Causes the script to behave as though the specified file's contents are present at this exact position.
#Include FileOrDirName #Include <LibName> #IncludeAgain FileOrDirName
Type: String
The path of a file or directory as explained below. This must not contain double quotes (except for an optional pair of double quotes surrounding the parameter), wildcards or escape sequences other than semicolon (`;).
Built-in variables may be used by enclosing them in percent signs (for example, #Include "%A_ScriptDir%"). Percent signs which are not part of a valid variable reference are interpreted literally. All built-in variables are valid, except for A_Args and built-in classes.
Known limitation: When compiling a script, variables are evaluated by the compiler and may differ from what the script would return when it is finally executed. The following variables are supported: A_AhkPath, A_AppData, A_AppDataCommon, A_ComputerName, A_ComSpec, A_Desktop, A_DesktopCommon, A_IsCompiled, A_LineFile, A_MyDocuments, A_ProgramFiles, A_Programs, A_ProgramsCommon, A_ScriptDir, A_ScriptFullPath, A_ScriptName, A_Space, A_StartMenu, A_StartMenuCommon, A_Startup, A_StartupCommon, A_Tab, A_Temp, A_UserName, A_WinDir.
File: The name of the file to be included. By default, relative paths are relative to the directory of the file which contains the #Include directive. This default can be overridden by using #Include Dir as described below. Note: SetWorkingDir has no effect on #Include because #Include is processed before the script begins executing.
Directory: Specify a directory instead of a file to change the working directory used by all subsequent occurrences of #Include and FileInstall in the current file. Note: Changing the working directory in this way does not affect the script's initial working directory when it starts running (A_WorkingDir). To change that, use SetWorkingDir at the top of the script.
Note: This parameter is not an expression, but can be enclosed in quote marks (either 'single' or "double").
Type: String
A library file or function name. For example, #Include <lib> and #Include <lib_func> would both include lib.ahk from one of the Lib folders. Variable references are not allowed.
A script behaves as though the included file's contents are physically present at the exact position of the #Include directive (as though a copy-and-paste were done from the included file). Consequently, it generally cannot merge two isolated scripts together into one functioning script.
#Include ensures that the specified file is included only once, even if multiple inclusions are encountered for it. By contrast, #IncludeAgain allows multiple inclusions of the same file, while being the same as #Include in all other respects.
The file path may optionally be preceded by *i and a single space, which causes the program to ignore any failure to read the file. For example: #Include "*i SpecialOptions.ahk". This option should be used only when the file's contents are not essential to the main script's operation.
Lines displayed in the main window via ListLines or the menu View->Lines are always numbered according to their physical order within their own files. In other words, including a new file will change the line numbering of the main script file by only one line, namely that of the #Include line itself (except for compiled scripts, which merge their included files into one big script at the time of compilation).
#Include is often used to load functions defined in an external file.
Like other directives, #Include cannot be executed conditionally. In other words, this example would not work as expected:
if (x = 1)
#Include "SomeFile.ahk" ; This line takes effect regardless of the value of x.
Script Library Folders, Functions, FileInstall