AutoHotkey Community

First: a word of warning. This stuff might not be obvious. If you've just learned AHK or are coming here from a search for "IRC bot" then this probably isn't what you want, this is a framework to build around, not a finished product with a fancy GUI for changing settings and stuff. It isn't even something you can change a few variables at the top and have it work. If you want the extremely limited channel management that I have so far coded into it, then it might be for you, replace Freenode with your target server and #botwar with your target channel (make sure you have ops and the other ops agree with your choice to bring a bot in first!), but it is still a work in progress (and indeed I will still be working on the channel management bit, the overall framework is complete - if anyone wishes I'll post the channel management code when I'm done with it).
With that out of the way, for a while now I've been getting by with WinSock2 and trik's framework for building small, simple IRC bots. I made several plans for building a modular framework and drafted some sample code for it, only to scrap it a week later because I couldn't read a word of it. I also tried to get rid of JOIN/PART spam by writing the socket to a file, reloading, reading it, and reconnecting as fast as my computer could, which... didn't work. So I sort of gave up on that too.
Then yesterday, I had an idea. I remembered two sample scripts in OnMessage()'s docs, and checked them out. With some time to spend, I coded this. I use it for channel management.
It has three files for now, an INI for settings and two AHKs, one for communicating with the IRC server, and the other for determining what to do and say. Both AHK scripts must be running at the same time (I've been trying to find some way to merge the two icons into the same one, which you rightclick for the two names, which you click or hover over for the normal context menu, but I don't know how to do that in a general manner. Also, it defaults to a user, nick, and name of "bot" and I forgot what to put as the 3rd and 4th parameters of USER. Also, it isn't completely modular as the commands aren't each in a separate file or whatever (one file is used for handling the IRC connection, and the other for determining what to say or do), but that should be rather simple given this framework. I'm too tired to explain how in case it isn't.
I won't say anything about how to add your own commands or functionality or anything to try to stave off skiddies trying to build a warbot: just examine the code, I tried to make it self-explanatory (no comments though).
So, without further ado, other than that you have to have WinSock2 in your standard library and that all three files must be in the same directory (and that you cannot rename the files):

IRC.ahk:

bot.ahk:


EDIT: channel management code removed because it is still under development and I want this to be done enough so that none of the existing code must be modified, ask me if you want it. The functions GetInfo and SetInfo are remnants of that, which you might want to use for between-session storage. GetInfo(thing, category) and SetInfo(thing, category, newvalue) - leave newvalue out to delete the info.
UPDATE: I'll be making this send by PID when I next feel like working on it. IRC script sends its PID as a command line parameter and knows the thinking scripts PID using Runs 4th parameter. That would let you run more than one bot at the same time. But how would the thinking script keep track over reloads? Hm.

I'm sorry, but if you think AHK is an appropriate language for doing this kind of thing, you are in need of some serious help. You should really reflect on the choices you've made in life that have brought you to a point where you think this is a good idea.

A "modular framework" for IRC written in AHK is an abomination. I feel violated for having read this post and your code.

I hope you reevaluate your decision to go this route, for I fear that masochists like you have no place in our society. If you decide to continue down this dark path, please keep this obscenity to yourself so that others are not inspired to follow in your footsteps.

You're probably right, but once the framework is done, AHK becomes a rather good language for the responding code so long as no fancy variables have to be used (I tried to code a voting thing with this, twas a real long nightmare, same thing in Ruby using hashes took somewhere near 5 lines of code). Also, if I write the framework, no-one else has to venture down that dark path. They get to venture down a different one. That's one of the reasons the "Scripts & Functions" board exists - so nobody has to reinvent the wheel.

Oh, and Spam Alert, you're probably right too. Especially considering HAY GUYS has only posted 1 thing and registered today.

Its obviosly a level.

HAY GUYS go away.

If he wants to spend his time making and IRC bot he can.


BTW is IRC web based?

_________________

I know i have 6 legs. It's cuz I'm special.

irc = Internet relay chat.
So you need the interwebs.
There are web-based clients (No download needed) as well as downloadable clients. We prefer you use a downloadable client. A list of good ones can be found in the help forum stickies.

_________________
rawr. be very afraid
*poke*
Note: My name is all lowercase for a reason.
"I think Bigfoot is blurry, that's the problem. It's not the photographer's fault, Bigfoot is blurry. So there's a large, out-of-focus monster roaming the countryside."

Not necessarily, download a server like UnrealIRCd, ratbox, hyperion, whatever (a bad one that is really easy to configure and get running quickly is JoinMe!) and start it, replace irc.freenode.net with localhost, and then you can test it without Internet (it's how I coded it, my main computer is lacking Internet for now).

Well, now this is just what I was looking for.
Ok ok, not the bot part, just the framework...

I'm busy coding an AHK based gui that needs an IRC client built in and I don't have the time or the inclination to go reverse engineer a bunch of dll's from another IRC client to try embed it into my gui.
In fact, I've been using and embedded IE control pointed at a qwebirc client, but I've had too many issues with it not connecting properly, whereas my regular irc client connects fine, hence the search for an ahk-based irc client.

Thanks for the framework.

Talisman.

You're welcome, share and enjoy.