Perform action before original hotkey function

[ndiaz]

How can I perform an action before the original intended hotkey function?

Specifically, what I'd like to do is send some placeholder text to a text field before launching a Find & Replace operation.

Ctrl+H is used to launch the Find & Replace dialog, so when I press Ctrl+H, before the dialog opens, I'd like "MARKERHERE" to be sent to the text field where my cursor is.

I tried to pass through the hotkey, but the placeholder text is sent to the Find & Replace dialog instead of to the original text field. I also tried adding a sleep but that didn't help either.

Thank you in advance for your help!

[Kobaltauge]

Could you split it up. When pressing CTRL+h do the first action. When release CTRL+h do the second action?

[ndiaz]

That sounds like a good idea, but I don't know how to implement it. I tried this, but got an invalid hotkey error message:

^h Down::
Send MARKERHERE{SPACEBAR}
Return

^h Up::
Send ^h
Return

[A_AhkUser]

Code: Select all

$^h::
	sendinput MARKERHERE{Space}
	KeyWait, h
	send ^h
return

[Osprey]

That sounds like a good idea, but I don't know how to implement it. I tried this, but got an invalid hotkey error message:

^h Down::
Send MARKERHERE{SPACEBAR}
Return

^h Up::
Send ^h
Return

Remove the "Down." By default, hotkeys fire on the down press, rather than on release, so the "Down" is unneeded.

[ndiaz]

Thank you! Both proposed solutions worked.