code to be executed n number of times
}

Or

Loop, Parse, string [, delimiter]
{
    ; code to be executed on each element
}

Where n is the number of times the code should be executed, string is the string to be parsed, and delimiter is the character(s) that separate the elements in the string.

Examples

Example 1: Repeat Code N Times

Let's say we want to display a message box 5 times using a Loop. Here's how we can do it:

Loop, 5
{
    MsgBox, This is loop number %A_Index%
}

In this example, we're using the Loop command with the number 5. The curly brackets contain the code to be executed, which is to display a message box using the MsgBox command. The %A_Index% variable returns the current loop index, starting from 1 and incrementing by 1 on each iteration.

Example 2: Loop Through an Array

Here's an example of how to use Loop to iterate through all the elements in an array:

myArray := ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

Loop, % myArray.Length()
{
    MsgBox, % "Index " . A_Index . ": " . myArray[A_Index - 1]
}

In this example, we're using an array myArray containing 3 elements. We're using Loop with the myArray.Length() function as its argument to iterate through all the elements in the array. Inside the code block, we're using the %A_Index% variable as the index to access each element in the array and display it in a message box.

Example 3: Loop Through Files in a Folder

Here's an example of how to use Loop to loop through all files in a specified folder:

Loop, Files, D:\MyFolder\*, F
{
    MsgBox, Found file: %F%
}

In this example, we're using Loop to loop through all files in the D:\MyFolder\ directory. The * in the second argument tells Loop to look for all files in the folder. Inside the code block, we're using the %F% variable to display each file's name in a message box.

Conclusion

Loop in AHK is useful for automating repetitive tasks and iterating through lists or arrays. It is a simple yet powerful command that can save programmers time and effort.